The Chase is Over - Toni Aleo Page 0,3

of the barn. I look back at her as she takes in all the pink flower petals covering the balcony and scattered around the two brass bathtubs I had filled with all her favorite bath salts and hot water. It’s not hot out, but it’s not cold either. It’s a perfect late-summer afternoon, ideal for a dip in these two tubs, which have a table between them holding a charcuterie board for us to share. Candles are everywhere, along with a bottle of her favorite white wine.

She looks over at me, her jaw falling open as she laughs. “For real?”

I grin, pulling her to me. “For real.” We walk together to the table, where a rose is lying. I pick it up, handing it to her as she sighs in happiness. “I love you, Shelli Grace.”

Her eyes are a bit misty as she glances up at me. “I love you too, Aiden James.”

Our lips meet, and within seconds, I know the connection is back. Honestly, I don’t even know why I thought it was gone.

Shelli and I, well, we’re meant for each other.

A+S 4Ever.

Chapter 2

Shelli

I sit in my little getup that Posey got for me. I’m wearing the most adorable crown that reads “Future Mrs.” and a matching sash. I made her promise not to have anything with penises on it since Emery would be joining us for dinner. I’m aware she’s almost sixteen and knows what a penis is, but just in case, I don’t want to be the one to show her one. That’s all I need—my future mother-in-law coming after me for exposing her daughter to a penis. And a plastic one, at that. Ugh, I am thinking way too hard about plastic penises right now. Especially when I have the real deal at home.

I sigh happily around my wine as I replay my afternoon with Aiden. “He had all my favorite cheeses, even that one from France that we had when we went on vacation last summer. Awesome meats and all the fixins’. It was amazing.”

Posey grins over at me in the “Knocked Up” sash her husband forced her to wear. My sister is more beautiful than I could ever imagine now that she is pregnant. Her skin is glowing. She says it’s from puking all the time, but I think it’s the pregnancy. She’s showing a little bit, just enough that she had to use a rubber band to hold her jeans shut. She’s wearing one of the shirts Aunt Harper made for us. Since Nashville is the bachelorette party capital of the world, I figured I’d join the masses with my own shirt that has the date of our wedding and a huge picture of Aiden and me on the front.

Easy to say, Posey absolutely hates it.

Her dark hair is up in a ponytail, making her look every bit like the tomboy she is but also isn’t. ’Her style is very much comfortable, but when my sister wants to pull out all the stops, boy does she. My cousin sits beside her, beaming with excitement for me. We spent countless nights planning my wedding to Aiden when I was eleven, so this is a dream come true for both of us. When Chandler got wind of the “Knocked Up” sash, he made sure Amelia had one too. Now, my very favorite women sit across from me, knocked up and married. This is not how I thought this would be all those years ago. I always saw myself getting married first, and they would get shit-faced with me and flirt with everyone. That won’t happen now. They don’t need to flirt; they have the perfect husbands at home. Amelia is further along in her pregnancy than Posey and is showing quite a bit. I don’t like Amelia pregnant, though. She’s hungry all the time, and if she’s inconvenienced, she complains like no other. She’s been on her best behavior, but I’m pretty sure that’s because Posey has endless snacks in her purse.

“Did you love the flowers?” Emery, Aiden’s baby sister, asks with a deadpan expression. I’m not frightened of many females, but Emery scares the living hell out of me. I don’t know who she’ll trick into marrying her, but I’m praying for them now. She’s so intense—and so opinionated—but man is she stunning. She’s really grown into her face in the last couple years. She always had a round face, but now it’s much more angular like the rest of her family. Her dark