by Holly Kerr
“Everything’ll be fine,” Flora repeats, and the bubble breaks.
Weddings shouldn’t be fine. But this is Flora, and Flora makes everything all right. She’s fun and positive, cheerful and funny. There must be more to Thomas that I can see because how could Flora love someone who’s so wrong for her?
And so I follow her out the door of the hotel room and into the elevator, keeping up a stream of inane chatter to mask my hesitation. We catch Ruthie at the front desk, flowerless, her long braids sliding flirtatiously through her fingers as she smiles at the assistant manager behind the desk. We find a taxi outside to take us the few blocks to the chapel off the Strip.
Everything will be fine, but it isn’t how it should be. This can’t be her happily ever after.
As we pull up the little chapel, I smooth my hair as well as my emotions spinning like a tumble dryer.
“We doing this?” Ruthie calls from the front seat.
“Why shouldn’t we?” Flora asks in return.
So many reasons! But I smile and open the door, reaching out a hand to help Flora steady herself in the heels. She takes a deep breath as she glances at the tiny chapel.
“It looks nice,” I assure her. “No Elvis, just like you requested.”
Flora grips my fingers with an icy-cold hand. “Thanks, M.K. For everything.”
“I haven’t done much of anything. You planned this whole thing.”
“But knowing you’ve got my back made it easier.”
“I’ve always got your back.”
She squeezes my hand. “This’ll happen for you, too, you know.”
I really hope not. “I know you don’t want to be late for your wedding, so let’s get in there.” I give her a tight smile and lead her inside. Ruthie brings up the rear.
The lobby of the chapel smells of cheap beer, bad perfume, and fear. It’s not appealing, and neither are most of those unfortunate souls waiting to be married. I avert my gaze from the leering smile of a balding man wearing a cliché of a cheap tuxedo—powder blue and ruffled with the cummerbund almost disappearing under his stomach.
I peek back for another look. “How you doin’?” he says, catching my eye and sounding like an obnoxious Joey Tribiani.
Flora turns to him just as Ruthie opens her mouth to respond, so I give Ruthie a shove so she won’t cause a scene. “Let’s see if Thomas dropped off flowers for you.”
“I wonder what they are.” Flora is giddy at the thought, as excited as some women are with jewelry or a new bag. Flora loves her flowers. “A bouquet of tulips would be simple or even roses, even though roses are kind of unoriginal.”
“We’re talking about Thomas here, not you, Fleur, the flower queen. I still think that’s what you should have named your store.” Ruthie grins down at her aunt.
Flora’s family dynamics are complicated.
“M.K., where are they supposed to be?” Flora asks, her gaze searching for someone holding her perfect bouquet. The chapel lady hurries over, hands fluttering as she instructs us on our positions and timing. Flora keeps looking and asking.
There are no flowers waiting for her.
In the flurry of confusion of Flora insisting there must be flowers, and the Chapel Lady trying to convince her she doesn’t need them, my heart sinks for my friend. This is not her perfect day; this can’t be her happily ever after.
Ruthie mutters under her breath, most likely voodoo curses against Thomas.
I give her a sharp elbow to stop. “He forgot them,” I say to Flora, the tension making my voice snap. “Or else he didn’t think you needed them.”
“He forgot,” Flora echoes, gazing into the dimly lit chapel where Thomas is already standing at the end of the aisle.
“I’m sure he’ll make it up to you.”
“Can he, though?”
“Flora, I know it’s important to you, but flowers—” At the sight of her stricken face, I trail off with a humourless chuckle. “—are really important to you. He should have remembered.”
She nods.
“Here.” A quick grab pulls off a leaf of a nearby plant. I’m sure Flora knows what the Latin name is, but all I know is that it’s green and alive and might help her get through this. As she looks at it, I know I should be trying to get her out of this instead.
I didn’t need to do anything since Flora handles that herself.
Get your copy of
Beautifully Baked
And get ready for Ruthie’s story
Pleasantly Popped
OTHER BOOKS BY HOLLY KERR
Charlotte Dodd series
The Secret Life of Charlotte Dodd
The Missing Files of Charlotte Dodd
The Best Worst First Date Ever
The Hidden Past of Pippa McGovern
The Last Stand of Charlotte Dodd
Sisters in a Small Town
Coming Home
Hanging On
Stepping Up (Coming Soon!)
Love and Alliteration
Perfectly Played
Beautifully Baked
Pleasantly Popped
Oceanic Dreams
I Saw Him Standing There
Unexpecting
Unexpectingly Happily Ever After
Absinthe Doesn’t Make the Heart Grow Fonder
Kid Lit
The Dragon Under the Mountain
The Dragon Under the Dome
The Dragon of the North (2020)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Holly Kerr loves watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer, old episodes of Alias and calls herself the mother of dragons because of her son’s pet bearded dragon. Deep down, she’d like to be a superhero or even a secret agent like Charlotte Dodd.
Visit her at www.hollykerr.ca or Facebook
Sign up for her newsletter for all the latest info