“Yeah, he is,” I said softly, thinking about the way he’d held my hand during the conversation with my aunt and uncle.

“Is everything still good with you guys?”

“Um, that’s what I was calling you about,” I replied. “I have some news.”

“You better not have broken up with the unicorn, Sarai,” she said seriously.

“The opposite, actually.”

“What?” she asked in confusion.

“We got married.”

“What?” she shrieked happily, making me laugh. “No you didn’t!”

“Yeah, we did.” I couldn’t stop the grin that had taken over my face. “We went to Vegas.”

“No you didn’t!” she yelled again.

“Yep. We stopped there on our way home from Oregon, and we’ve spent the week moving me into Alex’s apartment.”

“Holy crap,” she exclaimed. “Where the hell did my best friend go? You know, the fuddy-duddy that never does anything spontaneous?”

“She’s still here,” I replied ruefully. “I’m still as boring as ever.”

“Yeah, but now you have a husband to be boring with,” she squealed. “Congratulations.”

“Thanks,” I said, tears coming to my eyes as she whooped and made celebratory noises. This was exactly the type of reaction that I wished I could’ve gotten from my aunt and uncle. I hadn’t expected them to be happy, but damn, it would’ve been so nice.

“I’m so freaking happy for you,” she said, her voice calmer than before. “This is awesome news.” Before I could reply, she spoke again. “Crap, I gotta go. I just spilled shampoo all over the floor—don’t ask. Call me later and give me all the juicy details?”

“Sure.”

After she’d hung up, I stared at the phone in my hands, wishing I could call my aunt and have a do-over. I wanted her to be excited for me, to squeal and yell and tell me how happy she was that I’d found someone as great as Alex. I wanted to go back in time and introduce them before I dropped the marriage bomb so she could’ve been more accepting.

I rubbed at my sore eyes, trying not to cry.

“What did she say?” Alex asked, poking his head around the doorway.

“When she got done screaming in excitement?” I asked, making him chuckle. “She said congratulations.”

“I’m sorry you didn’t get that from your uncle and aunt,” he said softly.

“I didn’t expect them to break out the champagne,” I replied with a shrug. I would not cry again. I’d known that they were going to be upset with me; now I had to live with it.

“Hey, all this excitement made me hungry,” Alex said. “How about we run down to the restaurant and grab some lunch?”