by Laura Del
“Now get out of here,” I commanded, jerking my head toward the window. “I have matron of honor things to do.” He walked over to the window like a kicked dog, and I got up off the bed. “What are you doing?” I asked.
“Leavin’,” he answered, downhearted.
“Don’t I get a kiss first?”
His eyes lit up with delight. “Yes, ma’am.” He walked over to me, wrapping his arms around me. “Ya sure you’re okay with this?”
“I think I can handle it.” I pulled on his t-shirt with my good hand, leaning up as I did so. As our lips touched the sky decided to go dark, and when we were done kissing, it started to drizzle. “Are you going to be okay?” I asked as Mike backed away.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. It’s just a little water.”
“Where are you staying?”
“Hotel right outside of town. Don’t worry, I won’t be too far. Also,” he said as he opened the window, “have Mortimer stay with you tonight, just in case.”
“Way ahead of you, old man.”
He smiled his sparkly green-eyed grin. “You’re never gonna let this go, are ya?”
I shook my head. “Nope.”
“I’ll be back,” he said, one leg out the window, “don’t you worry.”
“I’m not. Just be careful.”
“I’m a werewolf, Pat. I always land on my feet.”
“That’s cats,” I corrected.
He shrugged. “Same difference.” Mike made a show letting go of the windowsill and falling down the two stories to the ground.
After my heart stopped pounding in my throat, I looked out the window to see him safely on the ground, smiling his ass off. “Not funny,” I hissed at him, and he laughed as he ran away. I took a deep breath, closing the window in the process. “I will never get used to that.” It was true. When he did it the first time in Samuel’s garden it was unnerving, and now that he did it again, it didn’t make it any less so.
I composed myself for a minute before I opened the door making my way downstairs, only to hear Tina and Cindy/Moms fawning over Fang. As they cooed over him, Bobby saw me coming down the stairs and was right there to see if I needed any help.
“I’m good,” I comforted him as I hopped down the last step. “Why are you here?”
“I’m here because your pops wants me to set up the tent in the backyard for the wedding,” he answered, almost proud of himself.
My brow crinkled. “Why you?”
“Best man duties.”
I cocked a brow at him as we walked toward the kitchen. “Really? You?”
He shrugged. “When you see him ask him yourself.” When we made our way into the kitchen, Bobby saw Fang nestled in Tina’s lap and whispered, “You’re boyfriend, I assume.”
“Shut up,” I whispered back, elbowing him in the rib cage.
“Are you okay?” Tina asked when she noticed Bobby and me. She glared at Bobby, and I gestured with my head for her to follow me. So she got up from the table, handed Fang over to Cindy/Moms, and then said, “Be right back,” to him and her.
We walked into the hall, far enough so that no one else could hear us. “What’s up?” she asked quietly.
“Long story,” I explained.
“What was goin’ on up there?”
“Mike came in through the window, and that’s not all,” I answered and then I told her what happened as quickly and as quietly as possible, including the whole Mike being old enough to be my father thing.
“Okay,” she breathed, “ew.”
I shrugged. “That’s least of my problems.”
She nodded. “True. So what was their decision? I mean, a human Alpha must’ve pissed them off.”
“You think?” I sighed and then took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “They haven’t decided anything yet, but I have a feeling when they do that it’s not going to be good.”
“You always say that,” she pointed out.
“And I’m always right.”
She put her hand on my shoulder. “Let’s not panic until we know for sure that you’re screwed, okay?” I nodded. “Now,” she continued, “we have to go get fitted. It’ll be your final fitting and my first, so let’s just focus on that.”
“Got it,” I agreed as we made our way back into the kitchen.
“Where’s the tent?” Bobby asked Cindy/Moms.
“In the garage,” she said in Cindy’s voice. There was no way that would never not be creepy.
Bobby walked over to the garage door and then I remembered Mortimer was in there. “No,” I shouted. “I mean,” I recovered, “maybe you guys should wait a bit. It’s really starting to rain out.” And as if on cue, there was a rumble of thunder. “See? There’s nothing you hate more than freezing rain, right?”
