Four Weddings and a Swamp Boat Tour - Erin Nicholas Page 0,51
away three different times. He’s a groomsman for us, but he’s really disappointed to be missing the other weddings.”
“He’s family now,” Maddie said with a nod. “It will be weird.”
“When are your weddings?” Paige asked.
“Tori and Josh are in February, ours is March, and Sawyer and Juliet are in April,” Maddie said. “We had to get them scheduled before tourist season really picks up. We can’t take weekends off then.”
“I’m surprised you’re not all just having a big triple wedding,” Paige said.
The three women’s eyes widened, then they looked at one another, and their smiles spread in unison.
“That would be great,” Tori agreed. “Juliet would be so much better at flowers and decorating than me.”
“I’ve helped,” Juliet said.
“Of course. I just mean, we could just do one big bunch of flowers then.”
Juliet smiled at Tori. “You really don’t like the flower thing, do you?”
Tori sighed and shook her head. “I really don’t. The ones you’ve picked out for me are great, but I would like anything.”
Juliet laughed. “Well, I didn’t want to butt in. I mean, you and Josh were together before Sawyer and I met, and—” She looked at Maddie. “You and Owen have a ton of history. You don’t need to share your day.”
“Owen and I do have a ton of history, and we’ve had lots of days—really good ones and some not so good ones,” Maddie said, waving her hand. “Which means we don’t need this one day dedicated all to us. Our wedding day is about everyone.”
“You mean we really could be doing this all together? We could have one big wedding day? Why didn’t we talk about this before? I’d love to share it all with you two, and I know the guys would love that too,” Tori said, her tears starting up again.
Paige’s eyes widened. Wow, she’d never taken Tori for a sap. Over animals? Yes, for sure. But over people? Not really.
“You could all just jump on a plane and head to Vegas and elope,” Paige suggested.
“Oh, we couldn’t do that to Ellie and everyone,” Juliet said.
“Nope,” Maddie said.
“Of course not,” Tori said, wiping her eyes.
“Ellie would be that mad?” Paige asked. Her mother would be livid, so she got it.
“Oh, I don’t know if she’d be mad exactly,” Juliet said. “It’s just…we want them all to be a part of it. And the town and the docks and just everything that makes up our lives here.”
“But you’re just as married if you do it somewhere else,” Paige pointed out.
“Yeah.” Maddie nodded. “It’s not that. It’s like… honoring them. Or something. It’s like ‘hey, look what you helped create. Thank you.’”
“You feel like they helped create your wedding?” Paige asked.
“They all helped create Sawyer.” Juliet smiled. “He’s the man he is, the man I love, the man who loves me, because of these people. And I definitely thank them for that. Obviously, he’s his own person but they are a part of him. And I want to say thank you and promise them that I’ll love him and be there for him as I promise him those things.”
“Oh my God.”
They all looked at Tori. Who was now crying even harder.
“That’s so beautiful,” she blubbered. “And so true. I feel the same way. They are a part of Josh too. And they made me a part of this family immediately. And I want to celebrate this day with them. I know I’m part of the family anyway, no matter what, but this makes it official, and I want a party, with them all, to commemorate that.”
Maddie seemed taken aback by Tori’s tears, but she nodded and patted her friend’s hand. “It’s true. And I want to witness it all. I want to see Josh and Tori make those promises to each other so much. So I know Ellie feels the same way. It’s just about loving them so damn much.”
Paige just took it all in. It felt like a lot. It really did. Thinking about standing up in front of so many people making such a big promise made her throat feel tight.
But then she thought about her sister’s wedding. She remembered how Josie had looked, gazing up at Grant. And how her own heart had thumped when she’d heard Grant vow to forever love someone Paige loved so much. It felt so good to know that there was someone making Josie incredibly happy and taking care of her and making her feel like the amazing, special person she was.