AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Maggie, who leaned close after Eli’s hockey proposal, whispering, “I’m so happy to have you as a daughter.”
I almost burst into tears and confessed right there on the spot.
Jenny takes a sip of the wrong coffee again and makes a face. “If brides get along with their future mom-in-law, theymight invite them to come. Especially if …” Jenny trails off. She doesn’t need to mention the fact that my own mom isn’t here.
Honestly, I know the exact uncomfortable look she’d have on her face if Momwerehere. The way she’d fidget in the chair, trying to get comfortable and finally giving up to pace. Shopping never was her scene. And wedding dresses are the elite level of shopping.
The truth is: as wonderful as my mom was, planning a wedding, normal or otherwise, would have been uncomfortable with her. Awkward. Not fun. Even if she would have been happy for me—it just wouldn’t have been her thing.
But Eli’s mom, on the other hand …
I swallow. “Should I call her?”
“Do you want her to be here? We didn’t mean to make you feel pressured,” Shannon says.
I don’t even need to think about it. I’m already going for my phone.
We decide to have brunch in a cafe next door while we wait for Eli and his mom, who were close by in Asheville for an appointment. Best-salesgirl-ever Becky refused to set aside the dresses I planned to try on, yet looks put out when Shannon tells her she’s just going to have to get them out again.
“Can’t have it both ways, sister,” Shannon told her, and I fully expect every mediocre dress I semi-liked to be hidden in the back when we return. The only ones left will be full of feathers.
“Did she sound excited?” Jenny asks.
“You could say that.”
I don’t tell them how people two states away probably heard her scream.
“And you said Eli’s coming with her?” Shannon has switched from champagne to black coffee and is on her third cup. We’ve been here twenty minutes.
“Yeah.” I don’t add that Maggie has some health issues, and Eli got on the phone to tell me she’s having a hard day.
His exact words were that she’s having a flare-up, and they’re already nearby in Asheville to see her chiropractor. I’m not comfortable sharing someone else’s medical history with my best friends, even if Maggie will probably tell them herself. I was surprised she didn’t mention it at the game. But then, between watching Eli totally kill it on the ice and the proposal, we didn’t have much time for chitchat of any kind.
“Are you going to let Eli see you in the dresses?” Shannon asks.
Jenny speaks around a mouth full of muffin. “If you do, it’s bad luck for seven years.”
“I thought that was breaking a mirror,” Shannon says. “Or walking under a ladder. I think the wedding dress thing it’s just generally bad luck.”
“I didn’t know y’all were so superstitious.”
I take a sip of coffee, then decide the caffeine isn’t helping my frayed nerves and switch to water. I’ve already eaten everything on my plate. I’m a nervous eater, which now means I’m overly full from the bacon grilled cheese and sweet potato fries I basically unhinged my jaw to eat. My full stomach is going to make putting on dresses oh-so fun.
I lower my voice and grip the edge of the table, trying to anchor myself in place. Or test the tensile strength of the furniture. “It doesn’t matter anyway.”
“Why not?” Jenny asks.
“You know why.” I release the table and drop my hands, suddenly overcome with melancholy like a cloud has moved across the sun, leaving me in shadow.
“Stop that.” Shannon reaches across the table and pokes me with her fork. The tines press into my arm, and it’s not a wholly unpleasant feeling, but I say “ouch” anyway.
“You’re so violent,” I tell her, rubbing my arm.
“No, I’m just tactile.” Without even wiping the fork off, Shannon spears a bite of maple bacon potato. “But seriously. You know you’re allowed to enjoy this process. The dress shopping, the planning, all of it. Even the wedding and”—she gives me a mischievous look—“the weddingnight.”
Jenny’s eyes go wide, probably in direct proportion to how red my cheeks are. “Are you going to—like …” She stops, coughs, and then takes off her glasses, buffing them with her napkin before setting them back in place. “How real is this marriage going to be?”
“I don’t know. But not … that real.” I swallow, thinking of how my heart practically vibrated in my chest when Eli’s lips dragged over my jaw. “I don’t think. It’s not like a fake marriage with benefits thing.”
