Say Yes

by Mellie George

  “Wow, Dais, you look so beautiful,” I said. And she did. She was dressed in an emerald green cocktail dress and champagne colored heels which showed off her new tattoo as well. Her hair was straight and sleek, and she had replaced her usual tiny hoop earrings with diamond studs in each hole in her ears.

  “Thanks, Lil. You too, you look gorgeous.” Just then, the doorbell rang. My stomach flipped, and Daisy grinned at me. “Go ahead,” she said, and she followed me down the stairs.

  I ran to the door, pulled it open, and my heart skipped a beat. There he was, standing at the doorstep. He was wearing a black suit, white shirt, and a red tie under his coat. His hair was slicked back, and he had shaved the shadow from his face. I couldn’t find my words. He looked like he was having trouble speaking too. But, he spoke first. “You’re stunning,” he said. I did a little curtsy for him and said, “Thanks. You too, you look incredible. Very debonair.”

  “Thanks, baby. Are you ready to go?”

  “Yes, just give me one moment.” I stepped to the coat rack, where Daisy was getting her coat on as well. “Hey, Daisy, are you going to be okay?”

  “Yeah, I am fine. I’m walking out right behind you. You go with your man, and I’ll meet you there.” I leaned and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, slid into my coat, and reached out for Luke’s waiting hand. We both waved to Daisy, and walked down the steps together.

  Chapter 17

  Rehearsal Dinner

  Once we got to his car, he stopped, leaned me against the passenger door, and kissed me. “I’ve missed you,” he said. “And you look so sexy. I don’t know if I have the strength to make it to the rehearsal without pulling over.”

  I kissed him back and said, “Well, if we leave now, we might have a few minutes to get lost on the way there.”

  He grinned. “I am a bad influence on you, Lilly. But, if we stop, we will be late getting there and I don’t want to stress out your sister.” He then took his weight off me, and opened the car door for me. It wasn’t long before he was behind the wheel and we were driving to the church for Violet’s rehearsal. When we got there, he shut the car off and turned to me. “So, are you ready to go public?”

  “Well, I already told my Dad, so the rest of the world is just a bonus.”

  “You told Calvin? Was he mad?” Luke asked, nervously. It made my heart melt a little bit more…he was nervous about getting Daddy’s approval. At that moment, I fell a little more in love with him.

  “Oh no, not at all! Actually, he told me was thrilled about us.”

  “He was thrilled? Really?” he asked, a weight visibly lifting off him.

  “Yes, he told me he thought you were a very good man,” I said.

  He smiled widely. “Well, that means a lot. Calvin’s a good man too. It’s nice to know I have his blessing.”

  I placed my hand on his face, and leaned in and kissed him. “So, you ready to do this thing?” I asked, and I saw Daisy’s car pulling into the lot behind us.

  Reaching for door handle, he said, “Ready. Let’s go.” We both got out of the car, and we walked hand in hand into the church.

  The rehearsal wasn’t that long. Everyone seemed to know what to do and where to stand. After three trial runs, Violet decided that we had it down, and suggested we head to the restaurant for dinner. Instead of eating somewhere fancier outside of town, Violet had decided on Grady’s for the rehearsal dinner, which suited me fine. I had worked up quite an appetite in the past twenty four hours. Once I had my coat on, Luke was waiting for me by the door. Hand in hand we walked to his car and once I was inside, he climbed into the driver’s seat and we drove the short distance to Grady’s. Mr. Grady had shut the place down for the night and had his whole staff there to help accommodate us…including Luke’s ex-girlfriend, Sam. I was a little nervous about how she would undoubtedly be shooting fire from her eyes at me all night long, but I didn’t care. Luke was going to be there with me, and we loved each other. That was all that mattered. As soon as we walked in, Luke took my coat off and as he was hanging it up, I saw Mr. Grady over by the counter talking to one of the cooks in the back. He looked up and saw me looking at him, and at that moment he walked over and pulled me into a big hug. “Well, hey there, darlin’,” he said.

  “Hey, lookin’ good, big guy,” I said.

