I almost texted Nicole, but I resisted the urge. She would make some kind of comment. Plus…I didn’t want her to know I was betting money that he wouldn’t show.
Business came first.
This isn’t business?
I winced.
“Sorry! Did I pull your hair?” Bill asked where he was fidgeting with the veil behind me. The man was the perfect wedding planner. Charming and suave.
The photographer chose that moment to snap a picture.
“I’m good!” My voice sounded high and unnatural.
“Let’s see,” Carole crowed, rushing over in a cloud of Chanel.Thatperfume didn’t bother her dog…go figure. “Oh, my darling girl, such a beautiful bride. Isn’t my daughter the most beautiful bride you’ve ever seen?”
Every eye in the room turned to me. My fingers dug into my thigh to keep the smile on my face intact. The chorus ofoohsandaahsrang sharply in my ears. The volume muted. Black spots crackled in my field of vision.
Was this level of anxiety natural for a bride on her wedding day? I should have listened when the girls were passing out Xanax earlier. But I’d been good. I hadn’thad any booze from the brunch spread that was set out in the area designated for the bridal party.
Rising on shaking feet, I posed with the girls, with Carole, and even with Bill as the photographer and her two assistants staged shots.
When it was finally over, I went to my pile of things and pulled my phone from my clutch. It was just after one o’clock, and there still wasn’t a text from Steven.
Surely our parting kiss wasn’t that bad?
The trickle of anxiety threatened to turn into a full blown panic attack. I shut the phone off, pressed my eyes shut tight, and forced my lungs to do box breathing. Most grooms would have messaged. Despite his flaws, Steven was a good boyfriend. There wasn’t a morning that passed in the last six months when he hadn’t sent me a good morning text.
Why hadn’t he messaged me?
This wedding has to happen.
“Knock-knock, can I enter?” a smooth baritone asked through the door.
Carole squeaked and rushed to throw the door open. She even set her puffball down to give her husband a two-armed hug, squashing her tits between them.
It took every drop of strength I had to pull myself together. Dad was not going to see me freaking out. He was going to smile. He was going to offer me his arm and walk me down the aisle in less than thirty minutes. I might not be able to tell him I landed the coveted senior partnership at only twenty-eight years old, but I would be damned if he didn’t see me marry British nobility today.
“There she is.” Green-blue eyes, sharp and calculating, pinned me with a look I couldn’t read.
“Hi, Daddy!” I crossed the room and met him halfway as he hugged me.
In the background, the camera snapped away. The pictures wouldn’t tell the powerful story of a ruthless lawyer, who’d made hundreds of millions in his chosen profession, and the daughter who spent every waking minute following in his footsteps. They would show a man with light brown hair, hugging his eldest child on the bittersweet day of her wedding.
“Your grandma would have approved,” he said softly, speaking only to me, as he brushed his fingers along the lace neckline of the dress. “I can’t believe we kept this.”
Tears rose unbidden to my eyes.
In the whole chaos of wedding planning, I was grateful I remembered to look for this dress. While I was taller than Grandma Loring, the dress had to be taken in to fit my slimmer frame. Otherwise, the vintage ivory satin was a beautiful gesture—one which my father approved of. That made it worth everything.
“Thanks, Dad,” I breathed, offering him the first real smile I’d felt all day.
“Alright, alright, don’t schmozsh her makeup,” Carole cackled. “We’ll have to freshen it up after the ceremony. I’ll have the artist on the cruise so it will be fresh before dinner too!”
Delighted at the prospect of her dream wedding that included a sunset cruise on the ocean before a lavish dinner, Carole came to stand by my side as the photographer began the dance once more. We posed. We smiled. We staged several shots. And then Bill was ordering everyone into position.
As we filed out of the bridal room and took our places in the hall, ready to march onto the lawn, some of the staff poked their heads out to see us off. The Harbor View Hotel was enchanting as far as venues went. We would eat in the grand salon, where they were preparing the reception. I thanked the workers as we passed.
“You’re always so thoughtful,” Dad commented.
