Alice in Glass Slippers

by L. C. Davenport

  “Yes. He was remarkably calm about the whole affair. Then again, he was probably expecting it.”

  The two men slowly made their way back to the mall. “Well?” Adam said when they were halfway across the street. “Aren’t you going to say anything else?”

  Lewis’s grin was wicked. “No, I don’t think so. It’s too much fun seeing you sweat.” Adam muttered something rude under his breath.

  “Oh, calm down, Lover Boy. If you can promise me you’ll make Alice happy for the rest of her life you can have my approval.”

  “I will.”

  “Then we can consider this conversation closed.” Lewis paused at the door to his shop. “Oh, Wentworth?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Be sure to wait to pop the question until after Whitney throws her bouquet at Alice.” He smirked. “It’ll help me feel like a harbinger of fate.” Lewis turned around and opened his door to be greeted with cheers. “Remember,” he told Adam over his shoulder. “After the flowers.” Then he went inside to the party Alice had planned to celebrate his new and, evidently, unnecessary namesake. “Has anyone even heard of Eaton Ridge, Michigan?”

  Adam was in a mood. Alice reached over and covered the fist he’d made on the gearshift, squeezing lightly. “Why are you so upset?” she asked. “The English Inn is a lovely place to get married. Better yet, there’s not a cloud in the sky so we don’t have to worry about getting drenched.”

  He grumbled something about flowers and Alice tilted her head. “Did you whack your head on the doorframe again?”

  “No. My head’s just fine.”

  The bouncing of his knee made Alice frown. “The only thing you really have to do today, as far as best man duties go, is make sure you don’t lose the ring. It’s not like Lewis’s going to need a pep talk to get to the altar.”

  If anything, this comment made Adam go even paler than he already was. When they pulled into the parking lot of the bed and breakfast, Alice tugged his head down for a kiss. “Everything will be fine,” she assured him. “Trust me.”

  Adam swallowed once, hard, and then his shoulders relaxed slightly. “You’re right. I love you.”

  “And I love you. Now get inside and make sure Lewis isn’t terrorizing the staff.”

  Alice watched him enter the inn and frowned again. She hadn’t pegged Adam as a man who was intimidated by a wedding.

  She didn’t have a spare second over the next few hours to worry about him, though. When she and Whitney were finally left alone, they both breathed a sigh of relief. “You look beautiful,” Alice told her. “I’m glad we managed to order your dress without Lewis’s help. Even if he did threaten to wait for the deliveryman all night so he could get a look at it.”

  Whitney flushed prettily and looked at herself in the mirror. “I feel like a princess.”

  Alice stood behind her and rearranged her veil. “Today you are one. You know I view Lewis as a brother, don’t you?”

  “Yes,” Whitney said slowly.

  “That means that in less than half an hour you’ll be my sister. Oh! You’ll crush your dress!” She laughed as Whitney threw her arms around her and hugged tight.

  “I don’t care about the dress.” Whitney leaned back and blinked rapidly. “I love Brittany because she’s my sister, but you’re much easier to deal with. Thanks again for being such a good sport yesterday. I know the spa scene isn’t really your thing.”

  Alice wiggled her pink toenails. “It wasn’t as bad as I thought. Come on, sis. It’s time.”

  The second Alice walked into the late afternoon sunshine, her eyes locked with Adam’s. He was standing next to Lewis, the Sun glinting off his dark hair and the vivid autumn colors a backdrop to his black tuxedo. He watched as she made her way slowly to the pergola, his gaze intense. In the back of her mind, the part that was still functioning enough to make her place one foot in front of the other, Alice noticed that he looked even more stunning than he had at the ball.

  Adam’s gaze stayed on her throughout the ceremony, even when he handed Lewis the rings. Lewis glanced at Adam, then at Alice, and smiled a secretive smile that Alice was too distracted to notice. In fact, her brain remained fuzzy until she and Adam were arm-in-arm, following their newly married friends down the aisle toward the reception hall.

