this stuff to her first!”
The magazine came out and I was fanned again. I was laughing and crying at the same time. These girls, these women, they were my sisters. I’d never felt so supported and loved by anyone but my mother. And Nick, of course.
“Okay, it’s go time. Last looks, people.”
My makeup was touched up and then I was shooed into the bedroom to put on my underthings. As soon as I was in my underthings, the girls barged in.
“Dress time! This is it! Clean hands, everyone!”
Becky’s enthusiasm was contagious. I held my arms up as the girls carefully lowered the dress over my head. They all stood back while Becky fastened the little buttons up the back.
“Leaving the buttons was evil,” Janet said. “I like it.”
“Poor Nick.” Kaylie giggled. “He’s going to lose his mind!”
Becky cackled as she finished putting me into the dress and stood back. Her face fell. All the girls looked stunned. I looked around for a mirror, ready to lose my mind.
“What’s wrong? Am I too curvy for it? Nick has been feeding me nonstop!”
I’d said curvy instead of chubby. Nick had been working on that with me and it was starting to stick. I still felt self-conscious about my curves, even though he clearly loved them.
Or at least, he likes to play with them, I thought with an inward smile.
“No!” Janet said, still looking like she was seeing a ghost. “You look beautiful.”
“Understatement,” Suzannah breathed. “You are stunning, Melissa.”
Everyone chimed in with compliments. Janet went outside to grab a full-length mirror she’d brought. She leaned it against the dresser and stood back so I could see myself, muttering that Kaylie needed a damned mirror in the house all the while.
“Oh,” I said, feeling like I was looking at a stranger. I did look pretty. Prettier than I’d ever looked before, at least.
“Do you like it?” Becky asked worriedly.
“I love it. I’ve never felt more . . .”
“You look like a goddess!” Kaylie exclaimed. It was funny coming from her, because she was the prettiest girl I’d ever seen. “A movie star!”
Everyone nodded and it happened again. I started crying.
“Your mama would be so proud of you,” Janet said, pulling me in for a hug. “I know she’s here watching.”
That was it. The dam broke. Everyone was hugging and crying while we stared at my reflection in the mirror.
“Oh, God, now we’re all crying!” Becky laughed. “I need a drink!”
Champagne was quickly handed out and we raised our glasses.
“To Meg,” Sally said, and we all drank.
“To Melissa and Nick!”
We drank again. I looked around at them as they checked my makeup and smiled.
“To the best friends I’ve had in my life.”
“Friends? Honey, we’re your sisters,” Angel said with a wink.
“To sisters,” I agreed. We all finished our drinks and took each other’s hands. It was a quiet, lovely moment until Janet clapped her hands and gave us a look. I could tell she was annoyed that we had made her cry. She didn’t like to let her guard down. But she did it anyway. It said a lot about what kind of person she was.
“Now, let’s get you down that aisle.”
Chapter Fifty-Three
Nick
“You need a drink, man. Try and relax,” Whiskey said, giving me a look. I had a tight grip on the deck railing. The seats were filling up and Preacher was drinking. The man made me nervous. I knew he was behaving himself these days, but he was crashing with Dev for a few days before heading back up north and I knew that meant he was going to get good and sloshed. Plus, I hadn’t seen or spoken to my bride-to-be in two days.
I was scared out of my mind that she might have a change of heart.
Get a grip, man. She loves you. She told you the last time you saw her! She texted that she loved you, butthead.
My heart sang every time she said it. We'd been saying it since the engagement party. I never would get tired of hearing the words. Every night, I pushed us both to the brink until we couldn't hold back the words another second. I don't know why I had hesitated to say the words for so long.
I loved her. She loved me. We were getting married. I knew down to my bones. I knew it in my soul.
So why the hell was I so terrified that she wouldn’t show up? Melissa wasn’t like that. She wouldn’t do anything like that to me. She