Single Wide Female: The Bucket List Mega Bundle - 24 Books (Books #1-24) (35 page)

Since I had the weekend off from Fluff and Stuff, this was the perfect time to dive into a new adventure.

I’d invited Max over to watch a movie and he seemed riveted by the action—more likely it had to do with the machine-gun-carrying woman dressed in the bikini, but I wasn’t judging him on his movie selection. I hadn’t been paying much attention as I perused the local happenings.

It wasn’t long before I came across a listing for a wedding in the nearby park. Many people planned their weddings there in the spring. It was exactly what I’d been waiting for.

“This is it!” I stood up so fast that I nearly knocked the bowl of popcorn Max and I were sharing on to the floor.

“What is it?” He looked as if I’d startled him.

I turned my computer around so that he could see the screen.

“Kayla and Caleb are getting married.” I nearly sang the words.

“Friends of yours?” he asked, looking very confused.

Max pretty much knew all of my friends—of which there weren’t many.

“No I’ve never met them.” I was so excited that I couldn’t stop smiling.

“Then why do you care if they’re getting married?”

“Because it’s perfect! They’re getting married in the park! That means that it won’t be hard to crash it.”

“What?” He stared at me with complete confusion.

“Crash the wedding.” I stared at him as if it was strange that he was not comprehending what I was saying. “It’s on my list.”

“Oh—the list.” He raised an eyebrow. “So you think it’s important to your development as a person to crash a wedding?”

“Some things on the list are just for fun,” I said. “It can’t all be soul-changing.”

“Right, and how exactly is crashing a wedding fun?” he asked.

“How isn’t it? There is good food, free drinks, and the opportunity to dance the night away.”

“Okay,” he said. “Or we could go to a club.”

“That’s not the same thing. There’s no romance in going to the club.”

“As if there’s any romance at a wedding,” Max said.

I rolled my eyes. Max was a self-declared bachelor with no clear intention of ever getting married—which was a shame in my opinion, because Max was, without a doubt, a really great guy. If he gave it a chance, I was sure he would make a wonderful husband—not that I wanted anyone else to have him.

“It says here it starts at three in the afternoon tomorrow,” I said. “Just enough time for me to get everything I need to go.”

“You’re serious about this huh?” he asked.

“Well, what do you think? Would you come with me?” I braced myself for his answer. As long as Max and I had known each other we’d always done everything together, but we’d never crashed a wedding.

“Do you want me to?” He flopped his head back against the couch and groaned a little.

“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t want you to,” I said. “But I don’t want you to go unless you want to go.”

“Sammy, you know I’d do anything for you. But a wedding? I mean, it’s not exactly my idea of a good time.”

“I know.” I shrugged and smiled. “That’s fine, I’m sure there will be plenty of men there for me to dance with.”

“See, now I feel like I’m letting you down.” He sat forward on the couch. I could feel his gaze on me as I carried our empty wine glasses and the remainder of the popcorn into the kitchen.

Chapter 2

Max followed me into the kitchen, and I glanced over at him as I set the glasses and bowl into the sink.

“You’re not letting me down. I just thought it would be something fun to do, but if you don’t think it’s fun, then I wouldn’t want to make you to go,” I said.

He was staring at me as if he had some kind of secret.

“What?”

“You can’t wait to get married, can you?” he asked.

I quickly looked away from him. I turned on the faucet and began to wash the dishes, even though I could have easily left them for later.

“I would like to get married one day—yes.”

“Why? Why is it that so many women want that?”

I shook my head. “Max, just because you don’t believe in love and romance, doesn’t mean the rest of the world shouldn’t.”

“Hey—” His tone was firm as he stepped a little closer to me. “—I do believe in love and romance. That doesn’t mean I have to believe in marriage.”

“You’re absolutely right,” I said. I finished washing the last glass. “I think marriage is so important to me because it’s a way of saying to my partner that there’s no one else in the world that I want to be with.”

“Until it ends in divorce,” Max said.

“Not all marriages end in divorce.”

“Okay, not all of them. But half of the ones that don’t, should. How many people do you know that are stuck in a miserable marriage?”

