skin and a thick New Orleans accent. His father had run out on his mother when he was young, so Ian was the male role model in his life. He lived in New Orleans, but came to stay with Ian most summers.
âAnd half your age.â
âDonât hate on my cougar possibilities. That boy is a man! And I have an entire year to get slim and trim to make him my boo,â I joked.
âA year? Wait, Ian, you didnât tell her?â Scarlet looked at Ian.
âTell me what?â
âWe moved the wedding up,â Scarlet said.
âMoved it up?â
âItâs in May,â Ian revealed.
âIan, I canât believe you didnât tell her.â
âWe just decided this last night,â Ian said to Scarlet.
âWell, yaâll talk all the time.â
âMay? May? Thatâs . . . in four months.â Iâd been counting it up in my head.
âThree and a half,â Scarlet said.
I peeked at her ring. It looked like sheâd had it polished already.
I said, âWhy? Thatâs crazy. It takes at least nine months to plan a decent weddingâone thatâs not going to break your pockets.â
âWe kind of wanted to get it out of the way before I leave for the Congo,â Scarlet said, and in her eyes I could tell that sheâd expected me to know what she was talking about. âYou didnât tell her about my trip either?â She turned and poked at Ian.
âScarlet is going to the Congo this summer to work at an orphanage for girls,â Ian blurted out quickly.
âItâs not just an orphanage,â Scarlet said. âItâs a rehabilitation clinic for girls who had their limbs severed during home invasions by the rebel tribes.â
âWow! Thatâs heavy. Howâd you get into that?â I asked.
âItâs through my graduate program.â
âYouâre in graduate school?â
Scarlet shot a stare at Ian. âWell, not right now,â she said. âI start in the fall. This is just a summer pilot program they have going. Anyway, Ian and I are so excited to be getting married that we figured, heyââshe threw her hands up and the look on her face forced Ian to do the sameââwe might as well just do it before I leave.â She looked at Ian.
âYeah, we might as well!â he confirmed with his voice as obnoxiously fake as Scarletâs.
I still couldnât piece together why in the world he was putting himself through this whole thing. But, like Journey said, it was his life. I was just there for support. Who cared what they did as long as it didnât involve me?
âAnd I guess that brings us to why we invited you here today,â Scarlet said. âIan told me that you donât plan weddings for friends, but I was just hoping, just hoping you would find a way in your heart to reconsider your rule.â
âScarlet, Iâm sorry to let youââ
âWaitââScarlet cut me offââbefore you finish, let me say this: Ianâs your best friend. You two have known each other for so long. It just wouldnât be right for anyone else to plan his wedding. Not our wedding. Weâre all about to be family. And family has to be there for one another. Now, I know you have your rule, but you also have a heart and that heart has to have some love for your family. If youâre everything Ian says you are, it just has to.â Scarlet pursed her glossed lips together and looked at me like I was holding the plug to her mama on a life support machine. I felt like Ian with all those cameras flashing on him at the birthday party. I could either let everyone down or be the life of the party.
âItâs just my policyââ
âPlease, just this once?â Scarlet held out her hands together in prayer and closed her eyes.
I looked at Ian bug-eyed, but all he could do was shrug his shoulders.
âIn three and a half months?â I
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