Free THAT MAN 4 (The Wedding Story-Part 1) by Nelle L'Amour Page A

wedding will be wonderful.”
    Helen flashed a smile. “Dear, it’s going to be the wedding of the century. Generations will talk about it in years to come. I’ve lived for this day. My little boy’s wedding.”
    Blake flushed while I forced a smile back at her. There was still one other big issue.
    Blake read my mind. “We have one other issue.”
    “And that might be…?”
    “Kat.” Just the mention of her name on his lips made my blood boil.
    “What about her?”
    “She’s assisting her mother with the wedding plans. She’s Jen’s point person.”
    “Excellent. Enid could use some help. She’s juggling so many events at once, including two I’m co-chairing in January.”
    Blake held his ground without getting into explicit details. “She’s making Jennifer very uncomfortable. You know we have a history.”
    Helen flinched and then dismissively waved her bony, perfectly manicured hand. “Darling, let’s not go there. That was ages ago. High school. I think it’s wonderful she’s following in her mother’s footsteps. God knows, this town will need another Enid once she retires.”
    Our waiter returned to our table with a bucket of champagne. He set down three fluted glasses and then poured some into each.
    “Children, let’s end this discussion and toast.” She lifted her champagne glass. “To the wedding of the century.”
    Reluctantly, Blake and I raised our flutes and clinked them against hers.
    Blake’s mother had defeated us in our verbal tennis match.
    *
    “Well, that didn’t go well,” I said as Blake drove out of the club.
    “It went well for my mother,” he replied.
    “Is she always like that?”
    “Yes. Welcome to my world.”
    I’d spent some time with Blake’s mother over the last few months at Shabbat dinners and a few events, but I actually hadn’t gotten to know her.
    “She’s very set in her ways,” Blake added.
    “And your father puts up with her?”
    “He more than puts up with her. He worships her. She’s like a piece of jewelry. They have the perfect marriage.”
    “Elaborate,” I said as we zipped down La Cienega. I wanted to know what he meant by the “perfect marriage.”
    “It’s simple. Their roles are clearly designated. He’s the king and the provider. She’s the queen who makes him dazzle.”
    I deconstructed his words. What he said was true. I’d been to their home countless times and to several of Helen’s events. She made everything beautiful. Including her husband. A shudder of self-doubt ran through me.
    “Blake, I can’t be that to you. I don’t know how. Plus, I have a career I’m not giving up.”
    As we cruised down the busy thoroughfare, Blake was pensive. Finally, he responded. “Tiger, you’re more to me than a piece of jewelry. You’re my shining star.”
    I looked his way. Our eyes met briefly and then his returned to the road.
    The words of his “poem” vaguely whirled around my head. “What do you mean?”
    “You light up my life.”
    “I do?”
    “Totally. You give me direction when I’m lost. You set me straight when I stray. And you take me places no one else can.”
    Tiger, tiger, burning bright . Oh, Blake!” His heartfelt words tugged at my heartstrings and sent a stream of tingles through me from my head to my toes. I had the burning urge to ask him to pull over and fuck him right in his car when I realized we had turned onto the 10 Freeway heading east.
    “Blake, what’s going on? Where are we going?”
    “Vegas. My grandma was right. Let’s elope.”
    Shock bolted through me like lightning. “Blake, that’s crazy!”
    “Jen, all I want is to marry you and for you to be happy. I don’t need my mother’s over-the-top wedding. I just need you.”
    My emotions swirling, I digested his words as he continued.
    “We can get married at the Hard Rock. That place has meaning.”
    Indeed it did. It’s where I totally fell in love with Blake Burns after a weekend of working, gambling, and dancing in his