Beautiful Series Boxset, books 1-4

by Lilliana Anderson

  Tilting my head, I smile as I watch the way his butt muscles move as he walks away from me. “Were you that keen to get in here?” I ask.

  “Just memorising the layout for when my plans came to pass.”

  “Are there more plans?”

  “Yeah babe. The whole night is full of plans,” he grins.

  I bite my lip as my core pulses, eager for more of this man I’m about to marry.

  Fourteen

  A week later and we’re all disembarking from a chartered flight that held the vast majority of our wedding guests and took three hours to fly us all from Sydney to Cairns Airport in Queensland.

  “And I thought Sydney was humid,” my mother says as she waves a magazine at her face in a makeshift fan as she stands on the tarmac, waiting for everyone else to exit the aircraft.

  “Don’t worry, the hotel has a pool and air conditioning,” Theo assures her, reaching out to relieve her of her bag. She turns and thanks him for being so thoughtful and my heart, that was already full of love for this man, seems to swell even more.

  “You’re a good man,” I tell him quietly.

  He glances at me and holds his finger to his lips. “Don’t tell anyone.”

  Gail, the wedding planner, calls us all to attention and tells us to follow her to where there’s a bus waiting to transport us all to the resort that’s holding the wedding. We’ve booked the entire venue out for four days, although Theo and I are only staying for three before we head back home with the rest of our band members and pack to go on tour.

  Most people go on a honeymoon after getting married, but in a way, this tour will be our honeymoon. We’re travelling to a lot of destinations we haven’t been to before, so we’ll steal as much sightseeing time as we can.

  Surprisingly, I don’t feel stressed over the wedding. Everything seems to be slotting into place. There’s hardly been a hitch at all considering everything was planned so rapidly. So I’m strangely calm.

  The only upset of course is Theo’s parents refusing to attend. He hasn’t really been talking about it much. Each time I try to bring it up with him to see how he’s feeling, he brushes it off and claims that it’s their loss – if they’re willing to skip it, then they don’t get to complain or have any further input into his life choices. I get where he’s coming from, but I worry that he’s bottling up his emotions. I just hope that he’ll be able to focus on how many of our friends and family have dropped everything to come out and support us on our special day.

  Once we arrive at the hotel, we don’t get much time to stand around. For the bridal party, it’s all stations go as we’re taken to separate rooms for a final fitting, and then out to the veranda where the ceremony will take place to do a quick rehearsal.

  My poor father is so choked up that he’s tearing up as he walks beside me down the aisle, and I can’t help but smile. “Oh dad, this is just the rehearsal. How are you going to cope when we’re doing this for real?” I ask, reaching over to him and catching the tear on his cheek before it drops and gets lost in his salt and pepper beard.

  “I’ll be fine, sweetheart. It’s just not every day a father does something like this.”

  I squeeze his arm a little tighter as I feel the tears prick the back of my eyes too. My father is generally such a stoic man, so if he starts crying tomorrow then I know I’m going to end up being a complete mess.

  I press a kiss to his cheek as he passes my hand to Theo and takes a seat next to my mother who is also tearing up. With watery eyes, I look at my love and see the love and devotion in his eyes, tinged with a slight sorrow. I know he’s feeling sad for the fact that his parents aren’t here and in this moment, I wish for nothing more than for all of our dreams to be complete.

  “Theo,” Marcus says with a nudge into Theo’s back. We both look up to where Marcus is indicating and lo and behold, there is Mr and Mrs Bailey (who has thankfully foregone her black mourning dress for a dusty pink summer dress).

  Theo’s eyes close and he lets out a long relieved breath, and keeping a hold of my hand he walks to the end of the aisle and stands before his parents.

  “We’re sorry, mio figlio,” his father says, reaching up to take Theo’s face in his hands. He pulls him into a hug and kisses him on both cheeks. “We want to see you wed to the woman you love.”

