Operation Bailey Wedding

by Piper Rayne

  Harley and Rome disappear into the kitchen and the serving staff bring out more appetizers, passing them around.

  Austin comes and stands next to me, kissing my temple and I slide into his hold, never a better place. My eyes veer over to Dion as guests keep wandering over to get a glimpse of the baby. My hand falls to my stomach. I wonder how long it will take us to get pregnant.

  The door opens to the restaurant and after the scene of Denver and Harley, I feel like we’re in for round two, except this one will be a quiet boxing round with only scathing looks and cutting verbal remarks.

  Liam walks in with a brunette’s hand in his. I don’t recognize her, but that doesn’t mean someone else here doesn’t.

  He stops, his gaze falling to Savannah.

  Why are they doing this to themselves?

  I glance over at Savannah and her narrowed eyes are glued to the couple. Anger igniting in them like the quick flame of a gas burner.

  “How nice. He brought a date.” The tone of her voice is less than convincing.

  Liam walks farther into the room and Grandma Dori is the first to stop him. She puts her hand out in front of the woman, shaking her hand. The two weave by her and before too long they’re in front of all of us.

  “This is Myra,” Liam says it like we should all be happy to meet her. I can’t be the only Bailey that sees what’s going on.

  “Hey, Myra. Welcome.” My dense husband-to-be puts his hand out first. We all shake and somehow, Savannah is the last one.

  “This is Savannah.” Liam holds his arm out and Savannah smiles sweetly and extends her hand.

  “It’s nice to meet you. Have you and Liam been dating long?”

  Myra looks to Liam. “No. It’s new.”

  “That’s great.” Savannah is way too polite.

  But we have no time to dwell on them because smoke wafts from out of the kitchen into the restaurant and the smoke alarm goes off.

  Harley and Rome run out. Rome’s pants are down to his knees. Harley’s shirt is off by one button.

  They run over to their kids and once Harley has them both and is rushing them out the door, Rome runs back into the kitchen.

  The rest of us scramble to leave.

  “Maybe you should stay out of the kitchen when Rome’s in there,” Liam says to Harley. “Seems you’re a bit of a distraction.”

  She looks at him over her shoulder and her cheeks heat.

  Savannah just rolls her eyes at Liam’s comment and pushes her way past him and his date. I take a deep breath and follow her out. This is life with the Bailey’s, but I wouldn’t change it for anything.

  As we all stay outside the restaurant waiting to be allowed back in by the fire department, I wonder what else could go wrong before my wedding. I inhale a calming breath reminding myself that as long as I become Mrs. Austin Bailey, it will all be fine.

  Eventually, Li from Wok For U comes around the corner carrying bags of food.

  “Li!” Austin screams.

  “Rome told me you needed some food.”

  We set up an impromptu picnic in the gazebo in the square.

  “I’m sorry you two.” Rome walks over, looking humbled.

  “Hey, orange chicken was our first meal together.” I stare up at Austin and he smiles, leaning down to kiss me.

  “Thanks for understanding.”

  “How’s the damage?” Austin asks him.

  “Minimal in the kitchen, but insurance claim here I come.” He runs his hand on my back. “Sorry.”

  “It’s fine.”

  As I lean along Austin’s chest, we stare at our guests laughing and enjoying themselves in their dresses and nice clothes sitting on the grass.

  “These are for you two.” Li hands Austin two fortune cookies.

  “Thanks.” Austin holds them out for me, and I grab one, cracking it open.

  “Marriage lets you annoy one special person for the rest of your life.” I laugh and he kisses me.

  Austin cracks his open. “And they lived happily ever after.”

  “I didn’t need a fortune to know that.” I smile up at my soon-to-be husband then stuff my end of the fortune cookie into his mouth.

  He tightens his arms around my stomach. “We got this in spades, baby.”

  “I love you,” I whisper.