He nodded, but his eyes narrowed. “Yeah, I guess.”
I changed the subject. “We should go get our fittings done.”
Cindy/Moms nodded, getting up from the table. “What should we do about Fang?”
“Take him with us,” Tina suggested. “I’m sure the dressmaker won’t mind.”
Bobby shook his head. “My mom will freak out. She’s terrified of dogs.”
“Then what do you suggest, Robert?” Tina huffed. I glared at her, mouthing for her to be nice, and she dropped the attitude.
“We can watch him,” Andrew said, taking him from Cindy/Moms arms. “I would just wuv dat,” he baby talked to the puppy, and Tina placed her hand over her heart as if it was going to melt.
“Okay then,” I agreed, “since that’s settled, we should probably go.”
“Yes,” Cindy/Moms said, “we should. We’re kind of late as it is.”
“Then let’s get a move on, bride,” I joked, and she laughed.
After Tina, me, and Cindy/Moms put on our coats, we made our way out into the freezing rain, driving the ten minutes to Mrs. A’s shop in silence. Mostly because no one had anything to say, and also because I think both of them could feel how overwhelmed I was with everything that had transpired in the past couple of days. Then I realized I had no clue what day it was and that I couldn’t even remember when I had left Louisiana. It seemed like a lifetime had passed in just a few days time. So I just leaned my head back against the headrest and tried to forget. All I needed to do was focus on the wedding, and goddammit, that was what I was going to do.
When we finally made it to the shop, we braved the sideways rain, and we were greeted by a smiling Mrs. A. “Hello, ladies,” she said with a wave. “And who is this beautiful young lady?” At the compliment of “young lady,” she had already won Tina’s heart, and my best friend blushed.
“Come.” Mrs. A gestured for us to follow her, and we did. The three of us went into our respective dressing rooms and whoever got out first would be the winner, or the one to go on the pedestal before the others.
As I tried on the dress, something was wrong. It was perfectly fitted, but even with Mrs. A’s superb skills there was always something a little extra that needed to be done. After all, she had fitted my two prom dresses and my wedding dress all those years ago. Something was definitely up. Especially, since I noticed the blue in the dress was a shade darker than the original. It looked similar to the old dress, but it just didn’t feel like the dress. In fact, it was softer and felt almost like silk on my skin. Even the snowflakes were made of better crystals.
“Oh my God,” Tina yelled from her dressing room.
“What is it?” I shouted back.
“Patty,” she sounded panicked, “you need to come in here. Like, right now!”
I rushed out, running over to the cubicle next to mine. Before I could even knock on the door, Tina opened it, and I saw that the dress was a perfect fit. “What the fuck?” I hissed, not believing my eyes.
She looked down at herself in shock. “I’m not even
remotely the size of your sister. How the hell?”
“I have no idea,” I answered, shaking my head, dumfounded.
“What’s that?” she asked, pointing to the bottom of my dress.
I must have been so distracted that I hadn’t noticed it when I put it on. There, on the hem of the skirt, was a pinned note. I bent over, taking it off gently as to not ruin the dress. As I handed Tina the pin, I turned the note over in my hand and recognized the elegant handwriting.
“Samuel,” I growled as I unfolded the paper to see what the bastard had to say.
“Read it aloud,” Tina ordered, and I could see her jaw clench and unclench.
I cleared my throat and began, “‘Dear Patricia,’ trust him to be an informal asswipe. ‘I must admit that you were right about me, and that I was a fool for thinking that I could win you by sheer force alone. I forgot how to be human a long time ago and, even though this will not make up for anything, I have decided to try to regain some humanity. Consider these dresses a gift for your father’s wedding with no strings attached.’ Bullshit. ‘This will not forgive me my sins against you, but I hope it will make your life a little easier. After all, silk is better than anything your father could afford anyway—’”
“Egotistical asshole,” Tina interrupted in a huff.
