Three Girls And A Wedding (28 page)

“That better not delay our flight,”
Ginny muttered, looking up at the dark clouds.

“I think you’ll be okay,” I said,
crossing my fingers behind my back for luck. Josh came around the side of the
vehicle, pulling his suitcase.

“We ready?” he asked.

“I think so,” Ginny said, grabbing
her purse.

“Let’s head in then, folks,” Matt
said, looking at his watch. “You guys don’t want to miss your flight.” He took
the suitcase from Ginny, and started off toward the walkway which would take us
from the parking structure to the departure area.

Annie, Ginny, and I fell into step
behind the boys. Annie was holding Danny so I reached over and took Ginny’s
hand. “You lucky brat,” I sighed. “It’s turning into winter as we speak and
you’re heading off to Jamaica.”

Ginny smiled. “I can’t wait. I’m
gonna
lay in the sun and drink cocktails all
frickin
’ day long.”

“And enjoy the time with your new
husband,” I reminded her.

“Yeah, whatever,” she said,
unconcerned. Annie and I laughed.

We entered the airport, which was
relatively crowded for a Sunday morning. Josh headed over to the departure desk
to check their luggage and get their boarding passes. Ginny took Danny and
covered him in kisses. “Be a good little man,” she cooed at him. “Take good
care of your aunties.”

“Any special instructions?” I asked
her.

She shrugged. “Whatever. You know
where the emergency numbers are. Just make sure he eats and gets his diaper
changed. If he’s alive when I get home I’m happy.”

We all laughed again. “You’re
really looking forward to this, aren’t you?” I asked.

“I haven’t had a real break from
him since he was born,” she said. “I’m lucky I have you guys, ’cause I don’t have
to worry at all. So I’m not worrying. At all.”

I saw Josh approaching, so I leaned
over and kissed Ginny on the cheek. “Have so much fun,” I told her. “Have a
drink for me.”

“Bye, you lucky bitch,” Annie said,
kissing Ginny herself. “We’ll see you in a week.”

I was surprised to see that Josh
looked quite upset when he reached us.

“What’s the matter?” Ginny said
sharply. “Is there something wrong with the reservations?”

“No,” Josh said, his voice shaking.
“We’re all set to go.” He took Danny from Ginny and buried his face in his
son’s little chest.

“Oh my God,” Annie said, staring at
him. “Are you crying?”

Josh ignored her. “I’m going to
miss you, sweetheart,” he said, sniffling and kissing Danny on the head. “I
can’t believe we’re leaving him.”

Ginny was looking at him
incredulously. “Okay, babe,” she said, edging toward the security line. “We
should get going.”

“Just a minute,” Josh said, kissing
Danny again. He started cooing to the baby softly, whispering words we couldn’t
hear. Behind him, Ginny looked at her watch.

“Write down any new thing he does,
okay?” Josh said in a watery voice. “And if he says any more words, call us,
okay?”

Annie was snickering under her
breath.

“I can’t bear to leave him,” Josh
said, wiping his eyes. “What if something happens when we’re so far away?”

“He’ll be fine,” Ginny said,
rolling her eyes. “Come on, we need to go.”

When Josh showed no sign of letting
the baby go, Ginny looked at me in exasperation.

“It’s going to be fine, Josh,” I
soothed. “I promise. I’ll be home with him every day. I’ve watched him a
million times. He’ll be
fine
.” I
reached out and gently pried Danny from his arms.

“Come. On,” Ginny said, pulling on
Josh’s arm.

“Okay,” Josh said, wiping his eyes.
He seemed to steel himself. “I’m fine. I can do this.” He squared his
shoulders, kissed Danny one last time, and turned toward Ginny.

“You giant baby,” Annie muttered.

Matt came and stood next to me,
putting his arm around my shoulder as we watched Ginny and Josh walk toward
security. Right before they reached the line, Ginny turned around. She waved
and blew us a kiss, pausing to stare at us for a long moment. Finally, she
turned again and followed Josh into security.

Next to me, Annie reached over and
grabbed my free hand. The four of us stood there for a moment, watching Ginny’s
retreating back until we couldn’t see her anymore.

I felt a pang of loss deep in my
chest. Things wouldn’t be the same after this. When they came home, it would be
to their new apartment. Granted, the new place was only four blocks away from
Annie and me, but still. It would be different. A change.

Matt increased the pressure of his
hand on my shoulder. I leaned into him, taking comfort from his presence. Matt
was going to take some time off this week so he could keep me company and help
out with Danny. I looked up at him. Sometimes a change could be good.

In my arms, Danny seemed kind of
subdued, more quiet than usual. I wondered if he had some sense that his
parents weren’t going to be home for a while. I kissed the top of his head,
glancing over at Annie, who was looking distinctly watery-eyed. I smiled at
her.

“Come on,” I said. “Let’s go home.”

The End

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rachel
Schurig
lives in the metro-Detroit area with her dog, Lucy.
She loves to watch reality TV and she reads as many books as she can get her
hands on. In her spare time, Rachel decorates cakes.

Visit Rachel at
http://rachelschurig.com

Want to find out more about Ginny,
Annie, and Jen?

Check out the rest of the best-selling
Three Girls
series, available now from Amazon.com

Come along for the crazy ride
as Ginny
McKensie
and her best friends deal with an
unexpected pregnancy in
Three Girls and a
Baby
, available now!

Three
Girls and a Baby

Join Annie Duncan as she
continues her search for the perfect leading role—and the perfect man to
go along with it. The third book of the series,
Three Girls and a Leading Man
, is available now!

Three
Girls and a Leading Man

Reunite with Ginny, Jen, and Annie and catch up with Kiki
Barker-Thompson as she attempts to create the perfect fairy tale life. The
Truth About Ever After (a Three Girls Book) is available now!

The
Truth About Ever After

And don’t miss the
newest book from Rachel
Schurig
,

IN SEARCH OF A LOVE STORY

Emily
Donovan doesn’t have a romantic bone in her body.

At least,
that’s what her friends Ryan and Ashley keep telling her. They’re convinced her
bad luck with men is directly related to her life-long lack of interest in all
things romantic. When Emily’s latest relationship crashes and burns, she
decides to go along with her friends’ plans for a romance research project.
Sure, the idea that she’ll have better luck if she learns about the great
romances of literature and film seems a little silly, but Emily figures it
can’t hurt.

In no time
at all, Emily finds herself buried under a mountain of romance novels, chick
flicks, and sappy love songs, hopeful that her hard work will pay off with true
love. When she meets Greg, Ashley and Ryan are convinced she’s found prince
charming—after all, he’s rich, handsome, and totally into Emily. What
more could she want? And why does it seem that her friend Elliot isn’t
exactly happy for her?

Faced with misunderstandings,
miscommunications, and a seemingly endless string of missteps, she is
nevertheless determined to give true love a try. In doing so, Emily will
eventually find that true romance, the kind that lasts, has little to do with
stereotypes or clichés, and everything to do with finding out what’s in her own
heart.

Available now from
amazon.com!

In
Search of a Love Story

Find out more about
these books at http://rachelschurig.com