"It's bad luck for him to see you on the wedding day!" Annalisa was whispering, but it wasn't too quiet, and she was talking very loudly with her hands.
"It's bad luck to piss the groom off by stealing his woman from him so early in the morning, Annalisa." Sean's groggy voice held no humor as he kissed my neck. "Morning, love."
I laughed quietly. "It is bad luck, you know."
"So blindfold me. No one said anything about it being bad luck to be in my presence. Blindfold me."
I smiled as he went back to kissing my neck. Before I even noticed what was going on, Stewie started laughing loudly in the doorway, and Annalisa was on the other side of the bed with Sean's tie. I joined Stewie's loud laughter.
"What the—" Sean moved away from me, but kept his arm across my stomach.
"Hold still." Annalisa scolded. "This was your idea."
"I wasn't serious, Annalisa."
"Well I was. Now stop whining and let me tie this." When she had it tied to her satisfaction, she stepped away. "Okay. I'll give you ten minutes before I come back and take her away from you. No funny business." Stewie was still laughing and shaking his head as she grabbed him and pulled him out of our room, closing the door behind them.
"When did she become the dictator around here?" Sean grumbled and put his hand to the blindfold.
"Hey now, she'll know if you take it off. She's got special powers."
"Special powers, huh. So do I. Even with a blindfold." His hands lifted the hem of my nightgown, and his lips met the sensitive skin on my lower abdomen.
"Eight and a half minutes!" Annalisa shouted. "And keep your hands off her, Sean. I mean it."
"She means it, Sean!" Stewie yelled through laughter.
"I told you," I whispered, pulling him up so I could wrap my arms around him.
He groaned loudly in my ear. "She's damn lucky you love her so much, or I'd throw her off the balcony."
The eight minutes went by too quickly, and I found myself a little frantic when I knew I'd be away from him the rest of the day. I was clinging to him when Annalisa shouted "Two minutes!"
"Will you come see me today? Please?" Even I could hear the panicked edge in my voice.
He didn't even hesitate. "How often do you want me to come by?"
I relaxed. "Every five minutes."
"Hmmm. I think you might have to rethink that with the wedding Nazi out there." I groaned, and he kissed my lips gently. "Why don't you text me when you need me? I'll put on my stupid blindfold to make her happy and come up and be with you for a few minutes. We'll be out on snowmobiles being idiots like we are, but I won't be more than ten minutes away."
"I don't want to interrupt—"
"Stop. You already know where you land on my list of priorities, and I am completely aware of how tough this might get for you. I want to be here for you. Don't deny me that."
I loved him so much. The way he made it okay to need him was just another example of how amazing he was. "Okay. I'll text you."
"Good."
"Time's up!" Annalisa threw the door open, and Stewie came over to Sean's side of the bed and grabbed his arm to lead him out. Annalisa put her hand out to me and pulled me out of bed. "Shower, shave, wash hair, hurry, hurry, lots to do."
"Wait." I smiled. "Go tell Sean to be sure he texts the right number this time."
Annalisa rolled her eyes, but jogged out of the room.
When she came back, she was shaking her head and laughing. "He said to tell you…" She cleared her throat and lowered her voice. "Baby, I got all your numbers." Then she gave me the most audacious wink that made me double-over with laughter.
After a nice hot shower, I found a white robe hanging on the back of the door. As I ran my hand across it, I smiled at how incredibly soft it was but found myself grinning even more when I saw what was embroidered on the back. A swirly design in soft blue held the name "Mrs. Wilder." On the floor, I found white flip-flops with "Bride" in rhinestones. My stomach fluttered nervously. I'm getting married today.
"Isn't she freaking done yet? We've got work to do!" I recognized the bellowing and opened the door to find Cerise looking impatient. "Finally. Here, put this on." She shoved a pink bag in my direction.
I turned around and went back into the bathroom, finding a lacy strapless bra in the bag.
"Are you done yet?" she yelled impatiently.
