“It’s sort of an abstract ladybug,” Gia explained. “Ruby and onyx.”
“Did Bennett do this all by himself?” Elise demanded.
“Bennett did this all by himself,” said the man in question—her husband-to-be, which still threw her for a loop—as he came up to join their circle and slung an arm over Gia’s shoulder.
“Well, damn. Good job.” Elise narrowed her eyes. “But since you guys didn’t give us any notice, Bennett, now you’re going to have to stand here and listen to me make a ‘So help me God, if you hurt my best friend in any way, I will end you,’ speech. Normally I’d have the courtesy to make it in private, but…”
Gia thought about shushing Elise, but there was no point. Bennett grinned. “Noted.”
“Hey, Mia.” Gia crouched down to talk to Elise’s daughter, who was almost two. A rush of love filled her. Gia was Mia’s godmother, and though there was supposedly some long story to do with Jay naming Mia after some Lego thing, Gia always tuned out when he told it, teasing him that that was just his cover story—because clearly Mia was an homage to Gia.
“We were wondering if you would like to be our ring bearer.” She had thought initially of asking Mia to be a flower girl, but Mia was a serious kid with a major aversion to traditionally girly stuff, so she thought the responsibility of being the ring bearer might be a better fit. “It’s a really important job. You get to hold on to the rings until we need them.”
Mia smiled like Gia had just delivered her heart’s desire, clutched her dad’s hand, and nodded.
“Wow!” Jay said. “What an honor! You’re going to be great.”
Mia turned to her dad and whispered, “Daddy help?”
“Of course.” There was so much love in Jay’s eyes for the kid they’d all thought was an impossibility that it almost made Gia choke up.
Luckily Jane and Cam arrived at that moment, so no tears needed to be shed.
Jane swooped off the elevator, and there was more squealing and shrieking. Cameron greeted his brother, Jay, warmly and scooped up his niece. Jane and Cameron were childless by choice—as Jane said about her life, “If it ain’t broke, and it very much ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” And honestly, to look at them, still all googly-eyed, over-the-top in love, it was hard to disagree. Jane’s books were as popular as ever, and Cameron had just finished his university program and started working at a civil engineering firm. They were both crazy about Mia and Jasmine.
“Unca Cam help!” Mia shrieked in delight as Cameron spun her around. Cameron seemed to be uniquely able to get serious Mia to loosen up, and he took every chance he got to do just that.
Jay laughed. “Forever upstaged by my cooler brother.”
“Help with what?” Cam asked, dangling Mia upside down to great effect—Mia laughed and laughed, but managed to say, “I ring bear.”
“Ah.” Cameron set down his niece and nodded seriously. “Ring bear. Yes. Of course I’ll help. Should we go practice our growling?”
“Yeah.” Gia made a shooing motion. “All you men and offspring, make yourselves scarce for a minute.” She wanted some time alone with her girls.
“You look amazing,” Jane said, taking in Gia’s dress. Gia had called around to some old fashion industry friends and, even with such short notice, managed to get her hands on a gorgeous vintage Givenchy gown—a classic, simple silk number with capped sleeves that fit her perfectly.
“It’s a size six,” Gia whispered, and they all knew what that meant. She had gained weight since the big career shift. As she’d predicted to Bennett, it hadn’t been easy. But at the same time, it hasn’t been as difficult as she’d feared to break the hold that food had over her. She’d started seeing a shrink who specialized in eating disorders. And, strangely, what helped as much as anything was that she and Bennett worked all the time. She loved it. It had felt like they were building something real, something important, with the restaurant, and she was able to see that she was a critical part of that process. Bennett really did want her to be the business brains of the operation, and she was good at it.
Given all that, she’d been able to grasp the importance of fueling her body, of keeping herself healthy. So when Bennett, who had made her a soft-boiled egg every damn morning since they’d been together, put food in front of her, she ate it. It had been nerve-racking at first to see the numbers inch up, but then Bennett had thrown her scale out. Just put it out with the garbage one morning before she’d woken up. She’d been gobsmacked at first, and a little indignant, but she’d come around to seeing things his way. And she seemed to have stabilized at a size six.
