“You’re getting a new ring today,” she said. “You’re supposed to wear the wedding band close to your heart.”
“This is the one that’s closest to my heart,” she said, but she slipped the ring off and put it on her right hand. It felt weird there, but she didn’t want to mess up at the ceremony. Everything needed to be perfect because as wonderful as it was to be engaged to Sed, being his wife would bring her even more joy.
“I feel like I’ve forgotten something,” Jessica said, going through her mental checklist one more time.
“You haven’t forgotten anything,” Myrna assured her and smiled into her rearview mirror as she checked on her son who was giggling at Kylie’s game of peek-a-boo.
“Beth!” Jessica shouted as her subconscious churned out the missing piece of her morning. Her best friend was a rather important part of the ceremony.
“Did I forget to tell you she called?” Myrna asked sheepishly.
Jessica’s breath caught. “Is she okay? She’s coming, isn’t she?”
“Everything is fine. She overslept and is running late. She’s going to meet us at the salon after she picks up the dresses.”
Even though the bridal shop was on the opposite side of town near Beth’s apartment, Jessica probably should have picked up the dresses herself. If Beth didn’t show with them in time, they might as well call off the whole wedding.
“Breathe, Jess,” Myrna said and reached over to pat her shoulder.
Jessica sucked a breath into her lungs and attempted to put her head between her knees but was halted by the seatbelt cutting into her shoulder.
“Ow.” She laughed at her own stupidity and rubbed at her sore collarbone.
Everything will be fine, she told herself, but herself wasn’t buying it.
At the beauty salon, Jessica’s hair was yanked, teased, curled, braided, coiled, pinned, and tucked until her wedding veil and long strawberry-blond hair were an entwined work of art.
“Wow, Jess,” Myrna said, her own hair in the small and mighty fist of the son she had resting against one shoulder. “You look stunning.”
She smiled. “So do you,” she said just as Malcolm grasped the pearl adorning one of the bobby pins in his mother’s auburn hair and tugged it free. This sent half of Myrna’s carefully styled up-do cascading down one shoulder.
“Mal,” Myrna said with exasperation, “those aren’t to play with.”
The adorable, black-haired baby, who looked so much like his gorgeous guitarist father his mother didn’t stand a chance, laughed with an orneriness rivaling Trey’s. The tyke was immediately forgiven.
“Will someone hold him while I get the damage repaired?” Myrna asked, holding Malcolm around the middle and out of reach of another pearl he was staring at intently.
Rebekah claimed the honor. She touched Malcolm’s tiny fingers and traced the lines of his face. She was obviously completely enamored. And who could blame her? Jessica would have loved to have held Malcolm, but if Myrna’s tiny pin pearls weren’t safe from his grasp, Jessica’s veil would never survive the interaction.
As soon as the make-up artist was finished with Aggie, she went to work on Jessica’s face. Though the woman had been unable to talk Aggie out of wearing her typical red lipstick, she’d toned down her usual heavy eyeliner for a more understated look. Jessica wouldn’t have minded Aggie showing up looking the way she always did, though she was glad she wasn’t planning on wearing her corset and thigh-high boots. Jessica’s grandparents would likely have keeled over on the spot if she had.
The salon door flew open and Beth dashed into the waiting area, her blue eyes wild and her tangle of brown hair even wilder. “I’m here,” she announced.
Jessica’s shoulders sagged with relief. “Took you long enough.”
Beth spotted her and rushed to her side. “Oh God, I’m so sorry, Jess. I was up late studying and fell asleep on the sofa and didn’t hear the alarm go off and then I couldn’t find my keys and finally found them in yesterday’s jeans, but then I was halfway to the salon and remembered I needed clean underwear and had to go back to the house to get them out of the drier and—” She finally sucked in a deep breath. “Can you ever forgive me?”
“Did you remember to pick up the dresses?” Jessica asked.
“Of course. They’re locked in the car.”
“Then you are forgiven. But you owe me ice cream for making me worry.” Jessica winked at her.
Beth hugged her. In her haste, she knocked aside the eye shadow brush the make-up artist was using on one of Jessica’s lids. The woman scowled and reached for a cloth to undo the damage.
“You’re the best,” Beth said loudly in Jess’s ear.
“You’re the best,” Jessica returned. “Thank you for picking up the dresses.”
“No problem.”
Beth was hurriedly directed to a chair so her bed hair could be tamed into something more appropriate for the occasion and Jessica relaxed. A little.
When all seven ladies were properly beautified, they returned to the van. Beth climbed into her dated sedan to follow them to the venue with her cargo of dress. Jessica would have ridden with her to keep her company, but every inch of Beth’s trunk was stuffed with books so the backseat was full of bridesmaids’ dresses while Jess’s wedding dress rode shotgun. Jessica hoped she’d have time to catch up with Beth later. She didn’t get to see nearly enough of her friend since their lives had taken different paths.
Jessica scowled up at the clouds as soon as she was belted into Myrna’s van. The sky was even darker than when they’d entered the salon, but the rain was still holding off. Thank God.
