Date Night (Wish Come True Book 1) (17 page)

“Jordan,” I sighed and placed my
hands squarely on my hips in preparation to do battle. I had known it would
come to this. “I think we should set the wedding date for some time next year,
after I’ve completed my degree and start my career. I want to make sure we’re
on solid ground before we get married. You know I read that the first year of
marriage is the toughest and most couples divorce over money. I don’t want that
to happen to us, babe. I’ll be making fifty-five grand a year starting next
summer. We’ll be in a solid financial position.”

“What a load of horse apples.” Jordan
glared at me with her hands planted on her hips. “I landed the teaching job,
JT. It’s not as much as you’ll be earning, but we won’t be heading to the soup
kitchen anytime soon.”

“Why can’t you accept that this is
important to me, Jordan? I want to take care of you, just like my father took
care of my mother. What’s so wrong with being a little traditional at heart?”

“Why can’t you accept that I was
raised to take care of myself and it’s important for me to have Grannie at our
wedding? You of all people should understand that.”

Her words pierced my heart. She had a
valid point. But I did as well. We had come to an impasse and I knew I had to
use the one argument that would piss her off the most in order to get her to
acquiesce. The one she could not argue against.

“I told Grannie I was proposing to
you this weekend,” I said and winced at the volcanic ash shooting out of
Jordan’s eyes. “She agrees with me. This whole wedding thing was about the
journey of planning with you and not about the end result. She wants our
marriage to last as much as I do and thinks it’s best to wait as well.”

I reached out to pull Jordan close
but she took another step back. It was the ultimate betrayal—until now Grannie
had completely had her back. Whatever was ping ponging around in Jordan’s
brain, it didn’t look promising. The rigidity of her stance spoke volumes and I
desperately wished I could find a resolution to our dilemma which was palatable
to both of us.

“Well fine.”

Her tone of voice was far too calm
and sent chills up my spine.

“If you’re going to get all righteous
and full of demands about what’s right and what’s wrong in that traditional
head of yours, JT, then I’ve got a demand of my own.”

“Fine,” I said and ran my hands
through my hair in frustration. I didn’t know what she’d come up with but I was
sure I wasn’t going to like it. “Whatever you want in exchange for postponing
the wedding, you got it.”

“No home run until the wedding night.”

Anything except for that. Christ, the
woman was infuriating at times. How did she always manage to get me by the
balls? It didn’t get any more traditional than that. I glared at her for a few
moments and actually considered giving in. But this was important to me.
Besides, I imagined there was a greater chance of her caving on her demand
first.

“Deal.” I chuckled inwardly at the
disappointed expression that engulfed her face. She was trying to call my
bluff. Well now
I had her
by the ba—or whatever it was that men had
women by. I grinned salaciously at her and lifted my brow. “But you didn’t say
anything about bases one, two and three.”

I began to stalk her around the tiny
room like a panther after its prey. Her eyes popped open when I reached out to
grab her. She squealed as she raced out of the bathroom, giggling
uncontrollably, and then ran around the couch in the suite to separate us. Oh,
yes, I had a very good chance of getting her to cave first. And it would start
by getting those clothes off her and sinking into the hot bubble bath together.

Jordan

I stirred at the tickling sensation
on my neck but ignored it and snuggled back down into my pillow, not ready to
wake up. The girls had kept me up
way
past my bedtime last night against
my own will. I had tried to argue that there was too much to do today in
preparation for Grannie’s life celebration party, but Leah and my two cousins,
Tyler and Rebekah, overruled me, insisting the party didn’t start until nearly
seven o’clock in the evening. It left plenty of time on the morrow. I was just
being a control freak in my desire to make sure it all went perfectly as
planned.

I giggled softly in my sleepy haze at
the memory of Grannie putting a dollar bill in Bryan’s thong on a dare from my
mother. The two women were dangerous together. Jared would have a heart attack
if he knew. I thought it was hilarious. How our girls’ night out had ended up
at the male entertainment club where Bryan was a dancer I could not fully
recollect. Something about Grannie demanding to finish my wedding journey with
me by celebrating with a mock bachelorette party. Never mind that a wedding
date hadn’t been set yet. By that point, I already had a healthy beer buzz and
decided to go with the flow. With the drinking age set at nineteen in Canada,
even my cousins were able to come along and enjoy the fun when we crossed the
border to Windsor.

What a riot. I wondered idly what the
boys had done for their night out. My mother had stolen my phone when she
caught me texting JT for the third time. I couldn’t wait until I started
working and could pay for my own cell phone. Then my mom couldn’t take it away
anymore.

There it was again; almost like cat
whiskers and a dog’s wet nose tickling my neck below the ear.  Hmmm…what a
strange combination. I reached a hand over lazily to swat at the spot.

“Owww!” JT cried out and then
chuckled.

My eyes flew open and rested on the
devilishly handsome, but very stubbly, face of my fiancé. That accounted for
the cat whiskers. If I’d known it was his tongue and not a wet dog’s nose, I
wouldn’t have swatted him away. Yes. Fiancé. The word was music to my ears. I
still couldn’t believe JT had surprised me by proposing during our vacation on
Mackinac Island.

