Found (Lost & Found #2) - Scarlett Finn Page 0,107
but Turner just laughed and kissed her. “I know you’re sure about us, I meant the party. If we do something quick and simple, you might regret it later.”
Playing it coy, Poppy avoided eye contact. “If we really want a big party in a year or two, we can have one. I just want to know we’re making progress, that we’re serious about this… But if you really don’t want to—”
“I want to get married,” he said and exhaled. “I just think we could enjoy living together for a while before we decide how we want to do it.” His next kiss was longer and slower. When their lips parted, he stood up. “We have forever, Candy. We don’t have to rush it.”
Oh no. Icicles of dread prickled her all over. As he walked away from the bed, she sat up, wide-eyed and worried. The flowers. The cake… the kids! They’d been told a wedding was happening; they’d never be able to keep her humiliating secret. What kind of a woman arranged the whole wedding without even giving the groom the date?
The short huff of his breath caught her attention and she looked up to find him at the end of the bed, frowning at her. “It means that much to you?” he asked. “You’ve got a look on your face like I just told you I’m sleeping with your best friend.”
Her best friend was his sister, so that was one thing Poppy could be sure he’d never confess. “I was just excited,” she said, though it was only half the truth. “I really want to be married to you.”
“You’re thinking the longer we wait, the longer it will take us to start a family.”
That wasn’t her primary concern, but she’d let him run with it. “I wouldn’t ever force you into anything.”
“Can’t you do it online?”
“I filled out the application already,” she admitted. “But we have to go down there to show ID and sign it… And we have to pay our sixty bucks.”
“I used the last of my cash at a gas station on the way back. We’d have to stop at an ATM.”
Thrilled, Poppy was relieved and excited all at once. “You mean it? We can do it?”
“Yes,” he said, laughing at her as she leaped up out of bed to rush to him. “Okay, stop flaunting that body in front of me and get it in the shower before we run out of time to do anything today.”
“Okay,” Poppy said, sliding both hands down his face to tempt him lower for a kiss. “I love you.”
“Uh huh. Shower.”
Their future was beginning. Sooner than he thought it would, apparently, but Poppy would take the flack for her enthusiasm. She fled her sister’s wedding without any idea she’d be next down the aisle. Providing all went to plan, of course.
THIRTY-THREE
On the roof. Why had Poppy thought getting married on the roof of the Venture was a good idea? The weather was beautiful and their temporary marquee was doing its job. Thank goodness Ritchie had known what he was doing or she’d have floundered for sure.
Ritchie was their point man. The one they were waiting for word from. He was late. They were late.
At the end of the aisle closest to the roof access door, Poppy was trying not to panic, trying not to pace. The kids were dressed up, running around, having a great time. Primrose and Preston were canoodling. Everyone was in good spirits… everyone except her.
Second guessing herself, Poppy doubted her conviction. Coming up with the idea of a surprise wedding had maybe been more infernal than inspired.
“He’ll be here.”
That sly, yet confident voice belonged to Grammie. She’d been loitering nearby in between bouts of laughing with the children and whispering with Val. The two women had a lot in common, so it was no surprise that they’d become friends. Poppy just couldn’t figure out why everyone was so calm.
“Ritchie was supposed to have him here twenty minutes ago,” Poppy said, still fixated on the door. “Do you think he figured it out?”
Grammie came into her peripheral view. “If he figured it out, he’d be here already.”
The only one who’d be able to help Poppy if everything fell apart was her Grammie. “Maybe he figured it out and decided he didn’t want to do it like this.”
“He loves you,” Grammie said, rubbing her granddaughter’s arm. Poppy couldn’t say she was all that happy with the amusement in her grandmother’s voice. “He wants to marry you.”