Say Yes (18 page)

“Thanks,
baby. Are you ready to go?”

“Yes,
just give me one moment.” I stepped to the coat rack, where Daisy was getting
her coat on as well. “Hey, Daisy, are you going to be okay?”

“Yeah,
I am fine. I’m walking out right behind you. You go with your man, and I’ll
meet you there.” I leaned and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, slid into my
coat, and reached out for Luke’s waiting hand. We both waved to Daisy, and
walked down the steps together.

Once
we got to his car, he stopped, leaned me against the passenger door, and kissed
me. “I’ve missed you,” he said. “And you look so sexy. I don’t know if I have
the strength to make it to the rehearsal without pulling over.”

I
kissed him back and said, “Well, if we leave now, we might have a few minutes
to get lost on the way there.”

He
grinned. “I am a bad influence on you, Lilly. But, if we stop, we
will
be late getting there and I don’t want to stress out your sister.” He then took
his weight off me, and opened the car door for me.  It wasn’t long before he
was behind the wheel and we were driving to the church for Violet’s rehearsal.
When we got there, he shut the car off and turned to me. “So, are you ready to go
public?”

“Well,
I already told my Dad, so the rest of the world is just a bonus.”

“You
told Calvin? Was he mad?” Luke asked, nervously. It made my heart melt a little
bit more…he was nervous about getting Daddy’s approval. At that moment, I fell
a little more in love with him.

“Oh
no, not at all! Actually, he told me was thrilled about us.”

“He
was thrilled? Really?” he asked, a weight visibly lifting off him.

“Yes,
he told me he thought you were a very good man,” I said.

He
smiled widely. “Well, that means a lot. Calvin’s a good man too. It’s nice to
know I have his blessing.”

I
placed my hand on his face, and leaned in and kissed him. “So, you ready to do
this thing?” I asked, and I saw Daisy’s car pulling into the lot behind us.

Reaching
for door handle, he said, “Ready. Let’s go.” We both got out of the car, and we
walked hand in hand into the church.

The
rehearsal wasn’t that long. Everyone seemed to know what to do and where to
stand. After three trial runs, Violet decided that we had it down, and
suggested we head to the restaurant for dinner.  Instead of eating somewhere
fancier outside of town, Violet had decided on Grady’s for the rehearsal
dinner, which suited me fine.  I had worked up quite an appetite in the past
twenty four hours.  Once I had my coat on, Luke was waiting for me by the door.
Hand in hand we walked to his car and once I was inside, he climbed into the
driver’s seat and we drove the short distance to Grady’s. Mr. Grady had shut
the place down for the night and had his whole staff there to help accommodate
us…including Luke’s ex-girlfriend, Sam. I was a little nervous about how she
would undoubtedly be shooting fire from her eyes at me all night long, but I
didn’t care. Luke was going to be there with me, and we loved each other. That
was all that mattered. As soon as we walked in, Luke took my coat off and as he
was hanging it up, I saw Mr. Grady over by the counter talking to one of the
cooks in the back. He looked up and saw me looking at him, and at that moment
he walked over and pulled me into a big hug. “Well, hey there, darlin’,” he
said.

“Hey,
lookin’ good, big guy,” I said.

“You
too. You look beautiful,” he said, holding my arms out. “That Luke’s a lucky
fella.” He jerked his head over to the door. My head turned in Luke’s
direction, and we smiled at each other.

Guess
it’s all out in the open now. Mr. Grady’s wife was the town chatterbox, so once
she knew something all of Glenbrook knew within a few hours. Although, how she
knew about Luke and I so fast made my head spin…maybe I didn’t want to know. “You
think so?”

“Oh
honey, the way he’s lookin’ at you right now…he looks like he just won the
lottery.” I looked at Mr. Grady and grinned.

“Well
that’s sweet of you to say, but I feel like I’m the lucky one.”

“So
you two are together now, like, for real?”

I
sighed dreamily. “For real.”

“It’s
about time,” he said, and I smiled even more. “So does that mean you’re comin’
back home for good?” he asked me, sounding hopeful.

“I
don’t know that yet. I have a lot to think about, I guess. Stay tuned,” I said,
and he chuckled.