And she did look pretty incredible in the dress, if she did say so herself.
“So has Bennett been slaving over the wedding dinner on his one day of rest?” Elise asked.
The restaurant was closed on Mondays, which was why they’d chosen today for their wedding.
“Nope. I wouldn’t let him. We’re going there, but we’re ordering pizza and having butter tarts for dessert.”
“All right!” Jane said, delighted by this pronouncement.
“You definitely win the prize for lowest-key wedding,” Wendy said.
“Yeah.” Gia, a little overcome with emotion, smiled at her girls. “No offense, but I think we’ve had enough wedding drama for a while. Bennett’s parents are coming tomorrow, and we’ll do a big elaborate meal at the restaurant with them. We’ll save the drama for then.”
“Ohhh,” said Wendy ominously, and Gia had to kind of agree. Bennett’s parents had visited once before, about a year ago, and though it was clear his dad was trying—and he and Bennett talked pretty frequently these days—his mom had been as bitchy and cold as ever. But continuing to try to build a relationship with them was important to Bennett, so Gia was right there with him. She’d suggested they invite his parents to the actual wedding, but he’d shut that down, insisting that he wanted only their closest, most supportive friends there.
“Yep,” Gia said. “It will probably suck, but I’m prepared to be pleasantly surprised. My family is coming, too.” She hadn’t even told them about the wedding yet—she planned to spring that on them tomorrow. When Bennett had decided not to invite his family to the actual wedding, she’d followed suit. She loved them, but she wanted it to be just her and her best friends—her chosen family.
“Marc Lalande is coming, too,” she added, “so hopefully he’ll provide a bit of a buffer. Can you imagine? The two families and the big mentor chef? Bennett is going to go so overboard. He’s been plotting and grumbling for weeks, but he won’t tell me anything about his plans.”
“Yeah, but on the other hand, it will probably be the best meal you’ve ever had in your life,” Wendy said. “If you love me at all, you’ll save me a doggie bag.”
“Oh! I almost forgot!” Elise produced a magazine from her bag—Toronto Life, the hipster lifestyle rag. “I’m redesigning their offices, and I snagged this advance copy.” It was the magazine’s annual “where to eat” issue, the local bible of restaurants. Elise flipped through and handed it to Gia open to a page in the middle. “Look! You guys got best start-up!”
Goose bumps rose on Gia’s skin as she read the glowing review of the Ladybug Café. It praised the “fresh, sophisticated but unfussy” food but also the concept. They had gone ahead with Gia’s idea of not listing prices but delivering itemized “bills” to the table and encouraging people to pay what they could or wanted to. To her delight, the place was drawing a mixed clientele. It didn’t feel at all like a “charity” restaurant, but like a funky, friendly neighborhood place where anyone was welcome. And the best part about the article was that it name-checked Bennett as the “ridiculously talented southern transplant” and her as the “business and creative force” behind the place.
She sniffed. Okay, now she really was going to cry.
“Aww!” said Elise.
“We’re so proud of you!”
“We love you!”
They all rushed her,
and Gia let herself sink into a big, teary group hug.
“Hey.” Bennett’s approach broke up their lovefest. “We’re up in ten minutes.” He looked at Gia’s friends with obvious affection in his eyes. “Mind if I steal my girl away for a minute?”
“Of course,” Jane said.
“But mind yourself there,” Wendy said. “She’s not your girl.”
“Right!” Elise said. “She’s our girl.”
“As long as I’m part of that ‘our,’ I’m cool with that.” Bennett threaded his fingers through Gia’s and walked her away from the busy area outside the chapel where an assembly line of weddings was being performed.
“Hi,” he said, when he’d found them an empty corner. He twirled her around so they were facing each other.
“Hi.” Her mouth quirked up into an almost involuntary smile, as it so often did when he was near.
“Hi,” he said again, his tone more serious this time, lower, as he pressed her up against the wall and planted a kiss on her. She could tell he’d meant it to be a quick peck, but she wrapped her arms around him and held tight. He only resisted for a second before groaning in a mixture of defeat and pleasure and letting his mouth go slack. She seized the moment and feasted on him, relishing the way he always made her insides feel like they were liquefying and getting heavy at the same time.
