Fool for You (Southern Bride 7)

Her eyes widened in shock. “What?”

“I’d marry you tomorrow.”

“But…but we—”

“Have known each other our whole lives. You make me feel like no one else ever has. I can’t imagine not waking up every day with you next to me.”

It was then that Lady came running into the room barking. It was like she was reminding us that there was food in the other room, and she wanted in on it.

I bent down, picked up the puppy, and gave her a stern look. “Not now, Lady. I’m asking your momma to marry me.”

I set her down and turned back to Emmerson, who damn near knocked me over when she threw herself at me.

“Yes! Yes! Let’s do it!” she cried. “Let’s get married as soon as possible.”

Staring at her with what I was sure was a happy, yet surprised, look, I replied, “Really?”

Emmerson let out a laugh-sob and quickly nodded her head. “Really!”

“Oh my God. Are we going to do this?”

She giggled. “Yes! Yes!”

She grabbed my hand and dragged me through the house and into the dining room. Everyone was already seated and, of course, eating. There was no waiting in this family.

“We’re getting married!” Emmerson yelled out.

No one flinched.

“Okay, I know this is going to sound crazy, but with you two, one can never know,” Hailey said. “Are we getting married for real this time?”

Emmerson jumped up and down. “Yes! As soon as we can!”

“There’s a seventy-two-hour waiting period after you get your license in Texas,” Noah stated.

Everyone turned to look at him, and he shrugged. “Amy and I had a little scare, and I looked up how fast you can get married in the state of Texas.”

“Wait, what?” Paislie said as Malcolm groaned.

“Condoms. How many times do I have to tell you, son. Condoms!” Malcolm pleaded.

“Dad.” Noah rolled his eyes.

“You brought it up,” Hailey said with a laugh.

Paislie stood and walked over to me and Emmerson. “Hold on one second. What’s happening? You just told us you were dating and now…now you want to get married. Why the rush?”

“Yes, why the rush?” Malcolm said, giving me a look that should have dropped me on the spot.

“Daddy, I’m not pregnant, so stop giving Landon the death stare.” Emmerson pointed at her father before she turned her attention to Paislie. “Mom, have you ever just done something crazy? Something that feels so right in your heart, but to everyone else seems insane?”

With a twinkle in her eye, Paislie looked at Malcolm and then back to Emmerson. She nodded.

“Landon and I have known each other all of our lives. A part of me has always loved him in a way that I haven’t ever loved anyone else. And, honestly,” she said, looking at me with tears building in those baby blues again, “I don’t want to wait another second to be his.”

“And I don’t want to wait either. I’ve loved Emmerson for as long as I can remember. Being her husband would truly be the greatest moment of my life,” I said as I met Emmerson’s gaze.

“That is so utterly romantic,” Amy whispered.

“It really is,” Hailey added with a sigh.

I looked at my parents. They both smiled.

“I’m not the least bit surprised,” my father said with a shit-eating grin. “From the day you two were old enough to walk, you’ve been inseparable.”

My mom wiped a tear from her eye. “All those times you declared you were going to marry Emmerson.”

Emmerson and my mother wrapped each other up in their arms as I smiled and watched the two women I loved more than anything cry tears of happiness.

With a clap of her hands, Paislie turned to the rest of the family. “Okay, folks, let’s eat up. We have a wedding to plan. A real one this time.”

Emmerson

IT TURNED OUT eloping in Texas was easy enough. We did have to wait for seventy-two hours like my brother had said, but after that we had up to thirty days to use our marriage license. Landon and I didn’t need thirty days, so we walked into the courthouse three days after we applied for the license. Then we both went back to work as Mr. and Mrs. Landon Lewis and decided not to share the fact that we had eloped. What was it with us and secrets? We decided that even though we couldn’t wait to get married, I still wanted to journey the whole process on social media—and we would still have a wedding ceremony in December as promised.

Our folks had thought we were kidding when we said we wanted to get married right away. They had even tried to talk us into waiting and having the ceremony at the house, but Landon and I were determined to get married at the courthouse. Only Noah and Hailey were there to stand up for us as witnesses. Of course, we had to bribe them each with something in order for them to meet us at the courthouse on a Thursday afternoon. Hailey demanded a weekend at a beach house somewhere, so she could hide away and mend her broken heart. Noah asked me to give Amy all the free wedding planning advice she wanted after he proposed to her.