  “You too. You look beautiful,” he said, holding my arms out. “That Luke’s a lucky fella.” He jerked his head over to the door. My head turned in Luke’s direction, and we smiled at each other.

  Guess it’s all out in the open now. Mr. Grady’s wife was the town chatterbox, so once she knew something all of Glenbrook knew within a few hours. Although, how she knew about Luke and I so fast made my head spin…maybe I didn’t want to know. “You think so?”

  “Oh honey, the way he’s lookin’ at you right now…he looks like he just won the lottery.” I looked at Mr. Grady and grinned.

  “Well that’s sweet of you to say, but I feel like I’m the lucky one.”

  “So you two are together now, like, for real?”

  I sighed dreamily. “For real.”

  “It’s about time,” he said, and I smiled even more. “So does that mean you’re comin’ back home for good?” he asked me, sounding hopeful.

  “I don’t know that yet. I have a lot to think about, I guess. Stay tuned,” I said, and he chuckled.

  He gave me another squeeze around my arms just as Luke joined us. “Well, I’d better let you have your girl back,” he said, and Luke smiled at him.

  “Thanks for keeping an eye on her for me, Grady.”

  “Anytime, young man, anytime. You take care of this one, ya’ hear? She’s special,” he said, a gleam in his eye.

  “Oh I fully intend to, as long as she lets me,” Luke said, kissing me on the cheek.

  “Well, I got a kitchen to run, so I best get to it. Y’all enjoy yourselves tonight, ya’ hear?” he said. I gave him another quick hug before he headed back into the kitchen.

  Luke held his arm out for me. “Well, shall we?”

  Snaking my arm through his, I grinned and said, “Absolutely.” We walked over to the table where Daisy was sitting, and Luke pulled out my chair. I sat down, and he pushed my chair in for me before taking his seat next to me. My eyes instinctively roamed the room and they rested on Sam, who was behind the counter filling glasses with iced water on a tray. She had obviously been watching us, because she looked away as soon as we made eye contact. In her eyes was a mixture of anger and overwhelming sadness. For a moment, my heart ached for her. She must have really fallen hard for him and just wasn’t handling it well. I hoped for here sake that she would eventually meet a nice man and move on. If I decided to come home, I didn’t want to be feeling guilty for being happy. I shook my head slightly and decided to let it go. I looked over at Daisy, who had her chin resting in the palm of her hand and wore a bothered look on her face. “Hey, Dais. You doing okay?” I asked.

  She shrugged her shoulders. “As well as can be expected, I guess,” she said, and I noticed her eyes move to a space in the corner. Jack was chatting to a tall, big breasted blonde who had her hands all over him. She narrowed her eyes at them.

  I turned back to her and said, “Don’t let it get to you.”

  “Don’t let what get to me?” she asked sarcastically, batting her eyelashes at me. She picked up a dinner roll from a basket on the table, and tore off a piece and popped it into her mouth.

  Luke looked over at Jack and then back to Daisy. He chuckled and shook his head. “What is it?” I whispered to him.

  “I just hope Jack knows what he’s doing,” he said, and before I could ask him to elaborate, I heard a fork clinking against a glass. Jack came over to our table and sat next to Luke and the blonde he was talking to sat on his other side. Uh oh.

  Evan was standing and had a hand on Violet’s shoulder. “Hi everyone. Thanks for coming to our rehearsal dinner,” he started. Violet was beaming at everyone. “Before we dig into this amazing looking foo
d Vi and I just wanted to take a minute to thank everyone for being here and being a part of our special day. Everyone we love is with us in this restaurant tonight, with the exception of one,” he paused, and glanced at his dad. His father nodded at him with sad eyes, and a thin faced woman sitting at his side rubbed his forearm. Must be Evan’s step-mother. “But, I know that even though she couldn’t be here in body, she’s here in spirit. Love you, Mom,” he said, looking up. He cleared his throat and continued. “I know that at the reception tomorrow that everyone will be making their speeches, but tonight I wanted to take a minute and give a thank you to my two groomsmen, Luke and Jack. I was an only child and was never lucky enough to have brothers, but I just wanted to let you two know that you both are the closest I’ll ever have and I wouldn’t have it any other way. You are the best, and I love you guys,” he said, and they both raised their glasses to him.

