“I almost forgot. This is from Dad. He said to give it to you when you made me go to bed.”
She practically throws it at me, before stalking back to her room. I nearly laugh when she reappears a few seconds later and throws her arms around me.
“I’m so happy you and Dad are getting married,” she says.
I kiss her on the cheek and smile sweetly at her.
“You’re still going to bed.”
“Seriously?” she says.
She shakes her head, before stalking off to her room in a huff for the third time in five minutes. I groan and shake my head, burying my face in my hands.
“And she’s not even a teenager yet,” I mutter. Becca giggles, which reminds me I’m still annoyed at her. “A stripper?”
“What she heard was me organizing an escort for the wedding,” Becca mumbles. Her face reddens.
“An escort?” I want to laugh, but she looks kind of serious.
She nods. “Well, not the kind that you have sex with. I just wanted someone to dance with and sit next to. All the shit you guys take for granted,” she adds, looking from Annie to me. “I didn’t want to be standing at your wedding, wishing I was in relationship,” she grumbles.
“Oh Becs,” I say. I wrap my arms around her. “I’m sorry if I’ve been making you feel left out.”
“No, it’s not you at all,” she protests. “It’s just…” she shrugs. “Well, I officially hate being single. But, enough about me. Let’s focus on you. And that rat of a kid,” she adds.
I laugh, because I know how much Becca adores Allie.
The truth is, the day I adopted Allie was the happiest of my life. After Luke and I returned from overseas, Allie came out to visit us every school break, until just over a year ago, when she told us she wanted to live with us permanently. We were thrilled, because Luke had just proposed, and Allie moving over to live with us was the icing on the cake. Luke and I had talked about adopting, but we’d decided that, for now at least, having Allie in our life was enough. I’d just completed my fellowship and was looking forward to continuing to work in Mercy’s fertility program and Luke was doing a specialist degree in children’s cardiology, so extending our family wasn’t something that was possible in the short-term future. As much as I loved our life and Allie, there was still something missing.
But all that changed the day she asked me to adopt her.
It was three months ago on the morning of my birthday. She presented me with a card she’d made herself and inside, she’d written a lovely message, asking me to adopt her. I was shocked, and Luke was too, because he had no idea she was even thinking about it. For her to want me to take on that role meant everything to me. I swallow, my eyes tearing up just thinking about it. I shake off everything else and focus on the package in front of me.
I start with the card attached to the gift, carefully unsealing it and sliding it out. I smile at image of two oldies on the front, hugging. I flip it open and read the message. And then I read it again, this time with a smile on my face.
Just in case you start freaking out (if I know you at all, it’s what you’re doing right now), open this to remind yourself how much I love you. I’ll see you tomorrow when you make me the happiest guy in the world by becoming my wife.
Love you,
Luke xx
I take a moment to reflect on how lucky I am, until Becca shoves me impatiently in the arm. I laugh and glare at her, rubbing the still stinging spot that she poked.
“Are you right?”
“I will be if you open the damn gift,” Becca says as she impatiently peers over my shoulder. “Isn’t it enough that you’re always so kissy kissy with each other? Now he’s gone one step closer into perfect man territory by buying you gifts?”
“At least you’re not bitter about it,” I joke with a smirk.
Her eyes widen as she claps her hand over her mouth.
“Oh god, I’m that person now, aren’t I?”
She walks around to the couch and flops down , while Annie and I laugh at her dramatics. I turn my attention back to my gift, carefully peeling away the paper, which reveals a small box, tightly wrapped in brown paper. Becca starts to laugh. I shake my head and smile as I tear into the paper. I open the box, expecting to find something I’d be glad I didn’t open in front of my mother, but instead I find…
I frown and pick it up. He got me a tee shirt? Could he be anymore random? I shake my head, not getting it—and then I turn it around and see the words that are scrawled across it.
The Girl in Cubicle Nine
I start laughing.
“Seriously, if you don’t marry him, he’s all mine.” Becca sputters, clutching her stomach as she laughs. “I love him, Loz. I legit love the guy.”
“What the heck is that supposed to be?” Annie frowns, nodding at the shirt. “Cubicle Nine? It sounds like a name of a really bad American sitcom.”
That makes us laugh even harder, because I can so see James Van der Beek starring in that. Annie looks like she’s going to blow her lid, as she would put it. I try to calm myself down enough to tell her the story, but it’s hopeless.
“Do one of you want to fill me in before I leave in a huff?” She speaks in her best, no nonsense, British accent.
“I hear Laura’s great at filling things in,” Becca falls on the floor, wheezing, she’s laughing so hard. “One Energizer and she’ll keep going all night. She’s a real bunny—”
“Oh, shut up,” I say, laughing.
“Okay, if someone doesn’t tell me what the bloody hell is going on…”
I look at Becca and motion for her to tell Annie, because I’m laughing too hard to speak. She nods and tries to compose herself. Her third attempt, she manages to get something out.
“Okay. So, you think that Laura and Luke met at your dinner party, right?”
Annie nods, looking even more confused.
“Well, that was their second meeting. Their first meeting was actually in the ER where Luke was working at the time.”