“You’re being a downer.” I flicked some soapy water in his direction.

“Watch it!”

He laughed as I handed him a towel. “It isn’t that I’m trying to change your mind. I just really want to understand. What is the benefit of committing to a legal union? If you loved and trusted someone enough to spend the rest of your life with them, shouldn’t that be enough? Why does paperwork have to be involved?”

“You won’t understand until you know what it’s like.”

“Until I know what
what’s
like?” he asked.

I smiled a little as I watched the water drain out of the sink.

“To know in your heart that you would do anything just to spend a minute with the person you love. To want to share all of your experiences, good and bad, with that person. To wonder how you could live without their presence in your life.”

“You know what that’s like?” he asked.

“I do.” I turned away from him to walk back into the living room.

“Who?” he asked. “You never told me that you were in love with anyone.”

I couldn’t believe that after all these years of pining away for him, Max was still so clueless, but I wasn’t going to let on now—not when I was determined to shift my focus from him to other potential loves of my life.

“Some secrets are meant to be kept,” I said.

“Okaaaay. Fine. You don’t have to tell me, but answer me this—do you really think that there is only one right person out there for you? That if you miss that person, you’re out of luck?”

“I don’t know.” I was honest as I continued. “I hope not. I mean, I don’t think it’s so much about there being that one right person. I think it’s just about keeping an open mind and finding things that you have in common with the other person.”

“Okay,” he said. “I surrender. If you think it’s fun, then go—and enjoy.”

“I will. I have a dress and I need a reason to wear it.” I smiled thinking about it.

“And you can’t think of a better place than some poor couple’s wedding?” he asked. “What if you showing up out of the blue somehow ruins the ceremony?”

“I won’t ruin it. They won’t even know I’m there. It’s outside. I’m sure they’re not exactly going to have a bouncer.”

“They might.”

“I think that you need to get into the spirit of this, Max. You have to think about it from my point of view. It isn’t about what could go wrong, it’s about taking the chance on what could go right.”

“I don’t know—I tend to not show up at places where I’m not invited.”

“Alright, fine. You don’t have to go. I’m fine with going by myself. I just thought you might like to have a little fun.”

“I guess it’s not exactly my idea of fun.” He flashed me a wide smile. “I have some other ideas.”

“Like?” I asked.

“Maybe skydiving?”

“Skydiving? I don’t think so!” I laughed and gave Max a quick hug. “I think I’ll stick to wedding crashing for now.”

“Alright, but if you change your mind, I’d jump out of a plane with you any day.” He smiled.

The next morning I woke up excited. I was ready to jump right into the next item on my bucket list. My mind was filled with all of the possibilities of what might happen as a result of my daring move. I was hoping I might meet someone new, but at the very least I was sure that I would have a great time.

I decided to reveal my plans on my blog. I was getting more followers by the day, and I wanted to keep them updated on the progress with my bucket list. I put together a quick note about my intentions and then set about getting ready for the wedding.

When I walked up to my closet, I saw the dress I hoped to wear. It had been hanging in the front of my closet as a daily motivation for me. It was the next size smaller than I normally wore. My heart beat a little faster as I wondered if it would fit.

I grabbed the dress off the hanger. It was sleeveless, which was another big step for me. It had a snug bodice and a fairly short flowing skirt. I eased the dress on until it was in the correct position. Still I didn’t dare look in the mirror. There were a few times I’d fallen off the healthy eating wagon—not to mention the fact that I quite possibly drank a bit too much wine according to my diet plan. Was it possible that I would still make it down to the next size? I had been trying different exercise activities, so maybe—just maybe. I squeezed my eyes shut and reluctantly turned to look into the full-length mirror.

Chapter 3

When I saw my reflection in the mirror, I was startled at first. It took me a moment to process what I saw. Not only did the dress fit… Though admittedly snug in a few areas, it looked fantastic. I had curves. I had always had curves that I was proud of, but now my curves were much more defined. I felt sensual and seductive as I turned slowly to observe the dress and the way it shaped my body. It was amazing to me that one dress size could make such a difference. Not only did I like the way I looked but it also made me confident that my plan was working. I was well on my way to meeting my next goal. Nothing was going to stop me.

