There were a thousand things I could have said at that moment, like back away or don’t pressure me, but it was my fault the conversation had come up. I’d said yes when Timothy popped the question. And, then there was that other part to our moment of drama. Timothy still WANTED TO MARRY ME.
Wow!!!!
I guess the shock of that realization is why, instead of arguing, putting him off, or hedging about the when’s, where’s and how’s, I just blurted out, “My father’s dead. I don’t have anyone to walk me down the aisle.”
Timothy sat down on the chair beside me and placed his arm around my shoulders. “Well,” he said, giving his attention to the subject as if my resistance to getting married had all melted away. “There’s Chris Shafer, the dancing instructor. Or Chef Stevens. And, we could ask Jack Peters . . .”
When Timothy added the name of the crazy vampire hunter, I burst out laughing, which is exactly what he’d been hoping for. Meanwhile, while I was recovering with a healthy gulp of coffee, Timothy shoveled a heap of scrambled eggs on his plate and mine, sorted through the muffins and found either a walnut or banana bread one, offered me one (chocolate chip, of course, then poured himself a second cup of coffee. He refilled my cup, too, knowing that I always wanted more of the black nectar.
“Now, seriously,” Timothy said after a minute. “Andrew would love to walk you down the aisle and so would Ed Sanders. Since Ed is your boss, that might be ideal. That way he can’t blame you for missing more work days while we’re off on our honeymoon.”
I nodded as I thought about it. He and his wife certainly deserved to be included in the wedding since they were the ones who had set us up for that first meeting at their house.
I nodded and took a sip of my cup of fresh coffee. Yes. Mr. Sanders would be perfect —if he’d agree. Of course, I was pretty sure that Judy wouldn’t give him any choice. She’d insist in that way she had of getting everyone around her to agree with her wishes. (I don’t mean that to sound negative. I loved Judy, but she was halfway between a hurricane and a tornado, except not destructive. But definitely a strong force of nature.)
“And your bridesmaids?” Timothy asked.