“Uhh,” he grunted as he overpowered her a few seconds later, levering her arms off him and stepping away. “We gotta get going or we’re going to miss our own wedding.”
She made a vague noise of displeasure as he pressed his forehead against hers. He was panting a bit. She loved that she could get him so riled up, even after all this time. There was certainly something to be said for his way of doing things—for learning a man’s body and, not to be too schmaltzy, his soul. For letting yourself fall deeper and deeper every day.
“Truth or dare?” he whispered, his forehead still touching hers. His eyes were closed, and his face was screwed up like he was thinking really hard about something. It almost looked like he was praying.
“Dare,” she said, her voice overcome with emotion.
His eyes flew open, and even though she’d seen them a million times, smiling at her when she woke in the morning, flashing as he dominated the restaurant kitchen, it was still a shock to see them right there, so brilliantly blue and so kind, and so utterly focused on her.
“Marry me,” he whispered. “Be mine forever.”
She smiled, pulled away, and extended her ladybug-bedecked hand.
“I don’t know. I might rather do twenty push-ups, but…” She pretended to think about it as he swatted her butt, then took her hand. “Okay. If you insist.”
And then they got married. There were tears. There was a kid named after a princess who made it halfway down the aisle before she sat on the floor and dumped her entire basket of flower petals over her head. There was a bear, complete with growls, who managed to drop both rings and needed some help from her bear uncle to finish the job. There was sassy back talk from Jane, raucous laughter from Wendy, and very loud shushing from Elise.
There was a group Polaroid.
Then Gia slung her husband’s leather jacket over her dress and they all went to the Ladybug Café and ate pizza and butter tarts.
In other words, it was perfect.
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About the Author
Jenny Holiday is a USA Today bestselling author who started writing at age nine when her awesome fourth-grade teacher gave her a notebook and told her to start writing some stories. That first batch featured mass murderers on the loose, alien invasions, and hauntings. (Looking back, she’s amazed no one sent her to a shrink.) She’s been writing ever since. After a detour to get a PhD in geography, she worked as a professional writer, producing everything from speeches to magazine articles. Later, her tastes having evolved from alien invasions to happily-ever-afters, she tried her hand at romance. She lives in London, Ontario, with her family.
Learn more at:
Jennyholiday.com
Twitter @jennyholi
Facebook.com/jennyholidaybooks
Praise for the Bridesmaids
Behaving Badly series
It Takes Two
“Jenny Holiday turns up the heat and the charm for a summer read more satisfying than a poolside popsicle.…It’s hard to imagine finding a more delightful summer escape.”
—Entertainment Weekly
“This is romantic comedy at its best, complete with clever, sexy banter, a vibrant cast of characters, [and] a wedding that is a character in itself.”
—Washington Post
“A witty, sexy and wonderfully entertaining romantic comedy.”
—USA Today, Happy Ever After
“Holiday combines class and sass with a hefty dose of humor.…This winning hero and heroine will take up residence in readers’ hearts.”
—Publishers Weekly
“[An] irresistible mix of lively, piquantly witty writing; sharply etched, marvelously memorable characters; and some completely combustible love scenes that are guaranteed to leave burn marks on readers’ fingers.”
—Booklist, starred review
One and Only
“The perfect rom-com.”
—Refinery29
“A satisfying iteration of the contemporary bridezilla subgenre.”
—New York Times Book Review
“When it comes to creating unputdownable contemporary romances, Holiday is in it to win it.”
—Booklist, starred review
“Delightfully sexy and sweet, Holiday knows how to deliver the perfect combination of sexual tension and happily-ever-after.”
—Lauren Layne, New York Times bestselling author
“One and Only is fantastic! A great start to a new series. Compelling characters, tons of heat, loads of heart. I highly recommend!”
—M. O’Keefe, USA Today bestselling author
Also by Jenny Holiday
THE BRIDESMAIDS BEHAVING BADLY SERIES
One and Only
It Takes Two
Three Little Words Page 30
