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together for almost five years, it was happy. The entire deck burst out into a

hum of activity. Hugging. Laughter. Questions fired left and right about

wedding dates and preparations and plans. Jack, as per usual, shrugged off

the questions after a round of hugs and handshakes, and went to mash

potatoes and make salad. Amy took one for the team and stayed out on the

deck answer all their questions.

No, they hadn’t set a date. No, they hadn’t even picked out a ring. They’d

discussed marriage for a long time and made a decision together that they

finally wanted to go ahead and make it official. Yes, common sense was

romantic for her. Yes, she wanted to make the decision with Jack, not have

it sprung on her when she wasn’t ready because it was expected or because

someone thought they should. Yes, she wanted a summer wedding, when it

was nice out. Yes, they were happy where they were. No, they weren’t

planning on starting a family for a few more years. Yes, she was

ridiculously excited to have their families officially joined, though they had

been friends for years. After Jack and Amy started dating, it wasn’t long

before both sets of parents met and became fast friends. No, she hadn’t told

her family yet. They were actually planning on stopping by after the

barbeque.

Eventually, Travis had to make his way back to tend to his meat

smorgasbord and Deb excused herself to go to see how dinner was

progressing. Emily stood up to set the table, and Amy went off to help with

whatever else needed doing.

That left Romi. She felt like she would just be in the way inside and her

dad would shrug off any attempts to have her help with his master meat

plan, so she took a few minutes to relax. She’d been able to dodge her

brother’s questions for the time being, but she knew she couldn’t dodge him

forever. She really was an open book when it came to him. He’d no doubt

read something on her face in those few brief moments when work was

mentioned.