A Walk Down the Aisle

by Holly Jacobs

  Lily’s bridesmaid-zilla’s expression had fallen at the word simple.

  Sophie had the beginning of an idea. She was pretty sure Colton would agree, but she could no longer speak for him, so she pulled out her cell phone and texted him as Mattie continued telling Harper about her plans.

  “...then Finn and I are packing up the kids and heading to Disney World for a honeymoon.”

  Sophie climbed out of her clothes and slipped on the sundress. Thankfully, the waistband rode high and rested just under her ever-growing bustline. The fabric was pleated under it and fell gracefully over her stomach.

  “You’re honeymooning with three kids?” Harper asked, laughing.

  “Hey, but we’re not taking the dog,” Mattie said. “So, that’s something.”

  “You’re hopeless,” Lily called out from her dressing room. “And by the way, I ordered a cake.”

  “I was going to buy some cupcakes at the grocery store.”

  Sophie listened as Lily made a strangling sound from her room. “That’s what I was afraid of and that’s why I ordered a cake. A real wedding cake. I even had them put a bride and groom wedding topper on it.”

  “Bridesmaid-zilla,” Mattie called out.

  Sophie was the first one to step out and look at herself in the huge mirror. Even if her stomach continued to expand at an alarming rate, she should fit into the dress.

  Harper eyed her up and down. “How far?” she whispered.

  “You don’t have to whisper. They know. And almost five months.”

  “Wow, that’s much further along than I thought. You’re carrying well. Congratulations?” A question more than a statement.

  Sophie smiled. “Thank you. I’m so excited.”

  Her phone pinged and she hurried back into the dressing room to read Colton’s text.

  Harper was admiring Mattie’s and Lily’s dresses. “If I do say so myself, you all look beautiful.”

  “Thanks to you, Harper. You truly have a magic touch.”

  “I love what I do. My grandmother was a matchmaker. I mean, an honest-to-goodness, people-paid-her-to-find-them-someone-to-love matchmaker back in the days before online dating. She helped countless people find their true loves. She told me once that she’d get a feeling about two people. She’d realize they were a good match, even if they didn’t appear to be compatible on paper. I get that same feeling about people and their dresses. Some brides come in here with an idea in their head, and sometimes they’re right on target about what they want, about what sort of dress will flatter them. But sometimes, I know what dress they belong in. I saw these and knew they were meant for the three of you.”

  Lily looked starry-eyed as she said, “That’s a gift, Harper.”

  Mattie rolled her eyes and asked Harper, “You’ll be at the wedding?”

  “Definitely. To be honest, I loved Valley Ridge...uh, the last time I visited. I’m happy to have an excuse to come back for a day.”

  “You don’t need an excuse. You’re always welcome,” Lily assured her.

  Dresses hanging in their garment bags, the three friends headed back to Valley Ridge.

  Sophie sat in the backseat of the car, texting Colton and listening as Lily peppered Mattie with questions about the wedding and offered suggestions, while Mattie snorted and assured her it was all under control.

  He’d said yes. Not that she was surprised. Colton was a man with a generous heart.

  She stopped Lily midsentence. “I’d like to throw out an idea. An offer, really.”

  “See, even Sophie thinks your backyard wedding needs some help. Tell her, Soph,” Lily said.

  “I think your backyard wedding sounds perfectly wonderful. I have only one small concern,” Sophie said.

  Mattie glanced in her rearview mirror. “What’s that?”

  “I don’t think you can fit everyone who wants to be there in your backyard. Everyone will want to be there. Tori has made more than one comment about how most of the town shut down for my...uh, wedding.” She hardly hesitated over the word wedding. That was progress. “You know that many or more will want to be at yours and Finn’s.”

  “I know. We’re going to keep tight hold of the guest list. Finn keeps adding people to the list. He even wanted to invite our lawyers.” She snorted. “I mean, mine was nice enough, but I didn’t find it too hard to cut him off the list.”

  Finn and Mattie had been at odds over custody of Bridget’s children, and now they were getting married. The thought lifted Sophie’s spirits. Surely, if the two of them could not only work things out but fall in love, she could find some sort of amicable relationship with Colton.

