by Sarra Cannon
“I imagine most girls do,” I say. “Right?”
“Did you ever see Jo swooning over pictures of wedding dresses as a child?” she asks, standing.
“Point made,” I say. “But a lot of girls dream about stuff like this. I think it’s cute.”
She walks over to her old dresser and stares into the small mirror on top of it. There are tears in her eyes.
I set the scrapbook on the bed and walk over to her, putting my arms around her waist.
“Don’t let them get to you,” I say. “It doesn’t matter what they think. All that matters is us.”
She blinks back tears and leans against me. “Never in any of those daydreams did my mother tell me she thought I was making a huge mistake and try to talk me out of it,” she says. “Nothing I do is ever good enough for her. I don’t know what I’ve done wrong.”
“Oh, Leigh, you can’t blame yourself for the way she acts,” I say, my heart breaking at the fact that she’s taking this so personally. “Besides, it’s not you. It’s me she doesn’t like. She doesn’t think I’m good enough for you. That’s not really a surprise.”
She sighs and pulls away. “I thought that after all this time of us dating and everything we’ve been through, she’d have gotten over that by now,” she says. “Isn’t it enough to know that I’m happy? I don’t understand why she can never just be happy for me.”
“Don’t let this ruin your night,” I say. “I’m not going anywhere, no matter what she thinks of us getting engaged. Isn’t that what really matters? That we have each other?”
She nods and swipes at a stray tear under her eye. “Of course that’s what really matters, but I don’t know. I just thought she’d be happy for me and be excited about the wedding,” she says. “She didn’t react at all like I hoped she would, and now I feel like she’s going to make this whole thing a struggle and a fight. Like I’m going to have to justify my choices every step of the way. That’s not what I want.”
“Believe me, that’s not what I want either,” I say. I pull her close to me and smile. “We could always just fly to Vegas and elope.”
“That’s a tempting thought,” she says, finally laughing and putting her arms around me. “Of course, I’m sure that would break her heart. She may not be happy now, but I’m her only daughter. She’s going to want to be a part of the wedding. I guess I just need to give her some time to get used to the idea. I think we must have really thrown her for a loop tonight.”
I kiss the top of Leigh Anne’s head. I love her so much, but I don’t understand why she always lets her mother rule her emotions the way she does. Why does she even care so much about what her mother wants? If the woman can’t be happy for us, then why does she deserve to be a part of the wedding?
But I keep my mouth shut, because I know that relationships are complicated. And I know that even though Leigh Anne’s mom drives her crazy, she loves her mother and wants her to be a part of this.
“I’m sure you’re right,” I say instead. “She’ll come around. Especially once you guys get into all the fun plans and the shopping. No woman can resist that.”
Leigh Anne laughs and leans back. “You always know the right thing to say, don’t you?”
“I just want you to be happy,” I say. “That’s really all that matters to me.”
“I am happy,” she says. “I’m just disappointed, I guess.”
“Come on, let’s get out of here,” I say. “We’ll grab a bottle of wine on the way home and sit out by the water and you can talk all night about the wedding of your dreams.”
She smiles. “That sounds lovely,” she says. She grabs my hand and leads me out of the room.
But before she turns off the light, I pull away and jog back to the bed to get her scrapbook.
“Why are you taking that?” she asks.
“Because I want to see what a young Leigh Anne Davis used to daydream about,” I say.
We say goodnight to her parents as quickly as we can and head back to our quiet house by the lake, where we stay up most of the night sharing stories about our childhood and the new dreams we now have for our future together.
Chapter Thirteen
“You’re here!” Jenna screams as we walk into the small shop she’s set up for herself just a block away from the beach. She runs up and throws her arms around me. “I’ve already picked up about six different wedding magazines, and I can’t wait to look through them.”
“I never pegged you for the type who would be this excited about bridal magazines,” I say with a laugh.
“These are honestly the first ones I’ve ever even looked through in my whole life, but this is not just any wedding we’re talking about,” she says. “This is you and Knox. How could I not be excited to help you plan? What did you bring?”
Penny sets a large pink bin down on the shop counter. “I brought some of the vendor samples and look books that we use when we’re planning the big charity events,” she says. “I had everything out already since we just started planning the annual Christmas charity ball for Rachel’s Kids.”
“Is Bailey helping you out with that this year?” I ask.
“She’s been amazing,” Penny says. “She’s even created a custom sculpture for us to auction off.”
“I heard she’s been invited to display her artwork in a gallery in Atlanta,” Jenna says. “Is that true?”
“Yes, she’s completely over the moon about it, too,” Penny says. “Her boyfriend, Judd, will graduate from med school this spring, and the two of them are talking about moving to Atlanta. He’s already been offered a huge research and teaching opportunity at Emory University Hospital, and now she’s got this gallery showing coming up.”
I smile. “I’m really happy for her.”
There was a time not that long ago when I wouldn’t have been able to say that about Bailey. She was one of my closest friends growing up, but our senior year in high school, she started sleeping with my boyfriend Preston behind my back. I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to forgive her, but the truth is that, in the end, everything worked out exactly for the best.