“What happened?” she asked, bewildered.
“Laura got a sex toy stuck up her clacker.”
“Clacker?” I repeat, giggling at her. “Vagina, Becs. Don’t be afraid of it. And there was a lot more to it than that—”
“You mean how you made me try and dig it out of your vagina?”
“It’s what a friend would do,” I protest, while poor Annie stares at us, both shocked and confused.
“I guess you Americans have a different idea of friendship, than us,” she mutters.
“Becca got me a voucher for an online sex toy shop. I picked the most innocent looking thing I could find. Long story short, it got stuck. So, I drove—”
“Last time I checked, I drove you there after you called me in a fit,” Becca cuts in.
“Sorry,” I say. “Becca drove me to an ER far enough away that nobody would know me.”
“And Luke was the doctor who saw to you,” Annie finishes.
I nod. She starts to giggle, until she’s clutching her stomach, doubled over nearly on the floor she’s laughing so hard. She shakes her head as tears roll down her cheeks.
“Oh my God, it just hit me how awful it must have been for you at that dinner party, walking in and seeing him sitting there.” She wipes her eyes. “Matt and I couldn’t for the life of us work out why you hated Luke so much when we thought he’d be perfect for you.”
“So, it was a set up?” I accuse her.
She rolls her eyes. “Of course, it was.”
I glare at her, my eyes narrowed, but I can’t be angry.
“The worst part was when Matt turned up on my doorstep, begging me to take Luke in, and made some offhanded comment about the girl in cubicle nine,” I say.
“Oh, he didn’t,” Annie says, laughing. “I would’ve died.”
“Trust me, I wanted to.”
I shake my head and stare at the shirt. This did exactly what he wanted it to. The panic is gone and all that’s l
eft is excitement about marrying such an amazing man. I’m not sure if it’s the laughing or just remembering how much we’ve been through together, but I can’t wait for tomorrow.
I get up and lean over, kissing Annie and then Becca.
“Thanks for staying with me tonight.”
“Thank your Mom for babysitting,” Annie says, holding up her glass. “I’ll do just about anything these days for a night off.”
“Now I feel extra special.” I grin.
“And you know nothing would stop me being here,” Becca says. She gets to her feet, throwing her arms around my neck. When she starts to sob onto my shoulder, I groan.
“Yep, you’ve definitely drank too much.”
#
The morning passes in a blur as we frantically rush to get ready. I thought getting up at five would give me plenty of time, but even that was pushing it. Wait, who was I kidding? I didn’t sleep at all. I sat on the couch for most of the night, thinking about Luke and how amazing he is.
I’m doing my best not to freak out about the fact that I’m about to walk down the aisle and marry the man of my dreams, but it’s hard. For so long, this was beyond anything I could have even let myself dream. A family inevitably leads to kids, which wasn’t in my future. But I guess it’s all about perspective. I have an amazing daughter, and after today, the three of us will finally be a family. I know this day means as much to Luke and Allie, as it does to me.
Allie walks out, wearing her beautiful dusky pink, raw silk bridesmaids dress.
“Maybe go and change into something that isn’t going to matter when it’s covered in makeup and hair product, rather than your five-hundred-dollar dress?” I grumble, pushing her back down to the bedroom.
“Sorry,” she says, rolling her eyes, like I’m being overdramatic. “You’re a real treat when you’re stressed, you know that?” she adds as she stalks inside and shuts the door.
“Laura, hair!”
Shit. I race back up to the front of the hotel suite, where the hairdresser is waiting for me. Mom walks over to me and kisses me on the cheek, then she leans down to hug me.
“You look stressed,” she smiles. “Just relax and enjoy this.”
“Thanks,” I say. Even my voice is shaking. “I just want it to be perfect, you know?”
“I know. And it will be. And you know what? All the little imperfections that do happen are what’s going to make it your day.”
I nod, because that’s a great way to look at it, but it’s unfortunately not making me stress any less.
“I’m going to head down to the chapel. I’ll see you down there in that beautiful dress of yours soon.”
She kisses me again, then smiles at Annie, who appears, looking stunning in her dress, her hair and makeup already done.
Becca’s laughter rips through my thoughts. I glance up, my eyes widening when I see Allie standing there. She changed, like I told her to, into a pair of sweatpants and a tee shirt…with Girl in Cubicle Nine scrawled across it. Oh shit. I jump up, not sure what to do. If I make a big deal of it then she’s going to want to know what’s going on. Allie frowns as she examines the front of the shirt, then looks at me.
“What is this?” she sneers. “Some crappy band from the seventies that Dad likes?”
“Yes.”
Becca nods, without missing a beat. It’s like she’s rehearsed this, or something. She walks over to us and winks at me. I give her a warning look, which she ignores. I know Becca, so I also know this isn’t going to go well.
“A very small, one-woman band. She only did the one show, but boy could she strum that instrument. There was a lot of screaming too, apparently.”
Allie frowns and furrows her brow, then shakes her head and stalks off to get her hair done.
“Weirdo’s”
I glare at Becca and Annie, who are both nearly in tears.
“Thanks,” I hiss to Becca.
