“It’s complicated,” Brian said. “It’s not as simple as just getting married anymore.”
“My parents are really angry,” Shari interjected. “They don’t want us getting married at all. Or at least, not yet. They say that we should date another year or two, and then make that kind of decision.”
“A little late if there’s a baby already on the way,” Sawyer said.
“What do you want?” Olivia asked, fixing her gaze on the young woman.
“I want my parents to stop hating me,” she said, dabbing at her eyes again with that tissue.
“I’m sure they don’t hate you,” Olivia said, and she passed Shari a napkin. “But are you willing to do what they want to calm them down? To move home, let them help you get ready for the baby, and just date Brian?”
Shari looked over at Brian, then shook her head. “No. I want to get married. I love him.”
In love against the wishes of her family. Apparently, he and Mia had been in the same position, and Mia had given up a Yale education to be with him. Was it smart? He had to admit that it wasn’t, but apparently, it had been worth it to his wife. Maybe she hadn’t wanted that Yale education. Maybe she’d wanted a ranch life like he did. He had to wonder if she’d ever questioned her choices when he’d been working every spare minute.
“You could get married, you know,” Olivia said. “Brian’s twenty-three. How old are you?”
“Twenty-one,” said.
“If you want to get married, you can,” Olivia said. “Legally speaking. No one can stop you. You’re both adults.”
“We’ve been talking about a little church wedding,” Shari said, and a smile came her lips for the first time. “Nothing huge—just friends and family... A summer wedding with some outdoor catering, and maybe an Empire waist gown with a full skirt. It would hide things so that we could get some really nice pictures. I know a photographer who would give us a pretty good deal.”
“And your parents would pay for this?” Olivia asked.
Shari’s smile slipped. “If I gave them a bit of time to get used to it. Maybe you could talk to them for us.”
“I don’t think the wedding details are what’s bothering them,” Olivia said quietly.
“I know.” Shari sighed. “I just always dreamed of a pretty outdoor wedding. And I’ve met the guy I love and want to spend my life with. What’s so wrong with having a beautiful wedding to celebrate that?”
“They take time, for one,” Olivia said. “And we don’t have much of that right now.”
They’d also take money, and Shari’s parents didn’t sound like they were anywhere close to throwing much of that around in celebration of their daughter’s choices. Sawyer noticed how Brian’s fingers moved toward Shari’s on the tabletop. They leaned toward each other ever so subtly. The timing might be garbage, but these two loved each other.
“How will you support her?” Sawyer asked Brian.
“I’m a mechanic. I’ll keep working.”
“What’s your health insurance like?” Sawyer pressed. Because that mattered—especially with a pregnant wife.
“It’s okay. Not as good as her dad’s, and she can stay on his insurance until she’s twenty-six.” Brian looked up, slightly embarrassed. “But they’re thinking longer term—and I guess they don’t have a lot of faith in me.”
It looked like Brian was up against the same problem Sawyer had had—stuck between her parents’ expectations and what he could actually provide himself.
“We might get in a little bit of debt when the baby comes, and if we add a wedding on top of that... But it won’t be the end of the world,” Shari said with a shake of her head. “Brian’s working, and I’ve got a part-time job at the bank, so with the both of us saving and with my dad’s health insurance, what’s a bit of debt? We’d have the rest of our lives to pay it off.” The table fell silent, and Shari eyed them uncertainly. “We’ll be fine.”
“Does she know?” Olivia asked her brother quietly.
Sawyer frowned slightly. What was the big secret here?
Brian sighed and scraped his fingers through his already mussed hair, then he cast her an apologetic look. “Shari, my sister and I owe two hundred thousand dollars—give or take—in medical fees for our mother’s cancer treatment.”
Sawyer blinked in surprise—this was the first time he was hearing about this, too. Olivia was in serious debt? He hadn’t known...was that something he’d remember later on, or had she never told him? Olivia glanced over at Sawyer and her cheeks pinked slightly—embarrassment? Yeah, he understood that feeling of not wanting your vulnerabilities made public.
“You owe...” Shari seemed to be doing a bit of mental math, because her face paled even more. “How are you going to pay that off, Brian? That’s like a mortgage!”
“We have a repayment plan,” he said woodenly.
“How long will it take?” she asked.
“With the interest working against us, and both my sister and I paying into it, about twenty years,” he said woodenly.
“And we’re having a baby!” Her voice was starting to rise. “How are we supposed to do this? I wanted to take some time off work...but even if I went back straight after the baby’s born, we’d still have to pay for day care! And diapers. And formula. And...and...” Tears welled in her eyes. “And the wedding... Why didn’t you tell me this?”
“Because we’d only started dating!” Brian retorted. “You don’t lay out all your financial stuff right away.”
“But we’re talking about getting married here!” she exclaimed.
Brian fell silent, and he pulled his hand away from Shari’s, leaning back in his seat.
“Does the wedding matter so very much?” Olivia asked softly. “I mean a big wedding. You could do something small and very cheap and be just as married.”
“It isn’t just the wedding now, is it? I don’t want to be a single mother, but I don’t want to be poor, either!” Shari shook her head. “How will we raise
