Page 59 of A Sixpence For Your Shoe

A deep breath fills my lungs and then I force it out to push away all of my annoyance. This is about me - and Vincent - and our lives together. I have a right to be happy.

That’s all that matters. Mom will come around eventually, and everything will be okay in the end.

Her disappointment will not ruin this for me.

This ismylife andmyhappiness.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Vincent

“Yes, thank you, that’s everything," I confirm with the phone pressed against my ear.

“Thank you, sir, your order will be with you as soon as possible.”

I hang up, tossing the phone onto the sofa next to us.

Misha is sitting on my lap with her back resting against my chest. She has her head tilted back against my shoulder and she’s holding the iPad in front of herself.

She giggles and glances at me, “You ordered way too much,” She says.

“We’ve got a long day and all night ahead of us, and a lot of planning to do. I figured we could have a whole buffet while we’re at it.”

“Did you get those little chicken wings with the blue cheese dip?”

Laughter rolls through me. “Of course I did, little raven. I know you’ve been craving those all day.”

She sighs, grinning, “I’m not going to fit into my wedding dress this weekend.”

“Then you will have to marry me naked.” I whisper against her neck as I trace kisses over her skin and goosebumps springacross her arms. She shudders and giggles. “If you start that, we will never get any planning done.”

I nod, reluctantly stopping and wrapping my arms around her narrow waist. “Ok, ok, what are you showing me here?”

She holds the iPad up again and flicks her finger across the screen to scroll between images.

“This one or this one?" she says, showing me the options for our cake.

“The black one.” I say, loving the dark energy it has. “What made you choose a black one?” I ask curiously.

She shrugs, leaning her head against my cheek. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it? I just wasn’t sure how traditional you wanted the wedding to be.”

“I want the wedding to be your dream day. And I love the black cake.”

She pinches the screen and zooms into the details on the image, with carefully handmade black roses crafted from icing adorning the sides of the cake. “It’s red velvet inside. So, when we cut it open it’s a gorgeous dark red color. Here - look.” She flicks to another image.

“It’s perfect.” I say, “Just like you.”

“If we are getting the black cake—” She bites her lip, turning in my lap to look at me with those beautiful green eyes I can’t resist.

I already know what she’s going to ask.

“I’ll call the designer right now and tell him you want the wedding dress in black.” I chuckle, reaching for my phone again.

Misha is over the moon.

While I talk to the designer I watch her. She slides from the sofa onto the floor and is making notes as she leans over the coffee table. When my call ends, she scrunches her nose and sighs, looking at me with worry in her eyes.

I reach out and pull her back onto my lap. “Your mother will come around, my pet. Give her time. We can have dinner on Thursday night. You’re seeing her tomorrow, aren’t you? To smooth things over? Then we can all have dinner the following night and she can meet me, and it will all be settled by Saturday morning when we get married.”

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