Epilogue
brOOKE
We broke the news to the Connors at the next Friday dinner. We arrived a little late at Val’s house, so the gang was already sitting at the table, chatting and eating.
Jace held up my hand for everyone to see.
“Wow, congratulations,” Val exclaimed. “I can’t believe we didn’t get wind of this.”
Hailey was flashing that smug smile again. I didn’t miss it, and neither did Val.
“You knew,” Val accused. When Hailey nodded, Val glared at Jace.
“Hey, I didn’t mean to tell her. I just made the mistake of looking up rings on her laptop.”
“Ah, this was the secret you mentioned at the hotel party,” I said, finally getting it.
Jace nodded gravely.
“I know I don’t have the right to, but I feel kind of betrayed that you kept his secret,” Val said.
“Me too,” Lori added.
Hailey smirked. “I’m aware of my faults, and I’ve always strived to improve them. This one just… took a while longer.”
“We’ve also set a date,” Jace said gleefully, squeezing my hand under the table. I squeezed it right back, feeling an army of winged creatures flutter in my belly.
“We want a summer wedding.”
“This upcoming summer?” Lori clarified, looking slightly alarmed. I nodded, which prompted her to take her iPad out.
“Um… Lori, we don’t want anything big,” I tried while Lori pulled up a calendar.
“Everything still needs to be perfect,” she explained.
Graham kissed her cheek. “You’re very good at pulling weddings together on short notice. Remember how you organized everything for Amber and Matt in four weeks? You have more than six months now.”
“Yes, but this is my brother.” She looked up from her iPad, between the two of us. “We need to set up a meeting to discuss everything.”
Jace glanced at Landon and Will. “Help. How do I make her dial it down a notch?”
Will held up both palms. “You’re on your own, brother.”
“I’ll give you tips later,” Landon said, earning a glare from Lori.
“Wow. Hailey’s learned to keep secrets, and Jace is getting married before Will and me,” Val exclaimed. “This day is just full of surprises.”
Will shook his head, hiding a smile as he handed Hailey a five-dollar bill.
“What was the bet?” Jace asked immediately.
“She insisted you’d set the date first. I bet on Carter and Val. Wait a second! Hailey, did you already know about the ring when we made the bet?”
“Of course not. I’m not a cheater.” She pocketed the money with a wicked smile.
After everyone had their bellies full, Lori pulled me and Jace to one side. “Want to look at some wedding stuff online?”
“Sure,” I said.
“I’ll go set up everything on my laptop.”
I winked at Jace, placing a hand on his arm. “No worries. I’ve got this.”
“I think I love you even more right now. I just want you to have my last name, babe. Everything else is up to you.”
“You like living dangerously? I might get gung-ho about everything.”
“If it makes you happy, go ahead. At any rate, we’re good at navigating the unexpected. After all, you just wanted to be friendly with me in the beginning.”
I laughed. “True. I just didn’t know who I was up against back then.”
“And now you do?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“I love you, hot stuff.”
“I love you too. Any day now, I’ll come up with an appropriate nickname. Something to do you justice.”
Lori and I started by looking at dresses, and once they knew what we were up to, the other women gathered around us, offering their opinions.
Our men were sitting further away, but every once in a while, one of them would stop by to bring us snacks or drinks.
It was a lot of fun, but I warned everyone that I wasn’t deciding on anything tonight.
I was snapping pictures of my favorites.
Occasionally Jace would stay long enough to peek at what we were doing, and I made a big show of hiding the screen. Hailey looked between us with a big smile.
“I’m so happy he found you,” she whispered after he left. “I’m going to be the only single Connor at your wedding,” she added with a wistful tone that was very un-Hailey. “Promise you won’t have a singles table.”
I shook my head. “Of course not.”
“Those went out of style years ago,” Lori explained.
“Whew. Dodged a bullet,” Hailey said with mock relief.
I exchanged a glance with Paige, Maddie, Val, and Lori, biting back my own smile.
During one of the Friday dinners, we’d predicted that Hailey would be dating someone seriously by the time the next Connor wedding took place. Of course, back then, I’d had no idea that the next wedding would come up so fast, which raised the stakes a bit, but I had full confidence in Hailey.