Page 51 of Big & Bossy

Mandy’s hand in mine, we walked down the hill behind the rest of the family and bridal party. It had taken a bit of work to get Mom to leave her alone after the photos, but I wanted her all to myself. I wanted to focus on just us for a little bit, even if it was only a few minutes. I couldn’t help but want that with her.

“Can I ask you a question?” I said, grinning as I watched her.

“Anything.”

“Say I didn’t get taken away ten years ago, proposed, and you said yes,” I drawled, shifting so I was in front of her, walking backward. “What do you think our wedding day would have looked like?”

“Oh…” she chuckled, biting her lower lip as her eyes locked with mine. “I don’t know. Big white dress, lots of people, probably too much money thrown at the whole thing.”

“I’m serious,” I said, slowing my steps one by one until we came to a halt. “What kind of wedding would you have wanted, princess?”

She looked up to the sky for a moment, her dark red lips opening and closing without any words. Too many thoughts running through her head. “I don’t know, Jack,” she answered. “I mean, I’ve dreamed about my wedding day like every other little girl in existence, but that kind of stopped when my dad died. It felt too weird to think about without him there.”

I squeezed her hand in mine. “I understand.”

“But if I had to pick something, right now, on the spot,” she continued, drawing her gaze away from the sky and back to me, “I’d probably have gone for something in the woods, or maybe Rocky Mountain National Park. Autumn, so it wouldn’t have been too hot or too cold, and the leaves would be changing colors. You’d have been in an all-black suit, and I’d probably have worn some kind of color other than white since the whole thing is nontraditional anyway.”

I could see the light filtering back into her eyes as she imagined it.

“I’d walk down the aisle to some folk cover of a classic song. But there wouldn’t be very many people there—Amanda, Harry, my mom. Tiana. Your parents. You and me. Wade, if he’s around. That’s all I’d need. And instead of some massive, crazy reception with everyone drinking and making speeches and lots of crazy food, we could just rent some cabin in the middle of the mountains and have a cookout with everyone then later light a bonfire. Tell stories, listen to good music.”

“Is that what twenty-one-year-old Mandy would have wanted?” I asked, drawing her a little bit closer as she slowly filtered back to reality. I couldn’t stop my heart from pounding, my mind spiraling and thinking of every single way I could make that happen for her. I’d do anything to give her what she wanted, no matter what that was.

She shrugged. “I don’t know. It sounds nice.” I planted a little kiss on her forehead, trying to shrug off the intensity of what I was feeling. “What? Why are you being so nice?” She giggled, pushing back on my chest.

“No reason. You’re just cute when you stare off into space.”

But there was a reason and she had to know that, in her gut. I wanted every second of that day for her—for us—and the more I thought about it, the more I idealized it. I knew we were moving fast, making up for lost time, but god fucking dammit I wanted that with her. I wanted it all.

I wanted to marry her more now than I did when I was twenty-one.

Chapter 24

Mandy

The reception kicked off with a bang. Everyone was on the dance floor, spinning around to some upbeat song, Jackson and I included.

When they introduced the bride and groom, they did it by their first names only. Jack had told me that Tiana was keeping her maiden name, and I liked the rejection of traditional values in that. Instead of a first dance, they joined the rest of us. Tiana had swapped her long, form-fitting white dress for a shorter, more casual one. It hung from her thin frame, white crisp satin, down to her calves with a slit up one thigh. Comfortable enough to dance in, yet still bridal. She looked incredible.

Fred shared Tiana with everyone on the dance floor. Together, they spun, danced, and held hands with every single person who had come to the wedding—all two-hundred-something of them.

“I’m so glad you came!” Tiana shouted at me over the music, her hands interlocked with mine as I spun her on the spot. “I thought maybe you wouldn’t.”

“Why?” I laughed as she tripped over herself, nearly falling over into the crowd.

“Because my bridesmaids weren’t very nice to you.”

I shrugged, spinning her again, catching her before she could misplace her feet. She was never very coordinated.

“It’s nice to see you and Jack together,” she said, giggling at her own words. She knew the engagement was fake, but she, along with everyone else in her family it seemed, didn’t care. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him like this.”

“Like what?”

“Happy.”

Off she spun a second later, landing in the arms of someone else, leaving mine empty as Jack danced with his mom across the floor.

I took the moment to catch my breath, making my way through the sea of people and toward where apparently everyone had jointly decided to place their shoes. I wasn’t used to wearing heels for so long, and my feet were screaming at me to take them off.

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