“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.
“That’s all right, Mom. I know how hard he works.” To help you live above your means, Jessica added silently.
“Where’s Monica?”
Jessica shrugged. Unlike her mother, who needed constant recognition for the smallest of tasks, Sed’s mother got things done and required no supervision.
Sed’s youngest sister, Elise, spoke up. “Mom’s out with the florist helping with the arbor over the altar. They’re trying to figure out how to keep the flowers in place with all the wind.”
“She probably needs my help,” Jessica’s mom said and she turned to go.
Jessica felt a touch sorry for Monica, but at least her mother would be out of her hair for a while.
“I wonder if Sed is here yet,” Jessica said. She hadn’t spoken to him all day. She missed him. Usually when he wasn’t on tour, they were inseparable. And when he was on tour without her, she was miserable. It had only been twelve hours since she’d seen him last, yet it felt like ages. Maybe she should have watched him sleep for a while that morning instead of covering her eyes with her hands when she sneaked out of bed to avoid seeing him before the wedding.
“You should text him,” Beth advised. “Make sure he got up.”
Sed had still been asleep when she’d left. She trusted that he’d gotten out of bed on time, and if he hadn’t, she knew Brian would retrieve him if necessary. Before the bridal party left that morning, Brian had given her his word to keep Sed in line, though the thought of anyone keeping Sed in line was rather ludicrous now that she thought about it. Perhaps she should have enlisted the aid of his mother. But Monica had enough to keep her occupied as she was in charge of overseeing the setup of the beach for the ceremony. Still, Jessica couldn’t resist texting Sed. Not to check up on him. Even though today was about celebrating their closeness, she felt very far away from him at the moment.
Happy Wedding Day, she texted. I can’t wait to marry you.