  Theo nods, and clears his throat as he breathes through his emotion and turns to his mother who is waiting to talk. “You know this is hard for me. This saying sorry. But your father, he help me see. You are grown man and I expect too much from you. I just want you happy. I want you to have a good life,” she tells him, bringing him into her arms as she slips into Italian and kisses him on both cheeks. He nods his head to whatever she’s saying and wipes at his eyes.

  I watch on, feeling a little like an intruder but glad that I’m witnessing the one thing Theo really wanted for this wedding – his family together.

  Mrs Bailey turns her attention to me. “And to you Naomi. I am so very sorry. You make my son so happy, and I know this. I want you to be in our family. I had no daughters but now I am so lucky because I will soon have two.”

  I nod. “Thank you Mrs Bailey. I’m glad you came.”

  “Oh no, child. You are family now. You must call me mum or ma, si?”

  I nod again, my head feeling like it’s on springs. “OK,” I grin, pressing my lips together to stop myself from crying out of happiness. I’m just so glad that Theo will have his parents here.

  Mrs Bailey, I mean, Ma, pulls me into an embrace and kisses my cheeks before Theo’s father does the same and insists that I call him ‘Pops’ – no one else calls him ‘Pops’ so I’m not sure where he got that, but I agree to it anyway.

  After our reunion, Theo’s parents take a seat near my parents and Theo and I return to the wedding arch to continue rehearsing our ceremony. When it’s finished, I can’t stop smiling.

  Even when we have dinner with all of our guests that night, everyone is happy and smiling and there is this wonderful air of celebration about the room. When it’s time to turn in for the night, Theo and I go to separate rooms, keeping to some small traditions.

  “Everything seems to be working out perfectly,” I say to him from the door of my room before we call it a night. “I can’t believe how lucky we are.”

  He smiles and leans down to kiss me goodnight. “Be careful, you’ll jinx it,” he says with a wink.

  “You know I’m not superstitious,” I scoff. “Everything is planned perfectly and everyone we love is here. What could possibly go wrong?”

  Fifteen

  My eyes fly open as I’m startled from my sleep. What the fuck was that?

  A flash of light pulses through the window, lighting up my room, followed shortly by a rolling boom. A storm. A fucking storm.

  I pull the sheet over my head and moan as I hear the rain thump against the glass in torrents. “This isn’t happening!” I call out to the empty room.

  My phone rings beside the bed and I sit up, seeing Lisa’s smiling face flash up on my screen.

  “I knew it was too good to be true. She cursed you,” she states the moment the call connects.

  “What?” I ask, confused.

  “Mrs Bailey. That woman does not apologise. She came up here to bring a curse down upon your wedding day. I can’t believe this – all the planning. All the work! She’s ruining it!” she says in a frantic but hushed tone.

  “What’s going on?” I hear Marcus mumbling sleepily.

  “It’s a fucking rainstorm,” she hisses at him. “Caused by your mother.”

  “What?” he laughs. “She doesn’t have that power. Believe me. It’s just rain. It’ll probably be over before the ceremony even starts. Hang on – are you on the phone?”

  “Yeah,” Lisa says as I hear the phone beep. She’s obviously put me on speaker. “Say hi to Naomi.”

  “Hi Naomi,” he says. “Are you agreeing with my crazy wife here?” he asks.

  “I’m not crazy,” Lisa insist
s.

  “Well, I’m not happy about the rain, but I don’t believe in bad luck and curses so I can’t really blame it on your mum. Plus, she seemed pretty genuine yesterday. I think she really wants to be here.”

  “Well, all I know is that the weather report was all clear yesterday and today there’s a torrential downpour. The only thing that changed was her arriving.”

  “Man, weddings make chicks bonkers. Hang up and let Nomes get some more sleep. We’ve all got to be up in a couple of hours anyway so just relax. The storm will probably blow over and besides, places like this are always prepared for freak storms – it’s the tropics. They have to be.”

