by Zoe York
Piper sipped at her mimosa and considered. “That’s a possibility. Myles loved that dress.”
“I remember. He practically drooled all through that scene from dress rehearsal through closing night.”
“Hmmm. Wait right here. I think I have something that might suit.” Babette slipped past the curtain. She came back a few minutes later with another dress in ivory satin. “Let’s try this one.”
Piper shimmied into the dress, waiting patiently as she was laced in and adjusted.
“Okay, nobody say anything this time. I want Piper to see this one with no other feedback first,” Babette ordered.
Piper shuffled out, which was about the best she could manage in the tight skirt.
Babette gave her a hand up on the stage. “Close your eyes.”
She did as ordered, letting the older woman pull her into place. “Okay, now, open.”
“Oh.” It was the only thing Piper could manage.
This dress also had a sweetheart neckline, but whereas the last one had swallowed her, this one hugged her curves from breast to knee before flaring out in a chapel length mermaid style skirt. The entire thing was ruched, from the lace applique bodice down.
This was the dress.
I’m getting married. Despite all the hoopla that’d been going on the last week, all the plans, all the details, nothing had brought home the reality like standing here in this dress that seemed made just for her. She’d walk down the aisle to Myles in this and watch his eyes darken with wanting. And maybe something more.
Piper realized she’d reached out to touch two fingers to her image in the mirror. “I’m getting married in this dress.”
“It’s perfect,” Norah said.
“You’re gorgeous,” Tyler assured her.
Leah stepped up on the stage and laid a light hand on her back. “It’s you. It’s so absolutely you.”
Piper turned to hug her. “I’m sorry I was pissy.”
“I’m sorry we were pushy.”
As Norah and Tyler helped her up off the little stage, Piper laughed. “Good thing we aren’t doing a church wedding. I don’t think I could manage stairs in this.”
“You know, since number three was the charm, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to require any alterations, that means we are officially ahead of schedule,” Norah said.
“And?” Piper asked.
“And I called ahead to the Babylon. They’ve got two hours of spa treatments lined up for all six of us—Augusta and Skye included.”
“Did I mention I love you?”
Norah grinned. “I do what I can.”
Chapter 8
“PRESTON, BABY, YOU JUST have to walk from daddy down here to me, okay?” Leah’s pleading fell on deaf ears.
As their cranky ring bearer screwed up his face and began to bawl, Myles was wishing he was deaf.
Piper’s sister cringed in mortification, holding her son by his little shoulders. “Sweetheart, there’s no need for all that.”
Big, fat tears rolled down his reddened face and his wail echoed off the nearby buildings. Gram heaved a long-suffering sigh. They’d been trying to coax him down the aisle for fifteen minutes.
Looking embarrassed himself, Elliott started apologizing. “I’ll just take him down.”
Myles broke from his position beneath the pergola and headed toward the chaos. “Let me try.” He crouched down in front of his soon-to-be nephew. “Hey, little man.”
The wailing cut off, even though the tears kept rolling.
“It’s awful confusing up here, isn’t it, with all these people? Are you not wanting to leave your Aunt Pie?”
“Pie?” Preston sniffed hopefully, looking up at Piper.
“See, here’s how this is supposed to work. Everybody’s gonna be marching down this aisle here toward the front. Miss Norah, Miss Miranda, and Miss Tyler come down. Then you get to lead Aunt Pie down carrying this pillow here.” He stuck out a hand and took it from Elliott.
“Pie.”
“That’s right. If you can come all the way down like a big boy and stand with me, I’ll boost you up on my shoulders so you can see her coming over everybody else.”
“Oh, I don’t—”
Myles cut Leah off with his hand. “Would you like that?”
Preston nodded slowly.
“Okay then.” Myles swiped at the tears on his baby soft cheeks, feeling a curious pull. “We cool?”
The kid offered up his fist. Grinning, Myles bumped it. “Good job. Now I’m gonna be right down front. You just have to come to me.”
“My!”
“That’s right.” Myles trotted back to his place beside the minister. “Let’s try that again.”
The processional started. The attendants, predictably, made it down the aisle. Then it was time for Preston. With one last look at his aunt, he trotted the length of the aisle, albeit at about twice the tempo of the song. But he made it, coming straight to Myles.
“Great job, buddy!” He gave the boy another fist bump, then lifted him up on his shoulders to watch the rest of the show.
Preston immediately grabbed his ears, as if they were reins, leaning forward to look for his aunt. “Pie?”
“She’s coming. Just watch.”
She’d opted not to be escorted and flounced down the aisle with a bow bouquet and a silly face for her nephew that was clearly trying Gram’s tolerance for lack of decorum. Preston bounced, clapping his hands against Myles’ head. Myles shifted his grip on the kid to make sure he didn’t slide down in his excitement.
Tucker leaned in. “Your grandmother doesn’t look thrilled with the deviation from the plan,” he murmured.
“Nope.”
“She’s really going to have a fit over what you’ve really planned for tomorrow.”
“Yep.”
“You really want to go through with it?”
