Alex must not have noticed the smug satisfaction Lacey wore like her favorite sweater. He shook his head, rolled his eyes, and shuffled the toe of his boot on the gravel.
“What are we going to do now? Where are we going to find a wedding party to walk through everything? The penguins aren’t ready. We haven’t even practiced what might come after the wedding, they’ve barely mastered just getting down the aisle.” He paused long enough to shoot a glance at me.
I’d crossed my arms while I waited for his little tirade to end.
“What?” Alex asked.
I shook my head slightly. “Ask her.” I nudged my chin toward where Lacey stood, her grin splitting her face in two.
“You have an idea?” Alex turned toward Lacey.
“Oh boy, do I.” Lacey clapped her hands together, her enthusiasm leeching from every pore. “Here’s what we’re going to do.”
Alex
I cleared my throat for the tenth time, maybe fifteenth. Who was counting? Then I glanced down the strip of red carpet we’d laid out to mark the aisle. A handful of men I barely knew stood to my left—the fake groomsmen Lacey had scrounged up at the last minute. Zeb on my left; then Jasper, the guy who’d adopted Buster; and Kirby, the aspiring limo business owner.
As I cleared my throat again, trying to dislodge the apprehension that appeared determined to prevent me from speaking during this sham of a rehearsal, I watched the never-ending stream of bridesmaid stand-ins drift down the aisle. Suzy smiled as she took her place. Then Char came down the aisle, followed by Jordan.
Lacey must have called in every favor ever owed to her. Seemed like the whole town had descended upon the Phillips House to run through the ceremony. And all for the benefit of the she-devil who sat in the front row.
The music changed. Lacey stood on the opposite side of the lawn and signaled to Bodie, who fiddled with his phone. A choppy rendition of the bridal march began and Gramps released the penguins. I couldn’t hold back a smile as the dozen tuxedo-clad birds waddled toward me, half of them decked out in snowflake necklaces, the other half in bow ties. They knew I had a pocketful of fish waiting for them at the end of the carpet. I still hadn’t figured out how to reward them for their trip down the aisle during the real ceremony. Odds were the groom probably didn’t want to distribute a handful of fish right before he took his vows.
Thelma came first. She always was a greedy gal. I tossed a treat to each bird, then Izzy corralled them over to the side where Frankie and Dolly waited.
The music swelled. My gaze was drawn to Zina, who held a hastily gathered bouquet of long grass and wildflowers. Even though everything about the moment was fake, orchestrated and totally inauthentic, seeing her at the opposite end of the aisle took my breath away. She hadn’t even had a chance to shower that morning and she still radiated beauty. As she took small, tentative steps toward me, my pulse ticked up, my breath shortened, and my face heated. Her hair was swept off her face in a ponytail that swished behind her as she walked.
“Slower.” Chyna stood in the front row, barking out directions. “The bride will be walking much slower than that.”
Lacey’s dad had even joined the charade and was standing in for Munyon himself. He smoothed his hand over his T-shirt and mumbled something to Zina. She smiled at him and they resumed their trip down the aisle, at a turtle pace. A turtle who’d been fed a tranquilizer.
At this rate it might take all day for the two of them to reach me. I tried to take in a deep breath to slow down my heart rate. It didn’t do any good. The sight of Zina walking toward me, posing as my bride, knocked the breath right out of me. I’d never been so uncomfortable and felt so confident in the same moment. For half a heartbeat I let myself imagine what it might be like if the two of us weren’t just puppets going through the motions to satisfy the wedding planner of a couple of strangers.
Could I ever make this kind of commitment to someone? Hell, I’d never committed to anything much less anyone. But being around Zina, being part of the wedding plans, feeling like I was working with a team of people, it had gotten to me over the past several weeks. I’d found myself daydreaming about what it might be like to stay put for a change. Instead of making me feellike I wanted to run, for the first time in my life I thought I might be up for the challenge.
Because of her.
Zina reached me. Her gaze met mine. Her eyes bright, those full lips curved into a smile, I looked at her and everything else faded away. Lacey’s dad mumbled something and then tucked Zina’s arm into the crook of my elbow.
“Bet you didn’t see this coming,” she muttered under her breath.
“Not in a million years.” I grinned as we began to turn toward what would hopefully be where the officiant would stand to preside.
Lacey’s voice came from the back. “Okay, they exchange vows, yada yada yada. Should we practice the exit now?”
“Not yet.” Chyna rose from her chair. “I think we need to try this again. Can you add a little pep to the step of the penguins?”
I gritted my teeth.
“Easy now, she has to leave for the airport in just a bit. You can do this,” Zina whispered.
I nodded, swallowing the backlash I’d been about to release on the wedding planner. “I’m not sure what you mean by ‘pep to the step.’ Care to demonstrate?”
Chyna put her hands to her sides, palms flipped out to mimic the penguins. “Not so much meandering, just have them walk a straight line down the aisle.”
“You know penguins have a natural waddle to their stride, right?”
The pressure from Zina’s hand tightened on my arm.
