Free Meant to Be by E. L. Todd

hard.”
    She hung up and waited for me to reach her. She moved over on the towel so I could sit beside her. “How was work?”
    “Not my best day.”
    “What happened?” she asked.
    “Mike’s pretty upset about Cassandra ’s resistance to get married.”
    “She still hasn’t changed her mind?” she asked sadly.
    “It doesn’t appear so.”
    “Poor Mike,” she said with a sigh.
    “I told him he should end it.”
    Her eyes widened. “Wow.”
    “If she never changes her mind and my brother stays with her, I know he’ll resent it down the road. If he doesn’t have kids, he’ll regret it when it’s too late. And, if she isn’t willing to marry him, it makes me question her love for him. She’d rather lose him than get married? That’s how important it is to her? My brother deserves better.”
    “Sean, I know you’re looking out for your brother, but this is his relationship and he needs to work it out on his own.”
    I smirked. “Coming from the woman who sticks her nose in everyone’s business.”
    She glared at me. “People ask for my advice. I don’t actively butt in.”
    “Sure…”
    She rolled her eyes.
    I grabbed her hand and kissed each knuckle. “Thank you for marrying me. You’ve made me happier than I ever thought I could be.”
    A small smile and a red blush appeared on her face. “Thank you for being the greatest husband in the world.”
    “I haven’t earned that title yet, but I’m working on it.”
    “I think you have.” She kissed my cheek.
    We sta red at the ocean together, hand in hand.
    “I’ll see if I can talk to Cassandra.”
    I looked at her. “What happened to not sticking your nose in other people’s business.”
    “This is different. I want Mike to be happy. I’m going to do whatever I can to make it happen.”
    “You think she’ll listen to you?”
    “I’ll tell her our story and maybe she’ll see reason.”
    I laughed. “Or you’ll scare her off.”
    “It’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
    “Not everyone is as forgiving as you.” I leaned my head against hers.
    “They should be.”
    I slowly pushed her down to the towel and leaned over her. “You know what I’m thinking?”
    She smir ked. “We should get a milkshake?”
    “No.”
    “We should go eat?”
    “No.” She knew exactly what I was implying.
    “We should watch the game?”
    “How about I come inside you and make that baby?”
    “Well…that was romantic.”
    I chuckled. “We’re past the romantic part of our relationship.”
    “I think we passed it a long time ago.”
    I moved my hand up her dress. “Let’s rekindle it.”
    A sadness crept into her eyes. “Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something.”
    I didn’t like the sound of that. “Okay…”
    “Since Ryan is going to propose soon—”
    “He’s proposing?”
    She nodded. “He hasn’t decided when, but it will be happening.”
    “Okay.” What did this have to do with us?
    “I think we should…wait a while.”
    What? “Why?”
    “I don’t want to be obese for my brother’s wedding. And Cortland will probably get married soon after that.”
    I rolled my eyes. “You won’t be obese. You’re beautiful when you’re pregnant.”
    “But I don’t want to wear a bridesmaid dress and my ridiculously big boobs pop out.”
    I smirked. “That doesn’t sound so bad.”
    “You know what I mean. I want to be thin and able to enjoy the moment without feeling sick or ugly.”
    “You don’t feel ugly now?” I teased.
    She glared at me. “Can we just wait a little while?”
    I didn’t want to wait. “If that’s what you want.”
    “You sound sad.”
    “Because I am.”
    “It’s for a few months, maybe a year.”
    I couldn’t hide my dismay. “I guess I’m just really excited about having a baby.”
    She patted my hand. “And that’s incredibly sweet. But maybe now isn’t the best time.”
    I sighed. “Okay.”
    “Sean, it’ll happen. And after the…miscarriage…maybe I should wait