The Firefighter Who Rescues Me

Chapter 24 ♚ Disaster Zone

Mami loved Lena Lee, especially when she came to the rescue the next day. We sat together with Cata and Margaret to discuss wedding plans. This couldn't be a big affair because not only was our budget close to non existent, but in combination with the short notice, it guaranteed not many people would be able to come. While we didn't need a big venue, it was as though every events hall in town was already booked.

"I got this," Lena Lee announced, standing up and retreating to a corner to make a succession of phone calls that kept her busy for a while.

"Ya alguien habló con el sacerdote?" mami asked. Something in her tone indicated it was the very first thing her sinner of a youngest child should've done. And maybe she was right, all things considered.

I turned to Margaret. "Is there a Catholic priest in town?"

"Father Joseph, yes." She pulled her cellphone out and in a moment had transferred me his contact info.

I waded across the debris in the living room. Lena Lee had brought Luke along for the wedding planning and he and the triplets had already turned Margaret's entire ground floor into a disaster zone. Their shrieks filled the quiet. It should've annoying but it was a way to know they were okay without constantly fretting over them. I best get used to that kind of chaos ASAP.

We'd found an officiant for the civil wedding right away—Hunter, and he'd confirmed he'd make himself available any time. Including on Bears game night if necessary.

Hopefully Father Joseph was also free. The call went to voice mail so I left a message for the priest.

"I found us a place," my friend announced, her face glowing with satisfaction. "It's not quite romantic but hey, it has a roof."

"Where is it?" Margaret asked.

"The arena."

In the ensuing silence, what mami must have processed was the word arena, so she asked, "En la playa? Pero si estamos lejos del océano. Aunque quizás una boda al aire libre no esté mal a pesar del frío."

There was merit in what she said. Canadian autumn was a lot colder than she was used to but it was pretty, and it would be for free.

When I said as much to Lena Lee, she shook her head. "No, this is perfect. There's a meeting room besides the gym and it will be available for an hour. The owner owes me a favor after his unruly kid keyed my car, so he'll lend us the room for free for the hour."

I smacked my thigh. "Sold!"

Cata translated the good news to mami, who didn't quite take them as such. She frowned at us. "Aja, pero entonces no vamos a poder decorar el sitio con tan poco tiempo."

"I got this one," Margaret said after translations were done. "We can just pre-decorate some scrap pieces of wood we can carry in for the photos and remove with no hassle."

"Oh, I love the idea of making them ourselves," Cata said, her eyes shining at the prospect.

Normally, I would feel the same way, but I had a sick feeling in my stomach about this whole thing. I wasn't a fan of rushing the wedding, just to keep papi happy about the whole thing, but the last thing I wanted was to upset my parents. Again. After having done so my entire life.

I wished this would've been Pace's and my moment, on our terms. That we could've sat together to daydream about the perfect wedding, full of details with meaning. I'd have ordered a cake shaped like a wrecked car, centerpieces with the same wild flowers I'd seen around the lake where we had our first, uh, date—we would skip any further details about what happened that night. I would've catered food from the diner and would've even invited Kevin.