  “I love you more.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Liam

  Day of the wedding

  * * *

  “The florist isn’t here,” Savannah says to us when Denver and I climb out of the car.

  It’d be a lot easier to act indifferent to her if she didn’t look so goddamn hot. She has one shoulder bare and her hair is pulled up off her neck into some hairstyle that I really don’t care about. What I do care about is the curve of her neck and how much my mouth would enjoy tasting her there.

  “Did you go to the shop? It’s like thirty feet away,” Denver says.

  “No Denver, I didn’t. I run a huge company, but the idea that I should swing by her shop didn’t cross my mind.”

  “Where’s the bride?” I ask. We don’t have time for these two to bicker if we’re going to fix this problem.

  “She’s with the other bridesmaids. Dana is keeping her distracted,” Savannah says.

  I look to the gazebo and see that it’s bare, nothing distinguishing it from being any other day. There have been multiple weddings here in the past, my parents included, and it’s usually done to the nines.

  “Let me call Faith.” I pull out my phone.

  “You have the florist’s phone number?” Sav asks.

  I grin over at her. “Ah, don’t be jealous. Her shop’s two doors down from mine.”

  Savannah looks away. I like her jealous, which is why I brought Myra to the rehearsal dinner. It was a shitty move on my part, but I have to do what I have to do. So does she, I suppose.

  “Why would Sav be jealous?” Denver asks. I swear he’s blind. “Not to mention isn’t Faith a friend of your mom’s?”

  I hold up my finger when Faith picks up. “Hey Faith, it’s Liam. I’m at the Bailey wedding and the flowers aren’t up yet.”

  She tells me she caught something and that she left a message earlier for Holly. All the flowers are in her cooler, ready to go, but she can’t get here.

  “Do you mind if I come by and get the key?”

  Savannah looks up at me with wide eyes while Faith agrees.

  “I’ll be right over. Thanks.” I tuck my phone into my tux pants. “I’m going to pick up her key and we can grab the flowers from her cooler, then the three of us can put them up.”

  “Us? She was hired to do a job,” Savannah says.

  “And she got sick. Life happens, we adjust,” I say.

  She says nothing and the three of us climb into my car, Savannah calling shotgun and taking the front seat.

  “This is bullshit,” Denver says, climbing into the back.

  “I think you’ve spoken enough the past few days. You’re pissing everyone off.” Savannah turns around and gives him a look, but it’s true though. Denver needs to get whatever is wrong with him out in the open because it’s festering and ruining his relationship with his twin brother.

  “So is Myra coming to the wedding?” Savannah crosses her legs and God help me there’s a large slit in her dress showcasing her legs. Long legs in a pair of fuck-me heels.

  “No,” I croak out because my brain is busy processing my next beat off reel.

  “Why not?”

  “I’m not sure it’s going to work out.” I turn up the volume.

  She leans forward and turns it down.

  “Sav, I love that long,” Denver whines from the backseat.

  “That’s a shame,” Savannah says.

  “Is it?” I ask her with an eyebrow raised.

  “Yes.”

  I shrug. “Okay.”

  A low growl escapes her, and I want to laugh because she’s so easy to get a rise out of. It’s ridiculous how much I get under her skin.<
br />
  Luckily, Faith lives near downtown, so we get there fast, and I run up to her door to get the key.

  We’re back in downtown Lake Starlight before we can have another uncomfortable conversation. Good thing too because I’m close to not giving a shit that her brother is in the backseat and deciding to take her anyway.

  The three of us get to the cooler, and we quickly send Denver to deliver the bouquets to the girls. Savannah calls Kingston and he takes the boutonnieres, leaving us with the decorations for the gazebo.

  “I’m not a creative person,” she admits like I haven’t cataloged almost every single thing about her over the years.

  “I know.”

  “Thanks,” she deadpans.

  “We all have our good attributes. I knew creativity wasn’t your thing when I ran into you at Lucky’s that night you tried a wine and painting class.”

