Own the Eights Gets Married - Krista Sandor Page 0,66

as a grin spread across his face at the mention of the girl.

Jordan shared a look with Esther, and she gave him a conspiratorial wink.

“Look at the time! You need to get going!” the woman said, pointing at the clock on the wall.

Simon’s gaze bounced between them, then landed on his grandmother. “Are you sure?”

She waved him off. “Yes, and it’s not like I won’t be able to watch. You set up my laptop so I can ride the web.”

“It’s surf the web, Gram. And yes, I’ve got the CityBeat site bookmarked for you,” Simon answered, retrieving the laptop from a bag on the floor and setting it on the bedside table.

“There you go! Now, give me a hug,” she replied, folding her grandson into her embrace.

Jordan followed Georgie to the door to give Simon and Esther some privacy to say their goodbyes.

“Does Simon know?” Georgie asked under her breath.

“Know what?” he murmured back.

“That we…” she began but stopped when Simon joined them.

He held her gaze, but he couldn’t read her. What was she saying? Did Simon suspect they were living apart or that their wedding may or may not take place in the next handful of hours?

With one last wave to Esther, the three of them left the room and rode the elevator down to the first floor.

“Where’d you guys park?” Simon asked as they walked out the sliding doors into the fresh morning air.

He and Georgie spoke at once, with her pointing in one direction and him in another.

The boy frowned. “You guys didn’t come together?”

Jordan threw Georgie a worried glance. “No, we didn’t, but that’s because—”

“I had a few errands to run this morning,” she finished.

“Okay,” Simon answered, not sounding convinced.

Jordan gave the kid his best fake grin. “Let’s take my car.”

“Is everything okay?” the boy asked.

“Yes,” he and Georgie answered in the same rah-rah, go-team-go voice.

“Are you guys feeling okay?” Simon pressed.

“Yes,” they answered again, channeling a deranged cheer squad.

“I bet you’re excited for today,” Simon continued as they walked to the car.

“Sure! We couldn’t have gotten better weather for the race,” Georgie answered with an expression as fake as his.

“No, I mean for your wedding?” Simon said, getting into the back seat as they buckled their belts in the front.

“We sure—” he began, not knowing what the hell to say when Georgie interrupted.

“Let’s focus on one thing at a time, Simon. Do you need to stretch? Do you want to take another look at the sonnet? I can pull it up on my phone,” she offered, still sporting that plastic grin.

Simon perked up. “No, I think I’m as ready as I’ll ever be, and you guys should use the sonnet today, too.”

“For what?” Jordan asked, merging into traffic for the short drive to the community center.

“The wedding! The sonnet is all about what love is and what it isn’t. It would be perfect for you! But you probably already know that since you were the ones who recommended it,” Simon replied.

Jordan glanced over to where Georgie was twisting the cuff of her hoodie.

“I don’t have it memorized like you do, Simon,” Georgie answered with a nervous laugh.

“Mr. Marks probably does. He’s listened to me recite it a million times,” the teen countered.

“Let’s focus on you, champ,” Jordan said, catching the boy’s eye in the rearview mirror.

“You guys aren’t in a fight, are you?” Simon asked as the worry returned to his face.

“No, it’s nothing like that,” Georgie answered.

Simon leaned forward and pressed his elbows to his knees. “You guys haven’t been hanging out at the bookshop very much these last couple weeks.”

Shit! The last thing he wanted to do was upset Simon.

“It’s been a busy time with the Shakespeare Shuffle and…” Georgie began, her eyes begging him to help her out.

“And everything else going on with us,” he finished.

Jesus! Could neither of them even say the word wedding?

The teen gave them an unconvinced half nod.

Simon looked up to him and Georgie just as he’d looked up to Maureen and Deacon all those years ago before Deacon lost his way. And there was no way in hell he was about to let Simon think he didn’t love and respect Georgie. He swallowed hard, trying to come up with something encouraging to say when Georgie placed her hand over his.

“We’re going to be okay,” she said, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“We are?” he answered in a cracked voice, not meaning for it to come out as a question.

“I hope so,” she said, blinking back tears.

He threaded his