The heavy rock weighing down my left
ring finger was positive proof. It must have cost a fortune and I had protested
that he’d used some of Derek’s college fund to buy my engagement ring instead
of paying down his debt. A rock half the size would have been fine. But he
pointed out that the funds were simply replenishing what he had
earned
working the last five years. How could I argue his point since it was the same
argument Derek had made to get JT to accept the money in the first place?

I gazed at him through sleepy eyes
and my heart swelled with love. We were going to get married—sometime in the
future—after he completed school and began his career. I had tried my best to
convince him there was no time like the present. But with Grannie and my mother
having his back, there was no winning. Fine time for my grandmother to leave me
hanging.

“Good morning, beautiful,” JT said,
gazing into my eyes as he rubbed his hand gently over my cheek. He leaned down
and softly kissed my lips. “It’s time to wake up or you won’t be ready in time
for the celebration.”

“What time is it?” I asked and yawned
loudly. “It can’t be later than noon. Can’t I have just a few more minutes of
sleep?”

He ruffled my hair. “Not if you want
to make it to the hairdresser in time.”

I closed my eyes and rolled back onto
my side. “I’m not going to a hairdresser today.”

“Ok,” he said. “It’s your choice. I
just thought you’d want to look nice in our wedding pictures.”

What did he just say?

I sat up in a flash and stared at him
wide-eyed. The grin plastered across his face set my heart beating in my chest
at a furious pace. Thunderous laughter crashed into my bedroom as the door
burst opened.

“Surprise.”

I stared at the crowd gathered around
my bedroom door with my mouth hanging wide open. What the hell was going on? My
mom, Grannie, Jared, Derek, Aunt Mary, and even my cousins Tyler and Rebekah…they
were all standing there smiling at me.

I ran my hand through a mass of
tangled hair. “What’s going on?”

“Will you marry me, Jordan?”

“Yes, of course, dummy.” I flashed my
ring at him. “I said yes two weeks ago.”

“Today?” he clarified with a chuckle.
“Will you marry me today?”

“Are you nuts? I can’t marry you
today.”

“Why not?” JT sat back and crossed
his arms lightly over his chest. The face splitting grin told me he was really
enjoying this.

“Well because.” I scratched my head
and stared blankly at him. It was obvious why not. “We stopped planning for a
wedding a month ago.”

“No,” JT said, shaking his head. “
You
stopped planning for the wedding a month ago.”

My head started spinning. Maybe I was
hung over and was in the middle of a strange dream. I couldn’t comprehend what
he was trying to say. There were so many things left unplanned.

“We don’t have a band!” It was the
first thing that came to my mind. I wanted to dance with JT on our wedding day.

“DJ Mikey Mike stands ready to
entertain.” JT said with a boyish grin.

“We never ordered flowers or
centerpieces,” I pointed out. I had to have flowers. What’s a wedding without
flowers—around the gazebo—for the centerpieces—on the lapel of JT’s tuxedo—my bouquet?

“I took care of that honey,” my
mother said from the doorway. “Jared and Leah helped me. You’re going to love
the arrangements.”

“Photographer,” I declared. “We don’t
have a photographer.”

“Mr. Rogers is thrilled,” Grannie
said and came to sit down next to me. “He will be at the chapel starting at
four o’clock to take pictures of the groom. Ceremony starts at six o’clock in
the evening. Just the way you planned.”

It was suddenly too much. How could
this be? What were they talking about? JT had been adamant we wouldn’t get
married until he had started his career. I felt the torrent of tears building
and building and I fought valiantly to hold them down.

I didn’t want to cry on my wedding
day.

My wedding day!

I threw my arms around JT’s neck and
let the tears wash over me like a soothing balm. Grannie was going to be at our
wedding.

“But we didn’t send out wedding
invitations!” I cried out through my tears. “What about our friends and your
family JT. What if nobody shows up?”

I felt JT’s body shaking against mine
and I pulled back to find him laughing at me.

“Of course we sent out invitations,”
he said, producing a sweet little card announcing our wedding day.

I read it through my tears.
‘Shhhhh!
It’s a surprise! Please join us in celebrating the union of Jordan Elizabeth
Billette to Justin Theodore Murphy on July 27, 2013 at Canterbury Castle,
Canterbury Village at Six O’Clock in the Evening.  Reception to immediately
follow.’
I chuckled through my tears at the reaction the guests must have
had upon opening the card. What a unique concept, a surprise wedding.

“Grannie sent it out three weeks ago.
I promise that everyone who matters to you and me will be there. Aunt Mary’s
here…see? Your Aunt, Uncle and cousins from Florida…they’re all here.”

“Three weeks ago?” But that would
mean—

Jared’s laughter could be heard above
all others when the moment of recognition hit my face. “And I was totally in on
it this time, Jordan. JT showed me the ring before you guys went to Mackinac
Island
and
told me he was planning the wedding with mom and Grannie
behind your back. I even helped with the wedding plans.”

