“This is the best food I’ve ever eaten,” she said. “I can’t stop eating, Liam. I feel like I’m going to pop.”
I laughed. “So it gets the thumbs up?”
“Yes,” she said.
“Do you know what you liked best?”
“Everything,” she said.
“We probably should narrow it down a little, right?”
“True,” she said. “Maybe I should take another walk around and try it all again.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” I said.
“No, I can’t. I feel… bigger already…”
“Bigger?”
“Liam, I work at a bakery. It’s not the most perfect place to work and eat from, you know?”
“What are you trying to say?”
“You know what I’m saying.”
“Just say it then, Em,” I said.
She leaned against the table. “I’m not as skinny as I used to be.”
“Oh, come on…”
“Don’t do that,” she said. “Look at you. You’re fit. You’re big and muscular. I hate that men get to do that. You get to have that sexy, skinny look when you’re a teenager. And then you get older and bigger, but it all becomes muscle. While women like me breathe in the smell of a cupcake and a stretch mark appears.”
I ground my teeth.
I wanted to explode.
I wanted to tell her she was perfect the way she was.
Was she curvier than when we were teenagers?
Of course she was.
She was a woman now.
She was meant to have the curves she has.
It was all meant to be…
“Em, I think you’re a little crazy,” I said.
“I’m calling myself fat and you’re calling me crazy?”
“I think I’m allowed to say that.”
“You’re lucky we’re not engaged for real. I’d throw this ring at you.”
She started to stand and I reached across the table and grabbed her hands. “Wait. I didn’t mean it like that. You’re not crazy… okay? Just… you thinking you don’t look good. That’s crazy to me. It… you… you know what? Fuck it. You look beautiful, Em. Okay? You look really beautiful. Any guy looking at you knows it too.”
Emily pulled her hands away and went for a walk.
She skipped the food and went to the edge of the seating area to look at the horizon.
Before I could gather up my thoughts - and feelings - a hand slapped my back.
I turned and saw Glen standing behind me.
I jumped up and shook his hand.
“Liam,” he said in his rough voice.
The guy looked like he belonged in the mafia. He had a big, kind smile but really dark and questionable eyes.
His grip was fierce on my hand and I gave it right back to him.
“How’s the food?” Glen asked.
“The best.”
“The wine?”
“The best.”
“The view?”
“The best.”
“Then what are we waiting for? Cut me a check and let’s call it a deal.”
I laughed. “Almost there, Glen.”
“Where’s your better half?” he asked.
“She went for a walk.”
I nodded.
Glen looked back. “That’s one hell of a woman there, Liam.”
“Yeah… she is.”
“Are you sticking around for a bit?”
“Of course,” I said.
“Good. We’re getting up on stage in a few.”
“Can’t wait to hear the band, Glen.”
“If you need anything, you go get my main guy, William. Okay?”
“He’s been great to us so far.”
“And think about getting married here. If you’re here after the show, I’ll give you a tour of a few of the rooms. You can’t beat it up here, Liam. And I’ll throw you a deal.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” I said.
“Good man,” Glen said. “Good man.”
I casually strolled toward Emily.
I stepped up next to her and looked around.
“What a view,” I said.
“Yeah.”
“Ready to get out of here?”
I looked at her and she looked at me.
“You really want to go?”
“No,” I said. “But I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable. And I’m sorry for what I said back there. It’s not my business or my place to tell a woman how she should feel about herself.”
“Do you really think I’m beautiful?”
“I do, Em. Believe me, I do.”
We both fell silent.
I heard the echoing sound of Glen’s voice as he was at the microphone. Introducing himself, the band, and asking how the food was. The guy loved the attention, that was for sure.
The entire time he spoke, Emily and I stared at each other.
I began to think about the last time I heard from Miranda. The quick texts that meant nothing. She was forever busy in Boston. I was actually feeling calm and collected with Emily.
It was all twisted up, and it was just beginning.
My only choice was to stop it.
I could throw together some wedding ideas and wait for Miranda to get back and talk to her. There was no need for Emily to be involved.
Damn me for going along with it.
Because now she was with me, in a romantic setting, and I was starting to think-
“We have two special people here tonight!” Glen’s voice boomed. “Liam! Where are you? Show off your beautiful fiancée!”
“Oh, shit,” I whispered.
“I take it that’s my cue?” Emily asked.
She turned and walked back toward the table, waving at Glen.
Glen pointed at her and waved back.
Emily then looked back at me and smiled.
This was really happening.
We were about to put our own show on tonight.
Chapter Twenty
Emily
The announcement of Liam and I there together brought on a round of applause I wasn’t expecting. I waited for Liam to catch up to me, my face feeling flush.
Every single person there looked at me.
Looked at Liam.
When Liam ended up next to me again, he gave a quick wave and then grabbed my chair so I would sit down.
My first reaction was shoot…
“What if there’s someone you know here?” I asked him.
He looked around. “I don’t know, Em. I didn’t really think this out. It kind of wasn’t my idea.”
“It wasn’t mine either,” I said.
My level of being annoyed moved up and down like an old wooden rollercoaster.
I appreciated what Liam had been trying to say to me earlier. It gave me butterflies when he said I was beautiful. But the truth was, he was too many years too late to make that kind of comment to me.
Then I went and made it worse by asking if he really meant it.
It wasn’t his job to tell me I was beautiful. And it wasn’t my job to accept his compliments and base my life on them.
William came to the rescue with a bottle of wine.
“Another bottle for the couple,” Glen yelled into the microphone. “Cheers to the happy couple!”