Once the pictures were finished, the bridal party climbed into a stretch limousine to head three miles down the road to the chapel Helen grew up in. According to Monique, it was Helen’s only real request for the wedding, and Monique was more than delighted to acquiesce even though neither of them was religious. Jamie understood why Monique was excited when they arrived at the adorable chapel overlooking a hill and lake. Out here in the countryside, it was picturesque. However, it had little room for a party as big as theirs to prepare in, so it was necessary to dress and style at the manor before coming here.
Monique was nevertheless taken into a humble room and had her look touched up. Jamie slipped out to be choreographed by Jenny, who reminded the bridesmaids what order they were in when going down the aisle. Jamie rendezvoused at the rear of the chapel with the rest of the party. Every woman but her had someone to walk down with. As themaid of honor, Jamie was going solo, since Helen’s number two already stood with her at the front of the chapel. Monique must have won the coin toss of the decade when she got to play the role of “bride at the center of attention.” Then again, she liked attention much more than Helen, who was probably happy enough to let Monique have it.
No pressure, girl. That’s what Jamie told herself as a bouquet of fresh red roses and sprigs of baby’s breath were shoved into her hands. The flower girl, a child of five, attempted to waddle down the aisle before anyone told her to.
The chapel was packed. Every pew was filled, and the ushers did an exemplary job showing people to their seats. The guestbook was crammed with signatures, most of which Jamie didn’t recognize as she signed it too. Jenny, with a freakin’ earpiece and mic on her head, in turn, ushered Jamie to the front doors of the chapel as the music began.
Jamie wasn’t even the one getting married, yet things happened at the speed of light.I’m gonna get motion sickness from this. She waited as everyone cooed over the flower girl stumbling down the aisle in shoes too small. She cast rose and carnation petals all over the white silk runner and stopped to give her grandmother a handful of them before continuing.Well, I can’t very well follow that act. But Jamie was due next since the mothers of the brides declined to walk down the aisle.
“Go!” Jenny jabbed Jamie in the side, and she was off, trying her best to not trip in her stilettos as she plastered on a smile and shuffled down the aisle.
Bulb flashes went off in her face. More than one video camera pointed in her direction. Jamie wasn’t the bride, but she was the first adult walking down the aisle, and every eye was on her. Guests leaned in to mutter things to one another.“She’s pretty, I guess.” “How does she know Monique?” “Isn’t that Etta Coleman’s piece?” “What does she see in her?”Even at a wedding ceremony, people gossiped.
Jamie was relieved to see Helen by the time she reached the altar. Helen stood in a simple white dress and jacket because she was one of the only women in the county who could pull off a style traditionally reserved for middle-aged divorcees considering their third marriage. Jamie squared her shoulders as she gingerly turned around in her heels and stood in her designated space. Jenny would have sighed in relief, but she was busy jabbing Eve in the waist and reprimanding her for not walking fast enough. The man she walked with was one step ahead of her – and he was a full two inches shorter than a Warner woman in heels.
Jamie kept her smile on as she watched women in blue and two token men in black walk down the aisle, set to pleasant live strings. Six couples followed Jamie, and then the bride appeared. Everyone stood up to the change in music.
Monique took the first two steps into the chapel by herself. Etta rendezvoused with her, holding her arm out for her to take. Most people would find it odd for a woman’s ex-girlfriend to give her away at her wedding, but Monique didn’t have a father.Why not Etta?She had given Helen her blessings ten times over.
“This is the kinkiest wedding in the world, and hardly anyone realizes it,” said the woman next to Jamie. She had to agree.
Whatever Monique had felt over the past few weeks was completely blown away now. She walked with her chin high, her petite stature almost matching Etta’s more stoic gait as she stayed with her every step down the aisle. This wasn’t a meek woman resigned to some fate. This was the queen of her own destiny marching forward.
Her dress flowed behind her, pulling a conservative train of delicate lace. Yet it was the bodice that attracted the most attention. Monique went for an off-the-shoulder look, with ruffled sleeves that draped from her arms and intricately weaved in and out of her beaded bodice. The veil that caused such a fuss during picture time was nothing more than a sheerthing that sat atop her head, clutching the diamond circlet and disappearing into the length of her dark hair as it bounced with her steps. The most curious aspect, however, was the diamond choker around her throat. Jamie had never seen it before. It was probably purchased for the wedding, but Jamie did not doubt it had more to do with Monique and Helen’s kinky lifestyle than the nuptials.
