Said no bride ever. But he appreciated her attitude.
He and Pepper had made a pact that this wedding would be perfect for their sweet Lisa. There was no way in hell either of them would let Mrs. Perry taint it with bad memories. As Stone had said about his fiancée:she’s not nicknamed Pepper Shaker for no reason.
2
LISA
Mama Soto’s attempt at curing Rafael might have almost accidently killed him, but Lisa wanted to purposely kill her mother. Or at least banish her to a deserted island without any means of communication. The woman was enough to send the tamest bride into bridezilla territory. And they weren’t even in the same state yet. Although, even from a deserted island, Mom might still be able to send passive-aggressive messages. She sent them via any instrument—phone, email, text—any medium would do. If she and Rafael were to get snowed in as Stone and Pepper had when they came out to Emerson Pass to scope out the wedding venues, she might have sent smoke signals in her biting, sharp tone, perhaps in the shape of the middle finger.
For the hundredth time, she reminded herself that this was supposed to be fun. Dwelling on her mother would only allow her to ruin everything. She would not give her that power.
She focused on now. They were on their way to Emerson Pass from Denver in a cozy SUV. Stone was driving, with Pepper beside him in the front passenger seat. Lisa sat with Rafael in the back seat. He hadn’t taken his hand from hers sincethey’d begun the climb toward the mountains. The landscape out the window was draped in white, but the cloudless sky shone a bright blue.
“It’s so Christmassy,” Lisa said.
“That’s what we need. Christmas music,” Pepper said as she picked up her phone.
A minute later, they were rocking around the Christmas tree with Brenda Lee. Lisa settled against Rafael’s shoulder and gazed out at the breathtaking views, feeling warm and festive and grateful. Then, from her phone in her purse, the sound of a text interrupted Brenda’s last chorus. That was her mother’s text tone. Festive mood evaporated.
From her mother:
Call me. I need to talk to you about this makeup situation.
Lisa responded:
I can’t talk right now. I’m in the car.
Pepper’s face appeared from around the front seat. “What does she want?”
“How did you know it was my mom?”
“The bullhorn text alert was a dead giveaway,” Pepper said.
“As were your fingers pounding against the surface of the phone,” Rafael said.
Another text from Mom:
Why can’t you talk in the car? You’re not driving, are you?
Lisa set her phone in the cup holder next to her seat. “She’s upset because she wants her hair and makeup done for the wedding. Which is completely contrary to what she said when I booked the team for us. She could do her own face, and her hair always looks better when she does it herself, thank you very much. She said she wanted to look like herself in the photos, not some harlot.”
Stone laughed. “Harlot? Did she really use that word?”
“She did,” Lisa said. “And now she’s changed her mind.”
“Why?” Rafael asked.
“I’m assuming it’s because she found out Mama Soto and Ria are having theirs done.” Lisa didn’tthink. Sheknew. She’d known it the minute Mama Soto had mentioned yesterday that she and Mom had chatted over the phone about wedding details. Mom wouldn’t be able to stand the thought of the others getting something she wasn’t. Without even talking to her, Lisa knew exactly how her mother’s thought process had unfolded.There should be equal treatment of mothers. If Mama Soto is having hers done, then for goodness’ sake, I should have mine done as well. I’m the mother of the bride. And Ria isn’t even related to Rafael.Lisa could almost hear Mom ranting to her father after she’d already convinced herself that she’d been wronged. “I mean, really. Who is this Ria person? She’s not even related to Rafael.”
Her father would have replied something like, “Dear, don’t fret. And Ria’s a close family friend—like an aunt to Rafael.”
“A pretend aunt? Apretendaunt gets the full Hollywood treatment and not me?”
“You told Lisa you didn’t want it.”
She blinked away this imaginary conversation when her phone buzzed again. Cringing, she glanced at the screen.
Hello???? Are you there???
