Hartley leans back again, with his arm behind me, and I let myself lean against him. The townspeople are watching, after all.
At least, that’s what I tell myself.
CHAPTER
SIXTEEN
Mira
“Why do I get the feeling that we aren’t getting our nails done?” I ask, stepping over the curb separating the parking lot from Brielle’s Beauty Shop.
Markie laughs. “What on earth would make you think that?”
“I don’t know. Maybe that there’s a Closed sign hanging on the door.”
“Maybe she forgot to flip it over.”
Sure.I glance at her out of the corner of my eye as butterflies begin to flutter in my stomach.
The day has been beautiful, if not slightly chaotic. Lolly has only called and texted me twenty times, asking me everything from whether I needed flowers for my hair to whether I wanted a reception following the ceremony. The answer to both was a resounding no. I tried to remind her that I didn’t technically want any of this, but I’m confident she didn’t hear me. When her response was ROFLACGU, I definitely needed an explanation.
Apparently, rolling on the floor laughing and can’t get up is what you say when you have hip pain in the later-in-life world.
Now, though, I’m also more than certain that my sister had more involvement in this scheme than I was led to believe. It’s just too ironic that she had Mom’s wedding dress handy, plus a pair of heels in my size that go with the dress perfectly. The fact that I’d bet that I’m about to walk into some kind of bachelorette party is the icing on the cake.
Markie is an accomplice.
I’d be mad at her if she didn’t look so darn happy, and if Hartley and I weren’t benefiting from this so much.
“Surprise!” a host of voices shout as Markie swings the door to Brielle’s wide open. Cheers greet me as I enter the shop, where I find a bunch of familiar faces, a table full of gifts, and pink-and-gold decorations everywhere celebratingMrs. Adler.
The name—my soon-to-be new name—hangs from a doorway in sparkly letters.
Whoa.
I’ve doodled this name so often, probably wrote it more than my legal name in high school in the back of notebooks that never saw the light of day. Seeing it now, in the present—on the precipice of it becoming true—knocks me sideways.
I’ll be Mrs. Adler tomorrow.
Holy crap.The thought sends a warm flutter through my stomach that feels suspiciously like excitement.
I wrap my arm around my sister’s waist and pull her into a one-armed hug. I’m dazed at the faces smiling back at me. Lolly, Cathy, Brooks’s fiancée, Audrey. Gray’s fiancée, Astrid, is also here with her and Audrey’s friend, Gianna, standing beside her. Violet Crowder from church, Lolly’s friend, DeeDee, and Markie’s best friend, Nettie, all beam at me from across the room.
Tears fog my eyes, and I sniffle them back in embarrassment.Why would I cry?I can’t explain to them that I’m overwhelmed at the pace of this major life change, or that I’m stupefied thatthey’d all show up at the last minute for me. Or that the only thing I really want to do right now is to call Hartley and tell him what’s happening, because I know he’d laugh and tell me to enjoy it. Then, somehow, I’d be able to do that.
“I can’t believe you did this,” I whisper to my sister.
“My baby sister only gets married once. We’re going all out.” Before I can answer her—and remind her this isn’t real—she claps her hands, bringing the volume of chatter to a standstill. “Hi, everyone. Thanks for coming to celebrate Mira for her upcoming wedding.”
A roar of applause and shouts comes from nowhere. Markie waits for them to settle before continuing.
“I think Lolly wants to say something,” she says.
My hand falls to my chest as my grandmother steps forward. She’s beaming, her red-painted lips stretched across her face.
“Like my beautiful granddaughter just said, thank you all for coming,” Lolly says. “I know it was at the last minute, and it means so much to me—to our family—that you showed up for our precious Mira.”
Lay it on thick, Lolly.I shake my head, grinning at her.
