“My God, we’ve been in here over three hours,” Violet says shocked.
“I’m hungry again,” Abigail complains.
“Me too,” Jenny says.
“I guess we can grab a bite to eat, then we all need to head home and get ready. I’m missing Callie already,” Aunt Paige says, and ushers us all to the counter.
“Where is Callie?” Allie asks.
“With Brock. She’s having a sleepover with my parents, but she’s not leaving until later. I want to get home and spend some time with her before she leaves.”
“How’s she doing?” Jenny asks.
“Growing up. I can’t believe she’ll be starting kindergarten this year,” she frowns.
“Aw, honey, it’ll be okay,” Grandma assures her.
“I guess.” Aunt Paige sighs.
Aw, sweet Aunt Paige has been with her day in and day out, since they adopted her. Not sure what’s she’ll do with herself while Callie is in school.
“I promise, you’ll survive.” Grandma pulls her into a side hug, and Aunt Paige finally smiles.
We stop for lunch at an Italian restaurant across the street from the dress shop. While we’re waiting for our food, Ana tells us all how they’re going to set up for the pig roast. A large portable pit will be delivered, along with a rotisserie. The roasting could take up to ten hours, so they’ll set up early the morning of the wedding. Most of the food will be cooked prior, though. Ana reached out to Betsy Kay and arranged for hot plates to be set up to keep the food warm. She told us Betsy Kay also found a beautiful china pattern for our dinner.
“How are they going to bring all the china in and clean it? There’s silverware, and glasses,” Abigail asked.
“Are they going to use the cabin?” I ask.
“I asked the same thing. Betsy Kay said she wasn’t comfortable using the cabin, but not to worry about any of that. She assured me she’s done this a million times, and she makes sure everything runs smooth. She’s even going to have the lumpia set up for us,” Ana informs us.
“Abigail,” I call. She turns and gives me her attention. “You need to hire her for your wedding,” I recommend. China, who is sitting on the other side of her, leans over Abigail and smiles.
“I was thinking the same thing,” China confesses.
“Met too.” Abigail adds.
We exchange a smile, then give our attention back to Ana. I’m listening to all the plans when my phone goes off. Max’s face comes on the screen, so I excuse myself from the table and walk outside.
“Hi,” I murmur into phone.
“Hey Jayc,” his deep voice rumbles, causing me to shiver, as always.
“What are you guys up to?” I glance in the window and see the food still hasn’t arrived, but my stomach growls in anticipation. All Ana’s talk about food retched up my hunger level by a hundred.
“At the mall.” He groans like he’s in pain.
“What? Really?” I blurt out, surprised. Max hates the mall. I mean he’ll go for me, but what in the world is he doing there now? “How? Why?” I keep up my interrogation.
“More like who,” he says irritated.
“Who?” Now I’m really confused.
“Who? Your cousin is who.” He sighs.
“Bradley? What about him?” I reply.
“So, you know how Abigail dresses to drive Nick out of his fucking mind?”
“Yeah.” I giggle.
“We were all hanging out, and Nick was moping around because he has no damn clue how your sister is going to show up in tonight.” I keep listening, but glance back at the window and see Abigail talking to Violet. “I’m going to ask you to keep something from your sister. I’m not going to tell you, unless you promise you won’t say shit,” he whispers. Max has never asked this of me, and I know I won’t break my word to him, but I glance back at Abigail hesitate to answer.
“Um,” I mutter.
“Love, it’s nothing bad,” he explains. “Jesus, ten minutes at the mall and I’m telling secrets. I need to get the fuck out of here.” He growls, and I put my hand over my mouth to hide my laughter. “Listen, none of us want to be here and Nick tried to backpedal, but it didn’t work. And he’s still moping, but now, so is everyone else,” he complains, and now I have to know.
“Okay, I won’t say anything. What’s going on?” I wait excitedly.
“Bradley pulled us all to the mall.” He growls. “He’s making us get...” Max moans. “Something, too.”
I take in what Max just said, and then I even surprise myself when I snort laugh. But I’m not done. I bend over laughing even harder. “You’re all getting new outfits for tonight, too?” I manage to ask through my laughter
“Fuck. I do not want to be here,” he complains, but I don’t reply because I’m still laughing.
