I nodded. “It has. Nice to see you.”
“Since I’m here solo, I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind if I sat with you?”
Vail glanced at him. “In the spirit of repairing our sibling relationship, I agree.”
He laughed. “I’m glad to hear that. Shall we go down?”
The three of us walked toward the bride’s side and selected seats near the front, but not too near. Worked for me.
Dallas sat on one side of Vail and I was on the other. While we waited for the ceremony to start, he chatted about his travel here and plane mishaps.
He was funny and charming, so different than the guy I remembered. He’d been quiet and withdrawn when he’d been with us and had let his friends do most of the talking.
Dallas had obviously gone through a transformation from the young man he’d been. It was nice to see him being so…free.
More people filed in around us as I grew more and more tense.
Vail rested a hand on my thigh, squeezing slightly.
“You okay?”
I stared at the fabric swags blowing on the arch. The day was supposed to be sunny, but a few clouds had started to move in, and the air felt wet and dense, like it might rain. That would piss Allegra off. She might be able to control a lot of things, but she couldn’t control the weather. That probably enraged her. Excellent.
“Yeah, I’m good.” I nodded and gave her a tight smile. The couple on my right were having a low-voiced argument about their upcoming vacation.
“What is your plan, exactly?” Dallas asked, leaning closer. The woman on the other side of him had been shamelessly flirting at him for the past few minutes. Poor thing.
“Drink. Dance. Have a good time where she can see us. Exchange pleasantries that she couldn’t possibly find fault with.”
Dallas nodded. “You’re not worried about her losing it?”
Vail grinned, a vicious twist of her lips. “Let her.”
Dallas laughed. “I like the way you think. Maybe I should have brought Laird. I told him about your plan, and he really wished he was here too.” Dallas’s voice was fond when he talked about Laird, and his expression took on a softness. It reminded me of how James looked now that she was with Delaney.
Love. It was love.
“We should have coordinated. Given her a one-two punch.”
The music changed and the officiant walked onto the bridge. We were starting soon.
“Next wedding,” Vail said.
“It’s on.”
* * *
The string quartetplayed their hearts out as the bridesmaids and groomsmen walked down the aisle. A younger man had an elderly woman on his arm, and I assumed that was Charles’s mother. Allegra’s parents were both deceased, so her older brother Carter walked her down the aisle. She wore a white silk dress that hugged her figure, had a long train, and a delicate lace veil that was clipped to the back of her updo. Her eyes were on her groom, waiting at the front. He was, in fact, wearing a captain’s hat.
“She and Carter are talking again?” Vail asked Dallas.
“Looks like it. Bet there’s a story there.”
Allegra reached her groom and handed her bouquet off to her maid of honor. Or maybe she was a matron of honor? I had never learned the difference.
I kind of mentally checked out when the officiant started to speak, but I heard a lot of boat words and nautical terms. They did use a rope to seal their vows.
It was all hilarious and nauseating, but they were taking it very seriously.
