Without a Hitch(96)

“Is that something you can do?” Nova whispers.

“Tilly is not Christine,” I slur and shake my head. “She’s not.”

“I know she’s not. But do you?”

“Yeah. She…holy fucket. She’s the other piece of me. The piece that’s gentle and kind and carefree. The piece that sees the world and does everything in her power to make it better. She’s the best part of me because she makes me believe those good things even exist. I… What day is it?”

Nova flashes a worried expression to my father, who answers, “It’s Friday. Remember? We were going to have dinner tonight.”

I stand and quickly stumble out of the tub, but my toe catches, and I go sprawling across the floor.

This might hurt tomorrow, but right now, it’s funny as fuck because I narrowly avoided a vomit bath. I roll over with a groan and stare up at my parents’ and sister’s panic-filled eyes.

“I’m going to Vermont. I’m a best man tomorrow, and I’m going to sprinkle him with love glitter.”

My belly hurts from laughing, remembering a text I got yesterday from Colton’s brother. They have a wedding surprise for him, and I get to deliver it.

“Did he just say glitter? What the hell is he talking about?” I hear my mother exclaim as Nova and my father drag me into a sitting position.

Nova shrugs beside me. “Er, I mean, Colton has sent him about a hundred glitter bombs in the past.” She isn’t wrong, and it makes me laugh even more.

“Colton is getting married, and that’s where I’ll get my Tilly back.” Raising my arm like a warrior, I point to the door. “To the plane,” I shout in my best Irish brogue, though by the way Nova is staring at me, it probably sounded more like “twolerpoolar.” So, I try again. “To. The. Plane?”

“You dump him in the shower. I’ll pack his bag.” My mother sighs.

My father and sister haul me to my feet.

“I’ll call the pilot,” Mum says from the hallway.

“You’re smiling, aren’t you, Mum?” My words get muffled as my father wrestles me out of my shirt. I swat him away like a mosquito when he tries to untie my baby trackies. “I’ll do it myself.”

He chuckles and moves toward the door. Just before I step into the shower, I hear him say, “He’s going to be just fine, Kitty. I knew my boy wasn’t immune to love.”

Immune to love? That would make a good song for my buddy Thomas Rhett. I should call him!

Can you just call a musician? I can. I’m bloody Lochlan Bryer-Blaine!

I whistle as I step into the shower, lighter and full of hope because that’s what she does to me.

Tilly is my sunshine maker. And my sun is finally ready to shine.





C HAPTE R 36

LOCHLAN

“W e’ll be landing in five minutes, sir,” the flight attendant informs me. I can’t remember her name, and it makes me smile to know that Tilly would.

“Thank you. What was your name again?” I ask without lifting my head. My gaze hasn’t strayed from the ring box I’ve been spinning between my fingers the entire flight. I should have slept. Christ, I probably should have passed the fuck out, considering I haven’t slept in three days. But knowing I’m on my way to Tilly has me keyed up on a high only she can bring me down from.

I feel the woman pause next to me, and her voice is hesitant when she speaks. “Uh, Allie, sir?”

“Thank you, Allie.” I tuck that piece of information away to surprise Tilly with later. It shocks me how much I want to please her. “Allie?” I call before she can walk away. “Could you do me a favor on the return flight?”

“Of course. What can I do for you?” Allie is an older woman, but our short conversation has apparently given her confidence and I don’t miss her suggestive tone. I level her with a glare that could melt icebergs. “My girlfriend will be returning to California with us.” I pause to allow that information to truly sink in. “I’d like to surprise her. Could you play the song ‘Unforgettable’ by Thomas Rhett when we board the plane?”

“You…you’d like me to play a song? But in the onboard instructions, it says no music. Actually, I believe it says a silent—”

“Allie.” I try very hard to keep my tone neutral. “I know what the rider says. Please play the song.”

“I’ll make sure it’s done, sir. Is that all?”

“Yes. Uh, thank you,” I add as an afterthought because that’s what Tilly would do. Have I really become such an asshole that simple manners are foreign to me? She nods in response and continues down the aisle. I spin the ring box again and recall words spoken only a few hours ago.

“Take it,” my mother says, pushing a small box into my hands. “It was your grandmother’s.”

“Why do you have this?”

“I was going to wear it for the gala, but I think you should keep it with you.”

“I’m not going to ask her to marry me today, Mother.” Stumbling as I speak, I giggle like a schoolgirl. The beer is still wreaking havoc on my system, and my side aches from my fall.

Pointing to the sky, I declare, “We have much to discuss. We’ll need to live together first to make sure we’re even compatible. Get to know each other, you know? Date, for fuck’s sake. I’m only going to tell her that I can commit. To her. For her, I will. I’ll choose her every day and every way.