“I’m sorry, sugar.” I finally reply, but burst out laughing again. I quickly try to rein it in, when I hear him growl.
“You don’t sound sorry.” His voice is deep and annoyed, but soft. I think I hear maybe even a touch of laughter, embedded in his response.
“I’m really sorry. My best advice is to just go with whatever he says. The faster you agree to what he suggests, the faster you get out of there,” I recommend, and he sighs.
“Yeah. You’re right. Let me get this over with. So, when Abigail walks in tonight, will I need to hold Nick back,” he asks. I don’t normally tease Max, but I can’t help it when I respond to his question.
“No, sugar. Nick will need to hold you back,” I reply softly.
“Fuck.” Max’s response is not one of anger, but heat.
“Sugar bear, I have to go. I love you,” I promise.
“I love you too.”
“Forever and a day,” I reply, and Max’s voice comes back soft but strong.
“Forever and a day, love.”
“See you in a couple of hours.”
“Can’t wait,” he replies.
When I hang up I find myself staring down at my screensaver for a moment, before I whisper to the man in the picture “Because forever will never be long enough.” I then tuck my phone in my pocket and make my way back inside.
17
During our lunch, everyone at the table realizes Grandma’s having second thoughts about wearing the dress. She’s saying she’ll probably just wear some slacks or one of her church dresses, because now that she thinks about it, the dress she bought is too fancy. We all say no way, that she needs to wear the dress, so my aunts, Violet, me and Abigail, are at her house now getting ready together and supporting her.
After we all have our dresses on, even Grandma, I touch up my hair and makeup. I pull my hair back into a tight high ponytail, so that Max can get the full effect of the backless dress. I apply smoky eyes, with dark eyeliner and a ton of mascara.
Grandma stands from pulling on her heels, and walks over to me. She takes my hand and pulls it to her lips, kisses it, then smiles. The emotion in her is overflowing, and swooping all of us up in it too. I’m not sure what’s going on, but I stand enthralled with her and wait.
“Okay, so like I told Jesse when he married Allie, your Grandpa left a little something for each of you.” Her words make my heart skip a few beats. I hadn’t expected her to say something like this. “He told me when I felt the time is right to give it to you. He wanted Jesse to have his wedding band, so of course when he married, I gave him that. Now I’d like to give you yours, as it’s for the day you marry as well.” My chest heaves, and my throat feels like it’s closing on me. My mind flashes to my eye makeup, and I realize a serious disaster is about to take place on my face. Knowing Grandpa had the forethought to leave me something for this very day, startles my already shaky emotions.
She walks over to her antique bureau that sits in the corner of her room, and lifts the lid. She pulls out a small thin box, and walks back over to me. “Your grandpa and I came from a generation where our parents taught us that ladies and gentlemen always carried a handkerchief on them. My Colton always d
id. Whether he was in uniform, a suit, or jeans working in his shop, he carried one,” she shares, melancholy in her voice. I flashback to him wiping my tears, more than once, with a handkerchief he pulled from his pocket. She opens the box and inside is a neatly folded up white linen handkerchief with the initials CJM in black elegant script. “It’s tradition in their family that the father hands down a handkerchief, and the mother hand down a pin. You wrap the handle of the bride’s bouquet with the linen and secure it with the pin. Your grandpa couldn’t wait to have a daughter to share this with, but when we lost our Katherine he never mentioned it again. Maybe because it hurt him, or maybe because he thought it would hurt me. I’m not sure. We went over two decades never speaking of it.” She takes in a deep breath and sniffles and so do I. “A week after we adopted you, Grandpa came home carrying this box. Now, he knew your daddy would have something to give you on your special day too. This was just a little something extra from him.” I run my finger along the linen and my heartbeat takes off racing. “He thought he’d be here to give it to you.” Her voice just a soft breath of regret. “Before he...” she trails off. After a few moments she goes on. “He told me to tell you that when this day came, he would without a doubt be with you in spirit. This is just a little something you can actually touch of his.”