I flounced the skirt of the dress and smiled at the way it swirled around my thighs. In the past I avoided wearing anything above the knee as I felt it emphasized the size of my thighs. The skirt of this dress hovered a good few inches above my knees. It was the perfect dress to wear to crash a wedding—if they made dresses for that purpose.

I was starting to get excited. The point of crashing the wedding was not so much for fun and adrenaline, but because I wanted to remind myself that it’s okay to be beautiful, it’s okay to dress up and draw attention. I knew there would be plenty of eligible bachelors at the wedding that I could dance with. There was only one I really wanted to dance with, but that fact was not going to get to me. I was determined to have a fantastic time.

I spent a little time fixing up my hair. I didn’t do too much with it, as an outside wedding meant that anything I did would be undone pretty quickly by the elements. I applied a light dusting of make-up. I’d never been great at the art of sculpting my face. I’d been friends with a woman at one point who knew exactly how to brush on make-up that would slim the face. It was a neat trick, but it made me feel a bit like I was putting on a mask. I wanted whatever lucky man I met that night to be ready to accept me as I was.

I took one last look in the mirror. I felt happy about what I saw. Not just how I looked, but the glimmer in my eyes that reminded me my bucket list journey was meant to be a happy one. Sure there was a time for introspection, but there was also a time for free wine and handsome men in tuxedos.

When I stepped out of the apartment, I found Max waiting for me outside.

“Max, what are you doing here?”

In t-shirt and jeans, he certainly wasn’t dressed to join me.

“I can’t believe you’re really going.” He laughed. “I was coming by to see if you wanted to go out, but I see you’re actually following through with this.”

“I am.” I smiled widely in his direction. “So you’re sure you don’t want to go?”

Was I imagining the way he was staring at me? It seemed to me the slight parting of his lips, the subtle widening of his eyes, and the flush of his cheeks all indicated that he was enjoying the view. Or maybe, I just wanted him to be enjoying it and was trying to create that as reality.

He stared a moment longer and then glanced away.

“I don’t think so.” His voice had softened slightly.

“You could bring Vanessa,” I said.

“Vanessa?”

“Your girlfriend.”

“She’s not my girlfriend.”

“Okay, the female human that you’ve been spending copious amounts of time with. How’s that?” I teased him as he looked up at me with a sheepish smile.

“She’s pretty great,” he said.

In some ways that was not what I wanted to hear. In other ways, it was exactly what I wanted to hear. I wanted Max to be happy, even if it wasn’t with me. The one luxury of being in Max’s friend zone rather than his girlfriend zone was the fact that his girlfriends had a very short shelf life, while I’d been around for ten years.

“Then you should bring her. I bet she would have fun. Most women love to attend weddings,” I said.

“I don’t think so.” He ran his hands along his thighs and knees as he shook his head. “She’s not one for crashing things.”

“Ah, a straight and narrow kind of girl?” I asked. “How did you end up with someone like that?”

“Watch it.” He shot me a playful glare.

I smiled back at him. I loved it when he pretended to be angry at me. He got the cutest little pout— Snap out of it, Samantha! I ordered myself.

“Okay—well, I’m going. If you two get bored later you’re welcome to join me.”

“Thanks for the invitation to the wedding that you’re not actually invited to.” He laughed and looked at me with what I thought was admiration in his eyes. “I’m sure that you’ll have a great time.”

“I’m going to try to.” With that I slung my purse over my shoulder. “Oh no!”

“What?”

“I don’t have a present. I can’t show up at a wedding I’m not invited to without a present.”

“Well, maybe you have something inside that you could wrap up?” he said.

“Good idea.” I stepped back inside with Max following after me.

I walked over to my kitchen closet. It was filled with all of the appliances I’d purchased thinking that they’d make my weight loss endeavors easier—there was the vita-blender, the juicer, the pulverizer, the food dehydrator. Most of them had never been used.