I’m glad she’s happy, and I hope she and Judd have a wonderful future together.
“Anyway, I thought some of these binders might come in handy since all of these vendors are local,” Penny says. “In fact, if I pull a few strings, I should be able to get some good discounts for you.”
“You guys are just incredible,” I say. “I appreciate this so much, especially after last night.”
“The dinner with your parents?” Jenna asks. She grabs a few bottles of cold water out of a small cooler she has hidden behind her work bench and sets them on the counter. “What happened?”
“I’m not even sure I know what happened,” I say. “I mean, I know that Mom and Dad haven’t exactly been Knox’s biggest cheerleaders—”
“Understatement,” Penny mutters.
“—But after everything we’ve been through, I expected them to at least be excited about the wedding itself. I expected them to at least pretend they were happy for me.”
“What did they say?” Penny asks.
“At first, they just sat there like they were in shock. Then Mom started in questioning whether we were rushing into this and shouldn’t we give it more time before we made such a huge decision,” I say. “And the thing that drives me crazy about it is that she started talking about how she thinks I should be well settled into a career before I rush into marriage, but back when I was dating Preston, she was constantly pushing me to think about engagement before I even went off to college.”
I place a hand on Jenna’s.
“Sorry,” I say, hoping that me mentioning the fact that I used to be pretty serious with her current boyfriend won’t make her uncomfortable.
She makes a face and shrugs. “No apology necessary,” she says. “I’m sure Preston would have been happy to propose to you if you’d stayed here in Fairhope back then, but now we all know that would never have been the
right thing for either one of you.”
“Exactly,” I say. “But for her, it’s never been about what’s truly best for me. It’s all about what looks best for the appearance of the family. Once she gets an idea into her head about how she wants things to turn out, it’s impossible to change her mind.”
Jenna moves the magazines to a large work table near the back of the shop and digs into a box. She pulls out three sets of scissors. “Well, we all knew your mother would need some time to get used to the idea, but hopefully she’ll come around and realize that you guys are together and you’re getting married with or without her blessing,” she says. “I mean, what choice does she have?”
“Don’t be sad,” Penny says, hugging me. “I’m sure once the planning gets underway, she’ll be happy to be a part of it all. Look at my mom. Mason was the last person in the world she wanted me to be with, but she came around and now she couldn’t love him more.”
“I hope you’re right,” I say.
I take a deep breath and let it out, pushing out all my disappointment from last night’s dinner so that I can focus on the fun we are going to have today.
“Come on, let’s get all this stuff set up so we can start daydreaming about how gorgeous your wedding is going to be,” Jenna says.
Penny brings the pink bin over to the table and starts taking out huge binders of local flower vendors, caterers, venues, bands, and everything we might need to plan the wedding of the century.
I laugh as I flip through the first of the binders. “Penny, this is a little bit insane,” I say. “Knox and I want a beautiful wedding, but we honestly just want to keep it simple.”
She smiles. “You can’t blame me,” she says. “While I wouldn’t dare change a thing about my wedding, there’s still a little girl inside of me who had always dreamed of a huge wedding with all the bells and whistles.”
“Fitting for a billionaire’s daughter,” Jenna says.
Penny turns and points a finger towards her. “You be careful, missy,” she says. “There’s still one wedding coming up someday for my family, and my mother never got the giant glitzy wedding she’d always dreamed of.”
“Is that some kind of a threat?” Jenna asks, playfully putting her hands on her hips.
Penny shrugs. “I’m just saying that if you don’t let me indulge my wedding fantasies today, I have a marked investment in the wedding of a certain person in this room who might someday want to marry my twin brother.”
Jenna blushes, and I put my hand on Penny’s shoulders.
“Don’t worry,” I say. “We can all indulge our wedding dreams during the planning phase. I’m willing to consider every option. Leave no stone unturned. There could be something fabulous in these binders that I never considered.”
“Thank you,” Penny says. She eyes the large tote bag I still have slung over my shoulder. “Hey, what did you bring?”
I set the bag on the table. “I brought a couple binders and a few wedding magazines of my own that I may or may not have had for a while.”
I take a few tattered magazines from my bag, and Jenna laughs as she grabs one.
“This looks ancient,” she says. She turns it over and squints at the cover. “Summer 2005? You bought this back in high school?”
“Leigh Anne is a daydreamer,” Penny says. “Always has been about certain things. Let’s see what you’ve dog eared in these. That will give us a place to start, although I have to tell you, I think wedding fashion has probably changed some in the past ten years or so.”
“I know,” I say as we all settle into our chairs around the table and start passing magazines back and forth. “But there are a few ideas in here that I think are timeless.”
I take the oldest of the magazines I brought and turn to a well-worn page that I must have looked at a million times when I was younger. It’s a picture of an outdoor wedding on the beach with white chairs set up in rows in the sand and a large archway near the water covered in flowers.
“I’ve always loved the idea of an outdoor wedding, and look at this archway,” I say, turning the magazine around so that they can both see the picture. “All those flowers? I just have to have this.”
