Текст книги "Deliver Her from Evil "
Автор книги: M. L. Steinbrunn
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Текущая страница: 14 (всего у книги 14 страниц)
Vivian
I don’t think our lives are anything like we expected.
Heartache, heartbreak, happiness, friendship, love, loss, we have experienced them all, but somehow our stories of ruin have found hope. Jen, Campbell, and Carly, they are the family I choose for myself, and I am the family they chose.
Will always told me that a love worth fighting for is a love worth waiting for. He was a man I fought for, and Brooks is the man I waited for. The love our group will celebrate today is both.
“Jen is freaking out. You have got to get in there and talk her off the cliff,” Campbell says, peeking her head into the bathroom.
I finish washing my hands and grab a towel to dry them, being extra careful not to wrinkle my satin dress. “Get that woman a shot. She told him she would do this, she has to follow through. Everyone is here already.”
“Yeah, I’ll let you tell her that,” Cam adds before leaving as quickly as she appeared.
I grab my flowers off the countertop and open the door to the main hallway. My heels click against the hardwood as I move closer to the bedroom, unfortunately the profanity gets louder the closer I get as well.
“Son of a fucking bitch,” I hear Jen shout. “How in the hell am I supposed to do this?”
I quickly open the door and shut it behind me to prevent anyone else from hearing her rant.
As soon as she hears the click of the lock, Jen turns to me panicked. “I don’t think I can do this. This needs to be perfect.”
I walk around her to peer over her shoulder. “Yes you can. You made a promise and you are a woman of your word. This will be so special, and I truly believe in you.”
My words seem to calm her down, but a knock on the door sends Jen back into a spastic tizzy.
“Jen, are you ready?” Royce asks from the other side of the door.
Her eyes pop out of her head and she begins to scramble from table to table. “Stall!” she says in a frantic whisper.
I wave her away and crack open the door. Royce stands before me, his tux is crisp, his shaggy hair cut short for the occasion and his goatee trimmed to perfection.
“She needs just a few more minutes. She’s putting a few more final touches on everything,”
He looks down at his watch and frowns. I don’t blame him, Jen should have had everything ready weeks ago, but she waited until the last minute.
“It’s ready,” she shouts from behind me, and Royce noticeably relaxes. I open the door the rest of the way and Jen hands him the gift that she has been so feverishly assembling.
He places his card on top and grins at both of us. “Thank you so much, Jen,” he says.
“Are we square?” she asks, adjusting her dress.
“You bet your ass,” he tells her, tucking the present under his arm, turning, and heading toward the room Carly is in.
Jen and I follow close behind and are soon joined by Campbell who went in search of a tequila shot for Jen. Cam hands it to her and Jen slams it mid-stride.
“Thanks, I fucking needed that,” she whispers to her.
We don’t want to interrupt Royce’s moment, but we sure as hell aren’t going to miss it either, so we follow close on his heels. We all soon reach her door, and Royce knocks.
“It’s me, pink. I have something for you,” he says.
“We’re out here, too,” Jen hollers. Everyone looks at her and scowls. “What? We are.”
She cracks open the door, and reaches her hand through. Royce laces his fingers through hers and brings her hand to his mouth. When he plants a soft kiss on her knuckles, my stomach flutters with an anxious excitement for these two people, for my family that I love so dearly.
“Don’t forget to read the card,” he says before kissing her hand one last time, handing me the present, and walking down the hall toward the backyard.
As soon as he’s out of view, we give her the all clear and she opens the door. We all rush in and I hand her the gift-wrapped box.
The three of us circle around her as she opens the lid to the box. Inside there are two Ping-Pong balls and the project that Jen had been working on. She picks the balls up and laughs, apparently at some inside joke she never mentioned to us.
She then pulls the album out of the box and opens the front cover. Tears spring to her eyes as she slowly flips from page to page. Finally, when she share its contents with us, it becomes clear why Jen struggled with its completion and Carly’s emotion, because I too battle my own tears. We are silent, only sniffles filling the void as we see each page.
Embossed across the cover is the simple phrase: Love is where you are.
Every page is filled with photos of Carly with each of us, with her daughters, with Royce, special moments that Jen captured over that last couple of years. An entire section is left blank in the back, and it reads: Where our story continues.
I rush to get tissues and hand her one to dab her eyes.
“You made this, Jen?” Carly asks, wiping her tears away.
“Royce asked me to put it together for you,” Jen explains. “He supervised every damn picture that went into it. I’ve worked with some demanding people, and that man took the cake. He wanted it perfect.”
“It is,” she says, gripping onto the book and holding it close to her chest.
“The card! Don’t forget the card,” Campbell interrupts. Her swelling belly is something I never thought I would see. Jen threw a King Kong style temper tantrum when she had to find a maternity bridesmaid dress for her, but Campbell looks gorgeous. Lakin has doted on her like nothing I’ve ever seen. He is so excited to finally meet his son and daughter.
“Crap!” Carly exclaims, finding the lid and pulling the card from the paper. She moves her fingers under the seal and takes out the card to read aloud.
PINK,
I’M SO GLAD I FOUND ENOUGH BALLS TO ASK YOU TO MARRY ME.
LOVE,
ROYCE
P.S. THANK YOU FOR SAYING YES.
The End
