Page 112 of Change My Mind
The wedding bouquet I had caught was discarded on oneof the counters, its presence making itself known no matter where my eyes settled in the room.
Catching the bouquet was not on my list of things to do today. But Rachel had dragged me onto the floor when word went around that Clo was getting ready to throw it, and to avoid getting hit in the face, I caught it.
My sister had impeccable aim. There is no way it being hurled at my face was an accident.
Since I caught it, being at the reception was becoming unbearable. Guests kept coming up to me to make unhinged comments about my love life. The final straw was some random second cousin sidling up to me just to tell me that I could do better than the man I had been with for over a year, who consistently made my life better. I had to leave before I did something terrible, like hit a guest, so I left for the kitchen.
Then everyone else followed.
“I’ve got chips!” Eli called out as he came over to where we were picking at the food.
There was a scramble for the chips that I left them to, sinking back into Eli as he settled in behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist.
“It’s following me,” I mumbled.
“What is?”
I pointed at the bouquet.
He huffed a laugh into the crook of my neck. “I don’t think the dying flowers are following you, Dove.”
“Then why can I see them wherever I look?”
“Because this isn’t that big a space, and you left them there?”
I pinched the back of his hand. “One of these days, you aren’t going to apply logic to the things I say and just go along with it.”
He pressed a kiss to my tattoo. “Why is the bouquet bothering you?”
“Because of what they are supposed to mean. And Clo knew exactly what she was doing when she threw them at me.”
He hummed quietly. “It doesn’t have to be. You know that, right?”
There was something about the way he said that made my ears perk up.
“She threw them at me on purpose, didn’t she? Oh my gosh, she’s got a secret in the vault, doesn’t she?”
I could feel Eli smiling against me. I also hadn’t been as quiet as I would have liked, so everyone was looking at us.
“I gave you strict instructions, Eli,” Clara warned, her finger wagging at him.
Eli pulled his head back and looked at her. “I haven’t done anything,” he protested.
“What instructions?” I asked.
“In his defence, babe, you threw those flowers at her with sniper-like precision,” Jesse said, pulling his wife closer to him.
“Hello, someone tell me what is up,” I tried again.
“I am under strict instructions to not propose to you today because, as Clo likes to remind me, it is her wedding day.”
I looked at Rachel, my eyes hopefully stern, but probably not. “You must know as well, then, given that you had a mission to get me into that bouquet-catching crowd?”
Rachel nodded. “We all know. Including you now.”
I turned around in Eli’s hold.
“You’re going to propose?”
