Page 63 of Wrecked By You

McCrae pointed at me. “This shows how happy you are. You’re not even enforcing work hours.” He smacked me on the back.

I grunted at him. “I’m enforcing them for you. Get back to work.”

McCrae shook his head and followed my brothers. “Too late. We’re having a visit with Isla.”

They all filed into dispatch, and I heard Isla talking to them and laughing. I heard Mrs. Friendly laughing too.

I walked into the small dispatch room, and Fred rolled his eyes. He was a man after my own heart; he liked to finish work.

Mrs. Friendly opened her arms and hugged me. “Just so you know, I’m invited to your wedding Saturday.”

I gave her a hug and then widened my eyes at Isla. “Of course you are.”

Isla laughed and then came at me and gave me a big hug and a kiss.

I didn’t think I would ever get used to having the woman of my dreams in my arms.

“Of course, you have to be there,” she told me. “You’re my groom.”

I laughed and kissed her again. “I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing that.”

McCrae made some funny sounds and acted like we were teenagers. “We’re going to the chapel and he’s going to get ma-a-a-rried,” he sang out.

I kissed her some more and couldn’t wait for Saturday.

Later that night, I climbed into bed and called Isla. The big night on the town had ended up just being cards at the back of Jim’s pizza place. Which had been fun. My father had shown up as well, along with a couple of other friends from around town. But the truth was, there was nothing I wanted to do but talk to her.

“Hello?” she said.

“No knocking tonight? Nothing out of the ordinary?” I wouldn’t tell her that I checked the cameras every ten to fifteen minutes. My brothers didn’t even razz me about it. I think they were checking as well.

“Quiet tonight. Actually, your mom came out and we painted together. It was delightful.”

I wasn’t going to tell her I already knew that.

“You already knew that, didn’t you? Because you saw us on camera.”

I let out a long sigh. “Am I going to get in trouble for telling you I did?”

“Of course not. In two days, we are going to be staying at the house together.”

A shiver ran up my spine. We talked about going on a honeymoon, but neither of us had a lot of money. She had a house that we could stay at for a couple of days by ourselves, so we would do that. “Sounds perfect to me.”

She let out a light hum. “And to me.”

Both of us were silent for a little bit.

“So what did you guys do for the big bachelor party?”

I told her about the exciting night of cards and the people who had come. She wanted to know all about what we talked about and who won at cards and what kind of pizza we had. I loved it. I shared every detail.

“Can I talk to you about something else?” she asked.

“Of course.”

“I just want to tell you how glad I am that we waited for intimacy until marriage. Because I want to have things perfect between us. I want to have God in our lives. I want to have our home centered on the Lord just like your parents do. I want to teach our children.”

“I want that too.” How could I tell her that she inspired me to be better? “You’re amazing. I’m grateful that you are someone I look up to.”