Chapter Twenty-Four
Vail
The dayI’d been dreading for months was here. I barely slept at all so when my alarm went off, my eyes were already open. The kittens must have sensed my tension, because they’d been so sweet and had laid on me all night, waking only to try and lick my hair as if they were trying to groom my stress away.
“What would I do without you two?” I asked as they stared into my face from their positions on my chest. Not comfortable, but I wasn’t going to move them.
“You’re going to be good today for Maya, right?” Since the wedding would be a marathon, I’d asked Maya to come and spend the whole day with them instead of just checking in. She said she was excited to have a day away from her kids and joked that she should pay me for the privilege.
I made sure they were set before I did anything else. Since I would be getting hair and makeup done at the country club, I only had to throw on some old sweats that I knew would give Allegra a heart attack if she saw them. I slid into a pair of slippers that had seen better days before they’d been attacked by kittens.
The car service was out front exactly when it was supposed to arrive, so I sent Lea a message that we were on our way. An irritating voice in my head yapped that she was going to ghost me, but her response was prompt.
I’m ready.Her message was accompanied by a picture of the bag with the dress and her shoes in it.
She was coming. I couldn’t stop smiling.
* * *
Lea practically skippedout to the car from the front of her apartment, even though she was weighed down by the dress bag and a duffel. No idea what was in that.
“Hey,” she said when she slid into the backseat after the driver opened the door for her.
Her cheeks were bright, and her hair was messy around her face. I almost told the driver to take us back to my house and said, “fuck the wedding.”
“You’re a little pale. You okay?” she asked, leaning closer to study me.
“I’m fine,” I said, putting one hand to my cheek. “There’s nothing that bronzer and contouring can’t fix.” I’d also planned to do a dramatic eye which Allegra would hate.
Just as Lea was about to say something else, I got a message from my brother.
You on your way? Allegra is on the warpath, and I wanted to warn you. There’s some issue with the flowers and she’s ready to set the place on fire.
Fantastic. Of course something would have to go wrong. You’d think when vendors heard who the bride was, they’d know that fucking up would have extreme consequences. She had literally put people out of business before. This was a woman who didn’t work, so she had all the time in the world to be vindictive.
“There’s an issue with the flowers and Allegra is pissed. Dallas just sent me a message.”
Lea made a face. “Are you sure you still want to go? We don’t have to.” Of course that was an option. It had always been there, but I was even more determined to show up.
I raised my chin and looked out the window. “No. We’re going.”
Lea nodded next to me. “Okay. We’re going.”
* * *
The rideto the country club didn’t take as long as I thought it should have and by the time we were pulling into the familiar circular drive, I had started shaking a little bit. You’d think that I’d be used to Allegra’s weddings, but this was different.
“You good?” Lea asked, reaching over and touching my arm.
“Yeah.”
Not really.
We got out of the car and were met by a wedding coordinator that had an earpiece and a clipboard. For someone who was working for Allegra, she looked remarkably composed. That would probably change the closer we got to the event.
“Oh, the daughter! Of course! Your mother and the bridesmaids are getting ready in the suite if you’ll just follow me.”
I shook my head. “I’ve got my own room and makeup artist booked.” In fact, I saw her down the hall.
