Beach Wedding Weekend

by Rachel Magee

  No, Paige didn’t like the clothes because they reminded her of the life she’d left behind. As the only daughter of a single mother, Paige grew up going where her mom’s job took them. And building a fashion empire took them all over the world. Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Madrid. They had flats, apartments and lofts all over the world, but they never had a place that felt like a home. For as long as she could remember, Paige used to tell people that when she grew up she wanted a house with a two-car garage and a swing set in the backyard.

  She decided to go to college in Texas because she thought it sounded friendly and it was so different from everything she knew. Gwyneth approved the idea because she thought the small college town in the middle of the country would make Paige miss city life. But she was wrong. Paige had finally found where she belonged.

  Leaving the fashion world behind wasn’t hard, since Paige never felt like she belonged there anyway. Leaving her mom, on the other hand, was more difficult. But living the lives they were both meant to live meant they had to be in different places, which they made work the best they could. Gwyneth still cleared her schedule a couple of times a year to visit her daughter, and Paige never missed spending Fashion Week in New York with her mom. In between, Gwyneth Blair made sure her daughter had everything she needed to be well dressed in a small town, which Paige promptly stored in her guest room closet, never bothering to take the tags off.

  “But tomorrow, Lavender, we’re going to fight for love. And we’re going to look amazing while we do it.”

  She lifted the first outfit and held it at arm’s length to examine it. It was a black one-piece romper with long, flowing pants and a plunging neckline. She’d seen a picture of her mother wearing something similar to a benefit recently.

  She stepped into the outfit. So what if it didn’t look like anything she would normally wear and the neckline plunged down to her ribcage? At which point, was it still considered a neckline? Well, tomorrow wasn’t about hanging out in her comfort zone. It was about looking stunning.

  Her mouth twisted to the side as she examined her reflection in the mirror. “What keeps you from falling out of this?” She pressed the fabric against her chest, hoping it would magically stick to her skin. “Maybe if I don’t move much, everything will stay in place?” Lavender cocked her head to the side. Even her cat didn’t think it was realistic.

  Paige peeled it off and grabbed the next outfit. This one was a pencil skirt and white silk blouse. She remembered the note attached had deemed the outfit “work attire.” While characters in television shows often wore these kinds of things to their places of employment, Paige had never seen anyone at the resort wearing anything like this. Probably because it was impossible to take a full stride in the tight skirt, much less try to sit down.

  The one thing the outfit did have going for it was that it fit well. At least her mom knew what size she wore.

  Paige ran her hands over her curvy hips. She could stand to lose a few pounds. The trouble was she really liked to eat good food.

  “What do you think?” she asked the cat. Lavender yawned and sprawled out on her side.

  “I agree. Not exciting enough.” Plus, she found being able to sit very important. She stripped it off and tossed it into the no pile.

  She plucked up the next outfit, a dress that didn’t seem exciting on the hanger. She slid it over her head and turned to the mirror. The rich amethyst color was brighter than anything she would ever choose. It had three-quarter-length bell sleeves and it wasn’t exactly tight, but the fitted silhouette clung closer to her than anything she normally wore.

  On the other hand, the color brought out the golden flecks in her hazel eyes while the knee-length dress showed off her shapely legs. Honestly, the dress made her look good.

  “It’s not the most practical wedding coordinator dress, but tomorrow’s not about being practical, right?”

  The cat licked her paw and rubbed her face, looking unconvinced. Paige sighed. “At least pretend to be supportive.” It didn’t matter what her cat thought. She liked it. And choosing this dress meant she didn’t have to try on any more. She opened the closet again and flipped on the light. “Let’s see, I think there are shoes in here somewhere.”

  She stood on her toes and looked through the boxes on the shelf until she found the one she remembered arriving with the dress. Pulling off the top, she stared at the strappy high-heeled sandals inside.

  “I mean, people wear these kinds of shoes all the time.” She slipped her finger through one of the straps and pulled it out to examine the four-inch stiletto heel. “We can manage it for one evening, right?”

  The shoe dangled from her finger as she rotated it. She could’ve sworn the heel grew as she did. Lavender sat up on alert, her full attention on the shoe.

  “You’re right. They’re tall. But maybe they’re not as bad as they look once they’re on.”

  Paige sat on the edge of the bed and slid her foot through the straps, fastening the tiny buckle. Then she held her foot out to admire it. “You have to admit, Lavender, they are amazing. They’re the kind of shoes people notice.” She expected nothing less from her mom’s choice of footwear.

  She slid the other one on and fastened the buckle. “Okay, let’s see how this goes.” Pushing off the bed, she straightened her legs and tried to stand. It was like trying to balance on toothpicks, and she wobbled, almost turning her ankle. Her arms flew out to the side to steady herself. She bent her knees and thrust her bottom out to lower her center of gravity. The reflection in the mirror looked like she had to stop off on her way to a cocktail party to catch for the Texas Rangers. All she was missing was her mitt.

  So, she needed a little practice.

  Holding on to the edge of the bed, she attempted to straighten again. This time, she widened her stance and held her arms out.

