Emily looked at him. “A break from the wedding?”

“A break from everything.”

Emily slowly closed her laptop.

“No guest lists or seating charts?”

“Nope”

“No vendor emails?”

Dave shook his head. “If a vendor emails me, I’m pretending I don’t know how email works. If they call or text…I think I lost my phone.”

Emily grinned. “And no talking about the bachelor party?”

Dave paused. “That one might be impossible…the guys are pretty excited.”

They both laughed as Emily looked around the mancave.

“You know what? You’re right.”

Dave looked pleasantly surprised.

“We’ve actually gotten a lot done.”

Emily started counting on her fingers. “The venue is booked. The invitations have been sent. The caterer is ready to go, and the meals have been selected.”

“Check”

“We have our wedding party…and we aren’t getting married until September of next year.”

Dave nodded. “So why are we acting like the wedding is next weekend?”

“Because apparently, we enjoy stressing ourselves out.”

Dave pointed at her. “Exactly.”

Emily sat down beside him. “You know what I miss?”

“What?”

“Us.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just being Dave and Emily. Going out to dinner. Watching football. Going to movies and concerts. Doing absolutely nothing on a Saturday morning without someone asking us about a seating chart.”

Dave smiled. “I miss that too.”

He grabbed her hand. “So, let’s make a deal.”

Emily smiled. “I’m listening.”

“From now until after the new year, no more wedding planning talk.”

Emily nodded.

“No seating charts, no centerpiece talk, no guest list, no vendors or meals… nothing.”

Emily agreed. “We’ve got plenty of time. The wedding is almost a year away. Most of the big stuff is already taken care of.”

Dave nodded.

“The rest of 2026 is for us.”

“Us,” Dave agreed.

“Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s.”

“Football.”

“Movies.”

“Restaurants.”

“Maybe a weekend away.”

Emily closed her laptop.

“Deal.”

They shook hands.

Then Emily pulled Dave into a hug. “For the rest of 2026,” she said, “we’re just Dave and Emily.”

“I like us.”

Emily smiled. “I do too.”

They sat together for a moment, enjoying the rare sound of silence.

Then Dave’s phone DINGED!

They both looked at it as Dave slowly reached for it….

Emily said, “Don’t.”

Dave stopped. “But what if it’s important?”

“If it’s wedding-related, it can wait until January.”

Dave nodded. “Good point.”

He turned the phone face down. “January Dave can deal with January problems.”

Emily laughed. “Exactly”

For the first time in months, there was no wedding deadline hanging over them.

No decisions that needed an urgent response.

Just Dave and Emily. And they had the whole holiday season ahead of them to enjoy. 🎃🦃🎄🥳

But somewhere, sitting in an office across town, someone was about to send them an email that would change everything.

And Dave and Emily wouldn’t see it until January.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Part 12: The New Year, The New Problem

Because when Dave and Emily finally get back to wedding planning after the New Year…they may discover that taking a break was the easy part.

.

.

.”