The Job Offer - By Eleanor Webb Page 0,60

The hair on his head and chest was still wet. "Anne, can you find my shoes?"

She looked in the closet and found a shoebox that she pulled out and took to the bed. The shoes were a size thirteen pair of black oxfords delivered for the wedding. Ben already had his pants on and was in the process of buttoning up his shirt that was sticking in places to his wet chest and back. The rest of the tuxedo included a cream colored silk vest, a deep purple woven silk tie, and a black tuxedo jacket with a deep purple silk handkerchief that matched the tie. She watched Ben as he dressed thinking that he was an exceptionally handsome man. Once he was dressed, she whistled. He looked sharp and incredibly sexy.

"Anne," he began as he tied his shoes. "I know that we were interrupted earlier, and I want to finish the discussion. But can it wait until tonight?"

"It can wait. Now get going before your mother starts calling."

He grabbed her car keys and his wallet that he had put on the dresser and kissed her quickly before leaving. Once she was alone, she turned off the lights in the bedroom and collected her hair and makeup items from the bathroom. Her dress for the wedding was still at her parents' house, and she would need to ride with them, so she decided to head over there now. She stepped outside and saw another piece of paper taped to the glass of the balcony door. Anne read the word "whore" on the sheet and shuttered. That Chelsea really was a piece of work, she thought. Then she pulled the note off, crumbled it into a ball, and carried it with her until she could toss it into a trash container that sat at the edge of the patio.

* * * * *

The wedding was performed inside the beautifully decorated Victorian styled chapel built outside of Orcas Village. Set in a meadow and surrounded by towering pines, the chapel looked like it belonged on the New England countryside instead of in the Pacific Northwest. The white chapel, built in the 1970s to resemble a Victorian era chapel, was a throwback to days gone by complete with a center steeple and bell tower. Narrow stained glass windows flanked the front door and the sides of the building, and visitors were greeted with another large stained glass window that filled the arch behind the altar and captured the light. The cream plaster walls, stained wooden ceiling, and exposed beams complimented Lily’s chosen colors of dark purple and cream.

Lily wore a custom Badgley Mischka designer wedding dress with an off white strapless beaded bodice, a dark purple silk sash at the waist, and a flowing cream colored organza skirt with beaded calla lilies interwoven throughout the fabric. She chose not to wear a vale, but had her brown hair styled in a soft up-do with strands curling loosely around her face and beads woven through her curls. In her hands, she carried a simple bouquet of purple calla lilies tied with a cream bow that contrasted with the cream colored calla lilies carried by her matron of honor and used as boutonnières worn by the men and in the mothers’ corsages. Flower arrangements of calla lilies, alliums, and mums were set strategically around the chapel and tied to the ends of pews to complement the flowers they carried. The chapel was quaint, and the enclosed space captured the wonderful scents from the flowers. Anne breathed it in with enjoyment. Lilies were her favor flower.

Anne sat next to her parents in the pew wearing a simple aqua lace sleeveless shift dress with a scooped neck that Carla talked her into buying. It complimented her eyes and showed off her figure to the best advantage clinging to her curves and ending just above her knees. The necklace that Ben gave her earlier in the day was around her neck and she wore no other jewelry. She also wore a simple smile when she watched Lily and Tom exchange their vows and when she found her eyes wondering frequently over to Ben.

After the ceremony, Anne stood outside looking at the meadow and trees outside of the chapel instead of returning to the inn with her parents. She waited to drive back with Ben, but they could not leave right away because a few more shots were needed by the photographer. Finally, when the church was cleared of