  “I can do this. It’s just going to take a little getting used to.”

  She couldn’t say for sure, but she swore the cat rolled her eyes. “Come on now, Lavender. You’re on my side, remember?”

  Arms still out to the sides for balance, she took two clunky steps across the room. When she reached the wall, she paused, smoothed out her dress, and turned. Arms held slightly lower this time, she took three smaller steps to her bed. “Not a problem at all. I can own the stilettos. Now, time to accessorize.”

  She pulled out the jewelry that had been tucked inside the shoe box. The intricate silver and jeweled earrings were several inches long and had to weigh close to half a pound.

  She looked at the cat. “Surely these were safety tested before they made it into production, right? I don’t need some sort of extra support so they don’t rip through my ear?”

  Lavender dropped her head down to her paws, which Paige didn’t take as a good sign. She hooked one through the hole in her ear.

  “How do people wear this stuff on a daily basis?” Gently, she let go. The bottom of the earring hovered right above her shoulder. She slipped in the other one and rotated her head to examine how they looked in the mirror.

  “As long as I don’t turn my head too fast, I think we’ll be okay.”

  She pulled the heavy necklace out of the box and fastened it around her neck. It looked as if it were made to go with the dress. In fact, it seemed as if the entire outfit was made to go together. Each piece on its own was impressive, but together it was in a whole different league. The kind of league her mother’s fashion circle belonged to. The league Sasha Kane played in.

  She pulled her hair up with one hand to show off her long neck and collarbone. “What do you think?”

  Paige admired her reflection in the mirror, and the cat’s ears perked up. It was like looking at a different, more glamorous version of herself. Her legs looked longer, her waist slimmer; her overall appearance sparkled.

  Nothing about what she had on was in her comfort zone, but it was stunning. She f
elt like one of her mother’s models gliding down the runway. Sure, she would have to work on the gliding part, but it could be done. Plenty of people wore heels this tall all the time. She could do it for one night.

  It was the kind of look that demanded attention. The kind that would force Brody to see her, to remember her, to show him she was willing to fight for love.

  She turned to her cat, trying to strike one of the red-carpet poses her mother had forced her to practice for pictures. “What do you think? Will this remind Brody of what he walked away from?”

  The cat purred.

  “Right? I look good. Operation Get Brody Back is in full swing. He won’t even know what hit him.” Paige punched the air in front of her. Her pose combined with the tall heels sent her off balance. She stepped forward, almost falling onto the bed and the cat. Luckily, she caught herself with her hand before she landed flat on her face.

  She reached out and scratched the cat’s head before she pushed herself up to standing and turned to the mirror. “The shoes might take a little more work, but other than that, we’re a force to be reckoned with.”

  The cat let out a little meow, which Paige took as confirmation. Her plan was perfect. This was totally going to work. Brody was one day away from being hers again. She was almost sure of it.

  Chapter Three

  Whoever decided hair should fall in soft curls had never stepped foot into humid Texas Hill Country. Paige had spent forty-five minutes in her bathroom slathering her hair with whatever product her mom had insisted she buy and wrapping it around a curling wand that got so hot it recommended wearing a heatshield glove so she didn’t melt her skin off. The whole ritual was absurdly time-consuming, but she did it anyway.

  The endeavor earned her the privilege of being ten minutes late to the resort. She pulled into the employee parking lot, settled into the lowest part of the property, and stepped out of her car into the sweltering June heat. As if on cue, every curl drooped around her face.

  “Just this once, couldn’t we pretend all that product made a difference?” She twirled a strand of hair around her finger in hopes to re-inspire the curl as she clunked across the parking lot to the stairs carved into the side of the hill. Five grueling flights loomed before her. She’d fallen in love with this resort and its breathtaking views the moment she saw it, but getting to live in the beauty of the hill country came with a few compromises. One of them was always trudging to the top of a hill, but the views made it worth the effort. Normally, this climb from the lowest parking lot to the ground floor of the five-star resort was annoying. But today, with four-inch toothpicks attached to the ends of her feet, the never-ending concrete steps seemed foreboding. And to make matters worse, she needed to hurry.

  One step at a time, she reminded herself. They were only stairs. She took them almost every day. With a deep breath, she started, clutching the railing and trying not to let her toe slip off each step as she left her heel hanging over the side.

  Her hair wasn’t made for the humidity, and her shoes weren’t made for the stairs. This whole beauty thing was a lot more complicated than it looked.

  Lucy, her assistant, was standing at the top of the stairs with a clipboard and a frown.

  “The mother of the bride wants to change the seating chart and the bride hated all the bouquets. Says they’re not what she asked for.”

  Paige climbed the last two steps, breathing harder than she normally did. “Good morning to you, too.”

  Lucy looked like she was about to burst into tears. “It’s eleven-fifteen. Morning started three hours ago when the mother of the bride showed up at the concierge desk demanding my presence.” In the middle of her rant, she paused and examined Paige. “Nice dress. What’s the occasion?”