  “Your lawyer was the one who suggested you try to work it out with Finn,” Lily said. “He should get an invite because, in a way, you could look at him as a matchmaker.”

  Mattie glanced at Lily and shook her head. “If anyone gets that designation it’s Sophie and Colton.” She looked in the rearview mirror again. “Being paired in your wedding helped bring us together. We’ll cut the attorneys and Finn can simply keep his guest list down.”

  “Or...” Sophie drew out the word, then added, “I texted Colton to double-check before I suggested that you and Finn get married at his farm.”

  “Sophie, that’s where you were going to be married.” Lily sounded aghast, as if the idea of anyone else marrying there offended her.

  “I know. We decided to get married there not only because the farm’s been in Colton’s family for generations, but because it’s big enough to accommodate anyone who wants to attend. And we don’t have to worry about food for extra people, since it’s potluck and...”

  “I couldn’t do that to you, Soph,” Mattie said.

  “I would love it if you would. So would Colton. Seeing you and Finn get married...well, it’s something absolutely wonderful. Please?”

  “I’ll have to ask Finn,” Mattie said.

  That’s all it took for Lily to kick into high gear. “Oh, he’ll say yes. So, now we have a big enough venue. What about decorations?”

  “Got those totally under control,” Mattie said.

  Lily’s expression said she wasn’t quite sure she could rely on Mattie’s plan. “What do you have in mind?”

  “Abbey’s enlisted Joe’s sisters, Mica and Allie, and they’re drawing wedding pictures. So far the Cinderella glass carriage is my favorite.”

  “Do you wish you had a horse-drawn carriage?” Lily’s question was laced with even more excitement, as if she’d relish finding a horse-drawn carriage for Mattie.

  “I wish this whole thing was over,” Mattie said. “I wish I was at Disney with the kids and Finn. I thought about suggesting we get married there, but I figured you might have an issue.”

  “Not me. Half the town would be in revolt and packing to head down with you all.” Lily laughed. “And finding enough matching T-shirts for a family T-shirt day would be tough if you had to find them for half the town.”

  “Family T-shirt day?”

  “Don’t you worry. I have you and Finn and the kids covered. I figured you didn’t know about it any more than you know about shower stuff, or wedding stuff, so I ordered you all T-shirts that read Wallace-Langley Family Vacation. And underneath in small italics it says and honeymoon.”

  Sophie couldn’t help it; she started to cry.

  “Soph?” Lily asked. Mattie pulled the car over to the side of the road and turned to look at her.

  “See, it’s bothering you about us getting married at the farm. The backyard will do just fine.”

  “No. That’s not it.” Sophie tried to get herself under control, but knew she wasn’t doing a great job of it, as her friends patted her shoulders and looked concerned.

  “Don’t mind me. I can’t control tears. That’s so sweet, Lily. You might be a bridesmaid-zilla, but you are simply one of the sweetest women I’ve ever met. The way you stepped in and helped Hank, as well as all the people in the community. Well, you’re sweet. I know that’s redundant, but I
think the baby has eaten away at my internal thesaurus. You, too, Mattie. You might not have Lily’s Miss Manners–worthy knowledge of what does and doesn’t work for a wedding, but the fact you don’t care about the wedding as much as the family it will create...well, you’re sweet, too.”

  Mattie blustered a moment and finally managed, “I’m not sweet, either. I’m tough. I’m feisty. I’m adventurous. Sweet? I grew up with brothers. I’m not sweet. Lily’s sweet. Hell, you’re sweet.”

  “And so are you. You put your life on hold to come take care of Bridget, and then stayed for the kids. I hope you and Finn are happy together. I wish...”

  She couldn’t seem to stem the tears as she realized that what she wished for Mattie and Finn was all the things she’d thought she’d have with Colton. Love. The perfect marriage. A family.

  Both her friends looked so concerned about her minimeltdown that she sniffled back the tears. “Really, I’m fine, you guys. The baby is messing with my hormones.”