JT wiped my tears away and laid my
head against his chest as he wrapped his arms around me in a loving hug. “It
was only fair,
my love
. You surprised me with a birthday party and I
surprised you with our wedding.” He sounded so pleased with himself.

I couldn’t help but giggle at his
silly comment. Those were not the same thing. It was absurd for him to try to
make a comparison. But who was I to complain? I was getting married today. And
Grannie was going to be there. A fresh bout of tears nearly overwhelmed me
until I remembered the time. O.M.G. The time.

I suddenly jumped out of bed.
“Christ. It’s almost noon. Go! Get out! Now. I have to get to the hairdresser
if you want me to marry you today.” I shooed everyone out of my bedroom with
thoughts already flying through my head. I hadn’t planned how I wanted to style
my hair or what make-up I should wear. Old? New? Something blue? My dress. Did
I finalize the alterations? Holy crap! I was getting married in a few hours.

JT grasped me by the shoulders,
stopping me in my tracks. “Hey.”

I focused on his smiling face and
felt a fluttering in my stomach when I realized he would belong to me—forever—and
forever started today. He leaned down and pulled me close for a fiery kiss.

“I’ll see you at the gazebo,” he said
as he turned to leave. “I’ll be the one in the tuxedo.” 

***

J.T.

I lifted my chin as my Aunt Mary
straightened the bow tie that completed my outfit. I couldn’t believe I was
wearing a tuxedo. Why I couldn’t just wear a suit and tie was beyond my feeble
male understanding. But it was what Jordan wanted, so here I was, trussed up
like a penguin. I was learning a lot these days about compromise and listening
to other perspectives. There was serious upside when it made the people I loved
happy.

“You’re very handsome,” my Aunt Mary
said, fussing at my hair and picking imaginary lint off of my jacket. “Well,
JT. I don’t know what to say. Except that your parents would be very proud of
you and your choice for a wife. I’m sure they’re smiling down on us now.”

“Thanks,” I said and gave her a brief
hug. “I’m glad you’re here.”

Her eyes watered and she cleared her
throat. “I’d better get out there and check on the bride before I take my seat.
Don’t wait too long now boys. The ceremony will be starting soon.”

I stared at my reflection in the
mirror one last time as a single man. Soon Jordan would be Mrs. Justin Theodore
Murphy. The name brought the sharp image of my mom to mind. I reached into the
inside pocket of my jacket and pulled out the picture of my mom and dad on
their last Christmas together and smiled at the memory of that day.

My mom had dragged us all to get a
family picture for the holidays, just like every year before. Only this one had
felt different. Maybe because I’d been older and understood that our family
traditions wouldn’t last forever; getting dressed up, goofing off while posing
with my mother slapping at one head or another to behave and smile, including
our dad, and then going out for dessert as a reward for making it through the
photo session, which we never truly deserved. I had been nineteen. It was my
last and favorite picture of them. How I wished they could be with me today, sharing
in my joy.

I sighed in relief. Thankfully I had
realized family is more important than satisfying a stupid, self-inflicted need
to be successful in my career before I took a wife. We would make it work over
the next year. Jordan had landed the Oak Ridge Elementary job. Although it
would be tight, it wasn’t like we were going to starve. Yet we would never have
another chance to be with Grannie on our wedding day; to take pictures we would
cherish for the rest of our lives. I didn’t have much to give Jordan right now.
But I could give her this. And how glad I was to be able to give Jordan the joy
of having Grannie with us at our wedding.

 “Ready, bro?” Derek said softly as
he gazed down on the smiling faces of our parents.

“Definitely.” I placed the picture
back in my breast pocket, and then headed out the door and into the blinding
sunshine.

I stood tall with my arms resting
calmly at my sides. The gazebo provided much needed shade from the blazing sun.
Glancing sideways at my brother and Jared, I smiled as they fidgeted in their
suits. Good to know I wasn’t the only uncomfortable one. As soon as the
pictures were done, the bow tie was coming off.

The officiator took his place next to
me in the center of the gazebo and nodded for the music to begin. As the melody
of
The Vow
drift over me, my nerves calmed and my mind cleared. I felt
the corner of my mouth curve up at the memory of picking our wedding music. It
had been a game to me then, but it was oh so real now. How many songs had we
listened to that afternoon before we finally heard
The Vow
? Even I admitted
the melody was awesome.

With my eyes locked on the aisle,
blood rushed through my veins and butterflies fluttered in my gut. It was
impossible to see around the corner of standing guests where the wedding
procession began. I hoped Jordan was cool with our decision to keep the wedding
party to family only. Rebekah appeared first, a beautiful and graceful vision
in the strapless bridesmaid’s dress Jordan’s mother had found on short notice.
The form-fitting white bodice, which ended abruptly below the chest, contrasted
elegantly against the blood red flowing skirt. Tyler stepped slowly around the
corner next with a glowing smile. The seconds ticked by at a torturously slow
pace, time pausing with each measured step of the bridesmaids. I couldn’t wait
for my fiancée to appear; my heart felt light as a feather, drifting higher and
higher into my throat with each passing moment.