“‘Yours, with love and admiration, Samuel,’” I finished, shaking my head. “He’s always doing shit like this,” I hissed, tearing the note to shreds. “He thinks that he can make everything right by buying things or writing me a nice note. I’m so happy I staked his ass in that dream, you have no idea.”
“Let’s just be grateful this is all he did.” As soon as those words were out of Tina’s mouth, Cindy/Moms walked out of her dressing room in a dress that looked to be more expensive than I knew she could afford. It was covered with silver crystals that resembled snowfall, and was off-the-shoulders, revealing an elegant line. The sleeves were long and sheer with beautiful crystals spiraling around her arms. Long, flowy and white, the crystals pooled at the bottom of the skirt, making Cindy/Moms look like an angel.
“This isn’t my dress,” she said, looking shocked.
“Oh my God,” Tina said dreamily.
“You’re beautiful, Mommy.” I let that slip and Mrs. A was right there with an “awe.”
“I think that’s so sweet that she can call you mommy like that,” Mrs. A added. “That’s wonderful.”
When I thought about it, calling her mommy was kind of perfect. It was a good combination of Moms and Cindy. So I figured that it was an easier way to address her. “Is it okay if I call you that?” I asked her, and she nodded with a wink.
“That dress just looks perfect on you,” Mrs. A interrupted our moment. “I’m so glad we went with this one.”
“This isn’t my dress,” Mommy said, looking at Mrs. A as if she was crazy.
“Yes, it is,” she protested. “I have the order form and the confirmation. Look, you signed and paid.” All four of us looked at the form and at the bottom was clearly a signature that said Cindy’s name, but in Samuels handwriting.
I looked at my mother, nodding at her, and she hit her forehead dramatically. “Duh. Pregnancy brain on the loose.”
We all laughed, but three of us knew that this was nowhere near funny. This was unsettling. Samuel could just walk into a shop, change a person’s memory, and act like it was all okay. Fucking bastard, the little voice in my head screamed in frustration.
Mrs. A fitted us, patting herself on the back for a job well done, even congratulating herself on fixing the sleeve of my dress in order to fit the cast. The rest of us just stood there and smiled as if we didn’t know what was really going on.
When we were done with the ordeal that was the fitting, we headed home in the same silence as we went. The only thing my mother said the whole ride was, “Samuel?” in her real voice. To which both Tina and I nodded.
As we walked in the house, there seemed to be some sort of commotion going on in the kitchen. Fang was yipping while three men sat at the table laughing. At first, I thought it was Mike, then I realized it was Mortimer. It had grown considerably darker since we left, and as we put out coats away the thunder rolled again.
“I’m just sayin’,” Bobby was laughing. “All this rain makes me wanna punch a baby.”
“That was graphic,” Tina said with distain.
“Yeah,” I agreed, “remind me never to leave my children around you.” Fang yipped again, and I picked him up. “Did any of you think that he has to go out?” All three of them just stared at me. “That’s what I thought.” I took him out, staying under the awning while he did his business. Then I got that feeling again. Like someone was watching me. As if to confirm my suspicions, Fang growled and I quickly picked him up, taking him back inside.
Suddenly, I was tired and it seemed that the men had their work cut out for them with the rain. I decided to go upstairs and maybe take a little bit of a nap in the process. As I made my way up, Tina followed in silence. We walked into my room and there, lying on the bed, was a garment bag.
“What now?” Tina sighed as I handed her Fang.
I lifted the bag off the bed, unzipping it to reveal the greatest red dress I had ever seen. Another note was attached. “‘For the rehearsal,’” I read, “‘S.’”
“Well, I give him one thing,” Tina breathed, “he’s got great taste.”
About an hour later, my eyes shot open when someone knocked on the door to my bedroom. I must have passed out after Tina tucked me in. She had put the dress in the closet and then told, more like commanded, me to lie down.
Fang was curled up next to me, breathing heavily. But he looked up at the door when that same someone knocked again. “Come in,” I said, wiping the sleep out of my eyes.