Guests gasped. A million pictures were taken. Helen looked so lovesick that Jamie was going to be sick as well. By that time, her knees locked up and she spaced out the majority of the ceremony, concentrating on her impeccable posture. Half of America’s high society would be studying her face tomorrow. She was bound to show up in a few Page 6 pictures, and that frightened the bejeezus out of her.Don’t think about it… don’t think about it…
She missed the part where Helen and Monique were declared married. Jamie snapped out of her stupor to the sound of applause and the sight of a tall woman bending down to kiss her petite wife. Jamie’s heart exploded into a million hormonal pieces.
Meeting Etta’s eyes again was the wrong thing to do. Tears poured from Jamie’s, threatening to ruin her makeup. Luckily, everyone else around her was crying too, and she could blend in with the festive crowd.
Chapter 6
Nothing was sweeter than finally sitting down at a banquet table and kicking off one’s stilettos. Jamie heaved a sigh to end her life as she knocked back a glass of champagne and asked Etta to pour her another.
Weddings were an exhausting business. After the ceremony, they were hauled out for pictures while guests traveled ahead to the reception at Warner Manor. Jamie thought she could travel as well after having her photos taken yet again, but Jenny informed her that nobody in the bridal party was allowed to even take one step away from the chapel until magazine photographers swept through and caught them in “casual” poses.
After that farce, they finally joined the welcoming reception, complete with cocktails – but not enough – and snacks. Jamie was in charge of watching the gift table before going with Monique to the restroom to help her change shoes and fix her hair since the diamonds kept snagging. By then, Monique was the happiest woman in the world, tears of joy flowing down her cheeks as she profusely thanked Jamie for everything she had done.
As sweet as that was, Jamie was more than happy to sit down for dinner. Most of the other guests sat at circular tables, where waiters took theirorders and ran into the main kitchen to fetch the meals of the day. Etta ordered a steak, and Jamie asked for“anything that will make me not feel like pure death.”She got gourmet cheese ravioli in a delicate pesto sauce. It tasted even better with pieces of Etta’s steak, which she unrepentantly stole.
The brides sat at a banquet table at the front of the ballroom. The Warners sat to Helen’s right, while Monique’s small family joined her to her left. There wasn’t enough room for anyone else, so Jamie and Etta were relegated to a table of honor not too far away. Suited Jamie fine. She was tired of being an intricate part of this wedding. She just wanted to drink champagne and get drunk on dinner before the dancing began.
Halfway through their meal, she was subjected to the speeches. They heard from Helen’s father, a somber man with steel-gray hair and a gaunt expression. Then Monique’s mother, a hawkish woman who sounded more spurned than honored to be there at her daughter’s grand wedding that nobody by the last name of Grant had to pay for.
Etta gave a short speech, congratulating the couple and expressing her desire that they have a long and loving marriage. Monique started crying again, Eve shoving a handkerchief across her family’s laps because nobody else bothered to anticipate a bride crying on her wedding day.
“I’ve never seen her this happy,” Etta said, as one of Helen’s friends spoke next. “It’s both strange and liberating. For her, that is.”
Jamie didn’t need details. She knew what kind of hell Monique had been through before meeting Helen. This was her ultimate happy ending.Good for her. Jamie needed another drink.
She was halfway through pouring more champagne for her and Etta when Monique stood up to make a surprise speech.
“I’d like to thank everyone for coming to my – our – special day,” she said into the mic that was bigger than her grip. “I never thought that such an honor like this would come.” Monique held back more tears, causinga ripple of adoration through the guests. “My life has been an absolute whirlwind ever since Helen waltzed into it. I can’t imagine calling a greater woman my wife.”
Even Jamie choked up at that – choked right on a piece of steak. Etta slapped her back before either one of them distracted the room from Monique’s speech.
“So many fantastic changes have occurred in my life in the several months Helen and I have been together. I know my future will be nothing but wonderful with her.” Monique bit her lip, but this time it wasn’t with tears in the back of her throat. Monique looked adoringly down at her wife, puffing herself up for whatever she had to say. “That’s why I want to announce something quite surprising. I’ve been keeping a great secret for a few weeks now… yes, even from you, Helen.”
