“That’s all I need.” She rises on her tiptoes and gives me a swift kiss before running after her sister.
Family is family. It’s hard to live with them but even harder to let them go. As long as my Reese is happy, though, so am I. I guess that’s what love is. Justice love.
CHAPTER 22
REESE
“I knew the Justices were rich, but this is freaking nuts,” Angel declares.
“You’ll need to be more specific.” I laugh.
There is a lot of crazy and over the top when it comes to what the Justice family is doing. That includes them throwing their money around. I can’t help but smile thinking about how I’m going to be a part of that family shortly. Who knew I would be so lucky? Not only did I find the love of my life, but he came with an awesome family. The kind I’ve always dreamed of having.
“They not only planned a wedding but got this place together in three months.” Angel waves her hands around, indicating the inside of the carriage house and toward the back of the house where the wedding is about to begin. Guests have been arriving for some time now.
“What I think is crazy is that I managed to get Blake to agree to wait three months for this wedding.” I smile at the memory of the look on his face when I suggested it. He’ll never admit to pouting, but he looked so damn good while doing it. He did not want to wait to celebrate us getting married.
“I know. He was so adamant about you all getting married ASAP.” I shrug, not really responding to that because, well, Blake won that one. We are married already. That’s our little secret. It’s how I talked him into holding off on the wedding.
I was adamant that I wanted to get married at the house. I wanted to have this memory here. That had put a fire under both of our butts to get this place together. The last three months have been crazy. They’ve also been the best of my life. For so long, I had no clue what I was doing in life. Always feeling like I was on the wrong path. Finally I was on the one I was supposed to be with the love of my life.
“Blake isn’t getting the credit for the wedding. That’s all the Sew Be It ladies.” At the mention of them, a smile pulls at Angel’s lips. This one meets her eyes. It was a bit of a rough start for her in Edison, but she’s starting to find herself. The ladies have been helping her along in the same way they had me.
It’s easier to find yourself when no one else is putting pressure on what they think or want you to be. You just live. Angel is getting the chance to finally do that. I did the only thing I could do for her: I loved her unconditionally. Even when I wanted to strangle her. I had to remind myself that Angel is young and was lost.
She’s changed so much in such a short time. She’ll be going off to college in the fall. I think that’s going to be good for her. She has no clue what she’ll major in, but that will come. I think being in the city on her own will be good. Plus, I’m only an hour’s drive away.
A knock sounds at the door before it opens. “This place is beautiful, Reese,” my mom says as she steps through the door. I spot Blake behind her before I see Betty and her blue hair jump in front of him and slam the door closed behind my mom. My mom jumps away from it, startled.
“He was trying to sneak in with her.” Angel laughs. I smile, knowing not seeing me before the ceremony is probably killing him. I’m actually surprised he’s maintained this amount of self-control.
“Aren’t you going to say hello?” Mom says to Angel.
“Hey” is all she gives.
Normally, she’d fawn all over Mom, trying to get her attention or approval. I guess that ship has sailed. Once she didn’t have to deal with her in her everyday life, Angel started caring less and less about what my mom’s opinion was on things that had to do with her life. The pressure of always trying to please my mom disappeared.
I know now without a doubt that’s why Angel went after my ex. Mom and my stepfather thought he was a perfect match for me. They wanted us to take over the company. Angel often tried to do whatever she thought might get her a pat on the back or attention from them.
It was a month after being here that Angel broke down and spilled it all to me. She had a bit of a melt-down that night. A much-needed one that helped clear some of the debris that had been left. That night had laid out the path for us to move forward. Both of us had snatched up the opportunity to start fresh and build a relationship.