Three Stupid Weddings

by Ann Gallagher

  Looking up at her now, you would never know she’d thought the sky was caving in earlier. Trust Vic to be exactly what she’d needed. Not just for her hair, but for her confidence. Even the slightest setback at a wedding felt like a catastrophe to the people getting married and could send the most level-headed person into a tailspin. I could imagine a bride’s panic at having a chunk of her hair burned off, especially in the eleventh hour. That kind of panic could set the stage for the entire day.

  But her fiancée’s cousin was not only a great hairdresser—he was one of those people who could tell someone to calm down without being patronizing. Not “calm down because you’re overreacting.” More like “calm down because I’ve totally got you and we’re going to fix this.” That kind of self-assurance was contagious.

  He’d gone into the bride’s room with that self-assurance earlier, and now there she was, standing up at the altar, smiling at her soon-to-be wife without a single trace of the totally justified meltdown from earlier.

  I stole a glance at Vic, and my heart went crazy.

  Turns out it is possible to fall harder for you.

  Chapter 9

  Vic

  After the ceremony, everyone hit the buffet while the wedding party posed for photos in various places around the farm. At some point, Kelley had plucked a rose from Lydia’s bouquet and placed it in her hair, and I would definitely have to hit up my aunt for a photo of the two of them together. That was going on my mirror at work, and not just because I’d done her wife’s hair. Jesus, my baby cousin and my baby sister had both gotten married in rapid succession. When they started having babies, I was just going to have to give up, check myself into a retirement home, and learn to play shuffleboard.

  The photos wrapped up and the wedding party sat down at the head table. There were toasts and speeches, and everyone stuffed their faces with some seriously amazing catering, but I was admittedly restless the entire time. I didn’t dare let it show because I didn’t want my cousin’s bride freaking out more than she already had, but the hairstyle disaster had stressed me out too. Even though I’d known I could unfuck the situation and turn her into the gorgeous bride she deserved to be, there was always that part of me that was terrified I’d screw something up. I didn’t worry as much with my day-to-day clients, but when it was a wedding or a prom? Dear Lord, pass the Xanax.

  So even two hours later, while everyone ate dinner under the shady trees, I still had some post-panic jitteriness I couldn’t quite shake off. What if I hadn’t been able to salvage Lydia’s hair? What if I’d made things worse? What if she’d—

  Just breathe. It’s done. Everything is fine.

  I took a deep swallow from my water glass. Maybe I needed some more wine. I’d pretty much shotgunned two glasses right before the ceremony to calm myself down, and I didn’t want to actually get drunk. But damn, maybe one or two more would chill me out enough to get through the rest of the night.

  You know wine’s just empty calories, right?

  I actually rolled my eyes at my own thought. Really? My brain was going to go there now? Because I wasn’t already a mess. Why not have Max throw in his two cents too?

  Fuck it. I need wine.

  I excused myself from the table and tried not to seem too eager to get to the open bar. By the time I reached the front of the short line, I’d rationalized that hard liquor would be stronger on the booze but lighter on the ammunition for my Max-shaped demons. Instead of wine, I ordered a bourbon on the rocks. Not really my favorite thing in the world, but neither was the sour taste of self-loathing while I tried to enjoy some wine.

  While the bartender poured my drink, Dom appeared beside me. “Hey. You doing okay?”

  I’m getting a drink I don’t like so I can calm myself down without giving the ex-boyfriend who isn’t here a reason to criticize me, so yeah, I’m awesome.

  “Yeah. Just…” I didn’t have an explanation, and Dom knew I wasn’t a fan of hard liquor unless it was in a calorie-laden cocktail. I didn’t miss the side-eye he gave the glass as the bartender put it down. Shame twisted behind my ribs and made my stomach lurch. I fished out a five to tip the bartender, collected my drink, and mumbled a thank-you before Dom and I stepped aside so the next person could order.

  I sipped the bourbon. Ugh. God. People drank this shit voluntarily?

  Dom put a hand between my shoulder blades. “You sure you’re doing okay?”