I came back out of the bathroom and glared at her, but she just grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the bedroom door. Yanking my arm free, I stopped walking. "You think I could put some underwear on first, Cerise?"
"Ugh!" She shook her hands at the sky. "If you must—top drawer over there." She pointed and tapped her foot.
This was crazy. Between her and Annalisa, I was going to be pissed off in a matter of minutes. I tried to remind myself that they were doing this for me, but I didn't want to be shoved around all day. I walked slowly out to the sitting room where they were both in white robes with "Maid of Honor" on the back. I smiled at that. They knew me well enough to know I'd never choose just one of them.
"Okay, let's go!" Cerise walked toward the door.
"Stop!" I shouted, and they both looked at me. Mel came in from the balcony with a white robe on as well—I didn't even know she was in the room. "I need you both to chill. You're making me crazy."
"I told you," Mel said to them. "Sean took care of it."
"Took care of what?" I asked as Cerise and Annalisa stared at the floor.
"They think you'll break down. They thought if they kept you busy and rushing, you wouldn't stop and think about—you know. I talked to my brother while you were in the shower, and he said you'd be fine. He said he would be in charge of any breakdowns. They didn't believe him."
I smiled. Sean had made things better, but I understood what Annalisa and Cerise were trying to do. If it had been any other guy I was marrying, I'd be really thankful for their thoughtfulness. But Sean had already helped me through this enough to be a normal human being instead of a traumatized basket-case because of what Brent did. And if I needed him—I ran back into the bedroom and grabbed my cell phone from beside the bed. If I needed him, he would come reassure me again.
I walked over to Annalisa and Cerise and grabbed their hands. "I love you guys. You're the best sisters in the world. But I'm okay. I might have some freak-outs today, but I'll be okay. I want to marry Sean, and he wants to marry me. I just have to keep reminding myself of that. And if my own reminders don't work, I have a personal reminder who's willing to stop by." I held up my cell phone.
"He cannot see you before you walk down the aisle, Morgan." Annalisa was so cute with traditions.
"I know. He said he'll blindfold himself again." She didn't look pleased with the idea, but she nodded her consent, and I let my shoulders relax completely. "So can we slow down a bit?"
Cerise moved away from the door and fell onto the couch. I just noticed how exhausted she looked. When I stared at her a moment, she smiled, put her hand to her face, and turned away from me.
I burst out laughing. "You didn't?" I shouted. She hid her face in a pillow.
"What?" Mel asked, staring between us.
I sat down on the couch next to Cerise and looked up at Annalisa. "Do you know about all this?" Annalisa shrugged and smiled. That was a yes. I poked Cerise in the ribs. "Spill." She shook her head, and I poked again. "You know I'm a stubborn bitch when I want info, so spill."
She smiled wide. "Anthony's your bodyguard now."
"I saw that. What's going on?"
"Oh!" Mel smiled. "This is about Nathan stepping down." She sat in one of the armchairs and put her feet up on the coffee table.
"Stepping down?" I turned to Cerise who finally pulled her face out of the pillow.
"I told him I couldn't handle seeing him on and off," she explained. "You know me; I'm so not a long distance kind of girl. I thought that was the end of it. Yesterday, he gave me a Christmas card that said—well it said a lot of things." She grinned and drag
ged her bottom lip through her teeth. "But he said Sean had been talking about you and said something to him that made too much sense. He said he refused to walk away from even the smallest possibility of you." That sounded like my Sean. "He stepped down as your main bodyguard—he'll still be here when you come to Vermont and Sean wants him to stay at the house to watch over things there, but he's staying here—to be with me."
"Oh my God, Cerise! Why didn't you tell me any of this?"
She giggled. "There wasn't time. It just happened yesterday, and last night, and this morning."
"Cerise!" I squealed. No wonder she had circles under her eyes.
"Nathan's always been shy around girls," Mel announced. "I can only think of two actual relationships he's ever been in, and they were pretty short. But I always knew when he found someone worthwhile, he'd do whatever he had to in order to be with her. I'm glad it's you, Cerise."
