Tears burned my eyes not just at my screw-up but at Nee’s complete understanding of my fears. “I messed up, Nee.”
She reached for me again, expression bright with sympathy. “And you’ll fix it. When we get home, you and Murray can sit down, and you can both apologize and just put it behind you.”
“What if he doesn’t forgive me? I’ve never seen him like that. He literally jumped in his car and ran away from me.”
Nee huffed. “Ramsay has done that more than once. I’ve been so hormonal lately. That part has hit sooner than I thought it would. Anyway, a week ago, I accused him of not wanting to have the baby because he wouldn’t discuss adding an extension to the house. Ramsay just walked out. Got in his car and left the entire island to get away from me. But only to calm down so he didn’t upset his pregnant wife by arguing with her. It’s not the first time.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. And you know what, in the moment I thought I’d really messed up and hurt him. It turns out that he was trying to hide the fact that he’s building a house at the other end of Stòr.”
I gasped. “No way? How is that possible without everyone knowing?”
She beamed. “It’s one of those prefabricated ones. Anyway, he wanted planning permission in principle to go through first before telling me in case it didn’t work out. But that was taking longer than he’d hoped. It came through a few days after our argument and now, we’re going to work on tweaking the plans together. Once those have gone through submission, his company will lay the foundations and then this prefab kit building company will put up the frame. It might not be ready now in time for the baby coming, but he’s going to try like hell to make it happen.”
Joy for my friend was a pleasant ache in my chest. “I’m over the moon for you.”
Nee grinned, her happiness practically spilling out of her like stardust. “My point is that Murray probably just needed a minute to cool down.”
“I hope you’re right. He hasn’t called or texted me.”
“Maybe he’s giving you space.” Tierney’s gaze moved up behind me.
Then I heard Cammie say, “All this hand-holding is a good sign?”
“Yes.” Nee patted the seat beside her. “Come back and sit with us.”
“That was fast.” Cammie squeezed my shoulder. “Knew you two couldn’t stay mad at each other for long.”
Taran and Cammie settled beside us just in time for our breakfast to arrive. As we ate, we explained what had happened. Taran and Cammie were in complete agreement about Murray, which made me feel even more terrible for having jumped to the worst conclusion.
However, for Taran’s sake, I attempted to push those worries to the back of my mind. We had three bridal store appointmentstoday, and our first stop was just a few minutes’ walk from the hotel. My period was heavy this morning and I had cramps, and I really wasn’t looking forward to trying on dresses. For Taran, I downed a couple of ibuprofen and fought through the overall yuckiness. If I could do a twelve-hour shift in a hot, busy kitchen with a head chef barking at me while my insides cramped and my head throbbed, I could do this.
Thankfully, the fun morning with my friends distracted me from my monthly female torment. I was swept up in supporting Taran as she tried on lots of different dresses. Taran could be decisive, so when she walked out in a strapless ivory gown that fitted to the curves of her body before flaring out at the knee, I could tell by her expression that it wasthe one. The lace and pearl train were the only embellished part of the dress. Cammie got choked up at the sight of her soon-to-be sister-in-law.
“This is it? We found it already?” Taran searched for reassurance as she studied herself in the mirror.
“It’s perfect,” Nee insisted. “It’s so you. Classic, elegant, but sexy too. Yes, yes, yes.”
She looked at me. “London?”
“You are so beautiful. Quinn is going to cry when you walk down the aisle toward him in this.”
Cammie huffed. “Please, he’s going to cry no matter what she’s wearing.”
Taran let out a pleased chuckle as she turned back to the mirror. Then suddenly her eyes welled with her own tears. “I can’t believe I’m finally marrying him.”
At the sound of her sob, we all descended on her, pulling her into the circle of our embrace. I was pretty sure the bridal store owner and her assistant thought we were crazy.
But they didn’t know this wedding was over twenty years in the making.
“Oh goodness, I haven’t stained the dress, have I?” Taran whispered frantically as we pulled back.
“No, you’re fine.”
“Is everything all right?” the bridal owner asked with surprising calm. Then I realized she’d probably seen a lot of emotional stuff going down in her store.
“This is it.” Taran gestured to the dress. “This is the one.”