  “Yeah. Yeah.” I stared into my glass as I took and released a deep breath. “Just still kind of…” I looked up into Dom’s warm, concerned eyes. “Coming down from crisis mode, I guess.”

  He offered a gentle smile. “You weren’t even the one getting married.”

  “No, but there aren’t many roles more nerve wracking than the savior of a bride’s burned hair.”

  “You nailed it, though.”

  “I know. But that kind of thing scares the crap out of me, you know?” I leaned into him, loving the effortless way he went from a hand on my back to an arm around my shoulders. “I know I can do it, but I also know a million ways I could screw it up. And now that I’m done, I’m just sort of…” I held up my free hand, and it was shaking a little.

  Dom held me tighter. “You saved the day. I think anyone would be stressed out if they showed up somewhere and suddenly everyone expected them to save the day.”

  I shuddered.

  “But you did, you know. It was important to her, and you were under a ton of pressure. It’d be like if someone shoved a camera into my hands, told me the photographer had had a heart attack, and now it was up to me to make sure they had a perfect wedding album. Yeah, I know what I’m doing behind a camera, but I’d be scared shitless of doing it wrong.”

  To my surprise, the panicky feeling receded a little. Or, well, my embarrassment over that feeling did, anyway. The jitteriness would have to calm down on its own time, though the booze might help. But with Dom’s words, I felt a hell of a lot less stupid about being that jittery.

  He squeezed my shoulder. “Anyone would be rattled, especially after the fact when you have a chance to think about how stressful it was.” He paused. “That why you’re getting into the hard stuff?”

  I glanced at my glass, and fresh shame made my throat sour. “Yeah. I guess.” Sighing, I let myself melt a bit more against him. “It’s just…like the adrenaline crash, you know? Which probably sounds kind of stupid to have an adrenaline anything over hair, but—”

  “Not at all.” He loosened his embrace. “Anything I can do?”

  You’re already doing it. You always do. Why are you so perfect?

  “No, I’ll be fine.” I took a small sip of the bourbon, nearly gagged, and put the glass on an empty table. Then I slipped my hand into his. “Come on. There’s still people I haven’t introduced you to.”

  Dom smiled, lacing his fingers between mine. No judgment. No giving me grief for trying to drink my stress away, or for having the stress to begin with. “Your mom introduced me to a few people.” As we started walking, he added, “How did you never tell me you have a cousin who works for NASA?”

  “Hey, Dom?” I glanced at him and smirked. “I have a cousin who works for NASA.”

  Laughing, he rolled his eyes and elbowed me. I elbowed him back.

  And as we headed toward a group of familiar faces, I felt a million times better than I had when I’d gotten in line for the bar.

  ~*~

  An hour or so later, I was feeling pretty damn good. I’d only taken two sips from my now-abandoned bourbon, but I was as light and high as if I’d chugged the whole bottle. Just without the getting sick and doing stupid shit part.

  Dom and I had drifted away from each other. He’d been lost in conversation with my cousin—yeah, the one who worked for NASA—and I’d been dragged away by my other cousin’s new mother-in-law. He’d seemed happy to chat about the Mars Rover, so I didn’t feel too bad about wandering away.

  Now that Kelley’s mother-in-law was done with me, I swung by th
e bar for some ice water, and I was about to go looking for Dom to make sure he wasn’t looking for me. I’d only made it two steps from the bar before Lydia stopped me, though.

  “Hey!” She smiled broadly. “I just wanted to say thank you again.” She hugged me so tight she almost knocked my glass out of my hand. “I seriously thought I was going to have charred hair in my wedding pictures.”

  “Not with me here.” I patted her back gently before I let her go. “Hair is what I do.”

  She smiled, touching the braid. “And you think my regular hairdresser can do something with it? To actually even out the length?”

  “Totally. I trimmed off the damaged parts and layered it a bit to even it out as much as I could to tide you over. If I’d had more time, I’d have done—”

  “Oh my God, don’t sweat it.” She clasped my hand in hers. “I love what you did. And my hairdresser says she can get me in before Kelley and I leave for our honeymoon. I’ll be fine.”

