by Ivy Smoak
"Of course I remember." My eyes had gotten teary remembering.
"I loved that night. And you looked beautiful in that dress." He placed a soft kiss against my lips. "Wear that one."
"Okay."
He kissed me once more and I watched him walk out of the bathroom. I couldn't believe he remembered what I was wearing that night. I smiled to myself. He had been wearing a gray suit and a black tie. I quickly wiped under my eyes. If I started crying again right now, I'd never be able to get ready. It seemed like all I did was cry recently. I plugged in my curling iron and did my makeup as fast as I could. When I was done, the curling iron still wasn't hot enough.
I grabbed my phone and clicked on Melissa's name. The phone rang a few times and then went to voicemail. My stomach sunk. "Hey, Melissa, it's me. I just wanted to make sure you were going to be at the Tavern on the Green by 6. I know we have a lot to talk about. And we can talk about it after the dinner tonight. Please just be there. I love you. And I'm sorry about everything. I'll see you soon. Bye, Melissa." I hung up before I started to ramble about Tyler.
Shit, Tyler. I put my hand over the curling iron and felt the heat rising off of it. I was going to need to talk to Tyler and curl my hair at the same time in order to finish getting ready. I pressed on Tyler's name in my phone and balanced my cell between my ear and shoulder as I started to curl the ends of my hair.
"Hey," he said. "I was hoping you'd call." He sighed. "So you took my advice? You two made up?"
"Yeah. Thank you, Tyler. For everything."
"The wedding is back on then?"
"It is. Tyler, if you're still in New York, you should come tonight."
"No. I mean...I never went back to New York. I'm at some diner in Pennsylvania right now, actually. I just needed to drive."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize. I get it. And I am happy for you. Really, Penny, I am."
"Thank you." I quickly wiped under my eyes again. God, don't start crying again.
"So," Tyler said. "The police think I stole money from James? Is that about right?"
"Yeah. But it was Isabella. Don't worry about it, okay? We're going to clear it up. We went to the police station to try and get her arrested and it just...they twisted everything around." I moved the phone to my other ear so I could finish my hair.
"I don't really understand why my name came up. Should I be worried about this?"
"No. I promise I'll take care of it. I'm sorry you got dragged into this. I just wanted to call to make sure you knew it was going to be okay."
"Yeah. Hey, it's 5:30. Don't you have to get going to your rehearsal?"
"I have a few minutes."
We were both silent for a moment. I unplugged the curling iron.
"Penny, I said I couldn't be your friend anymore. We can't...I can't do this." His breathing sounded heavy.
"I know." I walked out of the bathroom. I couldn't stand to look at my reflection in the mirror. It was hard being so happy when Tyler was so sad. Because of me. "Okay. Thank you for taking my call."
"Penny." His voice sounded pained. "I'm sorry that I'm not going to be there. I just...I need time."
"It's okay. I understand." I was blinking fast so that I wouldn't start crying.
"Maybe one day down the road we can try this whole friend thing again."
It was at least a small shred of hope. Time could heal this. Tyler would find someone and she would heal him. He'd know what true love really was.
"Call me when that happens. I'm going to miss you."
"I'm going to miss you too."
There was another awkward pause.
"Good luck tomorrow," he said.
"Thanks, Tyler."
"Bye, Penny."
"Bye." I listened to the phone disconnect on his end before hanging up. He was going to be okay. He just needed time. I took a deep breath as I walked into my closet.
I moved my dresses around until I found the one James wanted. I lifted up the hanger and held it out in front of me. James was right. That night had been wonderful. And this dress would be perfect tonight too. I quickly changed into it. Luckily it still fit just right. It was a strapless white dress that stopped mid thigh and had a teacup-like skirt. I had thought the poof of it looked sophisticated and fun at the same time. I grabbed a pair of white high heels. As I put them on, I spotted a pair of red ones. That would be more fun. Tonight was all about celebrating me and James. It was supposed to be fun. I slipped on the red stilettos instead. James will like these.
I ran back into the bathroom and applied some red lipstick and a pair of dangling diamond earrings. I stared at my reflection in the mirror. Tomorrow morning I would be marrying James Hunter. There was no dwelling on the past. There was no worrying about the future. I was focused on this moment. Because I wanted to remember tonight for the rest of my life.
Chapter 8
Friday
James was talking to two men in the foyer as I made my way down the stairs. He turned his head when he heard me and a smile broke over his face. It was easy to live in the moment when he looked at me like that. My heels clicked on the marble as I made my way over to him.
"May I formally introduce you to Penny," James said to the two gentleman. "Penny, this is Porter and Briggs. Our security team."
"Are those your first names or last names?" I asked.
"Last names. I'm Porter, ma'am," the one on the left said and stuck out his hand for me to shake. His grip was like iron. He was the taller of the two and had a shaved head and steely gray eyes.
"Briggs," said the other. If possible, his grip was even stronger. He had a buzz cut and blue eyes. They were both impossibly intimidating.
"It's nice to meet both of you. So, what are you first names?"
"That's classified, ma'am," Briggs said.
