“Hey, Delora.” Justin waves at her as she steps into the conference room. “You’re running late today.”
The broad smile that slides over her mouth says it all. She has good news.
“Delora?” Rory questions her as he rakes a hand through his short blond hair. “What’s up?”
Excitement grips her from the inside out because she bounces in place. She literally bobs up and down in her heels. “I’m getting married!”
All three of us are on our feet in a flash. I race around the conference table, but Justin and Rory beat me to our boss.
They both gather her in an embrace, and as I round the table, their hands wave in my direction.
Growing up in a family with four kids, I know that signal. It’s the universal sign for ‘get-in-on-this-hug.’ Justin and Rory step apart to give me room, so I wrap my arms around Delora to offer her my congratulations.
“I’m so fucking excited!” she exclaims. “Did you all see the ring?”
We part so we can each take a turn admiring the emerald and diamond ring on her finger.
“It’s gorgeous,” I murmur. “It’s beautiful, Delora.”
“We couldn’t afford an engagement ring for our first wedding,” she says with tears streaming down her cheeks. “Larry told me that he wanted to do it right this time. When he dropped to his knee last night and flashed this beauty at me, how the hell could I say no to that?”
“You couldn’t.” Justin steals a look at Rory. “I couldn’t say no when my man asked me to marry him either.”
My head snaps to the left. That’s when I see a sight that brings tears to my eyes.
With an arm wrapped around Rory’s shoulder, Justin holds up his left hand to show off a gorgeous black band marked with two red stones.
Rory’s left hand pops up, and sitting on his ring finger is an identical ring.
“Are you two married?” Delora asks with her mouth falling open. “When the hell did that happen?”
“Engaged,” Justin corrects her. “ It happened a few days ago. We were waiting for the right time to tell you.”
“I’m so happy for both of you,” I say before Delora repeats the same phrase.
Justin beams. “The wedding will be next summer in the South of France. Everyone in this room is invited, of course.”
Rory pokes an elbow into my side. “That just leaves you, Callie. You’re the only holdout. You need to find a man worthy of you so we can celebrate your wedding too.”
I glance down at my bare finger.
I once thought I’d be happily married by now, but I’m more grateful than I’ve ever been that I walked away from that relationship.
“Don’t rush her.” Delora swats a hand over Rory’s shoulder. “When it’s meant to be, it’ll happen. Right, Callie?”
“Right.” I agree with a brisk nod of my chin.
“Let’s get to work.” Delora heads toward the conference table. “We’re going to do everything in our power to impress the Wells brothers so I can jet off to my honeymoon without a care in the world.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Sean
My plan for tonight was a repeat of last night, but Declan tossed a wrench into the middle of that.
I was prepared to go to Tin Anchor this evening, sip on a drink crafted by the hand of the most beautiful bartender in Manhattan, and then spend the remainder of my night in bed with her.
My brother decided that this would be the perfect night for the two of us to head over to our parents’ Manhattan residence to start cleaning out a storage room that we’ve neglected for a hell of a long time.
Since their home on the Upper West Side is about to undergo a slew of renovations, the clock was ticking.
We have until the end of the month to get what we want out of the storage room, or in the eloquent words of our mother, “the lot of it will be burned and trashed.”
Considering that many of the cardboard boxes in there contain mementos from when we were kids, you’d think that our mom would view them as having some sentimental value.
She doesn’t.
I round the corner toward the townhouse that I grew up in.
I remember racing up and down this sidewalk chasing my older brother while he held his cherished baseball glove just out of my reach.
I fondly recall helping Ava find her balance in a pair of roller skates she got for her tenth birthday.
I have little to complain about in terms of my childhood. I was fortunate in that I’ve always had parents who loved me. My father’s support throughout school and college came when I needed it the most.
I’d left the cocoon of a world where I was viewed as a great guy. I did whatever it took to make the people around me happy. If that meant sitting up all night to study because my sister had a test and no belief in her ability to pass it, I was by her side.