  “Good. It doesn’t even need to be anything drastic. Some more layering, maybe give you some long bangs?”

  “I don’t know. I’m thinking something short might be kind of fun. I wanted it long for the wedding, but now…” She grinned. “We’ll see?”

  “Well, if you end up in Seattle, I’d be happy to do it for you. Short is kind of my specialty.”

  Her eyes lit up. “Maybe I will.”

  “Kelley’s got my number.”

  “Great! Thank you again, sweetie!” She pulled me in for another hug.

  After we’d gone our separate ways, I was still smiling like an idiot. The post-panic jitters were still there, but my conversation with her had settled them a bit more.

  Feeling pretty damn good, I went looking for Dom.

  I found him next to a white fence where some of the kids had apparently gathered to play. I couldn’t hear what he was saying, but it was obvious he was telling the kids a story of some sort. The animated gestures and the way everyone—including some adult bystanders—were enraptured by him was a dead giveaway. As I came in closer, I heard some of the voices and sound effects he was making.

  Big shock—Star Wars. Dom was nothing if not a big kid himself, so he was absolutely in his element here.

  And he was… God, he was adorable. He was one of those adults who could effortlessly interact with children without being patronizing. No over-the-top voices. No talking down to them. Babies made him nervous, especially if they were crying, but once a kid was old enough to walk and talk, Dom could entertain them for hours.

  “He really has a way with kids, doesn’t he?” My mom’s voice made me jump. I turned to see her beside me, a wineglass in her hand, a smile on her face, and her gaze fixed on Dom and the kids.

  I shifted my attention back to him. “Yeah. He’s got a bunch of nieces and nephews, and they all adore him.”

  “Can’t imagine why.”

  We watched in silence as Dom regaled them with fan theories about whether Han Solo shot first in A New Hope.

  After a moment, Mom said in a conspiratorial whisper, “I know you two haven’t been dating very long, but I think you’ve found yourself a keeper.”

  I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. Kind of guilty that I was lying to my family, but what was I supposed to say?

  “Actually we’re not really dating, but I’m hurting too much over… over, um… Max, that’s his name. Hurting too much over Max to deal with you all playing matchmaker.”

  “Yeah,” I finally said. “He’s pretty amazing.”

  She leaned in a bit closer. “Do you think you two will—”

  “Mom.” I kept my voice gentle but firm as I put up a hand and turned to her. “Don’t. Please?”

  Crevices formed between her eyebrows. “Honey, you know I just want to see you happy.”

  “I know. And I appreciate it.” I glanced at Dom before facing her again. “But I just broke up with somebody, and Dom and I, we’re—” Not actually a couple. “We’re still finding our footing. Just…one thing at a time, okay?”

  She pursed her lips, watching Dom for a moment, and finally nodded. “Okay.” I could see all kinds of things written across her face. Don’t be an idiot and let him go. Hold onto this one. Don’t wait too long.

  For once, though, she didn’t push. In silence again, we watched Dom, who was mercifully oblivious to our conversation.

  My mood suddenly wasn’t so light anymore.

  I’d brought Dom with me to fend off all the matchmaking attempts while I caught my breath after Max. Now I was using my breakup with Max to fend off all the questions and pressure over me and Dom.

  I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

  Chapter 10

  Dom

  I would have continued explaining fan theory to the gathered kids, but right about the time I was getting to the part where R2-D2 is actually a spy, someone came up and mentioned that the bride and groom were about to cut the cake. The kids instantly got up off the grass and bolted for the tables. Wasn’t like I could blame them. I mean, wedding cake. And this one had to be better than that monstrosity we’d tried to eat at Vic’s sister’s wedding, so hell yeah I was getting a piece.

  “Turning a new generation into nerds like us?” Vic appeared, hands in his pockets and a playful grin on his lips.

  “Absolutely.” I gestured after the dozen or so kids I’d been entertaining. “You know three of them haven’t seen a single Star Wars movie?”

  Vic put a hand to his chest. “No.”

