“Not in the way you still hope,” she amended.
“He nurtures every part of me except for my heart and body,” I explained, motioning at the house. “He buys me everything I could ever want or need.”
“But what you truly want and need isn’t something he can buy.”
“He can only offer it,” I agreed. “And he hasn’t offered it, so I carry on this pathetic phony fairy tale because I have no other alternative.”
“The thing is, you do have alternatives. You have a degree. You’re hirable. We’d hire you immediately if we thought for one second we could wrench you away from Mathias. We just know that will never happen. You’re not living in a phony fairy tale, Honey. You’re stuck in a circumstance not of your making. He knows how you feel about him, but you can’t make him tell you how he feels until he is sure about it himself, so please give him time. What I see in his eyes when he looks at you is the same thing I see in Gulliver’s eyes when he looks at me.”
I rolled my eyes to the ceiling, and she snapped her fingers in front of my face until I looked at her again. “I’m not kidding. I’ve seen it for a year now, and I know if the two of you could open some line of communication, you might be able to better define how you’re both feeling.”
“I doubt that’s ever going to happen.” I sighed, pushing myself up from the seat. “I suppose you have to get back to the office.”
She jumped off the swing and put her arm around my waist. “I do, but first I want to ask you something.” She walked with me toward the front of the house, and I jumped in before she could ask.
“If you’re wondering about me coming back to the office, I—”
She shook her head. “Nope, I realize that ship sailed right out of the harbor two weeks ago. I know you’re staying with Mathias, at least for work.”
“For now,” I agreed.
“Good, then the reason I came out here was to ask if you’d be my maid of honor at our wedding.”
I almost tripped on my feet as I came to an abrupt halt. “You want me to be your maid of honor?”
She spun slowly and took my hands. “I do. You’re my best friend, Honey, and I want you standing up there by my side. You don’t have to get a fancy dress or anything. We’re having an outdoor wedding, so a sundress is fine. Please?”
I grabbed her in a hug and squeezed her tightly. “I’d be honored,” I whispered. “Thank you for asking me.”
She rubbed my back a couple of times, and when she pulled away, she had tears in her eyes. “No, thank you. I don’t have any family, but I’ve never felt alone until I started planning a wedding. Suddenly I was so thankful I had you in my life. Gulliver’s brother is going to be the best man.”
I let out a breath of relief. “Good, at least I don’t have to walk down the aisle with Mathias and dance with him all night.”
She tossed her head back and laughed hysterically, her cackle making me break into giggles too. “Oh, yeah, whatever you do, don’t get Mathias cooties!”
I grabbed her hand and directed her toward the kitchen. “Let’s get some lemonade while you tell me where you’re getting married. Outside where?” I asked, opening the fridge.
“Behind Butterfly Junction,” she answered when I set a glass in front of her.
“Because it’s such a meaningful place for you? I figured you’d choose Laverne’s campground or one of the Apostle Islands.”
She shook her finger at me. “We tossed around getting married on the strip of sand where we were stranded on Hermit Island, but you just can’t trust the weather around here.”
I snickered at the memory. When Charity and Gulliver went on their first date, they were stranded on an Apostle Island, an uninhabited one, for the night. The guys who were after the pesticide formula had tampered with their boat motor, and it wasn’t until the next morning that they could be rescued from the island. They were lucky Gulliver knew what he was doing, or they would have beached the boat on the rocks and sank it long before they got to safety.
“You’re right, that’s probably not the best idea. Your guests might not appreciate getting stranded the way you two did. When is the wedding? I thought you were going to wait a bit longer.”
“We were going to wait, but decided for what reason? We’re living together already, so we might as well make it legal. I wanted a summer wedding, but since all the venues are booked, Butterfly Junction it is.”
“What if I said I had a better idea?” My brow was up in the air while I waited for her answer.
She set her glass down on the table. “I would listen.”
I grabbed her hand and ran for the front door. “Let me show you instead!”
CHAPTER 9
“Honeybee!” Mathias called when he came in the door.
