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)
I hadn’t seen him in a couple of hours, so I grabbed the photo book and went to find him. It turned out he was in his office, lost in thought and staring out the window. I wondered what was on his mind.
While I was hovering in the doorway and trying to decide if I should interrupt him, he snapped back to the present and noticed me standing there. His face lit up with a smile, and he said, “Hi, Em. What’s up?”
“I have something for you.” I crossed the room and placed the book on his desk as I explained, “That’s to take along when we visit your family. I thought it would help us sell the whole married and in love thing.”
He ran his hand over the glossy cover and murmured, “Good idea,” but he didn’t open it.
“There’s one more thing. Remember when you refused to let me return that money to petty cash?”
“The money you earned by selling those wreaths? Yeah, I remember.”
“I said I was going to spend it on something for both of us, so would you like to go to a Christmas concert tonight? I know it’s short notice. I actually bought the tickets a few days ago, and I was going to surprise you. But then I thought, what if you hated the idea? So, I’m asking instead of springing it on you.”
“I’d love to go. Thank you.”
“Awesome! It’s at eight, and it’s just a few blocks from here. I thought maybe we could walk over.”
He nodded and pushed his chair back from his desk. “In that case, I’d better get dinner going.”
I followed him into the kitchen, took my seat on the barstool, and watched him work his magic. He was humoring me by making spaghetti empanadas again, because I’d loved them so much the first time.
Bryson was quiet during the meal, and afterwards as we cleaned up together. Later on, we got changed and met up in the foyer, and I murmured, “Wow, you look great.” He’d put on black dress pants and a royal blue sweater, along with a black wool overcoat that made him look elegant and sophisticated.
He was obviously just being polite when he told me I looked great, too. I was wearing my best pair of jeans, a button-down shirt, and a puffy ski jacket, and I probably looked like a dork.
On our walk to the concert venue, I asked, “Are you nervous about seeing your family in a couple of days?” I figured that might have been why he’d been so quiet.
“I’m dreading it on multiple levels,” he admitted. “This time, there’s the added pressure of convincing them we’re a real couple, but it’s always pretty disheartening. First, there’s my grandfather, who treats me like I’m still a kid. He offers way too much unsolicited advice on every aspect of my life, and while I know it comes from a place of love, it’s like he thinks I’m completely incompetent.”
“I can see how that’d be annoying.”
“It is, and there’s more. Most of my cousins are obnoxious, but worst of all is my brother, Fallon. He’s a bitter, angry person, and he takes that out on me while blatantly sucking up to our grandfather, in the hopes of getting a bigger piece of the inheritance pie. Also, Fallon and his wife are usually arguing, which casts a cloud over everything.”
“I’m sorry you have to deal with that.”
He glanced at me as we stopped at an intersection and waited for the light to change. “I’m used to it. What’s bothering me is that you have to deal with it. You love Christmas more than anyone I’ve ever met, and I wish I could give you the perfect holiday. Instead, I’m making you deal with my dysfunctional family.”
I touched his sleeve and said, “I’m glad I’m going with you, because it sounds like you need someone in your corner. Plus, you have an easy out this time. Whenever you want a break from your family, we can play the horny honeymooner card and tell them we want some time to ourselves. They can’t say no to that.”
That made him grin. “True.”
As the light changed and we stepped off the curb, I asked, “Do they know you’re bringing me?”
“He always calls me on my birthday, so I’m telling my grandfather tomorrow. I want him to hear it before the rest of the family. I also want to give him a day to absorb the news that I eloped, and that I married a man.”
“What are you going to say when he asks why you got married two weeks ago, but you’re only telling him now?”
“I’ll tell him I wanted you all to myself during our first couple of weeks as a married couple. What else can I say? The truth is that you and I needed time to get to know each other, and to get comfortable with this whole thing. He would have shown up on our doorstep and wanted to meet you immediately, and we weren’t ready.”