  “You look positively enchanting, Miss Riverton,” Adam said in a low voice, and Alice let herself lean into him for a second.

  “And you, Mr. Wentworth, could pass for a very believable Prince Charming.”

  Adam’s sudden grin made her do the same. “That’s one that Lewis never got. ‘Tall, Dark, and Charming.’ I should probably mention that in my speech.”

  “No, don’t.” Alice tugged on his arm so he’d stop walking, and there, in front of all the wedding guests, kissed him. “I think I’ll keep that one for myself.”

  Adam had a foolish smile on his face all through the reception.

  Alice kicked off her shoes and sank into a chair. The party had been lively, thanks to Lewis’s exuberant state. “Congratulations on catching the bouquet,” Whitney said, leaning over her friend. “I thought Brittany was going to fight you for it.”

  “I don’t know why she was even trying.” Alice frowned. “Does she want to get married again?”

  Shrugging, Whitney picked up the flowers Alice had carried for the ceremony. “I like yours better,” she said. “They’re not as heavy. Oh, Adam’s looking for you. I think he’s outside, down by the pergola. You should go find him.”

  “Okay,” Alice said slowly. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”

  “Would I do that?”

  Alice looked at her friend and smiled. She was flushed from dancing, her eyes were sparkling, and she looked happier than Alice had ever seen her. She leaned over and kissed Whitney on the cheek. “Take good care of my boy,” she whispered. “And make sure he does the same for you.”

  Whitney hugged her tight. “Go find Adam,” she said, and handed the bouquet to her friend.

  The grass was cool under Alice’s bare feet as she wandered down the path toward the river. In the distance she could see Adam, leaning against a pillar and watching the moonrise. He didn’t say anything as she stepped up beside him.

  “Hey,” she said quietly. “You look awfully serious. Are you all right?”

  He nodded before pushing himself upright. He grasped her hand in his. “This is a very beautiful place to get married,” he said, just loud enough for Alice to hear him over the rush of the river. “It seems idyllic, like if you wished on a star your dreams would come true.”

  “It does.” Alice leaned her head against his shoulder. “What would you wish for, if you were to make one?”

  Adam let out a long, slow breath, and pulled his hand from Alice’s. He put it in his pocket before looking into her upturned face. “I’d wish that you’d agree to marry me.”

  Alice blinked at him a few times and dropped her flowers. “Really?”

  “Really.”

  She blinked a few more times to make sure she hadn’t drifted off into an alternate universe by mistake. “Are you asking…”

  The next thing she knew he was down on one knee, a ring between his fingers. “Alice Riverton, will you marry me?”

  Too emotional to speak, she nodded and bent over, kissing him. “Is that a yes?” he asked against her lips. “I’d kind of like to hear you say it to avoid confusion.”

  Laughing shakily, Alice pulled far enough back to look him in the eye. “Yes. Yes, I’ll marry you, Adam Harvard Wentworth.”

  The kiss Adam planted on her was long and full of promise. “That’s convenient,” he gasped when he finally pulled away, “as we both need new roommates.”

  And that was how she found herself standing in front of The Perfect Pair with both Lewis and her father two months later, wearing the most beautiful wedding gown she had ever seen.

  As well as The Glass Slippers.

  The mall was decorated to the hilt. Tiny fairy lights twinkled from ever
y available space, thanks to Jillian’s insistence that she be allowed to take care of all the ‘mall business’, as she’d put it. “Thanks for letting us walk you down the aisle, Alice,” Lewis whispered as they waited for their cue. “Even if it’s a little unorthodox to have two fathers-of-the-bride, it feels just… perfect.”

  Alice looked around her and smiled. The new sign hanging over The Perfect Pair swung gently, as though a breeze had made its way through the mall, and she raised a hand to welcome it.

  The slippers, her mother and her mother before that, had bequeathed to her, flexed with every step she took. She smiled to herself, and almost looked inside the store for Belinda.

  Instead, she looked forward to meet Adam’s steady gaze, and her smile grew. “Perfect,” she said, echoing Lewis. “Absolutely perfect.”