Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 78634 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78634 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
“No, of course,” Embry interrupted. “We know for a fact this is ending in divorce, or annulment, or whatever. You’d have to be nuts not to protect your assets.”
“Thanks for understanding.” I’d thought that might be awkward, so it was nice that he took it in stride. “Now, let’s talk about the wedding ceremony.”
Embry perked up at that. “I did some research this afternoon. At first, I thought we should get married at City Hall, but it’s booked for the next few weeks. I guess it’s in demand because it’s such a beautiful, historic building.” He took a sip of soda and added, “Getting married locally might be a bad idea anyway, since your grandfather would probably expect us to invite him to the ceremony—assuming he lives here in San Francisco.”
“He lives close by, in Marin County. You’re right, he’d definitely expect an invitation, but I don’t think we’d be ready to try to sell him on our relationship.”
Embry nodded. “Exactly.”
“Actually, now that I think about it, I don’t even want to tell him about you for the next couple of weeks. As soon as I do, he’ll want to meet you, and we need some time to get to know each other and get our stories straight.”
“Right. So, maybe we should ‘spontaneously’ run off to Las Vegas and elope. That way, we wouldn’t be expected to include him.”
I asked him, “Are you sure you want to go that far?” The real question was whether he was okay with the idea of traveling with me, since we barely knew each other.
“We’re trying to make this seem authentic, and it’s what I would do if I was really getting married. There are all sorts of fun, themed wedding venues, like Elvis, of course. That’s a classic. But you can also have a vampire-themed wedding, or gangsters, or disco, or a bunch of other ones.”
“Pick whatever sounds best to you.”
Hal, who was curled up in a club chair with the dog on his lap, chimed in with, “Is your grandfather really going to buy it if you show him pictures of yourself and Embry getting married under a disco ball, while dressed in bell bottoms and platform shoes?”
“The marriage license we’ll end up with is undeniably real, so the rest probably doesn’t matter all that much.” After mulling it over for a few moments, I added, “Actually, since I’m trying to get him to believe I ran off and married not just a man but someone I barely know, the wacky Vegas wedding thing fits. Maybe as a whole, it’ll come across as a massive midlife crisis or something.”
Hal nodded. “In a way, it makes sense.”
Embry glanced at me hopefully. “I’ve never been to Las Vegas, so it might be fun to spend an extra day there and see the sights. What do you think?”
“Sure. How about if we go this Friday and come back on Sunday?” I was willing to agree to just about anything at this point, as long as we kept moving forward.
He flashed me a big smile. “Perfect.”
I turned to his friends and told them, “If any of you want to come along for moral support, I’ll pay for your airfare and a hotel room.” I figured that would make Embry more comfortable than travelling alone with me.
“I’m in,” Vee said.
Hal nodded. “Me, too.”
Both couples had plans, so they declined. “We’ll watch Dusty, though,” JoJo said.
Embry asked me, “Are you going to bring some friends along?”
“Oh. Um, no. Best to keep this simple.” I wouldn’t have minded telling Embry I didn’t have any close friends, only acquaintances and colleagues. But I didn’t want to admit it to everyone else.
“Okay. Then I guess we’re set.”
“I’ll book the flight and hotel this afternoon,” I said, “and I’ll text you with the details.”
“Thanks, Bryson.” Embry stood up, and Hal handed him his dog. “I guess that’s everything, so we should let you get back to your day.” His friends said goodbye before starting to head for the door, but Embry hung back and told them, “I’ll meet you outside in a minute.”
Once we were alone, he said, “I wanted to check in with you when we didn’t have an audience. Are you alright?”
“Sure. Why do you ask?”
“You seem kind of stressed out.”
“I’m fine.”
“It’s okay if you’re not.”
After a pause, I admitted, “I’m worried about being able to pull this off. There’s so much at stake, and without that money—well, you know.”
“I do. Also, I didn’t mean to put pressure on you. We don’t have to go to Las Vegas if it’s too expensive, and I don’t need such a big amount every month if you can’t afford it.”
“No, it’s fine. I made sure to keep enough money to live comfortably for a year, after I liquidated my restaurant’s assets and paid down my debts. That’s why I’m not scrambling to find a job in someone else’s kitchen. I wanted to allow myself the time to plan out every detail of my next restaurant.”