Page 36 of Wish For Me

Everly is staring at me like I’m a complete stranger. “I’m sorry, are you insane?” She finally blurts out.

“Lele—”

“No,” she growls, her voice more fierce than I think I’ve ever heard it. “We’re notpostponing. Absolutely not. We’re getting married on New Year’s.”

“Baby—”

“Don’t you baby me, Bodhi Lakra,” she snaps. “We planned this. To go into the new year as husband and wife. We said we weren’t going to start another year without being a family.”

A lump comes to my throat. “I know, Lele,” I say roughly. “But I don’t see what choice we have.”

“The choice we have is to not have the wedding,” she spits out. “But that doesn’t mean we don’t get married. Not getting married is not an option.”

“I don’t understand.”

“We’ll go to a damn courthouse if we have to,” she says. “I’m upset because we’re not going to have the wedding we planned, but I’m not even thinking about not getting married. Or getting married later.” She glares at me. “I’m going to be your wife on New Years Eve.”

Good god, could I love this woman any more? I take her face between my hands, bringing our foreheads close.

“I want you to have the wedding you dreamed of, the wedding you spent all this time planning. If I need to wait a while longer so you can have that, I will.” I really don’t want to—sometimes it feels like I’ve been waiting to marry her my whole life—but I will. For Everly, I will.

“We’re getting married on New Year’s,” she says firmly. “No matter what.” She turns to Alex, Fox, Karen, and her parents. “So we’re just going to have to come up with another plan.”

Paige wipes at her eyes, apparently moved by the moment Everly and I just shared. I don’t blame her—I’m feeling a little weepy myself. “You could always get married now and have the party later.”

“That’s true,” Alex says eagerly. “You could do the courthouse now so that you’re officially married. And then throw a huge bash down the line.”

“Even bigger and more spectacular than what you planned,” Karen offers.

Everly chews on her lip, thinking that over. “I don’t think we’d be able to fit all of the family in a courtroom,” she says. “And there’s no way I’m getting married without our family.”

“You could do something small at a restaurant, like Wyatt and I did,” Alex suggests. “Though it might be hard to find a place on New Year’s.”

“We’re also talking about way more people,” I point out. “You and Wyatt pretty much shared a guest list.” Alex might not be technically related to the Ransomes, but these people are just as much her family as they are Wyatt’s.

“Bodhi’s family is almost as big as ours,” Everly says. “But maybe we’d all fit at your house?” she asks her mom, her face getting sad all over again. “We probably couldn’t do a big meal or dancing, but at least they’d be with us to say our vows.”

Everly’s dad clears his throat. He’s the only person in the room who hasn’t spoken yet. He’s staring hard at Everly, a look I’ve never seen before in his eyes. I’m not sure if it’s protectiveness or determination—maybe both. He looks like a man who’s willing to move heaven and earth to stop his daughter from being sad.

“What about here?” he asks. “We could have the wedding here.”

“Here?” Everly squeaks out. “But how could we make that work?”

“I’m paying that wedding planner of yours plenty to make it work,” he grumbles, but that fierce light doesn’t go out of his eyes. “We can have it outside. We’ll rent a tent and get heaters. That way you can have as many guests as can get here.”

“But it’s the other side of the country from where everyone is traveling,” Paige says.

He shrugs. “So we rebook their flights. As many people who are willing to change their plans. It might not be the full guest list, but we can get everyone who really matters to you.”

“Where will they all stay?” Everly asks.

Again, he shrugs. “We’ll buy out a couple of the hotels in town.”

“Daddy,” she says, her face softening. “That’s a really good suggestion, and you’re being awfully sweet right now, but we’re talking a huge amount of money. On top of what we’ve already spent.”

“You think I give a shit about the money?” He points at her. “I don’t ever want to see you heartbroken like that again. If I can throw some money at the problem and make you smile again, it will be worth it. More than worth it.” His eyes go wide, panic darting over his face. “Why are you crying again? The point is to get you tostopcrying.”

But she throws herself into his arms, cutting him off. “It’s okay, sweetheart,” he says gruffly, patting her back. “Just don’t cry anymore, okay? You know I fucking hate it when you girls cry.”