Myles thought of the surprise he’d roped their theater friends into for Piper. They’d been working feverishly all week to pull it off. “At the end of the day it’s our wedding. Gram wants a production. We’ll give her one.”
Piper took her place beside him beneath the vine covered pergola. “Good job, Pres.”
“MyPie!” he cheered.
“That’s it,” Myles said. “We’re legit now. We’ve officially been made a portmanteau.”
Piper grinned. “Well, I supposed it’s better than Myper or Piles.”
“Dearly beloved. Uh, Myles, would you like to divest yourself of your passenger?” Reverend Emmons asked.
“Nah, I’m good. He’s happy. The sooner we get through this, the sooner we can all go eat.”
That ended up being an excellent tactic. They were able to zip through the steps of the ceremony in twenty minutes, with one more trial run of the processional for Preston to walk down to Myles and wait for Piper—from the ground this time.
“And then you’ll all recess in reverse order and make your way to the elevator and down to the top floor to wait, while guests clear out to the reception in the ballroom before coming back up here for pictures.”
“By jove, I think we’ve got it,” Myles declared. “And I think we’re all starving. You hungry, little man?”
“Yeah!”
“Me too!” Myles handed him off to Leah, who shook her head in amazement.
“Piper may have competition for favorite relative. You’re great with him.”
“I get a kick out of him.” Way more than he’d expected. Myles had never been around small children that much. All his friends from his big city paper days were focused on career, as he’d been. Few of them were married and none of them had been thinking about families. Watching Leah walk away with a waving Preston perched on her hip, he thought they were probably missing out.
At the head of the aisle, Piper leaned in to give her nephew a smacking kiss, making the little boy giggle with delight. She was so relaxed and easy with kids. It was easy to imagine her beaming at another little face with her impish gr
in and his eyes. She’d make a great mom, and it’d be fun to see what kind of trouble their little black sheep family could get into.
Family.
Well, holy shit.
Piper slipped her arm through his. “You realize you’ve just been drafted for the official babysitting roster, right?”
Still reeling from his little fantasy, he murmured, “I don’t mind. It’s good practice.” He didn’t realize that had slipped out of his mouth until he saw the stunned expression on Piper’s face. “You know, for someday.”
“Someday,” she echoed.
Add that to the list of things we really ought to discuss.
It hadn’t seemed pertinent in the beginning, when this had been more of a favor with a theoretical expiration date. But with each passing day, he was realizing he didn’t want an expiration date. He wanted to do this for real.
He held out his hand. “Rehearsal dinner?”
She slipped her hand in his. “Rehearsal dinner.”
The rehearsal dinner slipped by without incident—a minor miracle as far as Piper was concerned. Given how fast this whole shindig had been thrown together, she kept expecting some disaster to strike that would cause Myles’ grandmother to permanently curse their names. Sooner than she expected, her girlfriends were dragging her away from her groom in the name of bachelorette party.
Piper felt strangely nervous about letting him go. He’d been uncharacteristically quiet all through dinner, and she worried he was having second thoughts.
“You’ll see him tomorrow,” Miranda insisted.
Piper ignored her, slipping her arms around Myles and searching his face. “You sure you’re okay?”
“My toes are perfectly toasty,” he assured her. “This time tomorrow, all the crazy will be over and we’ll be celebrating. Go have fun with the girls.” He sent an arch look in their direction. “No strippers, y’all.”
Tyler crossed her heart. “No strippers. We’ve got something else in mind.”
Myles brushed a thumb across her cheek, much as he’d done to Preston earlier. The gesture made her heart roll over in her chest.
“See you tomorrow, Mrs. Stewart.”
“Tomorrow,” she sighed.
Tyler and Norah had her shoved into a car before she could so much as blink.
“Where are we going?” Piper demanded.
“You, my darling, need to loosen up. You’re getting married tomorrow,” Tyler announced.
“I did remember that, believe it or not.”
“That’s why you need loosening up,” Miranda said.
“I will loosen up once we are on the other side of the ‘I do’s and Suzanne and her entourage have left town.”
“This will help.” Norah passed a gift bag from the front seat. “Go ahead and open it.”
Piper pulled tissue paper out and stuck her hand inside, fingers wrapping around something long and textured. Mildly afraid of what X-rated thing they’d concocted, she slowly pulled the thing from the bag—and began to laugh hysterically. Deep belly spasms of mirth.
“A bedazzled microphone?”
“We’re doing bachelorette karaoke,” Tyler declared. “Because of course. It’s you.”
Piper felt some of the tension that’d been lodged in her chest all week loosen. “Have I mentioned I love y’all?”
“We never get tired of hearing it,” Miranda said, swinging an arm around her shoulders.
Karaoke night had always been a bi-monthly event at Speakeasy. But it was only in the wake of the hugely successful community theater fundraiser back in the fall—brainchild of Myles and Tucker—that it’d become a seriously popular local event. No surprise, to Piper’s mind. You put all the most talented local singers on stage and people tended to enjoy it more than total caterwauling. Ever since, the theater crowd had made a monthly pilgrimage to binge on pizza and sing. Partly to keep in practice and partly because it was just fun. There was rarely more than one musical per season at The Madrigal Theater.
