Beyond Promise (23 page)

Oh, no. Here it came. As if food would be my
friend during this time, I forked a few pieces of bruschetta on to
my plate and took a bite.

“That life is too short, and when everything
happened to Ayden, it made things crystal clear,” she continued.
“It brought things into perspective.”

“What things?” I could barely speak. I
needed backup, but Ayden was deep in conversation, and Gabby had
excused herself to go to the restroom.

“Sometimes no matter how much you want to
plan, life can do a one-eighty.”

“True.”

“Between my accident, Paris, and Ayden’s…”
she stopped herself and glanced at Aaron, but he was still deep in
conversation. “Basically, Aaron and I decided that we knew what we
wanted out of life.”

“And it wasn’t the same thing?”

Brandy’s eyes widened, and she shook her
head. “What? Why wouldn’t it be the same thing?”

I scowled unsure of why I thought it
wouldn’t be.

She leaned closer and whispered. “We got
married.”

My fork slipped out of my hand and clanged
against my plate. All eyes turned toward me and I grimaced at my
clumsiness.

“Sorry,” I said, beaming.

And to think I was worried they were going
to randomly break up!

Shame on me and shame on this cynical world
we live in!

Everyone went back to chatting and eating,
and Ayden placed his hand on my shoulder.

“You okay?”

“Yep. More than okay.”

He kissed my cheek and turned to answer a
question his brother tossed in his direction.

Brandy’s eyes were fastened on mine and I
shook my head.

What a stinker! A conniving stinker!

“When did you?” I tried to speak as
cryptically as possible.

“The day before the bachelor/bachelorette
party.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Nope.” The moment the secret was released
between us, her beautiful smile appeared, the one that been missing
recently, and now she was radiant.

“I’m so-so-so happy for you,” I whispered
the word happy.

“Thank you,” she mouthed.

“Does anyone know?” I asked, my voice
low.

She shook her head.

“I thought?” I angled my head.

“Our wedding is still planned for June.
Officially. I told my mom the date this morning on the plane.”

“Officially,” I muttered.

“Officially.” She winked, and it felt like
the weight of the world had been lifted.

Of course I wanted details and to hear the
why and when and how of everything, but the specifics would have to
wait until later or until tomorrow. And here I thought Ayden and I
were going to be the first to walk down the aisle.

“It makes sense,” I teased, a little louder
now.

“What does?” Brandy asked.

“That you’d beat me to the punch. Your
competitive streak is insane.”

“What can I say? I was raised by a
lawyer.”

Gabby came back to the table and crawled
onto the bench.

“What did I miss?” she asked.

“A ton. So much you won’t even believe
it.”

“Really?”

“Yep,” Brandy seconded.

I took another bite of the bruschetta, and
Brandy sipped on her martini as we both let Gabby hang a little
longer than necessary.

“Come on, tell me.”

“It’s a secret,” I whispered.

“It really isn’t a secret.” Gabby stared at
my stomach.

“Not that. It’s about Brandy.”

“She’s pre—” Gabby started to ask.

I shook my head. “Getting closer, but
no.”

Gabby looked between Brandy and me, her eyes
squinting as she settled her gaze on me.

“Are you gonna tell me or what?”

I leaned toward Gabby and whispered, “They
got married.”

Gabby gasped, and all heads swung to stare
at her.

“You girls are certainly active down there,”
Ayden’s uncle joked. “Sounds like one big revelation after the
next.”

“Just active imaginations.”

As the conch chowder was served and Ayden
had a moment’s peace, I leaned closer.

“Brandy and Aaron got married. That’s what
they’ve been hiding from us,” I whispered.

Ayden’s eyes grew huge.

“My own sister didn’t tell me?” He seemed
genuinely shocked and a little impressed.

“No one knows and they’re still forging
ahead with their summer wedding. We can’t tell a soul.”

“I thought they said they didn’t know when
they were getting married.”

“I think they were just caught off
guard.”

“And my parents don’t know?”

“Leave it to Brandy to get it done
quicker.”

“Give Lily a ginger beer,” Ayden’s dad told
the server.

I glanced at Ayden in horror. How would I
get out of drinking beer without looking rude to my future
father-in-law?

“It’s not real beer. It’s kind of like
ginger ale only stronger and more carbonated,” Ayden informed
me.

“Thank you,” I called across the table.

“It’s my new favorite drink,” his dad
replied.

“Speaking of favorites, this is the best
soup. Ever,” Gabby said, slurping up the chowder. I glanced down
and saw the red bean soup I’d mentioned a day earlier to Jenny. I
mouthed a thank you to her for remembering my shellfish dilemma.
The spiciness of the soup lit up my taste buds. We all quietly
enjoyed our chowder and soup. The server delivered the ginger beer,
which I took a giant gulp of and was pleasantly surprised. It had a
bite to it that I wasn’t expecting.

The evening went by quickly with lively
discussion and a few impromptu seated dance moves to entertain. By
the time dessert arrived, I couldn’t believe it was our moment to
announce the big news. As the servers delivered mango & pawpaw
mousse to each person, my anxiety level rose through the canopy.
Even though most knew our secret, Ayden’s parents didn’t. Or if
they did, they certainly didn’t let on. As everyone made moaning
sounds over the delicious dessert, Ayden wrapped his arm around me
and squeezed.

“Ready?” he whispered.

“Ready.”

He dinged his glass a few times interrupting
everyone’s euphoric mousse experience.

Once all eyes were on us, we both stood
up.

“If you’d all follow us out to the beach, we
have a little announcement we want to make.”