“So, you’re thinking a beach wedding?” Penny asked, turning to sort through her large bin. She comes up with a large binder with the word BEACH written across the side.
I smile and shake my head. “No, but what about a wedding out by the lake?”
I hold my breath, waiting to hear what they think. I know it’s a bit more private and country than a lot of weddings, but I want them to like it.
“Out at Knox’s house?” Jenna asks.
I nod.
“I love it,” Penny says, her eyes gleaming. “We could do dark wooden chairs instead of white, and a large arch filled with flowers down by the dock. There’s plenty of room between the house and the lake, so we could probably rent a large tent for the reception.”
I breathe a sigh of relief. I can already tell Penny sees my vision clearly. “That’s exactly what I was thinking,” I say. “I’m thinking closest friends and family only. Maybe fifty people total?”
“What time of year would be best, do you think?” Penny asks. “Because that’s going to change the types of flowers that will be easy to get hold of.”
“Knox and I were thinking spring,” I say. “When the leaves are filling out and the weather is nice, but not so hot everyone’s going to be sweating and uncomfortable.”
“Late April, then?” she asks. “Or early May? Get out your binder. We’re getting somewhere.”
I take out my binder and can’t stop smiling as I start writing down ideas. For the rest of the afternoon, we make our way through magazines and binders and start making notes about the options that might be best for an outdoor spring wedding.
My mother may not have been able to share in my excitement, but today, surrounded by my closest friends, last night’s disappointment gives way to joy once again.
Chapter Fourteen
“Do you need some help with those?” I ask as Leigh Anne struggles with a stack of binders she’s carrying in from her car. I can’t help but laugh at the silly grin on her face.
“I’ve got it,” she says. “Secret wedding stuff.”
“Sounds like fun.” I kiss her cheek as she comes into the house and sets everything down on the counter. “You feeling better today?”
“Much,” she says. “There’s so much to plan to get everything ready by spring, but it’s going to be fun. What do you think of a wedding in early May?”
“Not soon enough,” I say.
She laughs and slaps my shoulder. “Well, in wedding terms, it’s very fast,” she says.
“As long as I get to spend the rest of my life with you, we could get married tomorrow and I’d be happy,” I say. I glance in the fridge. “What do you want to do for dinner?”
“Something easy,” she says. “Pizza?”
I grab a frozen one from the freezer. “Done,” I say.
She clears the counter and starts chopping veggies for a salad while I slide the pizza into the oven. I open a couple beers and hand one to her.
“Thanks,” she says, but then she makes a face.
“What?” I ask.
“There’s something else.”
“Okay,” I say. “What’s going on?”
“My mom called when I was on my way home,” she says.
Dread fills my stomach. She’s taking her sweet time saying whatever it is she wants to say, so I know it can’t be good. “What did she have to say?” I ask. “An apology about last night.”
“Sort of,” she says. “She tried to talk me into waiting until next fall to get married, to which I said no, of course. But she also said Dad would like to spend some more time getting to know you.”
“Uh oh,” I say, not liking where this is going. “What exactly does that mean?”
“He wants to take you golfing,” she says, making another face.
I shake m
y head. “No way, not my thing,” I say. I have always hated golf, because it reminds me of my father. He used to make a lot of his business deals on the golf course. It’s not a sport I’m ever interested in being a part of because of him.
“Please,” Leigh Anne says. “I know how much you hate it, but it’s sort of like an olive branch being extended. If my dad wants to take you golfing, it means he’s willing to accept you into the family. It’s a good thing.”
“I can’t stand golf,” I say. “Can’t he just meet me for coffee or something? A drink up at the restaurant?”
“Next time you guys can do whatever you want,” she says, slipping her arms around me. “But just this once, I’m begging you. Please meet him for one round of golf. It’ll be a bonding experience.”
“If you say so,” I mutter. I don’t want to do it, but how can I resist her? After last night’s disappointing dinner, I will do anything to try to help get her parents on board with this wedding. It will make life easier on all of us. “What time?”
Leigh Anne hugs me tighter. “Thank you,” she says.
And that’s how I end up standing on the golf course a week later with my future father-in-law.
I had no idea you had to wear special shoes on a golf course, so I’m wearing a pair of rented ones from the clubhouse, and I feel like an idiot. Not that her father is doing anything to make me feel more comfortable.
In fact, he’s done nothing but criticize me since we got out here.
I was willing to come out here to try to mend fences and make things smooth for all of us, but it became obvious about ten minutes into this charade that her father has no intentions of welcoming me to the family. He got me out here to try to talk me out of marrying his daughter.
I take a deep breath and do my best to tame my tongue. I don’t want to add to the tension surrounding the wedding, but I’ve about had it with this man and his judgmental attitude.
“Knox, you know that Leigh Anne’s mother and I are grateful to you for all you’ve done to help our little girl through this past year or two of hard times,” he says as we drive toward the next hole on the course. “It’s meant the world to us that she had a friend like you to see her through this and stand by her side.”