  “Again, thank you.” She struggles with the giant white buckets that hold the flowers to be arranged along the posts.

  “I couldn’t do a spreadsheet,” I admit, trying to make her feel better.

  “You’re not creative, are you?” she asks, staring up at the gazebo with trepidation.

  I’m insulted, but of course she only sees me as some dirtbag tattoo artist. “I don’t know. How’s the blackbird tattoo on your hip bone?”

  “I know you can draw, but this is flower arrangement.”

  “Technically we’re just installing them.”

  “Why are you so frustrating?” Another growl runs up her throat. “You’re so trying.”

  “I could say the same.” I always keep my voice even-keeled when with Savannah because it aggravates her even more. I don’t always want to piss her off, but she’s the one playing the games right now.

  “Let’s just do this.” She takes one of the arrangements out and we decide together that we’ll put one on every other post. Then she takes the loose petals and scatters them up the stairs.

  We head back to Faith’s and get the stakes that hold the candles and flowers at the end of each row of chairs. I abide by her wishes and remain quiet the whole time. No need for us to talk about anything.

  “Do you miss your parents?” she asks out of the blue.

  I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised she’s asking. Parents have been a topic of conversation a lot this week in town. The first Bailey wedding and the parents’ chairs will be empty. There’s a memorial area set up and flowers will sit in the seats that would’ve been for Mr. and Mrs. Bailey if they’d been alive to witness their firstborn marry the woman he loves.

  “Yeah. I go down and visit once a year,” I say.

  “They rarely come back,” she says, working the flowers along the poles at the end of the chair rows.

  I turn to see that she just laid the flowers down on her parents’ chairs, which I’m guessing is what spurred this conversation.

  “Traveling isn’t their thing.” I shrug.

  “You stayed all these years after they left.”

  “Is there a question in there?” I delay answering because there are reasons I stayed but none that she’d care to hear.

  “Why?”

  I meet her gaze for a moment then get back to work arranging the flowers in my hands. “This is my life. This is where I grew up. I wanted to build my business and my life here. My friends are here. I love Lake Starlight.”

  She’s silent for so long that I finally look over at her to find a stunned expression on her face.

  “What?” I ask.

  “You’ve never spoken that many sentences to me before without there being animosity.”

  I chuckle. “Well, I guess there’s a first for everything.”

  “Yeah, I suppose.”

  More silence commences in the gazebo, the only noise coming from the cars slowly driving past.

  “Do you miss them?” I ask.

  I hear her deep inhale and I kind of wish I could have kept my need-to-know-where-her-heads-at to myself.

  She sits down on a chair. “Days like today are hard. They’ve missed so many milestones.” She takes her finger and blots her eye. “Damn, I’m going to ruin my makeup.”

  I take the seat next to her and grab the handkerchief out of the inside pocket of my jacket and hand it to her.

  “You carry these?” she asks, taking it from my hand.

  “I figured one of you Baileys would need it today. My money was on Rome though.”

  She smiles and nods. “Thanks.”

  “Sure thing.”

  “I’m just stressed,” she says. “I’m always so stressed,” she says a little quieter.

  “I could help you with that.” I smile and she shakes her head, but there’s a smile there too.

  “I know we don’t always see eye to eye but if you ever need me or—”

  “Finally, you two. We’ve been waiting for you guys,” Sedona interrupts from behind. “Oh, it looks beautiful! You guys make a great team.”

  I stand and offer my hand to Savannah. She hands me back my handkerchief and stands on her own. “Thanks,” she mumbles and walks with her sister to Rome’s apartment where all the girls are getting ready.

  I head to Terra and Mare where all the guys are.

  My eyes stay trained on her and she glances over her shoulder at me.

  That woman’s mind is a labyrinth I’ll never figure out.

  Chapter Twelve

  Austin

  * * *

  I’m in Rome’s office reading over my vows when the door opens.

