“And what was the backup plan for rain?” Aggie asked from the seat directly behind Jessica.
“There is no backup plan for rain.”
“It won’t rain,” Reagan called from the very back seat of the van, where she was sitting with Eric’s wife, Rebekah, and Sed’s youngest sister, Elise. “I won’t let it.”
Jessica hoped Reagan’s confidence had the desired effect. She wanted this wedding to be over with. The planning of it had been driving her nuts. She needed everything to be perfect and for everyone to have a memorable and enjoyable time, but mostly she just wanted to be Sed’s wife. God, she couldn’t wait to see him in his tux. He’d worn one to the Grammy’s during the two years they’d been separated and when she’d seen him in it on television, she’d nearly swallowed her tongue. Not that she’d ever admit to watching the awards in hopes of catching a glimpse of him, because at that time she’d hated his fucking guts. At least that was what she’d been trying to convince herself. Good thing she’d finally figured out that beneath the arrogance and domineering behavior beat the heart of a good man. A man she loved more than anything. A man who made her toes curl and her heart thud.
Maybe he could stop the rain.
“I can call the crew and ask them to set up a beer tent,” Rebekah offered.
Uh, no. Jessica refused to get married in a beer tent. She’d rather be drowned by rain.
“Thanks for the offer, sweetie,” she called, “but it can’t rain. It just can’t.”
“You should have eloped,” Sed’s sister, Kylie, said from her seat between Aggie and Malcolm’s car seat.
“I tried to tell Sed that,” Elise said. “But would he listen? Of course not. This is bullheaded Sed we’re talking about here. He doesn’t listen to anything anyone tells him.”
Sed would have eloped if Jessica had wanted to, but silly her, she’d thought having a big wedding with seven bridesmaids, seven groomsmen, and who even knew how many ushers would be fun. So far, not so fun. And if it rained on their big day… Jessica wasn’t going to let herself think about that.
Feeling as if she were forgetting some important detail, she ran a mental checklist and toyed with the engagement ring on her finger, rubbing the band into her flesh. The inexpensive piece of jewelry meant the world to her; it was by far her most cherished possession. And not because it meant she belonged to Sed, but because he’d carried it around with him for two years while they’d been separated. He might have behaved like a horny imbecile for the entirety of their time apart, but he’d never stopped thinking about her, just as she’d never stopped thinking of him.
“Don’t forget to put that on a different finger for the ceremony,” Myrna said as they sat waiting for a red light to change to green.
She glanced up. “What?”
“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.