“Him,” I whisper, and the teardrops fall.
“Yes. Now hush yourself, sweetheart. This is a happy moment,” Grandma gently chastises, and I nod while wiping my tears and taking deep breath. She puts the lid back on and hands it to Violet. “Now this is from me.” She walks over and opens her jewelry box, and pulls out a brooch. She walks back over and hands it to me. My eyes widen when I see what it is.
“It’s a bluebonnet.” It’s a small single bluebonnet.
“I bought it years ago, up at Marble Falls. I’d gone to a bizarre and I saw it, and thought of you and this day as well.”
“It’s perfect. Thank you.” I sniffle, and Abigail hands me a tissue. “Thanks.” I say to her, then gaze back at Grandma with love and gratitude. “I will cherish this always.”
“I know. Let me have them, and I’ll put them back for now. Right now, you need to fix your face.” She winces, and we all laugh.
I glance in the mirror and my hands fly to my face. “Oh no, I have to start over.” I groan, and begin to wipe the mess from my face with Grandma’s makeup towel. After a quick do-over we leave for Holloway’s.
18
On the way to Holloway’s, Abigail calls Nick, and learns they’re on their way over as well. When I survey her dress, again, I smirk. It seems she elected to tone it down, but not much, of course. It’s for sure a sexy little number, but it has a touch of sweet too. The material has sheen, and fades from pink to peach to pink again, with a low scoop neck, quarter length sleeves, and it sits mid-thigh. It’s so tight, she had to forego her undies and bra, though she did wear breast petals. She’s topped it off with hot pink stilettos, that lace up her foot and tie at her ankle. Hanging from her ears, are the largest gold hoop earrings I’ve ever seen. Her hair has been brushed back tight and is in a ponytail, but unlike mine, hers sits low on her neck. Violet shocked us all, when she entered from the other room in a black spandex dress that sits quite of few inches above her knees. She’s smokin hot. Her long striking red hair, with a natural wave, rests down her back and across her shoulders. She’s paired it with large silver hoop earrings, but nothing close to the size of Abigail's, and very high leopard print heels.
“Holy shit, Mom,” Abigail blurts out.
“Child! Watch your mouth,” Violet bites back.
“Sorry, but, Ha! Dad can’t say a word to me tonight,” she declares, and points to Violet’s dress, then her own and continues to laugh. “Yours is more risqué than mine. Oooh, I can’t wait for this,” she teases.
“You better not poke that bear, Abigail,” Violet warns.
“Think you’re the one that’s going to poke that bear, Violet, and not just in that dress, but out of it too,” Aunt Savannah teases. Aunt Savannah, Violet, and Aunt Paige burst into laughter, while Grandma shakes her head with a grin. I often forget my aunts and Violet have been each other’s best friends for years, and they joke around the same as my friends and I do.
“Oh, God, Aunt Savannah, why would you say that?” Abigail complains, which gets another round of laughter.
Aunt Savannah is wearing a loose, off the shoulder, baby blue dress that fits snug, along her hips and legs with gold pumps. Aunt Paige blew us away, when she picked a long wrap-a-round number, with a slit that runs to top of her thigh. Her tan legs are perfection. When she stands still you don’t see anything, but when she walks, oh boy. The dress is gray with brown circles, that remind me of something from the seventies. She’s wearing tan, caged, lace up ankle boots with a spiked heel, gold chandelier earrings, and a thick gold bracelet on her wrist.
When we pull up to Holloway’s, we see Kore and Jake about to head inside. Jake says something to Kore and she nods, then goes on in without him. He ambles over to the car and opens Grandma’s door, then assists her as she steps out. When he sees how she’s dressed he lets out a sharp whistle, which causes her to blush.
“Hi everyone,” he greets, and we return hellos. “Would you like me to escort you in?” he asks.
“Thank you, Jake. Yes,” she replies, and takes his arm. He shuts her door and takes her purse from her.
“Save me a dance tonight, Grandma.” I hear him request, as they stroll to the entrance, him carrying her purse for her. He holds open the door for us, and I know the minute he finally notices Violet and our aunts, because his head jerks back and his eyes widen. “Wow, you’re all beautiful,” he compliments. We all smile and thank him, as we make our way into Holloway’s.
