Page 92 of Something Like Forever

“I thinkthey’re tired of running around town,” Ben said. “Besides, Ipromised Chinchilla you would grill. You owe her aburger.”

“Aburger tonight,” Tim said. “A nice juicy steak tomorrow. I’ll picksome up on the way home.”

That fell under theheading of making her comfortable, so Ben nodded. At least they hadmanaged to agree on something.

ChapterFourteen

The gazebo was made ofcast iron, three pillars of looping metal curls that rose ten feetin the air to join in an ornate knot. Vines climbed two of thesepillars, the very ones Jason and William would step through to taketheir vows, purple blossoms already in bloom. All around the gazebowere lush ferns and a variety of exotic flowers, transforming asmall area of the backyard into a garden paradise.

“Youguys are insane,” Jason said. He was seated on the patio next toBen, shaking his head at what he saw before him. “How’d you managethis?”

“I wasup all night,” Ben lied. “Bending the iron was the hardest part.Once I had the gazebo built, it was just a matter of planting theseeds and speeding up time so they would grow.”

Jason laughed. “This musthave cost a fortune!”

“It’s no more than whatyou did for us.”

“Yourwedding?” Jason said. “We tried our best, but it didn’t look thisnice.”

“Itdid,” Ben said. “And don’t thank me yet. We went overboard on theflowers. Try to get through your vows before you getstung.”

“A swarmof angry bees won’t stop me,” Jason said. “I’m so ready.Emotionally, anyway.”

“That’sthe easy part,” Ben chuckled. “Do you have everything figuredout?”

“I think so,” Jason said,not sounding certain.

“Let’s go over it then.Vows.”

“Got them up here,” Jasonsaid, tapping the side of his head.

“You might want to writethem down anyway. I blanked when marrying Jace. I literally didn’tsay a thing.”

Jason laughed again.“Okay. Uh, what else? I asked Emma to be my best man.”

Ben nodded his approval.“What about William? Bridesmaids?”

“Weconsidered it! But no, he’ll have a best man too. Christie Patel isflying down to be his.”

“Who’sshe again?”

“Themechanic from his Cape Cod days. The one who came to see us lastyear.”

“Ohright. If you need a place for anyone to stay—”

“We’regood,” Jason said. “His mom’s house has extra space, so Christieand her family will stay there. Lily and Daisy too. Guess whoelse?”

Ben shook hishead.

“William. Only on the night before.”

Ben grinned. “So you don’tsee each other before the wedding? I didn’t realize he’s thatsuperstitious.”

“He saysit’s to make sure everyone settles in, but yeah, I think that’s thereal reason. Back to the list.”

“Catering is taken care of,” Ben said, forcing a seriousexpression. “Did I tell you I decided to cook?”

“Really?” Jason said,doing a commendable job of hiding the strain in hisvoice.