Page 9 of Wedding Whitney
I frown. “There was an old clause, I think in my late grandfather’s will, but Gran has no such stipulations.”
“Are you sure?”
I pause. “I mean, I guess it’s possible, but she knows I’m not interested in having a baby just yet. I’ll probably be thirty before we have any, and she’s never said a word about moving up the timeline.” I eye him curiously. “That’s the plan, right? To eventually have a baby or two?”
“Yeah.” He’s absently stroking my back.
“Jake?”
“I think I want kids someday, but I’m not ready now, and I feel like there’s a lot of pressure on us to reproduce.”
“That’s what my family wants, which has nothing to do with what we want.”
“We don’t need your inheritance, but it seems like we should discuss walking away from it.”
“I don’t care about money. Truly. I make plenty with what I’m doing now, and you make a shit-ton. We’ve been diligent about our finances, and we’ve already started building our retirement portfolio. It’s not even a consideration as far as I’m concerned.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll talk to my grandmother in the morning, though. I’m going to put a stop to this bullshit with my father and brother.”
“I really love you, Whit, and just want you to be happy.”
“Love you too, and as long as we’re together, I am happy.”
Chapter 6
Whitney
I wake up before Jake, leaving him asleep. He had a long day yesterday and probably needs the rest since he fell asleep in my room. I don’t care about getting caught—I plan to have a talk with my grandmother about Brett. Jake is a grown man who can take care of himself, but this is supposed to be the happiest time of our lives, and it isn’t fair that Brett is being an asshole and trying to cause trouble.
“Good morning, dear.” Gran looks up from her newspaper with a smile.
“Good morning.” I pour myself a cup of coffee, take a sip, and then sink down across from her. “I need to talk to you.”
“About breaking the rules last night?” Her eyes twinkle with amusement.
I shake my head. “No. The only reason we’re going along with the whole abstaining thing is that we love you, but after what Brett did yesterday, we needed to be together.”
Her eyes narrow sharply. “What, exactly, did Brett do?”
“He’s trying to come between us, and I’m not having it, Gran. I won’t do this in the days leading up to the wedding. It’s not fair, and I’ll cancel the whole thing before I let him get away with shit like he tried to pull yesterday.”
She sighs. “Tell me what’s going on.”
I tell her everything, and the older woman shakes her head. “I don’t understand him. I really don’t. But I’ll take care of it. I’ll speak to your father.”
“Dad’s on his side,” I say, shaking my head. “And if they’re going to do everything in their power to upset Jake, and by association upset me, I’m done with all this. You know I didn’t want the big wedding, and?—”
“Nonsense.” Gran interrupts, holding up a hand. “I know you’re mostly humoring me, but I also know you, and you love all the pomp and circumstance of a wedding.”
“Yes, when it’s lighthearted and fun. And with a few exceptions, nothing about this has been fun.”
“That wasn’t my intention,” Gran says quietly, looking away.
“Nothing that’s upset me has been because of you,” I say quickly. “The dress, the food, the decorations, it’s all been amazing. It’s mostly the guest list and the people I have to be nice to. It’s ironic, too, considering Dad isn’t even the one paying for the wedding. Jake and I could have paid for it ourselves, you know.”
“I do know, but I wanted to. I didn’t have any girls, so I wanted this for you.”
