tears,” Mom commanded, pointing her finger in my face, but I saw how glassy her own eyes were. “You’ll make me cry too, not to mention, you’ll ruin your makeup.”
The twins hugged me from either side. “You need to pick a dress,” Mila reminded me. “I know it’s a hard decision to make, but we are kind of running out of time. I promised my brother we would get you to the clubhouse by a certain hour, or he will come looking for you.”
Sucking in a deep breath, I blinked back my tears and glanced at the dresses again. “I always thought we would run off to Vegas and get married in one of those little chapels, so I never really thought about a wedding dress before.” But I couldn’t say I was unhappy to have to pick one out now.
“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Aunt Willa said. “That’s what James and I did.”
“It was just your dad and me on a beach in Hawaii,” Mom reminisced. “I had a simple silk dress and was barefoot. It was perfect.”
The mention of my dad made my heart hurt, but I pushed down all thoughts of him and focused on the dress options.
One was a huge ballgown-like dress, while another was mermaid-style. But my gaze kept returning to the one with double spaghetti straps. The top was a mixture of floral lace and pearls that extended down to about the waist. The bottom was a slinky, crepe skirt that flowed into scalloped edging, with more of the floral lace for the train. It was the perfect blend of old-school Hollywood elegance mixed with a touch of contemporary that had me falling in love with it before I’d even tried it on.
Mom noticed my gaze returning to it again and again, and she walked over to take it off the wall. “Don’t just stand there, little girl. You won’t know if it looks good on you or not, just looking at it on the hanger.”
With a happy squeak, I pulled off the dress I’d worn to graduation and then let the others help me into the white dress. When I turned to look at myself in the mirror, fresh tears stung my eyes. “Is there a veil, by any chance?” I asked Mila.
“They sent a veil for each of the options,” she assured me. “Hold tight. I’ll get it.”
An hour later, after Mila and Monroe both changed into bridesmaid dresses, we got into the limo that was waiting for us and rode over to the clubhouse. The parking lot was packed with cars and motorcycles.
Excitement was already making me jittery, but realizing that I was walking into the clubhouse as River Hannigan and walking out as River Masterson made me dizzy with happiness. The others got out of the limo first, and then Mom turned to help me so I didn’t wrinkle my dress.
The twins and Aunt Willa rushed in to make sure everything was in order, while Mom stayed outside with me. The sun was starting to set, and I was glad it wasn’t raining like it had been on the twins’ wedding day. As the door closed behind the others, Mom turned and took my hands.
“Maverick helped plan today, but he’s not the one who made it possible,” my mother informed me, her face suddenly very serious. “Your dad did.”
I stiffened and took a step back from her reflexively. “No, he wouldn’t. He’s been nothing but an asshole since he found out about my relationship with Maverick. And then the other night…” I was getting pissed just thinking about what had happened to Maverick.
“I know, sweetheart. Believe me, more than anyone, I know.” She gave me an imploring look. “But your dad is sorry. He’s trying to make amends and show you that he accepts your relationship now.”
I didn’t believe her. My dad was too stubborn to do a complete 180 like that and suddenly be on board with me being with Maverick. Not wanting to argue with her about it, I turned and walked back to the limo, tempted to get in and let the driver take me as far away from all of this as fast as he could. But as my hand touched the door handle, I stopped.
No, damn it. I was not going to walk away. Not when the man I loved was waiting for me in the clubhouse. Marrying him was my dream, and it honestly didn’t matter to me how it happened, as long as