When they were walking out, Sara prodded, “You’ve been quiet tonight. I would have expected you to tell us what happened.”
“Dakota proposed, I said yes, we got the license yesterday, and we’re getting married on August fourth,” she repeated in a matter of fact tone.
“There’s got to be more to it than that,” her boss prodded again.
Not knowing how else to get her coworkers to back off, she lied. “We’ve been talking about this for months. It’s not that big of a surprise.”
“And your mom is letting you do this?” Baca asked.
“She thinks it’s a great idea. She believes that because he’s in the military, it’s perfect. She probably believes he’s a saint and can walk on water too,” Cally joked.
“And you want to do this?” Sara asked suspiciously.
“It was my idea. But don’t worry, I only need Thursday through Sunday off, and I’ll still be working here for a while.” She shrugged. “It seems like we won’t be getting our own place until January or February or something like that.”
Baca asked, “Where are you moving to?”
They were at the door when she replied, “The Air Force base.”
“Don’t move. I have to set this,” Sara jumped in. They all froze as she set the alarm.
Cally looked out the doors as she stood still and her heart dropped. She saw two very familiar cars out there. Dakota was to her left, and Seth’s brother’s was to her right. Trouble was coming for her too fast. Just then, they rushed out, and she made the only logical choice she could—she nearly ran and jumped in Dakota’s car. Just as she opened the door, she saw Seth getting out and coming toward her.
Not wanting to deal with this, she rushed. “Where are we going tonight?”
Dakota backed up and started pulling out saying, “The old creek. Everyone’s going over there tonight.”
Fun, she thought sarcastically as she looked in the rearview mirror at Seth’s infuriated form standing there. Yeah, with any luck, they would get out of here before Seth and his brother could follow them. She was right, they hadn’t followed them, but that didn’t mean they would stop trying, and Hades only knew what was going to end up happening when Dakota went back to work and he wasn’t here to pick her up.
She was looking out the window when he asked, “Are you mad at me?”
Cally lazily looked over to him answering, “No. I know you were only doing what you believe is the best thing for us. I just wish you would have told me about any of this before you threw a hurricane at me.”
“Next time, I will,” he assured her, kissing her hand.
For the most part, the drive was quiet, and they were just about there when he asked, “You’re sure everything’s fine?”
He stopped the car, and she could see the fire going and people everywhere. She looked at him, finding a way to smooth this over. “I’m not happy you did this behind my back, but I’ll let it go. I’ll marry you in two weeks, and we’ll work it out from there.”
He leaned over the center console and kissed her. “You’re too good for me.”
She laughed. “You know, that’s what I’ve been thinking of you all night.”
They got out and walked up to the group that was three times the size of the get together the other night. People were watching them, and she just knew they were whispering things about them. When they got close to one of the trucks, someone asked very loudly, “Are you two really getting married?”
She hated crowds and hated being the center of attention, so she let Dakota answer them. “In two weeks.”
Someone walked up behind her and asked, “You’re really going to marry him?”
“Yep,” was all she could manage to get out with everyone staring at them like they were tonight’s entertainment.
Cally started calming down when Savannah came over and handed her a drink. Dakota reached over to take it, but Savannah stopped him. “Lighten up. She has just as much right to celebrate as you.”
“She shouldn’t be drinking,” he countered.
“Why?” Savannah asked, like he had lost it. “It wasn’t a problem at the party when you met her.”
Cally just couldn’t hold it back when she started laughing. “He still thinks I’m pregnant. No matter how much I swear I’m not, he won’t believe me.”
“She’s not, so give her the damn drink. Out of anyone here, she’s the one that needs a drink the most, considering what you put her through,” Savannah argued.
But he wasn’t having it. “You don’t know that, and she’s too young to be drinking. And what did I put her through?”
“Yeah, I do know that she’s not. And you’re not getting any tonight either. So let her have it and lighten up,” her sister argued.
He wasn’t going to let it go, and she knew it. “What did I put her through?”
“She had no clue you were proposing, and then you decided to drag her all over the place, ordering her around, deciding her whole life for her, and then what you did today.” Her sister paused and looked from her to him. “She needs a drink.”
He just gave up and let her have it.
When Savannah was walking away, Cally couldn’t help but say it. “It has been a little stressful this weekend, but it’s worth it.” She looked up at him and gave him a kiss on the cheek and handed him the drink. It wasn’t worth fighting over something that she didn’t like anyway. In fact, the only reason she ever took the drinks was to see him get worked up.
He didn’t seem to believe her, but she didn’t think they were going to argue over this now; at least, she wasn’t going to argue over this. They had their whole lives together to work all this out, and trying to sort it out tonight wasn’t something she wanted to deal with.
She tried again. “It’s a party, loosen up.”
The night seemed to go easier, and she just sat back and let go as she sipped on Coca Cola. He was right. After all, she was too young to start drinking; no one liked a teen alcoholic. And the way alcohol made you act stupid and out of control just wasn’t for her.
* * * * *
Cally didn’t get to see Dakota before he left, but she did talk to him when he got back that night and every night after. He hadn’t been able to come home the next weekend, because he had to put in extra time so they could have the following weekend off together.
She was lucky over that time that Seth wasn’t able to catch up with her. She knew he was trying, but she was doing everything she could to avoid him. She was never here when he called, no matter if she was or not. She was never at work when he came in, and she snuck out the back every time he would try waiting for her after a shift. She had four more days to avoid him before she got married and she was going to avoid him for as long as she could.
The Tuesday before they were to get married, she had conned Savannah and Hannah to do a “sleepover.” When Hannah got there, they all went in her room to talk and the proverbial “hang out.” She didn’t have any time left and needed to tell her soon-to-be sister-in-law the truth. Hannah needed to know what was going to be said when they went back to school in another month, and she wanted Hannah to hear it from her first. Because she knew that when word got around and the rumors that would go around school all