Page 5 of Four Aunties and a Wedding

“Okay, ew. But yes.” I inhale the scent of him as he bends down and gives me a chaste peck on the cheek; the dim sumbunch is mostly made up of Chinese uncles and aunties who openly stare disapprovingly at every young couple, and Nathan knows I’m not comfortable with PDA in front of this particular crowd. Horny eyes, acceptable. Actual kissing, hells no. “So, before we go inside, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“Uh-oh.” His eyebrows knit together with concern and he lowers his voice while taking my arm. “Is it about... the thing?”

My stomach knots. I hate that I’ve put this weight on his shoulders. It’s been almost a year since Ma set me up on a blind date with Ah Guan that ended with me and my aunties accidentally killing him. Emphasis on “accidentally.” As if that wasn’t bad enough, Ah Guan’s body was then mistakenly shipped to a wedding at Nathan’s hotel, where through a series of mishaps caused by my aunties, it ended up appearing at the altar as one of the groomsmen. Only a magical combination of quick thinking, false bravado, and sheer dumb luck allowed us all to get away with it. To this day, I can’t quite believe how fortunate we were that someone like Sheriff McConnell was in charge of the case. His incompetence was vital in ensuring that nobody ended up charged with anything.

Even though Ah Guan’s case is closed—declared an unfortunate accident—Nathan still worries that it’ll come back to haunt us, and I hate that he worries. Nathan had figured out the truth behind Ah Guan’s death in record time and decided to help us cover it up. Though he’s never held the incredible sacrifice he’s made over my head, I never let myself forget it. I hate that he has to carry this burden because of something I did. “No,” I say quickly, and Nathan’s shoulders relax. “My mom and aunts found some wedding vendors that are apparently related to us and they’re really keen on us meeting them.”

“Oh. Is that all? You looked so worried I thought it was going to be something really bad.”

“Well, I mean, it kind of is,” I sigh. “I’ve been dreaming about our wedding for so long, and I’ve been looking forward to searching for the right vendors with you. I wasn’t really expecting my family to swoop in and find them for us. Well, I don’t know why I wasn’t expecting it from them.”

“Aw, hey, c’mere.” Nathan wraps his arms around me and pulls me closer, to the immense interest of all the random uncles and aunties around us. “It’ll be okay. Your mom and aunts are just really excited about the wedding.”

“I know.” I sigh and rest my head against his chest. An idea begins to form, and I pat his pecs. “Wow, these are getting really big; you’ve been working out hard. What a manly man you are.”

Nathan grins at me. “I know you’re just buttering me up, but I am here for this. Please keep telling me what a manly man I am.”

“Well, I was thinking, we’ll meet with these vendors...”

“Uh-huh?”

I trail a finger down his chest. “And if we don’t like them, you put your foot down like the big manly man that you are and tell my family we’ll be hiring someone else.”

Nathan laughs. “Me? Say no to your Big Aunt? Hell to the no.”

I punch him on the arm and he laughs. “We’ll do it together,” he says, kissing the top of my head.

“Okay,” I sigh. “Well, get ready to meet them.”

“What, now?”

“Yep, come on, manly man.”

•••

“Nathan, over here, Nathan! Nathan!” Ma shouts, standing up and waving madly as we weave through the dim sum crowd. Nathan waves back at her, but she continues waving and shouting his name.

“How come she’s never that excited to see me?” I grumble.

“Because I am, in her words, ‘the perfect specimen of a man.’ ”

I roll my eyes. I mean, I agree with Ma, obviously, but Nathan doesn’t need to know that. Over the past year, my family has doted on him as if he’s their long-awaited prodigal son, and instead of being scared off as I feared he might be, Nathan has quite happily accepted all the attention.

As we near them, I see that there isn’t one or two or three new faces at the table, but—

“Five vendors?” I hiss.

Nathan squeezes my hand. “It’ll be okay. We’ll eat with them and look at their portfolio and then politely but firmly tell them no.”

I take a deep breath. I can do this. I’m an adult, dammit. I can stand up to my family, especially for my wedding. And despite all of his jokes, I know Nathan would back me up if I wanted him to.

Everyone smiles and waves when we get to the table, and Nathan and I go around greeting them—Big Aunt first, then Second Aunt, and so forth. Even though I arrived here with Big Aunt and the others, I still need to make a show of greeting them again. After I greet my family, I’m left with the vendors. They’re not quite what I expected. There’s an elderly woman who looks about Big Aunt’s age, three men who could be anywhere from thirty to fifty-five, and a young woman who looks about my age.

The young woman stands up and comes around to shake my hand and Nathan’s with a big, friendly smile. “Meddy, it’s so nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard so much about you, and I’m just so excited about your wedding.”

Her smile is infectious, and I find myself beaming back at her before catching myself. I don’t want to appear like Iapprove. I squeeze my mouth into a thin line. But then the woman hands me her business card, and I know then that she and I are destined to be friends. Because her card says this:

Staphanie Weiting Tanuwijaya

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