Jessica continued to stare at the sky all the way to the beach location where the ceremony was to be performed. Perhaps it was just gloomy and the clouds would clear up before she walked down the aisle at eleven. Maybe she should have scheduled an afternoon wedding instead of a morning ceremony. She bit her lip. Maybe it was too late to change any plans so she should stop worrying so much. She was supposed to be enjoying her time today.
She fought the urge to call Sed to ask him to commiserate. He’d understand why she was so worried about this; he’d been dealing with her insanity over the wedding for months. Sometimes she was astonished that he still wanted to marry her.
Myrna parked the van near the small building where they were to change into their dresses. Closer to the shore, the small white tent where she’d wait to make her entrance had already been erected and the rows of white wooden folding chairs set up. Several people were decorating the aisles with red roses and sprigs of baby’s breath, trailing lace, and satin ribbons in red and white. The decorating was going rather smoothly, considering how breezy it was.
Maybe she was worried about nothing. The women chatted among themselves as they entered the little beach house. Jessica paused at the dining room table to admire the bouquets set in a neat row. All eight of the smaller bouquets matched hers. The only difference was that the bridal bouquet was larger and had white lilies worked into the red roses. She bent to draw the sweet lily scent into her nose and sneezed unexpectedly.
She drew away and sneezed again. And again.
“Are you allergic to your flowers?” Beth asked.
Jessica’s eyes and nose began to itch and ache. “I must be,” she said, her voice nasally from the sudden swelling in her face. She sneezed again and again, backing away from the offending allergens wafting from her bouquet.
“What am I going to do?” she asked. “I can’t say my vows if I’m”—ah ah ahchoo—“sneezing the entire time.” She sniffed, searching the room for a box of tissues.
“I’m allergic to certain flowers,” Myrna said. “You just have to pinch off the anthers. Or is the stamens? Gets rid of the pollen.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” Jessica said, hoping she was right.
Myrna picked up the bouquet and headed into the small kitchen near the back of the cottage. Jessica sneezed again as she passed by, but felt less both
ered once the flowers were taken from the room.
“I didn’t sneeze when they showed me their samples,” Jessica said to Beth, who handed her a tissue. Jessica blew her nose and blinked to prevent her watery eyes from ruining her make-up.
“Because their samples were fake flowers,” Beth said. “Remember?”
Beth had gone with Jessica to pick out most of the items for the wedding since Sed had been on the road touring with Sinners almost the entire time she’d been planning the occasion. But she’d sent him pictures of everything and asked his opinion on every detail. He hadn’t lost his patience once, even though she must have been driving him bonkers. He probably didn’t give a rat’s ass if the red ribbons in the flowers were matte or satin, but she had required his opinion on the matter, by God, and he offered one. She’d wanted him to feel he was a part of every decision, every step leading up to this day. She wasn’t the only one getting married today.
Jessica chuckled. “You’re right. I guess that would explain why I wasn’t allergic to them at the florist.”
“I hope removing the anthers does the trick,” Beth said. “Are you ready to put on your dress?”
Jessica nodded eagerly. It had been a couple of weeks since she’d seen it. They’d done a few last minute alterations so that it would fit perfectly. Which reminded her again that she couldn’t wait to see him in his tux. She sighed aloud at the thought of those wide shoulders filling out a perfectly tailored tuxedo jacket. The man cleaned up real nice and looked delicious in and out of his clothes.
In one of the two bedrooms, Beth helped Jessica slip into her gown. At Jessica’s back, Beth tugged the zipper, but it wouldn’t budge.
“Is it stuck?” Jessica asked, glancing over her shoulder to see what the problem was.
She went light-headed; the problem was that the edges of the zipper were over two inches apart. There was no way they’d ever get it zipped.
“Oh no,” Jessica said. “Sed told me I was showing already, but I didn’t believe him.”
She covered her lower belly with both hands where Sed’s baby grew inside her.
“If I’m this fat now, what am I going to be like in seven months?”
“You’re not fat,” Beth said. “The baby is just big. Like his hunk of a father.”
Jessica wasn’t sure if she believed that explanation, but it made her feel marginally better. “What are we going to do?” she asked.
“Can you suck it in?” Beth asked, yanking on the open sides of the dress.
Jessica drew her breath upward into her chest, trying to make her stomach as flat as possible. But the problem wasn’t her stomach, it was her lower belly. Perhaps she should have chosen a gown that had an empire waist instead of one that was fitted down to mid-hip. She’d thought she’d have plenty of time before her baby bump made any sort of difference in the fit of her clothes.
“I can’t,” Jessica said as she released her breath with a gasp.
“I will get you into this dress if I have to kick you into it,” Beth said.
“I think I have a corset that will fit you,” Aggie said.
Jessica hadn’t heard her approach. She was standing in the open doorway, appraising her carefully.
“It’s white, so it shouldn’t show, and it goes down past the crests of the hipbones, so it will cinch you in tight. But it’s leather. You don’t have anything against leather, do you?”