  “Don’t blame the baby,” Mattie teased. “Last I knew, you wore your emotions on your sleeve.”

  Lily’s and Mattie’s teasing eased up and then they starting planning Mattie’s hurried wedding in earnest. The scenery flew by as they planned. Well, mainly Lily planned and Mattie argued. Neither needed much input from Sophie, which was just as well because she couldn’t help but think about the baby. Her thoughts kept circling back to Mattie’s attorney. So far everything had been amicable with Colton, but what if things changed? What if he found another woman and she objected to a casual custody arrangement? What if he decided he wanted Cletus to live with him on the farm?

  The thoughts of Colton taking their baby from her created a spurt of panic. She didn’t think Colton would ever do anything like that, but what if he did?

  Maybe she should go talk to Mattie’s attorney and see what she should do to safeguard her rights. To nail down a custody arrangement on paper.

  By the time Mattie pulled the car up to Sophie’s house, Lily and Mattie had come to an understanding on the wedding, and Sophie was halfway to a full-blown panic attack. She was thankful that she’d been in the backseat. It made it harder for her friends to see that she was upset. She tried to school her expression as she got out of the car. “That was fun.”

  “Are you sure about Colton’s?”

  “I’m sure. Colton’s sure. Talk to Finn and let us know, but truly, Mattie, I’d love to see you married there.”

  Mattie didn’t look completely convinced, but she nodded.

  Sophie waved as her friends pulled away, then she went inside, garment bag in hand, and found Tori waiting in the living room. One look at her expression was enough to let Sophie know something was wrong.

  She hung the garment bag on the door’s frame and sat down on the couch next to Tori. “What’s the matter?”

  Tori didn’t say anything but seemed to vibrate with pent-up anger.

  “I thought you were hanging out with Joe today?” Sophie prompted.

  Tori’s anger-laced words tumbled out, one after another. “Joe’s mom showed up in town after she walked out on him and his sisters. His dad says he’s gotta see her and spend time with her, but he doesn’t want to, and I don’t blame him. I don’t think it’s fair. Grown-ups are always trying to tell us what to do. Like when I found out about you, and Mom said I had to wait until I was eighteen to find you.”

  “Come here.” Sophie patted the cushion next to her and Tori scootched over to it.

  “I get it,” Sophie said. “More than you’ll ever know, I get it. I wasn’t allowed to make any decisions, or do anything I wanted when I was growing up. Everything I did reflected on the family, so my parents made everything I did a family discussion. No, not discussion, because that would mean I got a say. They ultimately made all the decisions. And they weren’t based on what was best for me, but what was best for them—for their image. They made me give you up because an unmarried, pregnant daughter would have been an embarrassment. And I resented them for making that decision. I still maintain that the reasons behind their decision were wrong, and how they handled it was bad, but I realize that you were meant to be your mom and dad’s daughter. You three are a family. And your grandparents.”

  “Yeah, but that’s not what I’m talking about. Joe’s mom left him. No one forced her. And he shouldn’t have to see her if he doesn’t want to.”

  Sophie searched for an answer that might help the situation make sense. The best she could come up with was “Maybe there are things between his mom and dad he doesn’t know.”

  “Then they should tell him.”

  “Honey, maybe they should. Or maybe it’s something they need to keep to themselves because it would hurt him more to know than not to know.” Sophie reached out and brushed her daughter’s cheek with her fingertips. “Parents are flawed. They screw up. But just because someone messes up doesn’t mean you get to write them off. Joe’s mad at his mom. Maybe seeing her won’t change how he feels about her leaving, but maybe someday down the road, something will have come from this meeting that made a difference in his life.”

  “You’re trying to make me not mad at my parents for trying to keep me away from you, for lying to me.”

  Sophie was going to ask, You’re still mad? but realized that the question wasn’t necessary. The anger that Sophie had seen the first day she’d met her daughter was back and burning just as bright. She wanted to reach out and hug Tori. She wanted to make everything all right for her daughter, but she realized she couldn’t do that.