  “Just give me like two minutes,” I say.

  “Are you sure?” Holly’s voice has me turning around. “Not yet!” I stop moving before I’m all the way turned around.

  The door shuts and the air in the room changes with her in it.

  “You don’t have to do this. I made peace with it,” I say.

  “Austin, turn around.”

  “Really babe, I’m good. Promise.”

  “Turn around.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “You’re ruining the moment.” She huffs.

  I circle around and take her in. Her hair is pulled back with a veil pinned to the bottom. The white beaded top of her dress highlights her curves showing just a hint of cleavage and the layers of cascading white fabric from the waist down suit her perfectly. She is a vision in white and literally takes my breath away.

  “Well?” she asks when I don’t say anything.

  “You’re stunning. So beautiful. Why are you marrying me?”

  She laughs and steps forward. “You look very handsome.” Her fingers run down my lapels.

  “I look like a schmuck compared to you.”

  “Thank you, but I disagree.”

  My eyes can’t stop soaking in every inch of her. My bride. My soon-to-be-wife. “I can’t believe you want to marry me.”

  “Since the first night at Lucky’s.”

  “You knew then?” I ask.

  Her arms loop around my neck. “I haven’t put my lipstick on yet.”

  “Is that an invitation?”

  She smiles up at me. “You don’t need an invitation, Austin. I’m yours.”

  “I love it when you say that.” I press my lips to hers. This could get carried away quickly if we’re not careful.

  After our kiss ends, she pulls back slightly. “I snuck out, so I better get back before they think I’m a runaway bride.”

  I laugh, placing both hands on her cheeks, kissing her one more time. “I’m the luckiest man in the world.”

  “Well, I’m not going to argue, but I’m pretty lucky too.” She turns out of my hold and goes to the door. “Wait for me at the altar?”

  “With bated breath.”

  She smiles and slips out, shutting the door behind her.

  Ten minutes later, I’m standing on the top platform of the gazebo. My groomsmen are lined up down each step and wrapping around the side. My heart beats out of my chest and my palms are sweaty.

  After I proposed, we contemplat
ed eloping and sometimes I think we should have. Who needs all this planning and the big bill that comes with a wedding like this? But I also wanted to declare my commitment to her publicly. I wanted everyone to know she’s mine. Add on the responsibility the Baileys have to this town and it felt necessary to do this here in Lake Starlight. Luckily, Holly agreed.

  Now that I look out at all the faces in the audience. I know it was the right decision. I glance at the two chairs occupied only with flower arrangements to signify my parents’ love. My Uncle Brian and Grandma Dori sit beside the empty chairs waiting for Karen, Holly’s mother.

  The music starts and I hold my breath as all my sisters walk down the aisle on their own. Then Calista comes with Harley holding Dion in her arms. Calista places one petal down and stops, places another petal down and stops. If we continue at this rate, we’ll be here all night. Harley bends down and whispers in her ear, trying to get her hand in the basket but Calista scowls and shifts it away from her mother.

  I hear Rome laugh. “That’s my girl. You do you.”

  Harley shoots me an ‘I’m sorry’ expression, but I shake my head. My niece can do whatever she wants.

  A lifetime later, and after another repeat of the song thanks to the Lake Starlight high school orchestra, the petals are all in place.

  Then Frannie walks down the aisle with Myles and Daisy on their leashes. Myles is in a bow tie and Daisy’s in a dress she’ll probably never keep on. She puts them in the pen we set up so no one would have to hold them the entire time.

  The music shifts and Jack elbows me. There stands my beautiful bride at the end of the aisle on her mom’s arm. Our eyes catch and she walks forward looking at me the entire way.

  My anxiety about today and all the people fades the closer she gets to me.

  I kiss Karen on the cheek, and she lifts Holly’s veil.

  “You’re beautiful,” I whisper to her.

  “Thank you. You ready to make this official?”