Could Jessica really wear a white leather corset under her wedding gown? What would Sed think of that? She decided he’d be so turned on that he wouldn’t be able to think.
“Do you think it will work?” Jessica said.
Aggie nodded. “For sure. I’ll have to go get it though. Do we have time?”
“I can’t very well go down the aisle with my dress unzipped,” Jessica said. “I’d be grateful if you could get it if you think it’s worth a shot. It won’t hurt the baby, will it?”
“No, we won’t squeeze you breathless. You just need a couple of inches. I’ll be back.
Aggie turned on her heel, her long straight black hair spinning out away from her body as she moved.
“Thanks, Aggie!” Jessica called after her.
“Not a problem,” Aggie called back.
Beth lifted her eyebrows. “A white leather corset? The things my cousin comes up with.”
“She’s been selling her handmade corsets from a little merch wagon that’s pulled behind Sinners’ tour bus. Her wares are so popular, she has to turn customers away. Have you seen them?”
“No. I didn’t know she was running a business now. I thought she was still stripping in Vegas,” Beth said.
Jessica laughed. “You two don’t talk much, do you?”
“Her mom and my mom don’t really get along,” Beth whispered. “Aunt Tabitha’s the black sheep of the family. And then Aggie… Well, she’s just kind of different. Intimidating?” Beth’s dark brows scrunched together. “Or maybe the word is scary. Yeah, Aggie is scary.”
Jessica grinned and shook her head. Aggie just pretended to be scary, but underneath the leather and cold stares, she was a pussy cat. “Aggie’s fabulous. You really should get to know her better, Beth. Don’t let the whips and leather scare you away.”
Beth laughed. “Do you even hear what you’re saying?”
“You’re the one who sent me to Vegas to be taken under her wing, remember?”
“Yeah, well…” Beth shrugged. “Maybe I was living vicariously. All I do is study, study, study. At least you get to have a life. I don’t think I’m ever going to pass the bar.”
“You’ll pass,” Jess said, patting her on the back.
“Easy for you to say, brainiac who passed on her first try.”
“Jessica?” The unmistakable high-pitched voice of her mother carried through the entire cottage. “Jessica?”
“Oh shit,” Jessica said. “She’s here? I thought she’d be kept occupied at the reception hall until the ceremony.”
“Jessica, where are you?” her mother called.
“I don’t want her to know my dress doesn’t fit,” Jessica whispered to Beth. “You know what she’s like. She’ll never let me live it down.”
Wide-eyed, Beth glanced around the room and then pulled the quilt from the bed. She tossed it over Jessica’s back, who crinkled her brow at her in confusion.
“Pretend you’re cold,” she said just as Jessica’s mother entered the room.
Jessica pulled the quilt more securely around her shoulders, huddling into it as if she was in the Northwest Territories in January instead of Southern California in June.
“There you are,” her mom said, breezing into the room. “Why didn’t you answer when I called?”
“You called?” Jessica played dumb. “I didn’t hear you.”
“The reception hall is all ready to go. I told you that you could count on me to make your day perfect.”
Jessica’s day had been far from perfect thus far, but she smiled at her mother.
“Thank you for working so hard on the reception arrangements.”
The woman had tried to take over the entire wedding. And then Sed’s mom had gotten in on the planning, and the preparations had turned into a constant argument. Sed’s mom thought they should get married in a church. Jessica’s mom thought they should fly everyone to Paris and get married there. Jessica had cherished memories of her and Sed atop the Eiffel Tower replica in Vegas, but Paris? She wasn’t sure where that idea had come from. She’d certainly never mentioned wanting to visit Paris, much less wanting to get married there. She assumed her mother had always wanted to get married abroad and was attempting to live vicariously through her only daughter. The entire time they were planning the wedding, Jessica had felt pulled in a thousand directions. She’d tried to find a compromise, but sometimes there just wasn’t one to be had. Luckily, Sed gave her the support necessary to tell both mothers where she wanted to get married. On the beach.
Sed’s mother had taken the news without batting an
eyelash and had immediately starting collecting information on possible locations. Her mother, on the other hand, said a beach wedding wasn’t grand enough for her daughter. Jessica wasn’t sure when her mother started thinking she had much value. Probably the minute she’d become engaged to a rich rock star.
“Why are you wrapped up in a blanket?” Mom asked, eyeing her speculatively.
“Just a little cold,” Jessica said, tugging the blanket closer and pretending to shiver.
“Are you sick?”
“No,” Jessica said, shaking her head. “I think it’s nerves.”
“Well, don’t get cold feet now. The deposits are nonrefundable.”
“My feet are perfectly warm,” Jessica assured her.
“I know you’ll be disappointed, but Ed isn’t coming,” Mom said. “He had something important to attend to.”
A date with his favorite sports channel, Jessica presumed. She nodded, not really caring that her stepfather wouldn’t be there. They weren’t exactly close. She’d only invited him because it was expected of her. Ed was pretty much a creeper and had been since her mother married him just after Jessica had turned seventeen.