  “Dead serious. You need have a talk with… I don’t know, your cousins or whoever.”

  “I’ll send out an email. Or name and shame them on social media if it comes down to it.” He laughed and nodded in the direction everyone was starting to gather. “Want to go grab some cake?”

  “Hell yeah.” I eyed him. “They’re not into that gluten-free, flavor-free horror, are they?”

  Vic snorted. “This side of the family? Not a chance. We’re lucky it’s not layered steak with gravy frosting.”

  I barked a laugh as we started following everyone. “Is it bad that I think that sounds more appetizing than your sister’s wedding cake?”

  “Oh please. Your cat leaves more appetizing things than that in the litter box.”

  A middle-aged woman turned and gaped at us, and Vic and I collapsed into giggles. His giggling made mine worse. Mine seemed to make his worse. We both tried—sort of—to contain it, but the more we tried to hold back, the worse it got. It always happened that way. Once one of us lost it, the other did too, and there was no reining it in until we were exhausted. By that point, anyone hanging out with us was usually rolling their eyes and wondering what in the world was wrong with us…which only made us laugh harder. Dom-and-Vic giggle fits were notorious within our circle of friends. Whatever set us off didn’t even have to be that funny. In fact we usually forgot what it was long before we pulled ourselves together.

  By some miracle, though, we calmed down, and by the time we joined everyone, we’d regained some semblance of dignity.

  Then he bumped his shoulder against mine. I returned it. We glanced at each other and both had to suppress fresh snickers. Someone shot us a glare, which didn’t help, and I had to cover my mouth to literally smother my laughter. Beside me, Vic’s shoulders shook, and that didn’t help at all. We were so going to lose it again.

  Fortunately, no one really noticed because the brides had everyone in stitches before too long. They didn’t do that stupid cake-smashing thing, but they did feed each other a small piece. As they did, Lydia playfully left a little dab of frosting on the tip of Kelley’s nose, and maybe they were just so happy to be married and relieved to be done with the stress of the wedding, because they both started laughing hysterically just like we had. It was contagious, too.

  As the brides laughed, the photographer wisely snapped a ton of shots of it. I had a feeling one of those photos would wind up in a frame in their living room. It was a moment of silliness, but I didn’t think I�
�d ever seen two people looking happier than the two of them did right then.

  Man. All these weddings were turning me into a mushy romantic.

  I’d been laughing so much, I was tearing up, and as I wiped my eyes, I glanced at Vic.

  And I did a double take.

  He was watching his cousin and her wife, smiling broadly with tears on his cheeks and some extra color in his face from giggling. It wasn’t like I hadn’t seen him smiling recently, but it was so good—so refreshing—to see this unabashed happiness for once. He’d been so miserable for so long, and now he’d laughed so hard he was crying, and…

  Hell, maybe it wasn’t the weddings turning me into that mushy romantic after all. Maybe it was my date.

  He looked at me, and when he sobered, I realized I had too. Vic touched my arm. “What’s wrong?”

  For the first time in way too long—absolutely nothing.

  I smiled and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “Not a damn thing.”

  He gave me a puzzled look, but then the smile came back and he leaned into me like he usually did.

  We hung back while everyone else lined up to grab some cake. That was fine by me. Standing here with my arm around Vic’s shoulders, my face aching from laughing, I was in no hurry to be anywhere else. Not even for wedding cake.

  After the crowd had mostly cleared out, we made our way up to the table, where the mothers of the brides were serving up cake.

  I picked up one of the plates they’d already laid out. Vic requested a small piece, and one of the moms cut him a tiny sliver. As he took it, I sent a silent curse in Max’s general direction. I hated how much Max still influenced Vic, especially when it came to food. He couldn’t even indulge in a slab of wedding cake, for God’s sake. It wasn’t like that was something a person ate on a regular basis, so why not enjoy it?

  Because Max. That’s why. Because fucking Max.

  We stood beside the cluster of tables and cautiously dug into the cake. I hesitated, subtly waiting for Vic to take a bite before I did. Then, with his fork almost to his mouth, he flicked his eyes toward me.