  At that moment, Violet stood and squeezed his hand. “Well, I don’t know what to say after that, but I’m going to try. I want to thank Mama and Daddy for being the most wonderful parents a girl could have. I love you both so much, and thank you for everything you’ve ever done for me.” Daddy smiled at her, and Mama dabbed at her eyes with a napkin. “I also want to say thank you so, so much to two of the three most important women in my life…Daisy and Lilly,” she said, emotion in her voice. I felt warmth spread through my chest. “I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to have two beautiful and amazing women as my sisters, and even though sometimes we’ve been apart, I will always know that I can count on you two for anything. I love you both more than I can ever say, and I thank God every day for you.” At this point, I was bawling. Luke put his arm around me and squeezed. I looked at Daisy who was crying as well. I blew Violet a light kiss and she winked at me. “Okay, enough of the emotional speeches. This food looks amazing, and I’m starving. Let’s eat, everyone!”

  Two hours later, we were all well fed and having a good time talking. Everyone was caught up Violet and Evan’s happiness, but I didn’t miss the looks I was getting from everyone at the restaurant every time Luke would lean and kiss me or whisper in my ear. Some looked happy, others looked skeptical, but I didn’t care. I loved Luke and he loved me, and that was all that mattered.

  All too soon, the time came for us to head back to our house for our last night as three single ladies. Daisy couldn’t take any more of Jack ignoring her and flirting with that woman, so she went home ahead of us, leaving me to ride with Violet. As she was saying her goodbyes to Evan, Luke’s arms slid around my waist and pulled me into a warm embrace. “I’m gonna miss you in my bed tonight, Lil.”

  “And I’m gonna miss being there with you,” I said. “This is gonna be one of the longest nights of my life.”

  “So let me kidnap you then,” he said with a sexy smile.

  “I wish I could, but I can’t. This is my last night with my baby sister before she goes off and gets married tomorrow.”

  “Aw, well, it was worth a shot, right?” he asked. I smiled and he leaned down to kiss my lips. We were holding each other tightly…neither of us wanted to let go. I could feel his chiseled abs and back through his shirt and desire started to burn deep in me. Before my all nighter with Luke, it had been seven years since I slept with anyone, and that one time was very disappointing. Now, after being with Luke again, I was like a tiger out of her cage. It was all I could do not to jump him right in the diner. Finally, Mama’s hand on my shoulder brought me back to reality.

  “Lilly, darling, sorry to interrupt you, but I think we need to head on home if we’re gonna get rest for tomorrow,” she said, and turned to Luke. Leaning in and kissing his cheek, she said, “Good to see you, son. Did you have a good time tonight?”

  He smiled warmly at Mama, and pulled her into a one armed hug. “I did, Ros. Thanks so much.”

  “You’re very welcome. Well, I’ll let you two say good night.” She started to turn away, but then stopped and turned back to face us. She grabbed my hand, then Luke’s, and holding them together, she said, “Luke, Lilly, the two of you together…this is a good thing,” she said, warmth radiating in her eyes.

  I felt tears beginning to form, and I just whispered, “Thanks, Mama.” Luke squeezed my hand and leaned in to kiss my cheek.

  “Thank you, Ros. I love her so much,” Luke said.

  Mama was fighting back tears of her own. “I know you do.” She let go of our hands and with a final quick hug to Luke, she said good night to him. She walked over to Daddy, leaving us to say our goodbyes.

  “Okay, we should just say good night now because the longer I stand here holding you, the harder it’s gonna be to let go,” I said.

  “What if I don’t want to let go?” he teased.

  I rolled my eyes playfully. “Just kiss me and say good night.”

  He did as I asked, and pulled me into a warm, tingling kiss that was all tongue and teeth and hands in hair. When we finally pulled apart, we looked at each other, smiling. Suddenly, we heard laughing, cat calls, and clapping. We both turned and saw my parents, Jack, Evan, Violet, Mr. and Mrs. Grady, and Evan’s father and stepmother standing in a group together. They were all smiling at us. Luke laughed and held his arm out to me, and I curtsied. I was red in the face from the attention, but I still had to laugh. Right then, my eyes once again fell on Sam. She looked like someone had just stabbed her. This was getting ridiculous…I decided I was going to talk to her and try to clear the air before heading home. I hugged Luke and kissed him one last time. “I’ll miss you,” I said.

