She laughed lightly. “No, but it seemed a little like fate she asked that question that night. It was actually today when I stopped at Target to grab a few things. It wasn’t busy at all, and no one was in line behind me, so I ended up chatting with the cashier for a while.”
He grinned and shook his head. Mia could make friends with the royal guard at Buckingham Palace if given the chance.
“I said something about how I’d probably spend my entire paycheck in the store if I was there every day working.”
“You are there every day.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Noteveryday.”
He’d put money on twice a week. At least.
“Anyway,” she continued. “The lady was probably in her fifties, and she said she liked her job, but it wasn’t where she’d thought she’d end up. Turns out she’d always dreamed of opening up her own quilting store, but never made it happen. Said she’s regretted it ever since. I don’t want to end up in the same situation, even if it means accepting some help.”
Noah heard the struggle in those final words.
He extended his arm along the back of the couch. “I’m glad you’re letting me.”
“Also, I got another one of those stupid affirmation messages today. It saidI will make the most of every opportunity.” She quirked her brow at him and he laughed.
Their pranks were usually limited to desk or computer manipulation, but he had to admit—he’d been proud of himself for coming up with that one.
“My first request as your wife will be that you cancel that. And the animal one.”
“Really? That one seemed kind of cool.”
“I mean, now I know that a shrimp’s heart is located in its head. And every time a bat exits the cave it turns left. But that’s not exactly useful information to me and I need it to stop.”
He processed the fact about shrimps (fascinating) and focused on the matter at hand. “Fine. I’ll cancel them.”
“Thank you.” She pressed her lips together and pushed them out a little, something she often did when considering what to say next. “So...how are we doing this? What happens next?”
Three days ago, Noah never would have guessed he’d be sitting here discussing marriage to his best friend. “What’s your timeline? With the scholarship stuff?”
She scrunched her nose. “Well, that’s the thing. The first full semester won’t start until the fall, but because it’s a program for adults returning to school, there’s a one credit hour course they want me to take this summer. It’s not required, but it sounds cool—it’s about finding your passions and pursuing them. I’d need to enroll pretty soon. But we don’t necessarily have to do our thing, yet. I think I could keep working at Agnew until August—”
Noah interrupted. “I say we just do it now. Get it done, so that way everything is consistent with your paperwork and we’ve worked out any insurance kinks before you start school full-time. You can take the summer to get back into the groove of being a student.” He shuddered internally at the memories of long hours struggling to stay awake in class and staying up all night in the studio working on design projects. “I can’t imagine going back to school. I’m proud of you for doing this.”
“I wouldn’t be doing it if it weren’t for you.”
“I’m proud of us, then,” he offered.
Mia released a long exhale. “So, by ‘now’ you meant...”
He shrugged. “Next week?”
Her eyes widened.
“What?”
“I don’t know...it’s just so soon. Is that even possible?”
“I looked into it a little this afternoon, just in case you...you know. Decided you wanted to go for it. We just have to go together to purchase the marriage license, and there’s no waiting period in the state of Colorado. We could get the license and get married that day, if we wanted.”
“Oh.” Her eyes darted around the room before meeting his again. “Are we, um. Telling anyone? The truth?”
He’d thought about that, too. “Claire’s gonna know something’s up. She’s the only one I think we should be honest with. Graham’s great and all, but...”
“He can’t keep his mouth shut.”