He
gave me another squeeze around my arms just as Luke joined us. “Well, I’d
better let you have your girl back,” he said, and Luke smiled at him.

“Thanks
for keeping an eye on her for me, Grady.”

“Anytime,
young man, anytime. You take care of this one, ya’ hear? She’s special,” he
said, a gleam in his eye.

“Oh
I fully intend to, as long as she lets me,” Luke said, kissing me on the cheek.

“Well,
I got a kitchen to run, so I best get to it. Y’all enjoy yourselves tonight,
ya’ hear?” he said. I gave him another quick hug before he headed back into the
kitchen.

Luke
held his arm out for me. “Well, shall we?”

Snaking
my arm through his, I grinned and said, “Absolutely.” We walked over to the
table where Daisy was sitting, and Luke pulled out my chair. I sat down, and he
pushed my chair in for me before taking his seat next to me. My eyes
instinctively roamed the room and they rested on Sam, who was behind the
counter filling glasses with iced water on a tray. She had obviously been
watching us, because she looked away as soon as we made eye contact. In her
eyes was a mixture of anger and overwhelming sadness. For a moment, my heart
ached for her. She must have really fallen hard for him and just wasn’t
handling it well. I hoped for here sake that she would eventually meet a nice
man and move on. If I decided to come home, I didn’t want to be feeling guilty
for being happy. I shook my head slightly and decided to let it go. I looked
over at Daisy, who had her chin resting in the palm of her hand and wore a
bothered look on her face. “Hey, Dais. You doing okay?” I asked.

She
shrugged her shoulders. “As well as can be expected, I guess,” she said, and I
noticed her eyes move to a space in the corner. Jack was chatting to a tall,
big breasted blonde who had her hands all over him. She narrowed her eyes at
them.

I
turned back to her and said, “Don’t let it get to you.”

“Don’t
let what get to me?” she asked sarcastically, batting her eyelashes at me. She
picked up a dinner roll from a basket on the table, and tore off a piece and
popped it into her mouth.

Luke
looked over at Jack and then back to Daisy. He chuckled and shook his head.
“What is it?” I whispered to him.

“I
just hope Jack knows what he’s doing,” he said, and before I could ask him to
elaborate, I heard a fork clinking against a glass. Jack came over to our table
and sat next to Luke and the blonde he was talking to sat on his other side. Uh
oh.

Evan
was standing and had a hand on Violet’s shoulder. “Hi everyone. Thanks for
coming to our rehearsal dinner,” he started. Violet was beaming at everyone.
“Before we dig into this amazing looking food Vi and I just wanted to take a
minute to thank everyone for being here and being a part of our special day.
Everyone we love is with us in this restaurant tonight, with the exception of
one,” he paused, and glanced at his dad. His father nodded at him with sad
eyes, and a thin faced woman sitting at his side rubbed his forearm. Must be
Evan’s step-mother. “But, I know that even though she couldn’t be here in body,
she’s here in spirit. Love you, Mom,” he said, looking up. He cleared his
throat and continued. “I know that at the reception tomorrow that everyone will
be making their speeches, but tonight I wanted to take a minute and give a
thank you to my two groomsmen, Luke and Jack. I was an only child and was never
lucky enough to have brothers, but I just wanted to let you two know that you
both are the closest I’ll ever have and I wouldn’t have it any other way. You
are the best, and I love you guys,” he said, and they both raised their glasses
to him.

At
that moment, Violet stood and squeezed his hand. “Well, I don’t know what to
say after that, but I’m going to try. I want to thank Mama and Daddy for being
the most wonderful parents a girl could have. I love you both so much, and
thank you for everything you’ve ever done for me.” Daddy smiled at her, and
Mama dabbed at her eyes with a napkin. “I also want to say thank you so, so
much to two of the three most important women in my life…Daisy and Lilly,” she
said, emotion in her voice. I felt warmth spread through my chest. “I feel like
the luckiest girl in the world to have two beautiful and amazing women as my
sisters, and even though sometimes we’ve been apart, I will always know that I
can count on you two for anything. I love you both more than I can ever say,
and I thank God every day for you.” At this point, I was bawling. Luke put his
arm around me and squeezed. I looked at Daisy who was crying as well. I blew Violet
a light kiss and she winked at me. “Okay, enough of the emotional speeches.
This food looks amazing, and I’m starving. Let’s eat, everyone!”

