A Long Time Coming

The narrator is the best friend and self-styled man-in-waiting (man of honor) to Lia, who is engaged and short on time before the wedding. Lia's future mother-in-law, Mrs. Beaver, insists on getting her way, and he signs up to help Lia stand up to her. He takes the job on with confidence and plenty of jokes.

The trouble starts close to home. As the date nears, he notices Lia differently. He stares a little too long, lets his hand rest on her a minute longer, and lets her sleep in his bed when she is upset. Then it lands: he is in love with her, and no one else compares.

He tries to push the feeling aside. He dates another woman while the planning goes on, but she does not distract him. Lia's fiancé is angry and thinks the friendship has grown too close. The wedding deadline keeps moving nearer.

This is a romantic comedy told in the first person by the man himself, in a chatty, self-mocking voice. It is a best friends to lovers story with a love triangle and a ticking clock.

The humor comes from his nerves as much as from the fight with the mother-in-law. His problem is simple to state and hard to solve: how to win a woman who is already engaged to someone else.