Swallowing, she whispered, “What? Where?”

I shrugged. “Vegas? We can be there in a couple of hours.” The excitement that thought brought was almost too much to take. She could be my wife in a couple of hours.

“No,” she said in a low voice, and the excitement within me faded.

“No?”

Clutching my hand, she said, “I want to marry you, as soon as possible, but not at some cheap chapel or by some dodgy fat Elvis!”

Pulling her to my chest and wrapping my fist in her hair, I asked, “Then where?”

Smiling sadly, she said, “My parents eloped to Gretna Green.”

“Where the f**k is that?”

“Scotland.”

Scotland? Fine, whatever. “Done. We’ll get the next flight out.”

Shaking her head but laughing this time, she said, “No. I’m joking. I don’t want that. I want us to have our own story. I want us to make our own memories. I want this wedding to be done right.”

I groaned in exasperation. “Mol, for f**k sake, I just want to make you mine. You own me in every way, shape, and form. Just give me this, soon. Let me have you too.”

Brushing a hand down my cheek, she pressed a kiss on my lips and whispered, “Okay, baby. However you want. Wherever you want.”

“Done, we’ll get married as soon as we’re back in Bama, but right now, we’re getting you a ring.”

Taking Molly’s hand, loving the sound of her excited squeal behind me, we reentered the green room, walked to our friends, and I put my arm around Molly’s shoulders. Our friends threw each other questioning glances, watching us closely.

“We’re getting married,” I announced proudly, “and right now we’re getting Mol an engagement ring. If you want to come, let’s go.” All their mouths hung open in shock before Cass beamed a huge grin, bellowed out a deafening whoop, and then they all began diving on us in excitement.

* * *

“So what kind of dress are you thinking about?”

“Well… I—”

“Because, I have some ideas, you know, about silhouettes that would suit your frame,” Ally went on, and I couldn’t help but laugh as Molly sat, stuttering her way through the barrage of questions her friends were firing her way. We’d been engaged all of three hours and her friends had all but planned the whole damn wedding day.

“And I can do your hair so you can check that off the to-do list. Oh, and I can get my momma to make the bridesmaid dresses.” Lexi paused and her eyes widened. “That is, of course, if we are your bridesmaids…” She gestured to the girls in the booth.

Molly reached over the table and clasped Lexi’s hand. “Of course you guys are my bridesmaids. You’re my best friends.” Cass and Lexi beamed with excitement, and Molly turned to Ally. “And I was wondering if you would be my maid of honor?”

Ally gasped and water filled her dark brown eyes before she launched into my girl’s shocked embrace. “Oh my God, darlin’, I’d be honored!”

Molly awkwardly patted her on the back, a happy smile on her face, and she caught my watching gaze, rolling her eyes, causing me to laugh.

She was so damn cute.

After accepting my proposal, we’d all hit the bustling streets of New York and began our search for her engagement ring. Ally had only one place in mind and dragged us to Tiffany’s, quipping, “Rome’s rich as all hell. It’s not like he can’t afford it!”

When Molly caught the prices of most of the rings, her eyes had almost popped out of her head. Squeezing my hand, she said, “Rome, I… I can’t, some of these rings are as expensive as a car. It’s too much.”

Shrugging and pulling her close, I replied, “You’re worth it, baby. Get whatever you want.” But I could see she was resolved in her decision.

Despite Ally’s insistence on a huge rock and my willingness to buy her anything she damn well pleased, thirty minutes later, we found ourselves in a small, vintage jeweler in Little Italy. My girl picked out a 1930s simple, half-carat diamond ring. As soon as the seller had told her the story behind it, Molly was in love.

Apparently it had belonged to a couple who’d spent their whole lives together, never once spending a day apart, after surviving religious persecution in Germany, and came to the States after World War II. They’d lived until an old age, had a huge family with lots of kids, and passed away within days of one another, the one left behind unable to survive on their own. In their will, they had asked that the ring be sold to a young woman who truly loved and deserved it.

Molly had listened to the old jeweler with tears glistening in her eyes, and I knew she’d found her ring of choice. She was all about the deeper significance of things, and thought that this ring, after everything we’d been through, was perfect.

And seeing that thin piece of gold on her finger was f**king perfection to me too.

Jimmy-Don’s girly shriek shook me from the recent memory, and I watched him jump up and down in the booth of the bar and swerve to me, hands pressed to his chest. “Gee, Rome, please say I’m your groomsman. I have the perfect tux in mind! I have the whole day envisioned… It’ll be just… just magical!”

Cass scowled at his mockery of the girls’ excitement and laid a punch on his arm. Molly broke into fits of giggles at her friend.

I slapped Jimmy-Don on the back and said with all seriousness, “You know it, man. Reece too.” That quickly stopped their jokes and I could see that the two of them were genuinely taken aback, speechless even.