Martin chimed in. “He’ll be wearing Tom Ford!”
Clara smiled. “Ah, sounds like it’ll be a perfect day. I can’t wait to experience it all.”
“You and me both,” Lexi said with a chuckle.
As they all continued chatting, she glanced back over at the lawn where she and Seth would ultimately be saying “I do.” The sunlight was hitting the marsh, making the water look as though it was filled with flecks of gold. The wedding was feeling more like a fairy tale every minute. She had her gown and her prince—the only thing left was their happily ever after.
CHAPTER 24 Callie
What do you think the odds are that we’ll win the jackpot again?” Callie asked her sisters, glancing down at the three lottery tickets on the table in her living room. An empty pizza box and half-drunk bottle of wine also sat on the small rectangular particle-board coffee table. They hadn’t played since they’d won three months ago, and so much had changed since then, yet the furniture in the room had stayed the same. Callie just couldn’t seem to bring herself to buy new stuff. This apartment felt like home.
“Hey, it could happen!” Lexi said, wiggling her feet. She was lying in the supine position sprawled over the entire length of Callie’s sofa while her sisters sat cross-legged on the floor. Their little sister had been going on and on about her wedding details practically all night. Granted, she had just come back from her final meeting with her planner and the wedding was only a week away, but Callie was already so tired of hearing about it. She was happy for Lexi, but also a little annoyed.
Wynn had asked her the other night how she felt about her younger sister getting married before her. Callie had never even thought about that. But now that he brought it up, she did feel a little sad. Somehow, her sisters were surpassing her in milestones. Marriage, kids, a house—Hanna had it all already, and Lexi was well on her way to having it all soon enough.
But Callie was still… just Callie. She never thought she needed those things, but now it felt like she was getting left behind.
Looking at Wynn, though, she saw hope in her own future. She could see marriage, kids, and a house one day. Of course, she didn’t tell him any of that. Instead, she just said, “That’s a weird question to ask.”
“Sorry,” he said, his piercing blue eyes begging for forgiveness. “It’s the reporter in me. I always ask the tough questions.” He kissed her to make up for it, and she quickly forgave him.
“Look at our sister,” Lexi said to Hanna, bringing Callie back to reality. “She’s got the googly eyes.”
Callie looked up. “What?” She shook her head to snap out of it. She must have been making a sappy face thinking about Wynn’s kiss. “No, I was just in a daze.”
“Yep! I see them,” Hanna said, inspecting her sister closely by prodding her cheeks. “Someone’s in love.”
She took a deep breath and tried to prevent herself from blushing, but she knew her face was getting pink.
A promo for the ten o’clock news played in the background on the TV.
“Is your boyfriend going to be on tonight?” Lexi called out from the couch.
“Okay, y’all are being obnoxious,” Callie said, taking the empty pizza box to the kitchen trash. Now she remembered why she didn’t talk about her love interests with them. “We’re not five.”
“You’re the one being obnoxious.” Lexi groaned. “Why don’t you ever talk about him? Like, you brought him over to meet the family and we still don’t know anything about him, except for the fact he works for the TV station and is the only one in the world who could make you quit that job at the newspaper.”
“Yeah, he’s a little mysterious,” Hanna agreed. “Like, what’s his story? And how are you feeling about him? Do you think he’s the one?”
Callie straightened her posture. She could see their point. There was a lot he had told her about himself, but also a lot she didn’t know. He had met her family and a bunch of her friends already, but he still hadn’t introduced her to anyone in his life outside of work yet. She didn’t even know what he did for fun when he wasn’t working or hanging out with her. It didn’t really bother her, though, because when they were together, they were really together. The connection she felt to him was unlike anything she’d experienced before.
Her heart began racing, and the words rolled effortlessly off her tongue. “I’m in love with this guy.” She let out a romantic sigh. “He makes me feel like a completely different person than I was before and shows me parts of myself I didn’t know existed. He’s the first thing I think about when I wake up, and the last thing I think about when I go to sleep,” she confessed as she fidgeted with her fingers. “Honestly, I don’t know how I got so lucky to have him in my life, but I’m just going with it.” Her voice began to feel shaky. “I’m head-over-heels in love.” She was surprised at how emotional she got saying that out loud. Callie took a deep breath to compose herself.
“Awwww,” Hanna said, touching Callie’s back.
“Woo!” Lexi gave an air toast with her almost-empty wineglass. “I’m so happy for you, Cal.”
Just then, they heard the familiar words of the man in the suit: “Across the country, it’s America’s favorite jackpot game!” Callie leaned against the couch and focused her attention on the TV screen in front of them.
“Get ready, everybody… this is Powerball!” They all giggled as they said the words along with him.
As they watched the man call out each number, they quickly realized they didn’t have a single correct number. Callie felt surprisingly relieved. They didn’t need any more money. Hell, she didn’t even know what to do with the millions she already had.
“Guess last time was just a fluke,” Hanna said with a laugh.
“Hey, you only have to win once, right?” Lexi said.
Callie nodded her head in agreement. Her sister’s words felt like they could be related to love, too, she thought. All those years she had lost waiting for Garrett, but really, she only needed one win. And Wynn was looking more and more like her jackpot every day.
Speak of the devil… She glanced up at the screen to see Wynn reporting the lead story for that night’s broadcast. Seeing his face made her stomach flip. “Look who it is,” she said giddily. “That’s my boyfriend,” she said proudly. It felt nice to be able to talk about him with her sisters.
They clapped their hands in excitement. “I just want to say I’m so happy you are finally in love,” Hanna said. “It’s about damn time!”
She chuckled to herself. Little did her sisters know that she’d been in love before. Garrett’s face flashed in her mind, but she quickly forced it away. As she watched Wynn on the TV, she couldn’t help but adore how passionate about his job he was—in her mind, there was nothing sexier than a man who loved going to work every day. And he made her feel smart and successful, too. All of that combined with his good looks, great personality, and kind ways made him everything she wanted in a man. But the best part was that he was actually hers.