  “Miss you too, baby. I’ll see you tomorrow at the wedding.”

  “See you tomorrow.”

  “Love you,” he said.

  “Love you too,” I answered, and he kissed me quickly on the lips before he slid on his coat and left the diner for home.

  After I slid my coat on, Violet appeared at my side. “Well, that was quite a show,” she laughed. “Guess we have something to talk about tonight, huh?”

  “Oh yes,” I blushed, and she giggled.

  “Well, you ready to go?”

  “Actually, can you give me like five minutes? I wanted to talk to someone real quick.”

  “Sure. I’ll go get the car started.”

  “Great, I’ll be out in a sec,” I said, and I turned to find Sam. She was behind the counter wiping it off with a cloth. I walked over to her and cleared my throat. “Hi, it’s Sam, isn’t it?”

  Her eyes looked up and right into mine. They weren’t cold, but they weren’t friendly either. “Yes, that’s right. Can I help you with something?” she asked, trying her hardest to be friendly.

  “I actually wanted to talk to you…about Luke.” I said, suddenly wondering why it was a good idea to talk to her when now she looked like she was doing to spit fire.

  She rolled her eyes and sighed. “What’s there to talk about? He’s your boyfriend, not mine. Not anymore,” she said, and looked back down at the counter. She was scrubbing hard at an invisible stain, and more than likely pretending it was my face.

  “Sam, Luke told me what happened between you two, and I am so sorry it didn’t work out for you guys. I really am.”

  She looked back up at me, irritated. “You’re sorry? Why should you be sorry? You won him from me without you even being here. You should be thrilled that I’m out of the picture.”

  “Excuse me, I won him? This isn’t a game, Sam. He’s not some toy. He’s a grown man that can make his own choices, and he chose me. But you are right. I wasn’t here when you two were together and I am sorry that I came between you both. I didn’t mean to. However, you need to work that out with Luke and not focus your anger and hurt onto me. That part isn’t my fault.”

  Her gaze went from angry to full blown fury. “Of course it’s not. Perfect Lilly never does anything wrong. Hell, you turned your back on everyone in this town and yet they still welcomed you back with open arms like nothing ever happened,” she spat at me.

  “Excuse me? What the hell do you k
now about my life and this town? You don’t even know me,” I blasted back. This chick had some balls to throw that at me, I’ll give her that.

  Her eyes narrowed. “I know enough. I’ve heard all about how you used to prance around town like you were so perfect and untouchable, that you acted like you were everyone’s best friend but when the time came you fled from this town and never looked back. It’s like no one else mattered but you,” she said.

  Rage started to burn in me. “Where the hell are you getting that? Some crazy drunk in a bar? I have never treated anyone like that, and whoever told you different is as crazy and fucked up as you are. I can’t believe I actually came over to apologize to you because I felt bad.”

  “Well you wasted your time, because I don’t need your apology or your pity.”

  “Trust me, it won’t happen again. I will never apologize for being in love with Luke and for him loving me, but I will tell you one more thing. If you don’t knock off your crazy shit and leave us the hell alone and get a God damned life, I’ll knock your ass out. I may seem all nice and innocent, but when you fuck with people I love the claws come out. You got it?”

  She scowled at me. “Are you done, your highness? I have work to do,” she said.

  “Believe me, I’m done with you.” I turned on my heels and after giving Mr. Grady a quick hug, I opened the diner door.

  Before I could walk through the door, I heard her yell, “You are a selfish bitch, Lilly Harrington, and soon everyone in this town that’s fallen for your crap will realize it!”

  I froze, and prepared to turn around, ready for round two. But, before I could open my mouth, I heard a hard slap and an audible gasp. I turned quickly and saw Mrs. Grady towering over Sam, shaking with anger, and Sam had a hand raised to her cheek, her eyes wide.