Gabby and Brandy couldn’t hold in their
smiles as they clutched their fiancé’s hands and got in line behind
us. Ayden’s dad came over to us and narrowed his eyes.

“Getting married tonight instead?”

I shook my head. “Nope.”

I motioned for everyone to follow us as we
walked slowly down the beach.

Candles guided our way until we hit a heart,
which was shaped by countless candles. We were far enough away no
one could tell what was piled inside the heart until Gabby and
Brandy walked up next to the flames and spotted the pink gift
bags.

Brandy let out a gleeful yelp and hugged her
mom, who looked clueless.

Ayden hugged me and kissed the top of my
head before he picked me up and lifted me over the candles and set
me down inside the giant heart where all the pink bags were
scattered. I began picking up each bag, reading the labels and
handing them out accordingly.

“Don’t even think about opening them up,”
Ayden warned.

Katie took the bag from Jason and began
tossing it around. My stomach tightened at the thought of the
contents spilling out, ruining the surprise so I handed the bags
out quicker.

“Okay, mom. If you could open your bag
first.”

Ayden’s mom couldn’t keep the grin off her
face as she opened the bag and pulled out the tiniest pair of pink
saltwater sandals available.

His mom yelped, and tears began running down
her face as the realization hit her that she was about to be a
grandma.

“Inside each bag, you’ll find a marker and a
different sized pair of saltwater sandals. Each pair of sandals
comes with a blank tag for a different stage of our daughter’s
life. You’ve all shaped our lives somehow and touched us in ways
that made it possible for us to deeply love and for that we can
never thank you enough. Our hope is that over the week, you’ll come
up with a bit of advice for our daughter for us to read to her as
the years go by. We’ve got eighteen pairs of sandals so not one
year goes by without some sort of sage advice. We’re also hoping
you’ll pack them in your own suitcase so we don’t have to bring
them back ourselves.”

The group chuckled as they dabbed away
tears, and I felt completely full of happiness.

“The pressure,” Jason said, rubbing his jaw
as Katie opened up the bag she snatched from Jason.

“And hopefully, her feet don’t grow past a
size nine because that’s the biggest size we bought,” I added.

“You’re not worried about big feet then from
Ayden’s side, I gather?” Aaron teased, as everyone laughed so hard
they cried.

Ayden’s mom and dad gave us a huge group
hug, and I was so happy to have finally revealed our secret. And I
knew I needed to tell Ayden about his friends before the wedding.
It wasn’t fair to keep him in the dark about what they faced when
we all got back home.

I woke up alone and that was how we planned
it. He had his room the night before, and I had mine. Extending my
arms toward the ceiling, my body arched into an unbelievable
stretch.

Today was the day!

The night before, I’d told Ayden about what
was going on with Viktor, and he unsurprisingly took it all in
stride, which was one of the many reasons I was marrying this man.
Nothing ever ruffled his feathers.

I reached over for my phone and turned off
the alarm before it rang its shrill morning reminder. I had set the
alarm in case I didn’t wake up, but not only did I wake up on my
own, I woke up early. I stood up from the bed and wandered toward
the balcony and opened up the double doors. The warm air swathed my
bare shoulders, and I took a deep breath in of the salty sea air
and let it out slowly. It was hard to resist traipsing down the
hall to Ayden’s room, but I was trying to abide by as many
traditional rules as possible…aside from some of the biggies.

It was so peaceful outside at this time of
morning. The ocean waves rolled into the beach, and birds hopped
from one tree to the next. A few hotel workers wandered the paths
and a couple of gardeners freshened up the flowerbeds. The island
air exuded calm, and I was determined to embrace the vibe—until I
turned back around and saw my wedding dress hanging on the closet
door.

I didn’t have time to be calm.

I was getting married!

I jumped up and fist pumped myself before
grabbing the remote and turning on some music to get me even more
excited.

I felt like a little wind-up doll as I
walked to the hotel phone. My body was zinging with anticipation
and excitement. I placed my room service order, hopped in the
shower, blow-dried my hair, changed into my “Mrs...” yoga outfit,
checked my email for our latest proofs on an ad set to drop in
three weeks, answered the door for my eggs benedict on wheels, ate
breakfast, watched a few minutes of cable news, steamed my veil,
laid out my jewelry, and shoes, and finally called Brandy and Gabby
to wake them up.

I grabbed my phone and despite my best
efforts to stop myself, I unzipped my “Mrs…” hoodie and pulled up
more pregnancy cleavage as I readied myself for a selfie. I grinned
into the lens and clicked the phone.

Miss me?

Within seconds Ayden texted back.

I think you have it in for me.

I unzipped my hoodie a tad more and took
another shot, sending it over to Ayden. This time I pouted my
lips.

Wish you were here

.

He texted back.

So do I…

I chuckled and left him hanging as Brandy
sent me a text.

Will be there in a few minutes. Grabbing a
bagel and lox. Need anything?

I texted back.

I had over-hard eggs benedict.

Ayden texted.

And the image almost dropped me to my knees.
My cheeks warmed as I zoomed into view this beautiful specimen of a
man. The bruising to his ribs had diminished, and seeing his
stomach literally made mine flutter.

I had to turn it up a notch so I unzipped my
hoodie completely and took a shot of my lace bra and my best
version of a sultry pose and sent him the shot with the
caption.

Bet you’re wishing you could…

A text returned.

Could what?

I glanced at the sender and nearly died. I’d
sent it to Brandy. How in the world did that work?

I texted back.

Nothing. Wrong person.

Determined to give Ayden a piece of his own
medicine. I re-sent the photo and this time changed the
caption.