  “You’re right, Marcus. I’m sure everything will be just fine. I’m not the first bride to have it rain on their wedding day. It’s just a little hiccup. Everything else will be just fine.”

  Sixteen

  The rain doesn’t let up. If anything, it gets even worse but the wedding goes ahead on schedule anyway.

  “Unfortunately, the storm that was supposed to stay well of the coast, decided to change course and will be with us for most of the day. I just want you all to feel assured that the resort has put up the storm shutters around the veranda, so the ceremony can stay where it is. You’ll just have an unexpected light show,” the wedding planner informs us with a smile as she tries to put a positive spin on things while we’re all getting our hair and make up done. “They also have a back up generator if the storm manages to cut the power. So I want you to relax. You all look beautiful. This wedding is going to be perfect.”

  She excuses herself to go and check on a few things and I take a look at my bridal party and their grim faces.

  “It’s just rain – OK? Everything will be fine. Quit your moping,” I tell them.

  “We just wanted everything to be perfect for you,” Lisa says from beside Stephanie as they do their best to keep Amanda and Grace entertained while Paige’s and my hair and makeup is finished.

  I wait until the makeup artist finishes brushing a rose colour on my lips then press them together obediently before I respond.

  “It is perfect. Everyone that Theo and I love is here with us, and you heard Gail – the storm shutters are up. Getting married with flashing lights around us will actually be really cool. Imagine how great the photos will look.”

  “OK, but I still think Mrs Bailey is responsible for all this,” Lisa grumbles.

  “Stop it, OK? She isn’t responsible. And I know you worked hard to make this wedding work Lisa. I’m going to be forever grateful to you for all your help. But right now, I need you calm and positive – OK?”

  She lets out her breath. “OK. I’m sorry. I won’t say another word about it. I’m just freaking out a bit.”

  “I know. But if you don’t believe in omens and bad luck then none of this really matters,” I say.

  “All you need is love and all that,” Paige adds as she stands up and checks herself over in the mirror, the red and yellows of her Phoenix tattoo stretching out around the low v-cut in the back of her dress.

  “The Beatles are so wise,” Stephanie agrees before she breaks into song which for some reason gets us all singing that love is all we need.

  A loud boom cracks through the air outside, causing the lights to flicker and our sing-a-long to come to a halt. “Everything’s fine,” I say, more to calm myself than anyone else. “Everything is perfectly fine.” Although, I have to admit even I’m starting to worry that disaster is about to strike.

  “Cue the music,” Gail says into her mouthpiece as she stands with us, ready to pull the curtain to the side that separates us from the aisle and our guests.

  My heart beats in my ears in nervous excitement as the strains of a melody I haven’t heard completely filters out of the sound system. I recognise part of it from Theo’s frustrated scratchings. He’s obviously finished it.

  I listen to the music, knowing that Theo finished it especially for today and wait for Gail to give us the signal to walk down the aisle.

  My dad gives my hand a gentle squeeze and leans over to kiss my cheek. “You look beautiful,” he tells me as Gail pulls the curtain apart and ushers us through as the first lyrics of the song in Theo’s smooth recorded voice flow through the air.

  I’d sacri–

  The sky flashes and a loud boom shudders the building, as the thunder seems to rumble through the earth. The music and the lights cut out and we’re plunged into a grey world with nothing but the glow of storm clouds flashing with lightning to aid our vision.

  “Oh no,” I gasp, feeling as though perhaps I was wrong to shun the wedding superstitions. Maybe Mrs Bailey does have the power to curse us. And as preposterous as that sounds, right now, it seems as though if it wasn’t her, then it’s the gods above us, telling us that we shouldn’t be getting married.

  “Hurry.” I hear Theo’s voice over the murmurs of the gathered crowd.

  “There’s a generator. We’ll be back up in no time!” A male voice calls from behind us while other voices around me offer me reassurances. They’re all assuring me that everything will be all right. But how can it be, we have no lights. No music. I can hardly see. How is this going to work?