  “No, I’m not trying to make you not mad. I’m simply sharing what I realized, and then I’ll point out that your parents love you. Nothing they did was ever malicious. Everything they did was what they thought was best for you. Maybe it wasn’t, but that was their goal. I wish my parents had asked themselves even once what was best for me. That was never their driving concern. They worried about what was best for them.”

  “I think I’m over being mad at them, or even you, but then it comes back again.” Tori raked a hand through her hair.

  “There are moments, like when I watched you at the farm, that I tell myself I need to get over being mad at my parents for forcing me to give you up. Everything turned out like it should have. But then...” She shrugged. “We can’t help how we feel, but we don’t have to act on it. We don’t have to be ruled by it.”

  For a moment, Tori tried to maintain her angry expression, then gave up and burst into teenage giggles. “Really, honest and truly, do you ever get truly pissed off? You’re always so nice.”

  “Is that an insult or a compliment?” Sophie asked. “Sometimes it’s hard to tell with you.”

  “Both.” Tori tried to sound grumpy but didn’t quite pull it off.

  Sophie laughed as well as she watched the anger ebb in her daughter. And she reached out and hugged her. For a moment, Tori sat unmoving, but then she hugged Sophie back.

  Sophie tried to memorize every little detail of her daughter. Her blond hair that had lost all trace of the blue dye except from the very ends. The feel of her daughter’s body pressed against hers, their arms wrapped around each other.

  “I love you,” she whispered.

  “I love you, too,” Tori admitted.

  They sat back and Sophie asked, “Feel better?”

  “Yeah. But I’m still worried about Joe.”

  “He seems like a great kid. Sebastian and Lily adore him and the girls. Sebastian told me he took odd jobs in order to send his sisters to camp?”

  “Yeah. That’s where they are now, and he says he’s glad because he doesn’t want his mom messing with their heads. Allie cried for weeks after their mom left. Joe said both girls had nightmares. He got up with them a lot when his dad was so sick.”

  “He really sounds like an amazing kid. I can tell you that when you’re going through something difficult, having friends around can make all the difference in the world. I was out with Lily and Mattie today, and I realized that fact all over again
. We talked about the wedding. Mattie kept trying to keep it simple and Lily kept insisting that there are certain wedding traditions that cannot be ignored.”

  She thought about Mattie walking toward Finn, who’d be waiting under the arbor, and she felt a pang of...not really jealousy but a wistfulness. She wished things had worked out with Colton. She glanced at her daughter and couldn’t regret that Tori had shown up that day, even if it meant her marriage plans had fallen apart.

  “You said Lily was like that at your shower and wedding?” Tori said. “Sorry. I didn’t mean—”

  “No, it’s fine. And Mattie called Lily a bridesmaid-zilla. She had all kinds of rules. Like, did you know that shower decorations need to be pastel?” Sophie laughed at that memory.

  Tori giggled. “Really?”

  “In bridesmaid-zilla Lily’s world they do. You should have heard her and Mattie go around and around about how things were done. Mattie would get married in jeans if she thought she could, but both Lily and little Abbey would be aghast. She compromised on a pretty sundress.”

  “Do you think Lily is going to want to throw you a baby shower?”

  It hadn’t occurred to Sophie, but as Tori said the words, Sophie knew that Lily probably would. “It’s highly likely. The only reason Mattie’s not getting a wedding shower is she refused. She says she and Finn have a toaster that works and plenty of dishes, so if Lily threw a shower, she wouldn’t go. Lily sighed over that for weeks. I don’t know if I can come up with some excuse to get out of a shower for Cletus.”

  “And if you did, you’d probably break poor Lily’s heart,” Tori pointed out.

  “Probably.”

  “If I asked, do you think Mattie and Lily would let me help? I mean, I know I’ll only be this baby’s half sister.”

  From angry back to sweet. Sophie put her hand over her stomach and wondered if teenage boys had such mercurial temperaments. “There’s no half about you, Victoria Peace Allen. You are Cletus’s sister. And I know Mattie and Lily would love the help.”

  “Okay,” Tori said. “I’ll ask them. And since I’m now free tonight, do we have any plans?”