We spent another hour relaxing and talking. Mel fit into our circle really well, which made me happy. She kept us entertained with embarrassing stories about all our guys. A wide spread of breakfast dishes was brought in and set up in the dining room. I started to pick at a few things, but a very quirky woman named Chavondra came in to dry my hair and discuss how I wanted it done. Something about having someone style my hair triggered memories of not only Brent, but the premiere. At least Chavondra didn't attempt to draw me into conversation or try to pull information out of me. She left the talking to my friends. Still, my stomach was in knots, and I couldn't think about food.
After getting a few ideas of what I liked and didn't like with my hair, Chavondra suggested I select a dress before I made a final decision. I'd completely forgotten about my dress. I was thinking Sean or Cerise had selected one for me when all the girls started smiling and pulled me out of the room, down the hallway, and into another, smaller room.
I could have caught flies with my mouth hanging open the way it did. I counted eight completely stunning wedding gowns hanging on metal racks around the room. I turned wide eyes to Cerise.
"Your fiancé loves you very much," she explained a little tearfully. I hugged her, and she pulled me farther into the room. "Come on, let's try these on." She leaned closer to my ear and whispered, "I didn't think you'd mind, but I insisted you'd want Mel to be a bridesmaid."
"You think of everything." I hugged her again.
I tried on all the dresses, and they fit me perfectly. Cerise informed me that Sean had them all altered according the measurements they'd taken when I got the dress for the premiere. I was impressed that Sean had such good taste in dresses, but they quickly explained that while he made all the arrangements, he hadn't seen any of them. Cerise and Annalisa had picked out the top eight with Mel's helpful knowledge of exclusive designers.
I immediately ruled out two for being way too big—billowy ball gowns weren't me. Two, I eliminated and told Mel I didn't like the copious amount of rhinestones. She laughingly informed me they were genuine crystals, which made me eliminate them even faster. Head-to-toe crystals might fit in on the red carpet, but this was home and family. I wanted something more personal and less flashy, something elegant. With elegant in mind, I eliminated two more because they were too low-cut or had slits that were too high. They were pretty, just a bit too sexy. And finally, I eliminated the white gown because—well, it was white. The dress I'd worn with Brent was white.
I slipped on my choice and twirled around.
"Don't you just love it, Morgan?" Annalisa laughed.
"It's really pretty. I really like it."
"She likes it." Annalisa nodded at Cerise and laughed again.
Something was up with them. "What?" I asked looking back and forth between them.
"We have another option." Cerise looped her arm through Annalisa's.
"I can't believe they're right," Mel rolled her eyes.
"Another option?" I watched them leave the room. When they came back in, I clapped my hands together and covered my huge smile with my hand. They were carrying the perfect dress. It looked similar to the dress Princess Kate wore to her reception. It was strapless with delicate rhinestones—crystals—sewn into the waistband. The top was a soft, cream-colored lace and the skirt was a soft chiffon—I wasn't a big satin fan.
"You wouldn't shut up about her dress for weeks, Morgan," Cerise reminded me. "Did you think we would forget?"
I had forgotten myself, but I was just so excited that they had remembered. I had dreamed up the dress when I was a little girl playing Barbie gets married. When I saw it on the Princess, I was so excited. It wasn't a completely original design, of course, but it was what I'd always wanted. I slipped it on, and it was meant to be.
Before I knew what was happening, a rack of thirty pairs of shoes was being rolled in along with at least ten veils. I chose simple satin heels and a headband with crystal beading similar to my dress but no veil. Chavondra came in, and we decided to leave my hair down but pull back pieces at the top so it would stay out of my way.
Puzzle Pieces
With all of the details settled, my stomach seriously kicked in to overdrive. Lunch was brought in, but I refused to eat. I was marrying Sean in a little over three hours and couldn't keep the nervousness out of my stomach.