"Oh. Well, you can just call me Penny, if that's alright."
"We prefer last names, Miss Taylor," Porter said.
These guys were so serious. And, now that I was looking at them, they seemed familiar. "Actually, I do recognize both of you."
Briggs gave Porter a nervous glance. James had said he paid them to not be noticed. I wasn't trying to get them in trouble.
"I mean, only because I walk past you every day. Porter, you're always sitting on a bench outside Central Park drinking...tea not coffee. Because there's a little tea tab sticking out of your cup. And Briggs, I always see you sitting outside James' office building after work. Eating a hot dog and reading the newspaper."
"I thought you were laying off the hot dogs," Porter said. "You know that's incredibly unhealthy."
"I'm not always eating a hot dog," Briggs said defensively.
Porter cleared his throat. "Sorry, ma'am. We'll try to be more discrete in the future."
I pressed my lips together. I certainly hadn't meant to get them in trouble. "I never would have guessed you were security. And, hot dogs are delicious, I totally get it."
Briggs gave me a small smile.
"Mr. Hunter, we'll work on it," Porter said with a very serious nod.
I was surprised to see James smiling. "No, that's fine. I'm glad to know that she's being perceptive. I debriefed them on the Isabella situation. They'll be looking for her. If you don't notice her first."
I sighed with relief. "Great."
James put his arm around my shoulders. "We should probably get going."
"Did everyone else already head over?"
"Mhm."
"What about your detective friend?"
"Already taken care of."
"And Officer Kemp?"
"It's all taken care of. Let's go enjoy our night." He let go of my shoulder and slipped his hand into mine as he led me to the door.
"So everything went smoothly?" I asked as we stepped onto the elevator. I was surprised that Porter and Briggs didn't follow us on.
"Yes. You can stop worrying about it. It's going to be fine."
I nodded. If he thought it was fine, then I believed him.
"Aren't Porter and Briggs supposed to be watching us?"
"They'll get the next elevator. It's not very discrete if they stay a foot away from us all the time. Besides, Isabella can't get into our apartment building, the front desk knows about the situation."
"So...what are their first names?"
James laughed.
"No, really, I'm dying to know."
"I think I should let you wheedle that out of them."
"You're seriously not going to tell me?"
"I don't want them to be mad at me," James said. He held my hand as we walked out onto the busy street and stopped on the crosswalk.
"Is this one of those things you'll tell me as soon as we're married? Like when Mason's going to propose to Bee?"
"Did I say I would tell you that? I don't remember saying that."
"James," I said and squeezed his hand. "You promised you'd tell me."
"Hmm. I promised?"
I laughed. "You know I'll get the information out of you."
"Oh, I have no doubt that you're capable of that." He smiled down at me. "You look beautiful, Penny."
"And you look very handsome." I ran my fingers down his tie. "Are you nervous at all?"
"About what? Tonight or tomorrow?"
"Both. Isn't it like a bad omen or something if the rehearsal goes poorly?"
"I don't think I've ever heard that before. But no, I'm not nervous. Are you?"
"Of course I am."
He turned his head away from me and stared at the Tavern on the Green in the distance.
"Not anything about you, James. I'm so sure about what we have. I just want everything to go perfectly, though. And our parents...James," I said and stopped in the middle of the path, almost making him trip. "We didn't tell your parents the wedding was back on! Did you call them?"
"Um...no. I didn't."
"We have to call them."
He lowered both his eyebrows. "No."
"You didn't hear your father last night. They care about you so much. They just..."
"They care about me?" James laughed. "If they cared about me at all, they would have called me last night to see if I was okay. They clearly didn't care that we broke up. So, fuck them. Both of them."
"My parents are expecting to meet them at the dinner tonight."
"I think they'll understand after the way they behaved at the engagement party they threw us."
"Well, I didn't tell them about that."
"Why not?"
"Because I didn't want my parents to dislike your parents before they even met them."
An exasperated laugh came out of James' mouth. "They should dislike them. I dislike them. Everyone dislikes them!"
"I just want to give them the benefit of the doubt."
James shook his head.
"If you think they knew about what Isabella was planning, they didn't. Your mom looked so shocked that her perfect daughter in law would do something like that. And your father stuck up for me in front of her. He wanted to hear what I had to say. It was the best conversation we had ever had, and I don't think it was just because they knew they had gotten rid of me. Your mom even asked if I loved you. They care."
"I'm sure Jen told them that the wedding was still on. If they want to be there tonight, they'll be there."
"It's different if they hear it from you, James. That you want them to come."
"But I don't want them to come. Penny. Hey." He put his hand on my cheek. "Tonight is about us. Not about anyone else. There could be no one at the dinner tonight or the wedding tomorrow, and I wouldn't care. I'm only going to focus on you either way. This is about us agreeing to spend the rest of our lives together."
"I know. But James, it's also about our families coming together."
"And our family is going to be there. Rob, Mason, Bee, Matt, Jen, Melissa...that's our family. You're my family."
"You know what I mean."
His fingers slid down my neck. "And your parents. And Mason and Matt's parents."
