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Chapter one
Maverick
Three weeks after driving from Waterfront, Idaho, to Eagle Falls, Idaho, I finally reached the house the groomsmen and maid of honor had pitched in to rent for the week before the wedding. As it was now the Saturday before the wedding, we had exactly a week here. Caleb, my buddy and the groom, would also be in the house with us. But the maid of honor couldn’t stay in the bride’s house just ten minutes down the street for some reason. I didn’t understand it. Had it been planned that way so that she had a place to go that wasn’t full of stress? Regardless, this house had seven different rooms – with single beds and bunk beds to provide enough sleeping space for all the guys – and the maid of honor.
Thankfully, Caleb had already arrived at the Airbnb, which was much more spacious than a hotel block would have been. Especially with plans to have the bridesmaids and groomsmen get together to meet and get to know each other in a relaxed atmosphere. I was just thankful we had this place for the week. No more Caleb and I living at Stacey’s place until the bridesmaids arrived and then staying in a hotel while we worked on wedding stuff.
Caleb and I had known each other since high school and remained best buddies through the years. Although we didn’t get together as much as we would have liked, we remained close friends. It was my honor to be his best man at his wedding.
“I’m glad we’re finally here, Mav,” he said. “Everyone else flies in tomorrow. Stacey’s excited to finally meet the rest of the groomsmen at dinner tomorrow night. And between you, me, and Stacey, and all the bridesmaids, who are amazing, we’re just about ready for this wedding. All we have now is waiting on a few deliveries, and later this week, we’ll pick up some of the last few things.”
“I know. Just makes me feel like we’re cutting it a little close…” I hesitated.
“We’ll be fine. Oh, I didn’t tell you that Stacey wasn’t sure what to do for the food tomorrow night. Since we’re not getting it catered, the best solution we could come up with on our own was to do a taco salad bar."
I nodded slowly. That certainly sounded like a good thing to do.
“But we’re still a week out. I’m thankful you’ve been able to be here for most of the last three weeks. I’m sorry it’s been so hectic.”
“Don’t be sorry, Caleb. Anything for a friend’s wedding. So, now that we’re here, what are the plans?”
“Just get some rest,” he said. “I’ve already eaten. You can order dinner or go out to eat. I don’t really care. You can even order groceries if you want. There’s a kitchen with plenty of plates and stuff to use. Make yourself at home. I’ve got a tux fitting tomorrow, so thank you for stepping in to cover for me on that trip to the airport. I hear there’s more luggage than trunk space, but they’re renting a van under Jacob’s name for the week, and with your truck, we should be okay.”
I nodded slowly. That was good. My truck would only fit four people—five if someone wanted to squeeze into the middle of the bench in the back. I only knew one of the guys coming in – Elliott – Caleb’s future brother-in-law who had grown up in this area and had known Caleb for a number of years. The rest of them were friends of Caleb’s from college.
With that, Caleb went to his bedroom. I pulled out the graphic that Caleb had given me when I’d arrived in Eagle Falls. He’d made one for all of us to make sure we knew where our bedrooms were. I found my room. I was to be right off the kitchen and bathroom, which was honestly nice. We'd learned that I was the first to get up most mornings, so I was responsible in part for helping with breakfast.
After ordering a small pizza and putting the leftovers in the fridge, I took a shower and prepared to jump right into preparation mode tomorrow. Caleb was already starting to show a little nervousness about the wedding, and it was my job to make sure the preparations went smoothly. Thankfully, Caleb and Stacey weren’t moving this week, either.
Stacey had bought a house here before she had started dating Caleb and had been in the process of fixing it up while living at home when she met Caleb. At least, that’s what Caleb had told me.
I shook those thoughts away and went to bed quickly. Tomorrow was going to be a long, busy day getting all the guys back here from the airport. Oh, and the maid of honor was flying in too.
It sounded as though someone had brought a lot of bags, and from what Caleb knew, it was the maid of honor. She had been gathering table runners, tablecloths, and other things for Caleb and Stacey because her business could get the fabric cheaper.
Before going to bed, I took my time to explore the Airbnb. This house had three floors. One of the other bedrooms on the main floor could accommodate two people with twin-sized bunk beds. Another room with bunk beds was in the basement, along with a room for one person. And there was a bathroom in the basement. The rest of the rooms were upstairs on the second floor, just a staircase away from the front door with another bathroom. There were other amenities, too – such as a hot tub, a fire pit, and a large backyard – but those would be enjoyed another day. Right now, I was headed to bed.
***
Sunday morning, I woke up to the sun on my face around six-thirty. No one was getting in until about ten at the earliest, with all the flights landing between ten and eleven. I figured my best bet would be to arrive at the airport at ten and pick up people as they came in. When my truck was filled, I’d take them to the Airbnb and return to the airport if need be.
The groomsmen were scheduled to arrive about the same time as the maid of honor – within a half hour or so. I had learned only recently that the maid of honor was the bride-to-be’s sister, and she and Elliott were on the same flight. I had never met the sister before, and she and Elliott were to be the first to arrive at ten-fifteen this morning. As I understand it, Stacey is the youngest of the group and her siblings were happy to see her marrying Caleb. They thought he was a great guy and that the two of them made a fantastic couple. As long as she was happy, I supposed, was their thinking.
The first thing I did was get some breakfast. Leftover pizza heated up on a plate made for an amazing breakfast, so that is what I did. After that, I took a good look around the accommodations – minus where Caleb was sleeping. I had expected that he would be at Stacey’s house since that is where they would be living after the wedding, but she had decided that she wanted it to be full of women this week. Minus her maid of honor, as she was listed on the sheet indicating where everyone was going to be sleeping.
I wondered why, but it wasn’t my decision. Maybe there was no room for all of them at Stacey’s house. Seems to me you’d want your sister, who is also your maid of honor, to stay with you and the rest of the bridesmaids. Couldn’t they have squeezed her in somewhere?
I passed the rest of the time by looking at the list of tasks Caleb had us doing this week. There weren’t that many, really. We were going to look over the details of how the reception room at the church was going to be decorated, but that plan had been long finished. I suspected Stacey and Caleb had put it together.
By the time nine fifteen rolled around, I was ready to walk out the door. I wanted to make sure I didn’t run into unexpected traffic. I wore a pair of basketball shorts and a tee shirt because it was warm outside, and I didn’t want to be bundled up. If it got cold, I had a jacket in the backseat of the truck that I could use to warm up. I didn’t usually get cold in the summer, though. I had the other issue: I could never get cool enough.
The first thing I did in the truck was make sure that my phone was set up to read texts to me over the stereo speakers. I needed to hear them as they came in, but I didn’t necessarily need to respond. This truck might have been older, but it was still new enough that it had Bluetooth capabilities, which came in real handy on the road like this.
“All right. Now that that’s all set, let’s get going.”
I didn’t turn on any music.
The ride to the airport was silent, bar one text from the maid of honor, who told me she and Elliott had landed earlier than originally planned.