Mortimer walked in with a slight smile on his face, closing the door gently behind him. “I just wanted ta tell ye dat I needed ta go out fur a bit.”
“Okay,” I yawned. “Where are you going?”
“Ta,” he waved the rest of the explanation on, and I swear that if he were alive, he would have been blushing.
I realized what he meant and hit my forehead. “Of course, Mortimer. You go out and do what you need to do. Just don’t eat any of the locals. I’ll never hear the end of it.”
He laughed. “I promise I won’t. I’m gonna use the winda, if dat’s all right wit ye.”
“Be my guest.” As soon as those words were out of my mouth, he was out of the room. He even closed the window after he left.
As soon as he was gone, I got up out of bed, looking at my cell to see the time. It was only around three in the afternoon, but it seemed like this day just kept on getting longer and longer. “Come on, Fang,” I said, picking him up from the bed as he yawned in my face.
When I walked downstairs, chaos ensued. Everyone was yelling at one another. Mad and Sandy had come over, obviously to help with the decorations, but Bobby was nowhere in sight. Tina was trying to tell everyone to calm down while my mother was just standing behind the median shaking her head.
“Whoa,” I bellowed, putting Fang down on the floor, and he just sat next to me. Everyone stopped talking and just stared at me. “What’s going on here?”
Pops looked at me with a frown. He must have come home to a mess. “What isn’t wrong? The tent won’t stay up because we got the wrong stakes for it. Thankfully, Bobby went to go get the right ones. The decorations we had for tonight are gone, and it turns out that everyone we invited to the rehearsal isn’t gonna make it because the storm has flooded the roads. Oh, and did I mention that the whole goddammed house has gone crazy!”
“Everyone just needs to take a chill pill, okay?” I said, and they all nodded somberly. “Okay. Here’s what we’re going to do. We don’t need the decorations because the guests aren’t coming. The wedding party is here, that’s all that matters at the rehearsal
, right?”
“Right,” Tina chimed in with a nod.
“We’ll deal with the tent when Bobby comes back with the supplies and then we can all,” I paused, seeing that Madison and Sandra already had on their nice clothes. Sandy wore a lovely gold pantsuit with brown suede heels while Mad looked really good in a blue and white long-sleeved dress, which covered up her leg cast very well. “Well,” I continued, “some of us can go and get ready for tonight. Is the food coming?” I asked my mother.
“Yes,” Mommy replied. “The food is already here actually.” She pointed to the kitchen counters. There were a lot of containers that were now going to waste. But hey, you have to work with what you have. “It’s just the guests who are not going to arrive.” My mother didn’t seem upset in the least, but that was the way she was the first time around too.
“Is that really a tragedy?” I asked them all.
“Not in my book,” Andrew piped up, and they all laughed.
“Oh my God,” Sandy said, confusing me. “Is that a puppy?”
I looked down at Fang, who was leaning against my leg like my little protector. “Yes, yes, he is. And his name is Fang.”
“Isn’t he precious?” Mad squealed, and just like that all the drama was forgotten.
I rolled my eyes as both of them walked—well, Mad limped—over to him to coo and fawn. Fang just ate up all the attention like anyone would, and he stuck his tongue out, smiling all the while.
“See,” Pops said as he stood by me, “I told Cindy you could handle it. You always know what to do, baby girl.”
“I’m surprised she didn’t handle it herself,” I replied, slyly looking over at her, and she winked.
“She’s not very good in these sorta situations,” he explained.
“Oh, I think she’s better than you give her credit for.”
I had to admit my mother was playing the role of Cindy very well, but sooner or later the act would drop and she would be her old self. But I figured she was waiting until after the wedding to drop that personality bomb on him.
Around thirty minutes later, everything seemed to be very relaxed, so I figured it would be a good idea for the rest of us to get ready for the festivities. However, my father was still moaning about the tent, and he went outside to try to secure it as best he could without the proper tools.