As I enter, I hear the music is already going, but the first thing I see are about a dozen tables covered with black table cloths, and sitting on top are silver ice buckets inscribed with Jaycee and Blue, and each hold a bottle of champagne. I scan the room and take in the decorations, noting how hard they’ve all worked to make this special. Along the bar, sit framed pictures of Max and I when we were children, some of us as teenagers, then young adults and finally of us together. I walk further in and see champagne glasses engraved same as the ice buckets. Two small cakes sit atop a table, with a huge array of hors d'oeuvres. I glance around, while I continue to stroll over to get a better view of the cakes. Uncle Brock, Dad and Uncle Duke are busy checking out their wives in awe, and that makes me smirk.
My brothers, Kore and Allie are standing with Patrick and Jenny. Allie has on very sexy maternity dress, showing off her tiny baby bump. Conner and Bradley are with Grandma, and I see she’s covered in a blush, so I know they’re confirming how beautiful we told her she is. When I reach the cake table, I observe one is a two tier with blue and black frosting, and a soldier, much like a GI Joe, sits atop it. The soldier is holding a guitar, and behind them is a motorcycle similar in color to Max’s. It’s Max. The other cake is white with decorative beading, lots of shiny beading around the edges. This top holds a girl in a white dress, sitting with her knees up, and she appears to be day dreaming while holding a flower–a bluebonnet. It’s me. Wow, I’m blown away by how detailed and beautiful they are. They’re incredible. I have no idea how these were made or who made them, but they’re perfect. I turn around to go in search of Max, because he should be here by now and I want to show him these cakes, but instead I run smack into a hard chest as big hands grip my waist tight.
“No one could have held me back from you,” he growls.
“Oh,” I gasp when I look up and see Max’s hungry eyes.
“My heart stopped beating the moment I saw you. Kiss me so it will start again,” he begs, and brings his lips forcefully down on mine, causing me to whimper, and I lose myself in him. His tongue invades my mouth on a mission, while one hand slides along my bare shoulders and another wraps around my lower back, which is also bare. I go up on my tiptoes and wrap my hands around hi
s neck to hold on. When Max finally breaks the kiss, my knees have gone weak, so he must hold me up. His face tucks into my neck and his hot breath whispers against my ear, “Jaycee, you are hot as fuck.” I release my hands from around his neck, and slide them down his chest, enjoying the feel of his muscles when I notice how soft the material of his shirt is. I lean back and give him a once over, that turns into a twice over. I bite my lip to keep from moaning out loud. He is hot, and I owe Bradley. His shirt is a black linen short sleeved button down and his biceps are close to ripping the sleeves apart. I lean back even further, and see he’s worn tight faded jeans with his black motorcycle boots.
“Wow, sugar bear,” I lean in and whisper. “This very well may be the shortest party in history because you, in that.” I gesture to him up and down. “Is doing things to me,” I admit.
“Is it now?” he replies, with his big smile producing his dimples.
“Umm, yes.” I respond. I think we’re both about to run out the door, when my dad stomps over to us.
“You know, I’m really happy for you,” Dad snaps. “I’m also happy for Abigail and Nick. I’m pleased as pie for all my kids. I’m also pretty fucking happy all these people are here to celebrate your upcoming nuptials. But you know what would make me even happier?” He’s saying happy, but, clearly, he is anything but, so I wait to find out what’s got him all flustered. “If my daughters would put on some goddamn clothes,” he growls, then turns and walks off, but not before I hear him mutter, “Damien’s creek, these girls of mine...” Max and I both laugh, but quickly stop when Dad whips around and glares at us. Leaving Dad to cool off, I turn back to Max.
“These are amazing,” I say, and point to the cakes. “I need to find out who got these for us and thank them,” I insist.
“You’re welcome,” he replies, and I blink up at him speechless. I glance back at the cakes then lean into him.
“Max, they’re perfect. Thank you,” I whisper. “Who made them?” I ask while sliding my hands around his waist.
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