32. Sierra
SIERRA
“ I ’m actually thinking about breaking my own rules,” Ro said.
“A second date?” I gasped into the phone, putting down the garment I was working on for Ro’s latest self-produced short film to take another swig of my coffee.
She was scheduled to tackle the three-day shoot starting this weekend now that people were gearing up for work again following the holiday season.
“No. Not Ro One-Date Gilmore. It’s some kind of post-Christmas miracle. ”
“I know!” she said. “Who even am I anymore?”
“I have no idea.” It was almost eleven a.m., and I was still waiting for her to get home from a night out. “I guess the sex was just that good.”
“That’s the thing,” Ro said. “We didn’t even sleep together. I mean, we did—we literally slept together. Like, next to each other. With all our clothes on. We just got back to his place and basically passed out. I woke up with his arms around me, and it was just…nice, you know?”
I did know. Or, at least, I had. My chest ached at the thought, but I swallowed the feeling down .
“And when he mumbled down at me about doing it again…Well, I was sort of into the idea.”
I pretended to sniffle. “My little Ro-Ro is growing up.” Maybe she’d discovered there was room in her life to chase her directing dreams and make time for love. “We need to mark this milestone.”
She snorted. “Don’t get too excited. It’s only another date. Speaking of, Colin tells me he’s got some friends who are single and ready to mingle. So that double-date invitation is still open.”
I grimaced. Ro had initially tried to get me to come on a double date last night so I wouldn’t wallow, but truthfully, I just wasn’t feeling it. I’d made the resolution to stop settling, especially when it came to my personal life.
There would be no more lukewarm relationships with jerks like Trey, just because they happened to be around and give me a modicum of attention. And as for guys like Finn…Well, at least that’s one thing working in my favor.
There were no other guys like Finn. He was one of a kind, which was good, because it had only been a month since the breakup, and my broken heart still hadn’t healed.
But instead of dragging her through my emotional drama, I summoned a laugh. “No way,” I said. “I wouldn’t want to crash that kind of progress by tagging along.”
Ro hummed. “Still think dating might be too much hassle with the directing grind in the end, but for now, I’ll give him another shot.”
“Speaking of the grind, the costumes are looking fabulous,” I said, running my hand over the soft velvet crop top I’d just finished.
“I can’t wait to see them. ”
A knock sounded. “Someone’s at the door,” I told Ro. “Did you order anything?”
“No,” she said. “But that’s fine. You go answer it, I’ll see you in like ten minutes.”
“Sounds good.” I hung up and hurried to the door, swinging it open, expecting to find a lost delivery guy, but instead?—
“Mom?”
“And Larry!” she cried, launching forward to capture me in a hug. She’d always been slight, but her hugs were crushing. “Hi, sweetheart.”
“Hi,” I mumbled against her. When the…Had she told me they were coming, and I’d just completely blanked it? Had we agreed to a January meetup? Also, what was Larry doing here? Since when was Larry back in the picture?
She pulled away, looking at me, catching my cheek with her palm. “How are you?”
“I’m…” I shook my head, laughing a bit. “What are you doing here?”
Mom reached for Larry’s hand, looking like she was about to explode from happiness. “Larry came back!”
I glanced at Larry. At his warm brown eyes, soft, unassuming smile, and neatly combed salt-and-pepper hair. He radiated gentleness. Anyone would be happy with their mother marrying a guy like this.
And yet, I couldn’t shake the memory of Mom sobbing on the phone to me mere weeks ago about Larry leaving. Whatever was going on here, I was going to need a lot more explanation before I’d be fully okay with it.
“I see that,” I said awkwardly, stepping back to usher them into the apartment. I didn’t want to have this conversation in the hall. I stopped in the living room, turning back to them with my arms crossed. “So, you…worked things out, then?”
“Yes…yes. We’ve talked about everything.”
“Literally everything,” Larry joked. “I don’t think she’s stopped talking for days.”
Mom tittered, looking at him adoringly, before turning back to me.
“It wasn’t the relationship that was the problem.
It was simply the scale of the wedding I was planning that was making him nervous.
