Four Weddings and a Swamp Boat Tour - Erin Nicholas Page 0,52
this to some extent.
It was big. It was important. It mattered to a lot of people.
Which was why it wasn’t something to be done lightly or until both people were sure to their bones that it was the right choice.
“Well, if we did have just one big wedding, we’d have to move our date,” Tori said.
“Yeah, you couldn’t do that,” Juliet said.
Tori frowned. “Of course we could.”
“But you and Josh met on Mardi Gras. You have to get married on Mardi Gras.”
Tori shook her head. “I was thinking about that the other day when I was realizing that the plantation is such a bad fit.” She sighed. “We met on Mardi Gras, but when we tried to reconnect the next year, it didn’t work. What really mattered was the next day when I came down here to find him. When I put myself out there again, for the first time in years, for someone. And then when I came after him after Andrew’s wedding. Each time I made the big gesture was on the dock. The dock was the place where it really started.”
Maddie and Juliet both nodded.
“I guess that’s true,” Juliet said.
“So you’d move your date? Really?” Maddie asked.
“I would.” Tori nodded. “I love you girls so much.” Tori sniffed and gave them all a wobbly smile. “And the guys would love to share their day the way they’ve shared every other big thing in their lives.”
“We love you too,” Juliet said.
“We do,” Maddie agreed. “But are you sure your dress will still fit if we bump your wedding date back a month or two?”
“Why wouldn’t it?” Juliet asked.
“Well, she’ll be further along in the pregnancy by then,” Maddie said.
Tori gasped.
Paige felt her eyes go wide.
Juliet sat up straighter. “What?” she demanded.
“Right?” Maddie asked Tori.
“How…how did you know?” Tori asked.
Now both Juliet and Paige gasped.
“You’re pregnant?” Juliet asked.
“Shhh!” Tori cast a look to where Ellie and Cora were both working behind the bar.
“So no one knows?” Maddie asked.
Tori shook her head. “We just found out.”
“How did you know?” Paige asked Maddie.
Maddie smiled. “Tori isn’t usually a weeping mess. And she hasn’t been into the wedding planning thing from the beginning, but she’s been handling it.”
It wasn’t hard for Paige to imagine that Tori wasn’t that interested in wedding details like flowers and cakes and bridesmaid dress colors. She was a large animal vet. She spent her days with her hands in places that a lot of people didn’t even want to think about, not to mention touch. She was an animal-crazy sweetheart, but Paige was sure she’d spent more time as a kid playing outside in the dirt with kittens and ducks and cows than she had with dressing up dolls or having pretend weddings.
Tori took a deep breath. “It was, obviously, not a planned thing.”
“But you’re happy?” Paige asked.
Tori’s face brightened immediately, and her smile was huge. “Yes. I mean, now that it’s sinking in. I’d never thought that much about being a mom, but yeah, Josh and I had talked about starting a family, and now…” She sighed, but this was a happy sound. “Yeah, I’m happy. And Josh is over the moon.”
Paige felt the crazy urge to grab her friend into a big hug. Tori seemed a little dazed, but also genuinely happy, and Paige had seen her caring for enough animals to know that she was going to be an amazing mom.
“How are you feeling?” Juliet asked. “Other than emotional?” She gave Tori an affectionate smile.
“Good. Mostly. I’m a little nauseous at times, and I get tired at the end of the day,” Tori said. “But mostly good. I’m only about seven weeks along. So, I’m sure that could all change. And Griffin is going to be mad.”
Paige frowned. “Why is Griffin going to be mad?” The guy was clearly a grump, but what did Josh and Tori having a baby have to do with him?
“He’ll have to take over more of the practice,” Tori said. “At least, for a while after I have the baby. And I might want to be home more. I’ll miss the animals, so I won’t ever not practice, but the beauty of what I do is that I can do it part-time on a flexible schedule. And I have lots of babysitters around here.” She grinned at the other two women. “But he’ll have to pick up more of the schedule.”
“Oh, Griffin would love to do more.”
Tori, Maddie, and Juliet all looked at Paige with surprise.