  Paige waved off the question. “It’s a gift from my mom. Thought I’d try it out.” She wiped the sweat starting to bead on her forehead. “Now, what’s wrong with the flowers? I spent almost an hour with the mom last night as she examined each one of the bouquets individually and approved them.”

  Lucy shrugged. “She said she changed her mind. It wasn’t what she envisioned and the more she thought about it last night, the more she thought her daughter deserved what she wants.” Lucy rolled her eyes. “Which, by the way, the bride has been causing havoc in the salon and giving room service grief.”

  “Did you call the florist?” The florist who did all the flowers for the resort was amazingly talented. Paige could vouch that every one of the bouquets looked exactly like the inspiration picture she’d been given.

  Lucy nodded. “She’s in the cooler working on them. And the mother is in her suite and wants to see you the second you arrive.”

  Paige glanced to her right and left, trying to decide where she should start. Hilltop Resort was a massive structure with over 1,200 guest rooms, a conference center, wedding and events venues, four award-winning restaurants and two top-rated golf courses. Not to mention a state-of-the-art water park. It was the ultimate vacation destination. However, all the amenities made it very large. The sprawling grounds spread out in front of her started to spin a little. Of all the days she picked to wear the most impractical shoes, it had to be the one where she would be running all over the place.

  She held onto the rail and circled one of her ankles to relieve some of the achiness. So today wasn’t an ideal day to wear these shoes. What was it her mother always said? “Beauty doesn’t have to be practical, darling. It has to be inspiring.”

  Paige let out a sigh. This was going to be a long night. “I’ll go talk to the mom. You check on the flowers. This bride is going to walk down that aisle at five o’clock one way or another.”

  For the next four hours, Paige ran all over the resort in her four-inch stilettos and her impractical dress redoing almost everything they had spent months putting in place because the nervous bride and her mother had “changed their minds.” She’d never realized that one major reason she pulled her long hair up was because of how hot it made her neck. Also, she felt like she needed to write the designer of ballet flats a thank-you note.

  By five minutes before five, everything seemed to be in place. The flowers were fixed, the changes in the seating arrangements taken care of, the string quartet settled into their third location, and they finally found the right combination of food for the bridal suite to agree with the bride’s tastes of the day.

  Paige stood in the grand foyer of The Chateau and cherished the momentary silence. Her feet were killing her and her earlobes ached. It was time to get the processional started, but she needed one second to rest.

  She balanced her tablet on the banister at the bottom of the grand staircase and reached down to massage her aching foot. Whoever had designed these shoes hadn’t meant for people to actually walk in them. But it was worth it, right? Fighting for love and all of that?

  She switched to the other foot, closing her eyes for a brief second in attempt to harness the relaxation of the moment.

  “The resort must keep you busy.” The smooth, low voice in the otherwise empty room startled her, making her pulse race. Once it registered who the voice belonged to, her heart thumped even faster.

  She glanced up. Brody strode down the steps, his bright eyes dancing against his tan skin. Geez, he was handsome. He was the kind of good-looking that made even the most elegant women lose their thoughts for a second or two, which annoyed her. How was she ever supposed to deliver one of the witty lines that’d make him swoon if her thoughts scattered every time he smiled at her?

  The fact that he’d caught her doing something not-so-poised in the outfit she clearly wasn’t used to wearing made a flame of embarrassment sear her cheeks. She lowered her foot to the ground and smoothed her dress as she stood up, forcing herself to not tug on the hemline.

  “It’s wedding season, soooo, you know.” It wasn’t witty, but at least it was a coherent thought, which was more than she managed
to get out last time they met. She fiddled with her necklace as she tried to shift her focus from her aching feet and crazy day to reminding Brody she was the best thing that ever happened to him.

  “Summer was always a busy time at the resort,” he said.

  “Not much around here has changed.” So maybe she wasn’t going to win him back with her clever conversation, at least until she could get this brain-scatter thing under control. Hopefully her new look was enough to make up for it. She ran her hand through her hair, wondering how many of the curls had survived. Surely some, right?

  A slight grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. “No, I guess not. It’s good to see you, though. I think I forgot to say that last time.”

  The familiar words sent a warmth swirling through her. “You, too. Welcome home.”

  The air between them had a slight sizzle, almost as if trying to remember what used to burn between them. Or perhaps it was a hope of what could burn between them again. Either way, it sent a shot of confidence through her. Maybe her throbbing feet were worth it after all.

  “Might I remind you, that while you’re over there gallivanting with the guests, I have a wedding which needs attending to?” The mother of the bride’s voice boomed through the room, dampening the mood.

  Paige sucked in a deep breath and tried to summon her inner peace-keeper. “Sir, the ceremony is about to begin, but if you make your way out the side door, I think you can still find a seat on time.” Paige used a voice loud enough for the mom to hear, hoping the excuse would be enough to defuse her quick temper. With her back still to the mother of the bride, she shot Brody a stare that pleaded with him to cooperate.

  Brody nodded, looking amused, and lowered his voice so only Paige could hear him. “Ahh, Lindy’s mom. Sasha said she was a piece of work.”