Page 43 of Accidental Wedding Crasher
“I want to congratulate you both,” Evan said. “I wish you a long and happy marriage.”
“Thank you,” Sarah said, leaning against her new husband. Luka reached out and clapped Evan on the shoulder.
“You mean that, don’t you?” Luka asked.
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“Well, because, until this week, I only ever heard youdisparagethe institution of marriage. Mia is a good influence on you.”
“I’m thankful I got to know Sarah better and saw how great a fit you were for each other,” Evan explained, but even he knew it wasn’t true. Mia had changed how he felt about marriage. It no longer felt inconceivable to spend a whole life with one wonderful person. Evan couldn’t give up his work, but he understood now how other people could make that choice. He didn’t feel as judgmental about it anymore.
He should reach out to Tyler and say the same thing.
Back at the table, Mia was looking down at her plate, biting her lip. Evan’s heart went out to her, and he held out a hand.
“Come on.”
“Hmm?” She looked up at him, confused.
“Let’s go eat the gelato on our bench.”
Smiling slightly, she let him help her up, her hand small and delicate in his. “Where’s ‘our’ bench?”
“Any bench with a good view is our bench. Like the one in Napa Valley, remember?”
“How could I forget?” She smiled.
They walked away from the wedding party and found a quiet bench overlooking the fields away from the noise and hubbub. Evan handed Mia her ice gelato and she took a tentative spoonful.
“Hey,” Evan said, “is everything… okay?”
Mia looked up at him and nodded. “Yeah. I already said I was okay.”
“I know, but you seem a little down today, and I feel bad. You came here because of me, and I wanted you to have a good time. If anything made you sad… like the kiss last night… you can tell me.”
Mia bit her lip, her gaze skating away. It was all the confirmation Evan needed that something was wrong, no matter what she said.
“Come on.” He nudged Mia’s shoulder. “If this is about our kiss, well?—”
“There’s something else,” Mia blurted. Evan glanced at her. She was running the spoon around the melted gelato at the edge of the bowl.
“Okay.” Evan’s heart sank, even as his mind spun through the possibilities for why she was upset. Maybe she was reconsidering their arrangement for future events after last night’s kiss. Maybe she’d had a bad experience with one of his sometimes-thoughtless family members. Maybe she was upset that he’d worked this morning and hadn’t been there when she’d woken up.
“I…” Mia’s eyes were bright. “I don’t know how to say this.”
“You can tell me. Spill it all out in one breath.”
She looked away. “Maybe it isn’t the right time. Ugh, I’m so sorry.” She sank her head into her hands, and Evan instinctively reached out and put a hand on her shoulder.
“You can tell me,” he repeated.
“I’m pregnant.” She spoke the words into her hands, so they came out a bit muffled, and Evan was sure he’d misheard.
“What did you say?”
She straightened and looked directly at him, her face set. “I’m pregnant.”
Evan reeled back, his hand falling from her shoulder. He felt shocked and dizzy, like someone had dumped icy water over him. He shook his head. “How?”
