“What’s up?”
“This whole thing with my dad has really messed with me. A lot. My whole life I’ve envisioned this massive wedding—you know, the fabulous dress, hundreds of guests, amazing food, fantastic music, and then a dream honeymoon.”
“Nothing wrong with that,” I assure her. “And I remember the binder you started with all your ideas somewhere back in the tenth grade.”
She laughs softly. “And I’ve been adding to it ever since.” Then she sighs. “But now…I don’t want it. Any of it.”
Vanessa and I exchange worried glances.
“I want to marry Mike. I’ve always wanted that. What I don’t want is the spectacle. There’s going to be a lot of drama between my parents, and everyone knows about my dad cheating so there’s going to be so much gossip and speculation that the focus won’t be on us—me and Mike—it’s going to be about them.”
I nod, but I’m not sure what to say. If I were getting married, I’m not even sure my parents would attend!
Okay, that’s not totally true. They’d be there, but like…as guests. I don’t see them playing the part of the loving parents of the bride.
“What are you going to do?” Van asks. “Have you and Mike talked about it?”
I fight the urge to roll my eyes because I am certain they have. This morning, I heard Loren telling him about how she tried putting everything bagel seasoning on her avocado toast.
“We have,” Loren replies. “And I think I know what I want to do. I’m just not sure it’s the right thing or if I’m lashing out to get the attention back on me.” She snorts derisively. “And we all know I am prone to doing that.”
Again, Van and I exchange glances, trying hard not to look overly shocked by her admission.
“What are you thinking?” I ask, because now the curiosity is killing me.
“Our dream honeymoon is Turks and Caicos. We’ve known that for years. So we considered an intimate, destination wedding. Fewer people, less chance for drama, and it would give us a little more control over the situation.”
“Oh, wow! That actually sounds fantastic!” Vanessa gushes.
“My first thought was just to elope. But it felt wrong to punish Mike’s parents just because mine are dealing with this bullshit. So, we figured if we made it just our parents, siblings, grandparents, and our best friends…” Smiling, she motions to us and then toward the beach to include Roxie. “That would be doable. Mike and I would pay for most of it ourselves, so that takes some of the pressure off, but everyone would be responsible for their own travel and accommodations cost. Is that wrong?”
“Are you kidding?” I ask. “That’s more than fair! And why not let your parents pay for it? This is clearly going to be less expensive than your original plans.”
“Because I don’t want them to have a say and tell me what I have to do or who I have to invite. This is my wedding, and I deserve to have the day be about Mike and me.” She looks at us both. “You don’t think I sound too selfish?”
“You’re the bride, Lolo,” Van reminds her. “If there’s one day in your life that you’re entitled to be selfish, it’s your wedding day. Do you know when you’re going to break the news to your parents?”
“Not until Mike and I book everything. Then we want to just present it all as a done deal. And if they want to be there, they can; if they don’t, then…that’s on them.”
“Wow, Lo,” I say. “I am seriously impressed. Well done.”
She blushes. “Thanks.”
“Okay, I need to share something too,” Vanessa blurts out. “And like you, I want to do it while Roxie’s not here.”
Uh-oh…I really don’t want this to become a trend.
“What’s going on?” Loren asks.
“Zayne and I want to move in together. He has a great house, but he’s ready for a change. And I haven’t been thrilled with my townhouse in a while, and we thought maybe we would buy a place together.”
You could have heard a pin drop.
“Say something. Please,” she urges.
“Weren’t we all just saying how it doesn’t matter how long you know someone? When you know, you know,” I remind her. “You’re not strangers. Over the years, you’ve spent enough time with each other that you know what the other’s like. And if you see this relationship as being…you know…the one, then I don’t see a problem with it.”
“Same,” Loren says. “I know Zayne’s talked about moving so much that Mike’s actually searched Zillow for him to nudge him along.”