” She leaned into him, patting his chest. “But we’ve compromised on a courthouse wedding, haven’t we? ”
Larry smiled down at her, and I couldn’t help thinking about all the times Finn had looked down at me like that, with a bit of a twinkle in his eye. “We sure have, my love.”
“The only thing I couldn’t compromise on was having you at my wedding,” Mom said, reaching for me. “So we hopped on the cheapest, soonest flight out—and now that we’re here, I was hoping you might have an hour or so to come to the courthouse with us?”
“Now?” I said, jaw dropping. I’d just wrapped my head around the fact Larry came back, and that the wedding was back on, but right now?
“Well,” Larry said, checking his watch. “Soon. We still need to apply for the marriage license before the actual ceremony.”
This was all moving so fast. I waved my hands. “Hang on a second. Can we just…take a pause?”
Mom frowned. “What’s wrong?”
I barked a humorless laugh. “Mom, the last I heard, you were convinced this was all over,” I said, gesturing between them. I narrowed my eyes, addressing Larry specifically. “How do I know that this is actually what you want? That you’re not going to run off again and end up hurting my mother?”
The front door swung open, and Ro walked in. “Heyo…Oh, it’s a party in here!” she said, kicking off her shoes. “Wait, Maggie?” She raced into my mother’s arms. “What are you doing here?”
Ro pulled back, her eyes going wide as I said, “Mom and Larry are here to have a courthouse wedding.”
“ Wooooow …” Ro said, the word lingering between us all. “That’s uh, that’s…” She bit her lip, glancing from me to my mother. “What is that exactly?”
“Yes, thank you. I was wondering exactly the same thing,” I said, turning the question back to Larry with my most intimidating stare.
He took a deep breath, wrapping his arm around Mom’s shoulders.
“Look, I know I’m a little awkward, and I’m not great at pulling off big romantic gestures.
I also know I really hurt Maggie when I ran off the way I did—and I’ll regret that for the rest of my life.
But…I love your mom.” He pressed a kiss to her temple.
“And I know for sure now that I’m not going anywhere.
I was struggling with the idea of a big white wedding because being the center of attention like that…
It’s just not me. So I took some time away to ask myself if I could pull it together for one day to make your mother happy, because that’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. ”
Larry looked at my mother with such love.
“But I never should have worried, because as soon as I opened up about what was worrying me, your mother immediately changed her plans for me . I want you to know that the wedding itself was the one and only issue. The idea of being with her has never given me pause, and I plan to spend the rest of my life making her very, very happy. ”
“Oh, Larry,” Mom said, her eyes shining as she nudged him. “Look at you with the big romantic speech.”
I hummed under my breath. “Are you really sure this is what you want? What you both want?”
Mom nodded. “I know that some people here,” she eyed me, “think I can be a little reckless when it comes to love, diving in headfirst without thinking things through. But I’m so glad I did this time because it led me to Larry’s side, which is where I was supposed to be all along.”
The corner of my mouth twitched with something like a smile.
I’d never seen Mom this happy before. Truly.
And sure, maybe I’d been worried about red flags, but if Mom was happy, if Larry was who she wanted, and if he was committing to her just as strongly, then who was I to stand in their way?
Because Larry had come back. And I supposed that’s what mattered in the end.
“All right,” I said. “If it’s a courthouse wedding you want, then you have my blessing.”
“And you’ll come?” Mom asked.
“Of course!” I said. “Besides, I didn’t spend all this time making your wedding dress for me not to see you wear it.”
Mom squealed, grabbing onto me and shaking me.
“Oh, I can’t believe this is happening!” She looked so full of joy.
It struck me in that moment that maybe Mom hadn’t been reckless all those times she took a shot at love.
Maybe she’d been brave, putting her heart out there like that, taking a chance on getting a big love in return. And now, she finally had.
Not for the first time, I wished I was a little more like her.
“Okay,” Ro said, clapping her hands together. “Let’s get this wedding show on the road.”
“You’re coming, too?” I asked.
“Hell yeah. Who else is gonna be Larry’s best man?”