Team Bride by Valerie Comer Read Free Book Online Page A

more than one date together, I’d have changed the time of our Thanksgiving dinner so he could come, too.” Lindsey slouched into an easy chair in Sarah’s living room a few days after she and Nick had returned from their honeymoon. “As it is, my step dad is taking Madison to his sister’s for dinner on Monday.”
    “Sunday’s great.” Sarah stretched. “We’re going for a bike ride Monday anyway. It’s all good.”
    “Aren’t you glad I made you promise to go out with him at least once?”
    Sarah laughed. “Okay, yes. I think.”
    “Has he kissed you?”
    If she were really falling in love — or at least like — shouldn’t she want to talk about it? “Hey, want a cup of tea?”
    “Evasion tactics, eh? No, I don’t, but I think I asked a question. Has Corbin kissed you?”
    “I don’t think it’s any of your business.”
    Lindsey burst out laughing. “That either means he has, and you don’t want to talk about it, or he hasn’t, and you wish he would. Which is it?”
    Wishing? “No. No kissing.” Though she’d wondered if he might when he dropped her off after the fair. She could still remember the intensity in his eyes as his hands caressed her face. Then his lips had brushed her forehead, and he’d been gone.  
    “What’s holding him back, you think?”
    It wasn’t him. It was her. “Are you kidding me? We barely know each other, and besides, we’re so different. I don’t see how this can last.”
    “Sarah? I can’t read your face. Do you like Corbin, or don’t you?”
    “I’m confused. I do like him, but he’s so different from me. He’s an act now, think later kind of guy.”
    “And you think everything. To. The. Death.”
    Sarah glared at Lindsey. “Whose side are you on, anyway?”
    “Yours, girl. Definitely yours. I think Corbin is a great balance for you. And yes, you for him. It’s okay to have different personalities. God made us all unique.”
    Corbin was about the most unique person she knew. “It’s possible to be too different.”
    Lindsey tilted her head. “True, but sharing the same faith in Jesus provides a solid foundation.”
    “A good start, sure. But there are a lot more things. How you prioritize spending. How you raise kids—”
    “Whoa! You guys have talked about kids? You’re way more serious than I thought after only two weeks.”
    Warmth crept up Sarah’s cheeks. “No, we haven’t. I’m just thinking ahead.”
    Lindsey laughed. “That’s your problem. It’s like you’re picking your retirement home before you turn thirty. Take things one step at a time?”
    “Look, I’m trying, okay? You’re my friend. Don’t push me.”
    “Aw, Sarah. I’m not poking fun at you. I want you to be happy. I want you to see each new day as a possibility. To give Corbin a chance.”
    “I am.” Sarah gritted her teeth. “We’ve gone out. We’re going out again Monday. I don’t know what more you expect from me.”
    “To relax and enjoy it?”
    “I’m trying, but Corbin seems to think life is one big joke. Like that rock he got out of the river and duct-taped to a washer as the ring for your wedding rehearsal.”
    “You have to admit that was pretty funny.”
    “I suppose.”
    “Oh come on, Sarah. He knows when to be serious. He managed the real ring just fine during the wedding.”
    “True.” Sarah rubbed the soft fur on the dragon. “He’s the youngest of five kids, and the only boy. Everyone doted on him.”
    “He can’t help that.”
    “No, I know. But I think it went to his head. I never know when he’s joking or being serious.”
    Lindsey held up a hand. “And you like everything in its neat little compartments. You want comedy routines to be announced so you know it’s okay to laugh.”
    “Is that so wrong? It’s not that I don’t like to have fun.” Did she even know what fun meant, compared to Corbin? “It’s just that he’s almost never serious.”
    “So he keeps you off balance.”
    Sarah stared at Lindsey.