Page 100 of Yours, Now and Always
Edmund just shakes his head, but I catch a slight curve of his mouth.
I close my eyes for a beat. “Can we please not relive this?”
Tim holds up a finger. “In my defense?—”
“There is no defense,” Gage interrupts.
“—I labeled the container! How was I supposed to know Amelia and your mother would think they were regular cookies?”
Blair looks at me sympathetically. “How bad was it?” She didn’t arrive until just before the ceremony.
“I thought the chair and I were in a committed relationship,” I admit.
“She told me Ryan Gosling’s soul had taken over her body,” Hayden says.
“And the plants were judging her,” Callan contributes. “Can’t forget that part.”
“Meanwhile,” Bradford says, “Mom was outside conducting an orchestra that didn’t exist.”
Tim looks genuinely pained. “I apologized! Multiple times! I groveled!”
“You hid,” Gage corrects. “With the girls. Like a coward.”
“Strategic retreat,” Tim mutters.
“Hayden had to stop Gage from committing murder,” Callan says.
I look at Gage. “You were going to kill him?”
I mean, I know they’re not being literal, but I didn’t realize Gage was that angry.
“Yes.”
“Paste tense?”
“I’m still deciding.”
“Okay, but consider this,” Tim rushes to interject. “Amelia, did you not have the most relaxed pre-wedding experience of your life?”
“I was on the floor. Examining carpet fibers.”
“But were you stressing about the wedding?”
I think about it. “No.”
“EXACTLY.” Tim spreads his hands. “You’re welcome.”
“That is not how it works,” Colin says.
“I’m choosing to see it as a gift,” Tim says. “An accidental, poorly executed, nearly wedding-ruining gift.”
Gage’s jaw tightens. “Tim.”
“Right. Still processing. Got it.” Tim clamps his mouth shut.
Kristen looks at Gage. “So, on a scale of one to ten, how close did Tim come to not making this dinner?”
“Eleven.”
