Starfire (Peaches Monroe #3)(79)
Author: Mimi Strong

She smiled and unzipped the bag for my dress. “I didn’t mean I envied you or don’t accept myself. Just that I admire every bride, in her beautiful pre-wedding glow. Bridal gowns are infused with magic, don’t you know? They allow us to see what’s always been there.”

“Oh.” I stared at my gown, flat from the bag.

“Do you see something?” she asked. “What do you think?”

“It looks flat,” I said. “Like it’s just waiting for some curves to fill it out.”

She beamed. “Exactly. Arms up. We’ll do the formal side first, the party side second.”

I raised my arms in the air and waited.

She took her time, moving slowly and deliberately, and then she gently swooshed the crinkling fabric over my head and smoothed it out.

With my eyes clenched shut, I waited as she fastened all the buttons at the back.

“May I?” She wiggled the clip holding my hair up in a messy bun.

“Sure.” I waited as she let down my hair and fixed it loosely around my bare shoulders.

“You can open your eyes now,” she said.

I hesitated.

If I opened my eyes and saw myself in the gown, I knew I would feel something. I didn’t know what that something would be, but it scared me. I was a cup about to overflow.

She whispered gentle encouragement, saying, “Open your eyes and see what your future husband will see.”

I opened my eyes.

The woman in front of me looked beautiful and confident. Her blue eyes sparkled. She still had plenty of fight, but she also looked ready to surrender.

No more holding back.

No more running away.

Just surrender.

~

After the fittings, Vern met with us to go over some things with the caterers. Everyone kept asking me how I felt about every little thing.

Did I want coconut flakes on the fruit skewers?

Yes, I thought I did, but when I agreed to the coconut flakes, I was informed that the chicken dish had coconut milk, so if a guest had allergies, that was two things they couldn’t eat, and was I okay with that?

When I said to leave the coconut flakes off the fruit skewers, I got a ten-minute demonstration of banana chunks turning various colors based on adjoining fruits.

I thought the whole point of hiring caterers was to have them take care of things for you. Was this their way of making me feel I was getting Dalton’s money worth?

I would have to report all this to him when he arrived in town the next day.

As I moved down the list of catering choices and other tasks, I made another list in my head, of things I needed to say to Dalton before the wedding.

After much soul-searching, and fighting back tears when I saw myself in my beautiful gown, I’d figured out a few things.

I’d always admired how Dalton was able to commit completely to a role. Even though he had won my heart at first by saying lines someone else had written, I could feel how much he meant the words.

Love doesn’t always translate into perfect little speeches. What matters most is what you do. Even though I’d run away from Dalton so many times, he never gave up on us.

Now things were going to change.

After always telling myself to keep my eyes open, I was ready to close them and take a leap of faith.

Dalton needed to know that I wasn’t going to run anymore. He didn’t need to chase me, because I was his.

I loved him.

He’d captured my heart, and I didn’t even care that our wedding had been rushed for publicity, or that he had someone else writing his vows, as long as he meant every word.

As soon as he arrived in town Friday, I would make good on my threat. I would run right into his arms, and we’d both find out what kind of man he was.

CHAPTER 39

Friday.

One more sleep.

Assuming I’d even be able to sleep.

Friday afternoon, I was hanging out with my best friends at home, anxiously awaiting Dalton’s arrival.

I was practicing throwing the bouquet to Shayla when I got a phone call from Vern.

Shayla and Mitchell sat quietly, picking up on my nervousness.

Vern asked me a series of questions about the catering, and whether my mother had gotten her shoes dyed to match, but I could tell he was leading up to something.

“Vern, just tell me the bad news already,” I said.

“Mr. Deangelo has been delayed on set and won’t be flying in tonight,” he said.

“Dalton’s not flying in tonight,” I told my friends.

Shayla seemed concerned, but Mitchell looked devastated. He adored Dalton to the point of babbling incoherently in his presence, and now he seemed even more upset than I was.

That made me feel even more uneasy.

Vern had a few more details, and said Dalton would have phoned me himself, but he was on location where they had bad cell phone reception.

“Don’t they have some sort of schedule?” I asked. “They’ve been doing this show for years. You’d think they’d be more organized.”

Vern chuckled on the other end of the call. “I guess you’ve got a few things to learn about the life of an actor’s wife. Don’t worry about the rest of the wedding party. Connor and Alexis are on their way now in a rental car.”

“That wet blanket Connor got to leave on time? But Dalton’s the star of the show. Why does he have to work late?”

“We’ll fly in first thing in the morning. Don’t worry.”

“When people tell me not to worry, it only makes me worry harder.”

He chuckled again, which made it difficult for me to take out my anger on Vern.

“Which dress did you choose?” he asked.

“It’s a surprise.”

“The one with the cupcakes on the bosom?”

I snorted. “Not likely. Dalton’s afraid of carbohydrates. I wouldn’t want him to run away screaming.”

“Hmm.”

I wanted to ask what Vern meant by that non-verbal response, but he said goodbye, excusing himself to drive back to the set in case Dalton needed anything.

I tucked the phone away with a pitiful sigh.

The three of us had been hanging out in the living room of the house, resting up for the big day and eating cut vegetables with dip in a last-minute attempt to be healthy before the big day and all the photos.

Shayla was comforting Mitchell, assuring him Dalton would be coming, and wouldn’t let us down.

Us.

Hah!

I shook my head at how crazy my life had become.

And then the front door of the house opened without warning, and Jake “Big Dick” Blake walked in, his cowboy boots thunking loudly on the floor.