CHAPTER 1
Conner
We had just arrived home from the hotel, and I still hadn’t told Charlotte what I’d done. I’d let her bask in the glory of my proposal for a bit longer before I sprung the news on her.
“The guys and I are going to hit the waves for a little bit,” I said as I wrapped my arms around Charlotte’s waist.
“Okay. I’ll go unpack our overnight bags.” Her lips met mine.
“I can do my own, babe. You don’t have to.”
“I know you can. The question is, when? Because I already know how this will play out.”
“Oh really? Enlighten me, Charlotte.” I narrowed my eye at her.
“I suspect that when you brought our bags in and took them upstairs, you set them on the bed. When we go to bed tonight, you’ll look at your bag and say, ‘I can’t believe I forgot to unpack my bag.’ You’ll pick up the bag, set it on the chair in the corner, and there it will stay for about a week. If you need something out of it, you’ll go over to your bag, unzip it, take out what you need, and zip it back up instead of fully unpacking and putting everything away. I’ll say, ‘Conner, why haven’t you unpacked yet?’ and you’ll say, ‘Babe, I’m going to. I’ve been busy.’” She arched her brow. “Have I forgotten anything?”
I swallowed hard because she knew me too well.
“You think you’re so funny.” I kissed her forehead and opened the sliding door.
“I speak the truth, Conner, and you know it.” She smiled.
“Don’t touch my bag. I promise to unpack it when I’m done surfing.”
“Sure, you will,” she said as I stepped onto the patio and closed the door.
I grabbed my surfboard and ran down to the shoreline, where my brothers and cousins were already putting their boards in the water.
“What took you so long?” Christian asked.
“Charlotte was telling me I’m not going to unpack my bag and leave it sitting for a week.”
“Ha. She knows you too well.” Nathan smiled as we paddled out.
“I bet Sammy and Shaun already unpacked their bags like the freaks they are.” Simon grinned.
“Damn right, I did. And I even unpacked Julia’s. Sad to say that she would leave it as well.” Sam sighed.
“Same,” Shaun said.
“Christian?” I looked at him.
“I’ll get to it.” He smirked.
“I guess you haven’t gotten around to telling Charlotte what you did,” Nathan spoke as we sat on our boards.
“I’m telling her when we’re finished here.” I sighed. “I might need backup.”
“You’re the fool who did it without talking to her first.” Sebastian smiled.
“How could I have talked to her about it when I hadn’t asked her to marry me yet?”
“I love you, bro, but I’m not getting in the middle of this one.” Christian laughed.
“You know you have a place to sleep at my house.” Nathan smirked. “Ella would love it.”
“Charlotte will be fine with it. I know my fiancée.”
“Really? Then why are you so scared to tell her?” Sam asked.
“I’m not scared.” I furrowed my brows.”
“Yeah, you are. Here comes a wave, douchebags,” Simon shouted.
After we finished our surf, I set my board on the patio and stepped inside the house.
“How was surfing?” Charlotte asked as she grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator.
“It was okay. Not many waves today. I love you, Charlotte.”
“I love you too, Conner.” The corners of her mouth curved upward. “What did you do?”
“What? I can’t tell you I love you?” I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her into me.
“It’s the way you said it and so randomly.” She broke our embrace.
“You want to get married in the Crystal Gardens and have the reception in the Crystal Ballroom, right? It’s pretty much a Kind family tradition.”
“Yeah.” She narrowed her eye. “It’s a beautiful place. Why?”
“I already booked it.” I blurted out to get it over with.
“What do you mean you already booked it? You did it without me?” A frightening smile crossed her lips. “When did you do that?”
“A couple of weeks ago.”
“Okay. For when?” she calmly asked.
“September 2nd.”
“September is a great month. I like September. Thanks, babe.” She kissed my lips.
“You’re not mad?” I furrowed my brows.
“No. I love the Crystal Gardens and ballroom. Besides, what better place to have our wedding than where you proposed to me.” A smile crossed her lips. “I’m happy you took the initiative and did that because that place books up so fast. One less thing we have to worry about.” She kissed the tip of my nose and walked over to the pantry.
“Phew. I was ready for you to explode,” I said. “We’ll sit down tonight and write a list of everything that needs to be done. The good news is that Jackson and Georgia already have the guest list, and we’re inviting all the same people, so we can get the addresses from them. I’ll text Georgia and ask if she has the addresses on her computer so she can share it with us.” I pulled out my phone.
“Don’t bother them with that while they’re on their honeymoon. We have plenty of time to get the addresses,” she said as she took a bite of her protein bar.
“Not really, babe. Time is ticking with the wedding in three months.”
“Three months!” She started choking on her protein bar, and I grabbed the water bottle and handed it to her while I patted her back.
“Are you okay?”
“What do you mean three months, Conner?!”
“Well, September is in three months.”
“No.” She shook her head. “You booked the gardens and ballroom for September 2, 2024. We have a little over a year to plan our wedding.”
Shit. Shit. Shit.
My heart started racing, and I began to sweat.
“I didn’t mention that I booked it for this year?” I played stupid.
“You idiot! I can’t plan a wedding in three months!” She placed her hand on her forehead and walked out the sliding door.
I ran after her as she made her way down the beach.
“Babe, I—”
“Don’t you ‘babe’ me, Conner Kind!” she shouted. “Three months?” She stopped, turned around, and faced me as we stood in the sand.
“Jackson and Georgia planned their wedding in five months, Charlotte. It can be done.”
“That’s two months longer!” Her hands were flying in the air. “Do you have any concept of what it takes to plan a wedding? Three months isn’t enough time! There’s the matter of asking the girls to be my bridesmaids, the save the date cards, invitations, the flowers, the cake, your ring, my wedding dress, the bridesmaid's dresses, hair, makeup, shoes, picking the menu, getting the wedding favors, seating charts, the DJ, photographer, our honeymoon and whatever else I’m forgetting. And if the people we want aren’t available, then we’re faced with having to look for someone else because you thought it was a good idea to book a venue three months out instead of a freaking year!”