Hold the Forevers

He tilted my chin up until I was looking at him. “Yes, you were.”

“Okay, maybe a little. But not because I don’t want that.”

“I’m not proposing today,” he said with a grin.

“Yeah, but people said that all spring at all of those weddings we went to. They kept pointing at us and being like, ‘You’re next!’”

“That’s what people do at weddings.”

“I think it’s weird.”

“I know you do, Sunflower.”

“Even if we are next,” I whispered.

“Technically, Josie is next.”

I rolled my eyes. “Fine, Josie is next. Again. But I meant that … that future looks possible.”

“I like to hear you say that,” he said as his lips covered mine. They were hot and needy, as if my words had triggered something in him. As if the thought of marrying me turned him on.

We made out for a few minutes, his hands roaming my body and both of us getting flushed with the heat. Then, the doorbell rang. I groaned and flopped backward as he went to get dinner.

He returned with the food and made a space for it on the already-cluttered coffee table. “Before we eat, I did get you a housewarming gift.”

“What? But it’s your house.”

“Yeah. So?”

“You’re ridiculous.”

He dashed back into our bedroom and came back a minute later with a carefully wrapped package. I took it out of his hands and pretended to shake it to figure out what it was. Just like he had.

Then I tore back the wrapping paper, ripping the entire front away. I stilled at the title on the book—Little Women. My hand touched the cover. A special-edition leather-bound hardcover that I’d never seen before. It looked old. Really old. The binding was red. The font a small gold embossing. The pages were gold sprayed and stunning.

I picked the book up, letting the paper drop to the floor.

“Do you like it?”

Truthfully, I was speechless. It was the most beautiful copy of Little Women I’d ever seen. A very thoughtful and likely expensive gift. And every other part of me squirmed to be holding a copy from Cole.

I opened to the first page, half-expecting to find the inscription Always your Laurie written into it, as it was with the nearly dozen copies Ash had given me over the years. But of course, this was from Cole. He’d seen my love of the book. He’d wanted to get me something special. He had no clue that the reason I had so many copies was because Ash always bought them for me. Fuck.

I read the inscription.

5.14.16

Our first house.

“I know you have a bunch of copies,” Cole said. “But I wanted this one to be ours.”

Ours.

“It’s beautiful. I love it. Thank you,” I breathed. I met his blue gaze. “This one is ours.”

26

Savannah

July 9, 2016

When Steph had gotten married, I’d still been in high school. She’d worn an empire Cinderella gown, and we’d all hated our yellow floor-length dresses. Eve had worn a smart white power suit when she married her wife in Chicago. She’d foregone bridesmaids and told us all to wear casual attire. But Elle was maybe the most stunning of all in a bohemian dress, complete with a flower crown.

I loved her dress even if the flowing dresses she’d picked for the rest of us looked ridiculous. Not to mention the decision to get married outside in Savannah in July.

“I’m going to sweat through this before the ceremony,” Steph grumbled.

Eve crossed her arms. “She should be fucking glad I wore the goddamn dress.”

“At least she didn’t try to do your hair.”

Eve looked at me in outrage. “Oh, we already fought about that.” She ran a hand back through her short, slicked-back, bleach-blonde hair.

“The rest of us have these flowers,” I said, pointing at the thing in my hair.

“Well, I’m not a pushover.”

Steph snorted. “Or you’re too stubborn for someone else’s wedding.”

“Let’s not fight today.”

Elle appeared then like a vision. She looked like something out of one of those flashy wedding magazines.

“I think we’re ready,” she said.

We all shuffled into position. No wedding planner here. Elle had done everything herself, down to the floral arrangements and composing six original pieces for the orchestra she performed with. They’d play for the wedding and then join us for the reception.

I picked up my eucalyptus bouquet and got into line with Eve and Steph behind me. The groomsmen were waiting at the front of the outdoor pavilion with Elle’s soon-to-be husband, Gary. The orchestra picked up the opening chords, and I began my procession down the aisle. The wedding easily had three hundred people in attendance, plus the orchestra.

The faces all blurred together as I stepped carefully along the grass path in my heels. My mom was standing at the front with tears in her eyes. Cole was a row behind her, and his smile was brilliant.

But then I looked across the aisle, and I nearly faltered.