Tonight wasn’t theater night. But when Piper and her friends stepped into Speakeasy, at least half the people present were part of that crowd. At the sight of her, a cheer went up, followed by applause and shouts of congratulations.
“The bride-to-be has arrived. We can officially declare this bachelorette version of karaoke night open!” Joby Tisdale announced.
Hoots and hollers followed this declaration.
“Piper, would you like to kick us off?” he asked.
“Sure.” She made her way through the room, shaking hands and accepting hugs on her way to flip through the book of songs that she knew almost by heart.
What says I’m getting married tomorrow?
She had Joby cue up Meghan Trainor’s “Dear Future Husband” and worked to put on some sass for the number. Her girls lined up behind her for backup, adding impromptu fifties style choreography, while she sang and simpered to the audience. But she just…wasn’t feeling her usual zing. If the audience noticed, they certainly gave no indication. The applause made her miss Myles. She’d gotten used to singing with him here. Flirting through song had been the most fun she’d had in ages. Being with Myles in general was fun. He delighted in saying and doing the outrageous, just to make her smile. Which made them exceedingly well matched.
She just wished he were here with her tonight.
Oh for heaven’s sake, woman, you’ll see him tomorrow. You’re marrying him tomorrow.
She waited for some kind of nerves to hit as Tyler took the little stage for a rendition of “Exes and Ohs.” And though she felt some unease, it had nothing to do with Myles and everything to do with the grand social event his grandmother had planned. Much as she enjoyed performing, she didn’t want to be on display for her actual personal life. A part of her worried that they wouldn’t survive all the scrutiny.
She wanted a chance for them to focus just on them. No audience. No pressure. No loan repayment hanging over their heads. Just her and Myles. As things would have been had his investor not decided to pull out.
Just one more day. Then the circus will be over.
But because she was missing him, Piper put herself back in the queue with Gershwin’s “Someone To Watch Over Me.”
They’d made their order for an extra-large sausage and mushroom pie and garlic knots by the time her turn rolled around again. Piper took the stage and began to sing. She poured all the longing she felt into the music, automatically making it a true performance, not just a song. The door opened and, as if she’d summoned him with the power of her voice, Myles stepped inside, followed by Tucker and Brody.
Nobody was looking at him. But she felt it the moment his eyes met hers. His lips curved, slow and sexy, and he crossed the restaurant toward the stage, taking an empty seat. Piper took her bedazzled microphone and left the stage, singing to him now as she wound her way through the crowd and sat on his lap for the final few bars of the song.
Everybody went nuts.
She flipped off the mic and leaned in to kiss him. His hand snaked up her back and into her hair as he slanted his head to take the kiss deeper. Winding her arms around his shoulders, she relaxed in to that strange mix of comfort and heat. How could he make her feel so safe and reckless in the same moment?
“Hey!” Miranda protested. “This is a bachelorette party. You can’t be here.”
In response, Myles slid his arms around Piper’s waist, holding her in place. “I do believe it is a free country. And we men wanted to sing.”
“I think you knew I was missing you,” Piper whispered, nuzzling into his shoulder.
“I was missing you back,” he murmured.
“Objection!” Tucker declared. “You’re not supposed to hang out with your intended the night before the wedding.”
“Piper and I haven’t done a damn thing the traditional way in the course of our relationship. Why on Earth would we start now? That wouldn’t suit her or me. We stay. Get on the roster.”
“You, me, ‘Wanted, Dead or Alive’
,” Brody announced, heading for the list.
Piper stared at Myles.
“What?” he asked.
“You really get me.”
“I should hope so. I’ve made rather a study of it.”
An ache set up in her chest and she pushed up, suddenly needing to move, needing space.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” She squeezed his hand. “I just need a breath of air. I’ll be back in a minute.”
“I’ll come with you.”
He started to rise, but she just pushed him back into his seat, smiling. “You and Brody are up next. Don’t want to miss your cue. Really, I’ll be right back.”
Weaving through the tables, she headed for the door. Her skin felt flushed and freezing at once and her heart was beating a rat-a-tat-tat in her chest that was more akin to terror than exhilaration.
The cool night air helped a little. The bands around her chest loosened a fraction. But not the ache somewhere in the vicinity of her heart. That still throbbed like a bad tooth. Absently, she rubbed at it.
“You okay?” Tucker’s voice came from behind.
“I’m fine.” Total lie.
He circled around to look her in the face. “This is me you’re talking to. How are you really?”
Her breath gushed out. “Terrified. It’s like stage fright times a thousand.”
A muscle jumped in Tucker’s jaw as he looked out over the green. “Myles told me what you’re doing.”
Piper’s gaze snapped to his. “I thought maybe you’d figured it out.”
“Well, what I thought was a lot less flattering. I accused him of using you.”
“Tucker!”
“I should’ve known better. It’s so very you to make that kind of major, snap decision. But you don’t have to do this. This is real life, not a play. He’ll understand if you back out.”
Myles had been giving her chances to back out for two weeks. She knew him well enough to be certain that if she bailed, he’d be more concerned about her than about the impact her decision would have on his business. Which was why she knew she was going through with it.