"If you keep chewing on that lip, you'll have a big hole in it and won't be able to kiss him when they pronounce you man and wife." I rolled my eyes at Annalisa. She was getting pushy about feeding me. It was in her voice.
I kept wondering what Sean was doing. What if he got hurt out on the snowmobiles? Stranded in the snow? They were always daring each other to do stupid things. What if something happened to him?
Cerise came up behind me and put her hands on my shoulders. "Text him," she whispered in my ear.
"I'm okay." I didn't want to be a baby about this. I could keep my hysteria to myself. I was a big girl.
"If you don't, I will."
I rolled my eyes and took out my cell phone.
Hi. What are you up to?
I shook my foot back and forth as I waited for his response.
Coming to see you, actually. Where are you?
I smiled. Really?
Yep. Are you in our room?
Yes.
Go in the bedroom and close the door.
Okay.
"He was already on his way up to see me." I grinned as I got up and went into the bedroom.
I just caught Mel's comment as I closed the door. "Imagine that."
Had she called him? I waited by the window, staring at the lake. It was so beautiful. I'd forgotten how magical the lake looked when it snowed.
"Here he is." Cerise laughed as she opened the door and pushed Sean in. His blindfold was firmly in place.
I rushed to him and wrapped my arms around him.
He touched his fingers to the blindfold. "Do you care about this superstition, sweetie?"
I laughed. "No, not at all." I helped him pull off the blindfold. He threw it on the bed and kissed me. It was much slower, sweeter than our usual kisses, but I loved the way some of our kisses started out that way and turned crazy.
Just as this kiss was turning in that direction, he pulled back. "You're in a robe with nothing on underneath; I do not have the strength for this right now, beautiful."
"I have underwear on, Sean."
"You're in a robe, with a skimpy g-string and—"
"Stop it." I laughed. "You're only torturing yourself."
He kissed my forehead and smiled down at me. "How you doing?"
"I'm fine, just a little nervous." He raised his eyebrow at me, and I shrugged. "What? I am. I'm fine."
"You haven't eaten anything all day."
I rolled my eyes and walked away from him. Damn Mel.
He put his arms around my waist and tried to untie my robe. "I plan on keeping you up all night, Morgan. You need your strength." I swatted his hands away. When he said it like that, my nervousness certainly faded a little. He turned me to face him. His smile was so mischievous. "If you
eat for me now…" He winked. "I'll eat y—"
I put my hands to his mouth. "Oh my God, Sean, stop." We were both laughing so hard.
"So you'll eat something?"
"Yes, I promise. I'll eat something. Your sister doesn't need to tattle on me anymore."
"She's just looking out for you. It's her duty."
"I know. She's a good friend."
"It makes me happy to hear you say that." He kissed my nose. "Did you find a dress you liked?"
I nodded. "Cerise and Annalisa have good memories."
"You're lucky Stewie has connections. It took some arm-pulling to get her to design it for you."
"You got—" I swallowed hard. "You—the—actual—designer—made that?" I felt lightheaded again.
He smirked. "She's a fan of mine. I didn't know what I was asking for. She laughed when I said you wanted the Princess' dress. Mel had to take over and tell her which dress and that you just wanted the basic style. The designer did the rest."
I shook my head. "I can't believe…"
He chuckled. "Nothing's too good for you, love.
"I don't deserve you."
"Yes, you do. But if you feel you need to thank me, you can start on that tonight. Unless you think that lock is enough to keep Annalisa out for a half hour."
I laughed as he attacked the belt of my robe again. "No. You know it's not."
He dropped his hands. "Fine. Then put this blindfold back on me before she comes in to drag me out of here."
I untied it and put it back on him, trying to get it as tight as Annalisa had. He turned and put his fingers on my face until he touched my lips then pressed his mouth to mine. "Text me if you need me and eat something."
"I will." With my hands on his hips, I guided him back out into the sitting room. Annalisa immediately jumped up and came over to us. I winced as she inspected the blindfold.
Accidental Texting: Finding Love despite the Spotlight Page 43