"Mr. and Mrs. Caldwell aren't your parents, though."
"I know. They're better than my parents. They were always nice to me growing up. Their house was like a safe haven."
"I just don't want you to regret your parents not being there."
"Like I said, it's their choice."
I took a deep breath. "Okay."
He leaned down and placed a soft kiss against my lips. "We're going to be late," he said and kissed me again.
"You know, I never understood the point of a rehearsal. Isn't it just walking down an aisle and standing there?"
He laughed. "Come on, Penny." He grabbed my hand and we quickened our pace toward the restaurant. As we approached, I could see the big tree with the lights strung through it. To me, that tree exuded all things romance. And tomorrow night, James and I would be getting married underneath it. Chairs were already set up on either side of an aisle. My mom and dad were sitting in the front row to the left. Mr. & Mrs. Caldwell were sitting in the front row on the right. James' parents hadn't come. It hurt my heart, but James didn't seem to have any reaction.
"James!" Jen was the first one rushing toward us. She threw her arms around James' neck and he lifted her off her feet. "How's California treating you?" he said as he set her back down.
"Really, that's the intro you're going with? I heard you almost blew it with the best thing that's ever happened to you and you want to talk about California? Priorities, James," she said as she straightened his tie.
She threw her arms around me. "You look stunning. I never would have let this wedding not happen." She kissed my cheek and released me from her embrace.
I laughed and looked up at James. He was straightening his tie back to the way it had been before Jen had touched it. He met my gaze and smiled.
"Okay, so all they've said so far is that the bride's parents will sit on the left and the groom's on the right. Penny, is your dad walking you down the aisle?"
"Yes."
"Okay, I'll go grab him." She rushed off as quickly as she had come.
"So, what are we supposed to be doing?" James whispered in my ear.
I laughed. "I have no idea." I caught sight of Melissa standing off to the side, completely engrossed by her phone.
"Melissa?"
She immediately looked up from her phone and gave me a huge smile. "Penny, you look amazing in that dress," she said.
That had not been the reaction I was expecting at all. More like, tears and shoe throwing.
"Thanks, Melissa. Did you get my message? I know you probably..."
"It's okay. You know, sometimes I hate being right, but, it's really okay. I kind of knew it wasn't going to be a long term thing. Even though I was hoping it could be more. But I'm seriously okay."
She was saying 'okay' way too many times for someone who was actually okay. "Do you want to talk about what happened?"
"No. Not tonight. Penny, I still feel horrible about acting like such a terrible friend the past few weeks. I'm going to put this on hold until after I'm done with my maid of honor duties. I can do that," she said more to herself than to me. She seemed to take a deep breath. "You do owe me one week of sitting in pajamas and eating ice cream after your honeymoon, though."
"Deal."
Melissa laughed.
"Thank you, Melissa," I said and gave her a hug.
She didn't say anything, she just hugged me back.
Someone whistling made us pull apart.
"Alright, everyone in the bridal party, bride's father, groom's mother, and the pastor, please get in the back of the aisle for a super quick meeting," our wedding planner announced. "I was promised dinner tonight and I'm hungry."
I laughed. The reason we had picked Justin to be our wedding planner was because we thought he was hilarious. He also always seemed so calm, which I certainly appreciated. Melissa and I walked over toward the rest of the bridal party.
"I heard you got cold feet," Matt said to me.
"No joking around about
that before the wedding," Justin said and gave him a dirty look.
Mason elbowed Matt in the ribs. "That's not...I didn't tell him that's what happened," Mason said defensively.
"It's fine. Hey, Matt," I said and gave him a hug.
"I'm glad you decided to show," he said and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
"Okay, everyone, pay attention," Justin said. "Leave the hugging for later. By the way, Penny and James, you both look amazing as always."
"Thanks, Justin." That was the other thing. He always gave me compliments. Just being around him inflated my self confidence.
"God, now I'm chit chatting. We'll never eat at this rate. Focus, people," he said and clapped his hands together. "What order did you want everyone standing beside you in? That dreaded question...who's the favorite?"
"Melissa is the maid of honor and Rob is my best man," James said, gesturing toward Melissa and Rob.
"They'll come in right before you two then. No flower girls or ring bearers, right?"
"Nope," James said.
"Good, just double checking. Kids ruin weddings. Absolutely ruin."
I laughed.
"No, seriously. They steal all the attention when they shit their pants on the aisle or throw petals in someone's face. Yes, I've seen both those happen. Who will be walking down the aisle before Melissa and Rob?"
"Well, I don't know, we never really discussed it. I think it would be nice if Bee and Mason walked down the aisle together," I said.
Bee smiled. "Really, whatever way you pair us is fine," she said.
"No, that sounds good," James said and winked at Mason.
Mason pressed his lips together and shook his head.
I laughed and Mason's frown turned into a smile. He shook his head again, as if he knew James had told me he was going to pop the question soon.
"Okay, Bee and Mason and then you two," he said and pointed dismissively at Jen and Matt.
"Thanks. I feel so special," Matt said.
"You know you wanted to walk with me," Jen said.
