“I won’t. So you should probably tell me,” I said.
“That was the owner of Gleeson’s Galleries here in Asheville.”
“I like where this is going,” I said.
“I have a meeting tomorrow morning to discuss them hanging my artwork!”
I got up from the table and wrapped Amanda in my arms. She looked so happy, and my chest swelled with pride. I spun her around as she clung to me while Lanie clapped her hands in her seat. Everything inside of me wanted to kiss her, but I held myself back since Lanie was at the table with us.
Neither of us was still sure of how to go about any of this with my niece, so we were keeping it out of her sight for now.
“That’s incredible, Amanda. I’m so happy for you.”
Then, my phone rang. And when my phone rang nowadays, it was never good.
“Fuck. Hold on,” I said.
“Fuck!” Lanie exclaimed.
“Oh, no no no, honey. We don’t say that word,” Amanda said.
“But Uncle Bwian said it.”
“And that’s why Uncle Brian’s about to go into timeout. Because that’s what happens when we say words like that.”
Amanda nodded her head toward the hallway, and I was in awe of her. Lanie’s eyes were welling with tears as she apologized, and in the same breath, Amanda had given me an out to take this phone call. She was easily slipping into this role, and I had to take a moment and remind myself that it wasn’t real.
“Please tell me you have good news,” I said.
“Yes and no. The first court date has been set for Tuesday,” my lawyer said.
“Shit.”
“Please tell me the two of you have tied the knot. I need that paperwork in the system by Monday at the very latest,” he said.
“We’ve got this. Don’t worry. It’ll be in the system by Monday, I promise,” I said.
“Good. I’ll need some fun pictures of it, too. Anything to make it look authentic. The less it looks like an arrangement just to sway the judge, the better. He needs to see a happy, loving home, not two strangers married for the sake of court.” .”
“Yes. You’ll have them,” I said.
“I’ll call you Monday just to remind you, but it’s Tuesday at ten in the morning.”
“I won’t forget. I promise,” I said.
“You better not. Have you heard from your P.I.?”
“Nope. Have you?”
“Not since we originally talked a couple days ago. If you hear from him, call me,” he said.
“Will do.”
I turned around and saw Amanda standing at the end of the hallway. Lanie was finishing up her breakfast and chugging her milk, making a massive mess for us to clean up. Amanda slowly walked toward me as I tossed my phone into my room, letting it tumble off of the bed and onto the floor.
“The court date’s Tuesday morning,” I said. “We have to do this before then.”
“We’ll get it done,” she said. “I promise.”
“The paperwork has to be in the system by Monday. Do you think we should tell Lanie what’s going on and take her with us?”
“We’ve got this. Don’t stress yourself out. Everything is going to be okay.”
Her hands were warm against my chest, and I could feel myself relaxing underneath her touch. Her lips brushed my skin, sending electricity surging through my chest. I kept my eyes on Lanie, making sure she wouldn’t turn around and catch us.
And when I knew Lanie was secured, I dipped down and caught Amanda’s lips within mine.
“Stay with us today?” I asked.
“Were you planning on kicking me out?” she asked, grinning.
“Nope.”
“Good. Because I wasn’t planning on leaving,” she said.
I pulled her into me and held her close as I tried to settle my mind. Everything felt like it was about to spiral out of control again. So many balls were up in the air, and I only had so many hands. Even with Amanda helping me volley some of this stuff, it was still getting to be too much.
But feeling this beautiful woman against my skin helped to calm me. And I wasn’t sure what I was going to do without her once this was all over.
“I’m proud of you. With the art gallery,” I said. “I didn’t even know you were submitting your artwork to places in town.”
“I do have a life when I’m not here, you know,” she said.
“I just figured you would’ve mentioned it, is all.”
“Do you want me to tell you about that kind of stuff?”
She tilted her gaze up to mine, and it prompted me to cup her cheek.
“Yes,” I said.
“Then, I will,” she said, smiling.
“More?” Lanie asked.
Amanda jumped away from me as her eyes widened. She whipped her head around and looked at Lanie, sighing with relief when she saw the little girl was still turned around. I hated that we were hiding this from Lanie I wanted Lanie to see two people enjoying each other. I wanted her to see that she could have this type of respect from another person.