Lovestruck Forever by Rachel Schurig Page B

getting married.”
    I
laugh. “I know.”
    “We
haven’t even had a chance to squeal and jump and down,”
she said sadly, and Thomas snorted next to me.
    “Whatever,
Cal. I heard you through the phone when she called you with the news.
If that wasn’t squealing, then I don’t know what is.”
    “Shut
up,” she said, pushing him. “You’re a boy; you
don’t understand.” Then she turned back to me, taking
both my hands, a huge grin on her face. “Lizzie, you’re
engaged!”
    “I
totally am!”
    Of
course, she started to jump up and down, probably just to spite
Thomas; but soon, we were both caught up in the moment, laughing and
hugging and squealing. We only stopped when Charlie joined us, doing
a scarily good impression of a shrieking, excited girl.
    “Be
dignified, brother,” a familiar voice said, and Charlie’s
sister, Sarra, joined us, along with Meghan and Carter. I felt like
squealing all over again at the sight of them, our London family here
at my home in Detroit. Luckily, Meghan was every bit as much of a
believer in the importance of jumping up and down and screaming to
celebrate an engagement. She joined Callie and me in admiring the
ring, and we all giggled and yelled and hugged each other. Even Sarra
grinned as she pulled me into a hug. “I’m so happy for
you, Lizzie. He doesn’t deserve you.”
    I
couldn’t help but remember my first meeting with her, the way
she had basically warned me I better not hurt Thomas and effectively
scared the crap out of me. Grinning at the way things had turned out,
I reached for Thomas’s hand. “No way.”
    “Thanks,
Sar,” he said dryly, but he accepted her hug before he moved to
shake Carter’s hand.
    “Congratulations,
mate,” Carter said, slapping Thomas on the back and leaning in
to kiss my cheek. “You, too, Lizzie.”
    “Congratulations
are for the groom,” Sarra corrected. “Best wishes for the
bride.”
    The
bride. I couldn’t help the little shiver of excitement that
coursed through me at the word. I was going to be Thomas’s
bride.
    It
was strange—the way the realization hit me all over again. I’d
been insanely happy since Thomas popped the question, but there was
always a bit of me that was holding back, afraid of getting too
excited. Things had been just too shaky with my mom, and all of my
focus had been on helping her with her recovery. Now that she was
getting better, though, we could really start to plan for this
wedding. It was going to happen, for real. Thomas and I were going to
get married.
    I
smiled around at my gathered friends and family as twilight started
to set in. Bryony was eating with my cousin Juan, batting her
eyelashes in a way I was sure would make Thomas shake his head in
annoyance. Gilbert could be heard arguing with my dad and Uncle Rick
about some World Cup soccer game that had occurred decades ago. Sofie
was chatting with the London friends, introducing them to Laura and
Maria. And then Carla, Sofie’s older sister and total celebrity
enthusiast, was grabbing my arm and demanding to know if that really
was Jenner Collins and Annie Duncan in my parents’ back yard.
    I
laughed at her star-struck expression. “Yup. And if you’re
a very sweet cousin, I might just introduce you later.”
    She
immediately kissed my cheek, patting my hair. “Lizzie, have I
ever told you that I love your hair up like this? And where did you
get that dress? It’s so flattering on you.”
    I
pointed at her, grinning. “Good start.” Then I reached
for Thomas’s shirtsleeve to alert him that his work colleagues
had arrived. It wasn’t just Carla that had noticed—the
movie stars were causing quite a stir with several of my cousins. “We
should go rescue them,” I whispered. “Before people start
begging for autographs.”
    Jenner
Collins and Annie Duncan were local actors who had gone on to star in
movies. Jenner has been a major star for more than a decade, but
Annie, much like Thomas, was still relatively new to