  I frown suddenly, wondering what Jack and Lachlan are doing as I watch them walk up the aisle, talking quietly to guests on their way toward me.

  When they reach the end, Jack says, “It’s going to be OK, Nomes. We’ve got this.” And with a wink, he moves quickly up the aisle and takes his position beside Theo once more.

  “Ready, now,” Marcus commands, and suddenly, the aisle is lit by the glow of mobile phones and those in the front row are using their phone’s flash light as a spotlight on Theo as he begins to play a guitar.

  My hand flies up to cover my mouth as I try not to cry and ruin my make up. But it’s a losing battle, the tears flow anyway.

  “Where did he get a bloody guitar?” my dad asks in amazement as he urges me to walk toward Theo as he begins to sing.

  I’d sacrifice eternity to have you

  Because perfection is here for us now

  You're my angel, my heart, my life and my breath,

  And you found me, you chose me somehow

  All I can see is your beauty

  And all I can feel is your heart

  When times get tough, you’re there for me

  We belonged together right from the start

  His eyes lock with mine as I slowly move toward him, tears streaming unbidden down my cheeks. All my hopes have been restored. Walking down the aisle to my man, singing a song he wrote for me is the most perfect wedding I could have hoped for.

  His hands strum out the chords I recognise as he moves toward the chorus and he belts out the words.

  No one on earth could see me

  Nobody could understand

  But baby, when we’re together

  Your heart knows the man that I am

  And when your tears are flowing

  I’ll be there to dry your eyes

  And when your heart is shining

  The darkness inside me dies

  No one on earth could see me

  Nobody could understand

  But baby, when we’re together

  Your heart knows the man that I am

  No one on earth could see me

  Nobody could understand

  But baby, when we’re together

  Your heart knows the man that I am

  Your heart knows the man that I am

  Your heart knows the man that I am

  Your heart knows the man that I am

  As the song ends, I’m standing in front of him, my lip between my teeth, my face probably red and covered in mascara from my happy tears. He hands the guitar to Marcus as my father kisses my cheek and offers my hand to Theo.

  “Are you OK?” Theo asks as his hands reach for my face and his thumb brush over my cheeks to wipe away my tears.

  “I’m perfect,” I tell him. “Absolutely perfect.”

  Se
venteen

  The rest of the ceremony goes off without a hitch. Theo and I say our vows, and as he slides a ring on my finger that is engraved with the notes of the song he wrote, I cry even more.

  “I’m such a mess,” I tell him as he takes a hold of my face, ready for our first kiss as husband and wife.

  “You’re beautiful,” he murmurs, wiping at my tears before kissing me soulfully while cameras flash along with the lightening behind us.

  As we walk back down the aisle, all of our friends and family congratulate us with tears in their eyes.

  “Congratulations guys. This was probably the best wedding I’ve been to,” David tells us, as he stands with his arm around a weeping Katrina.

  “That song Theo!” she sighs. “It was just beautiful and such quick thinking to use peoples phones for light.”

  “That was Lachlan’s idea actually. People use phones at concerts all the time, so…” Theo shrugs as if he didn’t just pull off the best wedding save of the century.

  “Well, it was great. I’m sure we’ll all remember it for years to come,” David adds, as he shakes Theo’s hand and kisses me on the cheek.

  “We’ll see you inside,” Katrina says as she gives us both a quick kiss and heads inside with everyone else.

  Gail moves over to us to quietly tell us that the generator isn’t working as the basement has flooded and as much as that should be a disaster for us, it isn’t. By now, we’ve realised that we can conquer anything the world has to throw at us.

  “But, when you go inside, you’ll see that we’ve been working hard to make sure the room has enough light,” she tells us with a smile.

  Tea light and pillar candles are set up around the reception hall and with the bevy of musicians we have on our guest list, a wonderful unplugged concert has already begun for everyone to enjoy.