Two
hours later, we were all well fed and having a good time talking. Everyone was
caught up Violet and Evan’s happiness, but I didn’t miss the looks I was
getting from everyone at the restaurant every time Luke would lean and kiss me
or whisper in my ear. Some looked happy, others looked skeptical, but I didn’t
care. I loved Luke and he loved me, and that was all that mattered.

All
too soon, the time came for us to head back to our house for our last night as
three single ladies. Daisy couldn’t take any more of Jack ignoring her and
flirting with that woman, so she went home ahead of us, leaving me to ride with
Violet. As she was saying her goodbyes to Evan, Luke’s arms slid around my
waist and pulled me into a warm embrace. “I’m gonna miss you in my bed tonight,
Lil.”

“And
I’m gonna miss being there with you,” I said. “This is gonna be one of the
longest nights of my life.”

“So
let me kidnap you then,” he said with a sexy smile.

“I
wish I could, but I can’t. This is my last night with my baby sister before she
goes off and gets married tomorrow.”

“Aw,
well, it was worth a shot, right?” he asked. I smiled and he leaned down to
kiss my lips. We were holding each other tightly…neither of us wanted to let
go. I could feel his chiseled abs and back through his shirt and desire started
to burn deep in me. Before my all nighter with Luke, it had been seven years
since I slept with anyone, and that one time was very disappointing. Now, after
being with Luke again, I was like a tiger out of her cage. It was all I could
do not to jump him right in the diner. Finally, Mama’s hand on my shoulder
brought me back to reality.

“Lilly,
darling, sorry to interrupt you, but I think we need to head on home if we’re
gonna get rest for tomorrow,” she said, and turned to Luke. Leaning in and
kissing his cheek, she said, “Good to see you, son. Did you have a good time
tonight?”

He
smiled warmly at Mama, and pulled her into a one armed hug. “I did, Ros. Thanks
so much.”

“You’re
very welcome. Well, I’ll let you two say good night.” She started to turn away,
but then stopped and turned back to face us. She grabbed my hand, then Luke’s,
and holding them together, she said, “Luke, Lilly, the two of you together…this
is a good thing,” she said, warmth radiating in her eyes.

I
felt tears beginning to form, and I just whispered, “Thanks, Mama.” Luke
squeezed my hand and leaned in to kiss my cheek.

“Thank
you, Ros. I love her so much,” Luke said.

Mama
was fighting back tears of her own. “I know you do.” She let go of our hands
and with a final quick hug to Luke, she said good night to him. She walked over
to Daddy, leaving us to say our goodbyes.

“Okay,
we should just say good night now because the longer I stand here holding you,
the harder it’s gonna be to let go,” I said.

“What
if I don’t want to let go?” he teased.

I
rolled my eyes playfully. “Just kiss me and say good night.”

He
did as I asked, and pulled me into a warm, tingling kiss that was all tongue
and teeth and hands in hair. When we finally pulled apart, we looked at each
other, smiling. Suddenly, we heard laughing, cat calls, and clapping. We both
turned and saw my parents, Jack, Evan, Violet, Mr. and Mrs. Grady, and Evan’s
father and stepmother standing in a group together. They were all smiling at
us. Luke laughed and held his arm out to me, and I curtsied. I was red in the
face from the attention, but I still had to laugh. Right then, my eyes once
again fell on Sam. She looked like someone had just stabbed her. This was
getting ridiculous…I decided I was going to talk to her and try to clear the
air before heading home. I hugged Luke and kissed him one last time. “I’ll miss
you,” I said.

“Miss
you too, baby. I’ll see you tomorrow at the wedding.”

“See
you tomorrow.”

“Love
you,” he said.

“Love
you too,” I answered, and he kissed me quickly on the lips before he slid on
his coat and left the diner for home.

 After
I slid my coat on, Violet appeared at my side. “Well, that was quite a show,”
she laughed. “Guess we have something to talk about tonight, huh?”

“Oh
yes,” I blushed, and she giggled.

“Well,
you ready to go?”