Page 127 of Confessions of the Funny Fat Friend

“It’s been amazing these last couple days, just catching up on everything we missed.”

Mara winked. “And the make-up sex.”

My cheeks heated as someone in the booth next to me gave me the side-eye. I scratched my neck nervously, looking down. “That too.”

“I’m so happy for you,” Mara said.

Birdie nodded but had a frown on her lips. “Does this mean you’re there permanently?”

My heart tugged at the question. Birdie had been my first real adult girlfriend. Her moving into the apartments and introducing me to Mara had changed my life in so many ways. Saying goodbye would be too hard. So I’d have to settle on see you soon. “I’ll be back,” I promised. “Frequently. Apparently, Tyler’s brother has a ton of flight miles from his business credit card that he’s practically begging everyone to use. And of course I want you all to come and visit us.” I told them all about the schoolhouse and our plans for the building.

Birdie said, “I’ll take you up on that. Is there even a hotel in that town?”

I laughed. “Two, actually. And a motel.”

“Fancy,” Birdie said with a laugh.

“Where are you and Tyler staying?” Mara asked. “With his family?”

“For now,” I answered. “But we’re working to renovate a living space for us at the schoolhouse for us first. We’re going to be staying there and managing the property on site so we can give better help to the residents. Tyler thinks he can have it livable in a month, since this is our full-time job now. Bertrand even offered to take a week off work to come help us get settled.”

“Your family’s all on board?” Birdie asked.

“Oh yeah.” I laughed, twirling my engagement ring around my finger. “They practically shoved me out the door to get him back. They all love him as much as I do.”

Mara bumped her shoulder against Birdie’s. “We love him too.”

Birdie nodded. “If I could have hand-designed a guy for you, even he wouldn’t have been half the man that Tyler is.”

“He is pretty amazing.” I took a sip of my coffee that was already cooling down. “I do have a question though.”

“What’s up?” Mara asked.

I bit my lip, holding back a smile. “What are you doing a month from now?”

Birdie and Mara exchanged a glance.

“Because I’d love for you to stand by my side when I say ‘I do’,” I finished.

Another round of squealing had people sending me more looks. In a town this size, I was bound to have a reputation before our wedding announcement hit the local paper.

Birdie said, “That’s so soon. Are you worried about planning the wedding?”

“We would have gone to city hall yesterday, but Tyler wants to ask my dad for his blessing before we tie the knot,” I admitted. “And Tyler’s mom and sister begged for us to have a wedding for our families to get a chance to celebrate and meet each other. So, this was the compromise.” My grin spread across my entire face. It was crazy, getting married this soon to the man I lost my virginity to, but on a soul level, it didn’t feel crazy at all.

It felt right.

Perfect.

Inevitable.

I just couldn’t wait.

78

Tyler

A week after Hen came to Cottonwood Falls, I drove to DFW Airport to pick up Bertrand. The second Hen told him about our project, he said he wanted to come and return the favor for helping his family with their home. Even though I told him he didn’t need to, he insisted, and it was probably a good thing he had.

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