“What?” she frowns. “I totally saved us from that disaster.”
With my hair and makeup done, I close my eyes and step into my dress, shivering as I pull it up over my body. I hold my breath as Becca zips me up, the bodice almost forming a second skin against my own. So long as I don’t want to breathe today, I’ll be fine. I turn around, my heart stopping when I see my reflection in the mirror.
Holy shit, is that me?
Becca stands behind me, her eyes teary.
“Why are you the one crying?” I tease her.
“Because you’re my best friend and I’m just really happy for you. I love you so much, Loz. You deserve all the great things.”
She wraps her arms around me, careful not to crush my dress. Then she takes a deep breath and fans her face, while I giggle. I thought I’d be the one falling apart, not her.
“We have to go.” Annie sticks her head in the door, looking panicked. “Matt said they’re starting to freak out down there because the celebrant is on a time crunch.”
“Okay.” I nod and take one last look at myself in the mirror, then I walk out.
I stand outside the small chapel and watch as Allie disappears inside, followed by Becca and then Annie. I’m shaking, I’m so nervous, and doing everything I can to remember to breathe so I don’t pass out halfway down.
“You look nervous.” I jump at the sound of Matt’s voice and turn to him and laugh. Nervous is an understatement. “You’ll be fine,” he adds, linking his arm through mine. “You can’t do any better than Luke.” He pauses for a moment. “Which could be taken as a good thing, or an insult.”
I shift anxiously on my feet, waiting to be given our cue. I peer through the door, freaking out a little bit when I see everyone.
“Laura, are you ready?”
I look back and see the coordinator nodding at me. I smile at her and nod, then squeeze Matt’s hand. Lifting the hem of my dress so I don’t trip, I make my way down the aisle, with Matt by my side. Dad would’ve loved this. I hate that he couldn’t be here to walk me down that aisle, but if it had to be anyone else, I’m glad it’s Matt. I swallow back tears, because I miss Dad so much. Only I can’t cry, because once I start, I won’t be able to stop.
Lifting my head, I smile when I see Luke standing at the end of the aisle, waiting for me. My whole body shakes. I don’t think I can do this. Then I lift my head and my eyes meet his. In that one, tiny moment, everything is perfect.
Nothing else matters, so long as I have him. Every step leads me closer to the one thing I’m certain of, my love for Luke. I stand next to him, my heart pounding when he wraps his hands around mine. Tiny shockwaves race up my arm, the same way they did that very first time he touched me—although that could have been the small, buzzing device I’d managed to lodge inside me. Either way, a tingle is a tingle. I look up into his eyes and smile.
“You look stunning,” he whispers, his eyes twinkling. “Did you get my present?”
I nod slightly. “Or at least, your daughter did.”
“What?” he asks, confused.
“She was wearing the shirt this morning,” I mutter. “She thought it was one of your shitty bands.” I bow my head and stifle a giggle.
“Oh no.” The color drains from his face. “How did you explain that?”
“With great difficulty, thanks to Becca,” I admit.
“Typical Becca.” He chuckles. “I got my own shock today too, and it’s sitting in the front row.”
I turn my head slightly, my eyes widening when I see the very proper looking woman who is sitting next to Matt.
“Your mom?” I ask softly. He nods, but I can’t work out whether this is a good thing, or not. “Holy shit.”
The celebrant clears his throat and raises his eyebrows at us, looking very unimpressed.
Matt makes a face as our guests chuckle.
“I think that was a subtle hint that we should probably stop talking now and get married.”
I nod and smile.
“Okay, but only so I get to kiss you.”
THE END
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It’s Complicated (Awkward Love #1)
Chapter One
Anna
“Nick Jenson?”
I stiffen and slouch a little bit lower into my seat as I listen in on a conversation that I know I probably shouldn’t be overhearing. Elsa, my design professor, and the college librarian, Ms. Vincent, are deep in conversation, huddled in the row behind the reference books. Dying to know why they’re talking about Nick, I quietly rise from my seat and busy myself in the row directly behind them, crouching down so they don’t see me.
“Yes,” Ms. Vincent says, her voice hushed and full of excitement. “Mallory Henderson saw his profile on a dating site. She went out with him, and…” She giggles, dropping her voice a few notches lower. “Well, do I really need to say it?”
“When you begin by telling me that Mallory ended up in hospital, yes, you do need to spell it out for me,” Elsa retorts, becoming increasingly frustrated. “What happened?”
For the love of God, just spit it out. I’m getting sore knees from couching down, but I have to know what happened because this isn’t the first conversation I’d overheard about Nick. It seems everyone is talking about him.
Nick is the thirty-something-year-old single dad of two young kids, who’s lived next door to me for the last seven years. His wife died two years ago of a rare form of bone cancer, leaving him to raise eight-year-old Milly and ten-year-old Max alone. He’s a great dad, and full credit to him, those two kids are amazing little humans.
I knew that he had recently started dating again, and to be honest, I admired his ability to put himself out there again. The problem was, women talk. A lot. So, after one or two first dates that progressed a little further than most respectable women would usually allow, suddenly Nick Jensen is hot property.
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