Help Me Remember (Rose Canyon, #1)(97)
“Reno? You want to get married in Reno?”
“I want to marry you in the next twenty-four hours. So yes, I want to go to Reno. Will you marry me? In Reno . . . today?”
As crazy as it is, there’s nothing in this world that would stop me. “I would marry you any day or anywhere, you crazy insane man.”
Spencer kisses me as we both grin. “I’m going to make you happy.”
“You already do.”
And with that, we rush to his car and head to Reno.
Epilogue
BRIELLE
“I swear it’s like I don’t even know you,” Addison says with a laugh.
I move Elodie to my other hip and smile. “I don’t know that I knew myself either. Or maybe I’m only myself when I am with him.”
She looks over at Spencer, my husband, and shrugs. “He would’ve liked this.”
“You think?” I ask, knowing she’s talking about Isaac.
“I do. He loved him like a brother, and he trusted him. Isaac only ever wanted the people he loved to have someone special to love them back.”
Elodie grabs my necklace in her tiny fist and proceeds to try to fit them both in her mouth. “And what about you?”
“What about me?”
“Do you think he would want you to be happy?”
She laughs. “I am years away from happiness, but I’m at least starting to come out of the rain.”
“That’s a start,” I say, hopeful that she’ll find the sun. “And coming back home?”
Addy looks around. “Soon, I think. Being here this week has been really good. It’s not as hard as I thought.”
“I miss you, Addison. I really do.”
“You have a family now. You are a married woman and will probably have your own kids soon . . .”
Spencer’s hand lands on the small of my back just as her words drop off and he makes a choking noise. “Did I miss something?”
I laugh. “I’m not pregnant—at least, not that I know of.”
“Okay then. Listen, your mother is giving me a load of shit because I took her only daughter off to Reno. She’s mad that she missed it and demands ‘her’ wedding.”
I groan. “I thought we could avoid this.”
When everyone came into town yesterday, I was stunned and elated. Spencer went to so much trouble to give me a perfect engagement party, which sort of turned into a wedding reception.
Only, no one thinks our wedding counts.
They all demand a redo so family and friends can be in attendance.
I have spent most of today trying to explain how unnecessary that would be.
“She has a point,” Addison says.
“Addy!”
“What? I’m just saying that, if Elodie did that, I would be broken. A mother only gets this once.”
“It’s a wedding. Why does she need that?”
“Because she needs something happy. We all do.”
Spencer and I glance at each other. “I already got the marriage part. The wedding is all you.”
I let out a breath through my nose. “Fine”—I turn to Addison—“you’re my maid of honor though.”
“Me?”
“Yes. You’re my best friend and sister, which means you’re going to have to come back here to help me plan.”
At least I will be able to have that much.
Addison’s eyes widen. “I can’t do that.”
“Then I can’t have a wedding.”
“You can’t do that!” She scoffs. “It’s totally unfair of you to blackmail me.”
“Maybe so, but I want this little peanut to have Auntie Brie around to corrupt her little mind, and I want you back home. So, if the wedding accomplishes that, then you can call it whatever you want.”
Spencer grins. “Savage, love.”
“You’re nuts.”
“You haven’t given me an answer. Am I getting a wedding or are you going to break Mom’s heart?”
Addison rolls her eyes. “Fine, but it doesn’t mean I’m staying.”
I kiss Elodie’s cheek. “You don’t have to stay forever, just for a bit.”
She takes Elodie back into her arms. “I’m going to get some food. It looks like Emmett has the mic anyway, and I don’t want the fallout in my vicinity.”
Oh no. I look over, and sure enough, he does. “Shit,” Spencer mutters.
Emmett makes a tapping noise, quieting everyone down. “All right, everyone of Rose Canyon. Welcome. I’m Emmett, Man of the Year, in case you didn’t know.”
Holden yells. “No one cares about you!”
He flips him off. “You weren’t nominated, sit down.”
Spencer chuckles. “This is going to be a mess.”
No shit.
Emmett turns back to us. “You two, come here.”
Spencer and I reluctantly make our way to the front of the room. “We are all here to celebrate the joining of these two people. Spencer has been my best friend since I was twelve. As you all know, he’s a complete and total waste of space. I mean, who needs a Pulitzer Prize winner in their town anyway? Not to mention, he’s a total stud. Sorry, man, you’re hot,” he says, and Spencer just shrugs as Emmett turns to me. “And, Brielle, well, I don’t know what to say about this headcase. She is the bravest, smartest, and stupidest woman I know. Yeah, I hear the contradiction there, people. I know it. However, that’s our Brie. She’ll do anything for someone she cares about, even marry them. I wish I knew that before this guy scooped her up,” he says.