“SO, HOW DID you and my brother meet? I don’t think I ever heard that story.”
It was the night before my wedding, and all the ladies were hanging out at my place. Cade’s mom, me, Alani, and Lena were sleeping there, and Carmen, Bea, Shannon, Cynthia, Clarice, and Amy May were all hanging out.
We’d ordered pizza, which had been devoured hours ago, and were drinking wine, champagne, and mimosas.
Even Alani had been allowed a mimosa. I’d only given Lena a sip, which had earned me the stank eye, but I was okay with that.
I’d only had one slice of pizza and a glass of wine, since I had a wedding dress to fit into the next day, and I didn’t want to be bloated or hungover.
“Oh, I remember that day,” Amy May said with a giggle. She, of course, had abstained, but that didn’t damper her celebratory mood. She was so excited you’d think she was marrying Cade instead of me. “All of a sudden Lila comes pulling up in front of the bakery on the back of a motorcycle, behind the hottest man I’d ever seen . . . sorry, Jason, although he says the same thing . . . anyway, she gets off the bike, looking at Cade like he’d been sent from above, then blew me a kiss and took off, leaving me hanging.”
Bea laughed, and added, “I saw them out in Cade’s truck the night of their first date, and I had no idea they even knew each other. The whole town was abuzz because the resident loner bad boy had gone out on a date and all I could do was worry that Lila was in over her head. I met up with her the next day to warn her off of him, but she wouldn’t hear it. I think she knew even then that what they had was special, it just took me a little longer to see it.”
“Aww,” I said, getting misty when she gave me a pat on the knee.
“What about you, Carmen, were you surprised?” Cade’s mom asked, her eyes a little glassy from the champagne. “My boy has always been a hard one to tie down.”
“Oh, Cade actually came before me. I met Lila after she was already seeing him, but I could tell right away that they were perfect for each other,” Carmen said.
Man, these women are making me weepy.
“One of my favorite memories of him, though, is when Lila and I were at a bar trying to get a lead on a murderer, and we were dressed a little scandalously . . . Cade came strolling in, grabbed the bookie we were trying to talk to by the throat, and threw him outside. That’s the night Lila got her first . . .”
“Hey!” I yelled before Carmen could finish that sentence.
I looked pointedly at Lena and Alani, who were sitting next to each other listening with ears wide open.
Carmen covered her mouth guiltily, but a giggle escaped.
Looked like I needed to shoot Bran a text to pick her up. No way she was driving home.
“Let’s keep the memories PG, please,” I said with a laugh.
“How about the time you made him go tubing with us in the river, and you almost drown,” Amy May said.
“Or, how after your first kiss you fell out of his truck,” Shannon added. “I love that story.”
“I like the one when they were in Hawaii and Lila’s back got cut up from the coral,” Carmen said, then slapped her hand over her mouth again and mumbled, “Sorry,” as she looked at the girls.
“My favorite is when Cade took you to meet his brothers, and you found out his VP was the guy we’d cornered in the bathroom and told off.”
“God,” I said, looking around the room at everyone, “I can’t believe he’s marrying me. I’m a pain in the ass.”
Everyone laughed.
“Cade needs a woman who can keep up with him and never let him get bored. I think he found that in you,” Cade’s mom said, then put her arm around Lena and added, “And so much more.”
Dang, my throat was getting scratchy.
“I remember the first time I saw Cade,” Lena said softly, basking in Mama’s love.
“Yeah, when was that?” she asked.
“Mom took us to the cabin to meet him, and he and Rufus were waiting for us outside. He looked so big, like what you think a mountain man would look like, but he wasn’t scary. His eyes were nice and he was smiling at my mom like she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. And, when he talked to Elin and I, you could tell he was really listening. Like he cared what we had to say, and he wasn’t just around us to get close to my mom. I liked that.”
“Oh, precious girl,” Cade’s mom said, her eyes filling as she kissed my daughter on the forehead.
I wiped my own wet cheeks and cleared my throat.
“He loves you guys,” I told Lena softly.
She nodded, and I knew she’d already known, because Cade was very good at showing them his love every chance he got.
I looked around the room at my friends, who all looked as touched by Lena’s story as I was, and said, “I think I’d better go to bed. Any more memories and my eyes will be all puffy in the morning. Thanks so much for coming and being with me tonight. I’ll see you all in the morning . . . at my wedding!”
Everyone started clapping and cheering, then began to rise and we all started cleaning up.
I said goodbye to everyone, told Amy May I couldn’t wait to see the cake the next day, and closed the door with a sigh when the last person left.
“Want to lay in my bed and watch a movie until I fall asleep?” I asked Mom, Alani, and Lena.
“Yeah,” they all agreed, so we went upstairs to get ready for bed and try and calm down enough to fall asleep.