Page 82 of Grand Escape

“Well, you have my dad. He really wanted the job. Weez is a different story. I had to tape her to the chair in her flower girl dress, so she didn’t get all dirty before she had to walk down the aisle.”

“You didn’t.” I elbowed Shell in the ribs. Turning to take all of her in, I smiled at how she was absolutely glowing in a pale blue sundress, long and flowy. “You look so pretty, Shell. I’m happy for you.”

“Today’s your day,” she murmured, smoothing her palm down my robe’s sleeve.

“And I need a flower girl in one piece.”

“You’ll have one, but no guarantees what she’ll look like by the time she walks down the aisle.”

“It’s a beach wedding, so who cares? It would make it more authentic.”

And I meant it.

I was the furthest thing from a bridezilla. After all, I was marrying the man of my dreams, and Adam was giving me everything I’d ever wanted. A day free of all the formalities, with no receiving lines, zero fancy table assignments, and he was forgoing a tux. We were getting married with him wearing khaki shorts and a white linen shirt to match my white linen sheath dress.

Yes, I’d agreed to send my parents an invitation, but they declined. Some dignitaries had invited them to the Greek embassy, and they couldn’t pass it up. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity, they said when they responded.

Since they cut me off completely, they didn’t deserve to be invited at all, but on a whim, I’d sent an invite anyway. I decided to let all the wrongdoing be on them. I was their only daughter—disowned or not—and they should know I’d found a good man. Although now I imagined that with them skipping my wedding, we’d have zero contact from now on. It was their choice, and most likely for the best.

“Do you need any help?” Shell asked me. “Something to eat or drink?”

I shook my head. “I’m fine. I’m going to put my dress on in a few.”

“Man on deck,” a familiar voice called out, and Cal came around the corner.

I rolled my eyes.

Cal was a major pain in the ass, but I loved him. He and Sophia were staying in a villa down the path, and they’d been fighting most of the week. They’d tried to hide it, but it was hard to miss. Sophia had caught the wedding bug, and sadly, Cal liked things how they were. Being here only made things worse for her. There was always a honeymoon, a wedding, or an engagement going down at the Grand.

“Hi, sis,” Cal called out to me, earning himself another eye roll. “Wanted to see if you hired a small plane and flew off of the island. My brother is pacing my villa like he may never see you again.”

“I’m going to check on Weez,” Shell said, smoothing her hand down the side of her dress and looking away from Cal. She’d become super shy around men lately, especially Cal when he was visiting.

“See you soon,” I told her, blowing her a kiss.

Before she left, she said softly, “Hey, Cal.” When he looked up, she asked, “What’s that thing called again? The hut?” She looked off toward the wedding spot, pointing toward where we were going to get hitched in less than an hour.

“A chuppah,” he said, using the guttural Jewish pronunciation for the ch.

“Right.” She nodded and hurried away.

Considering Cal’s interest as he watched her leave, I decided he really wasn’t ready to commit to anyone.

Dragging his attention back to me, I said, “You can tell your brother that I’m right here and more than happy to skip this whole shindig and go have a drink with him.”

“Not if our mom has anything to say about it.”

I laughed. “I know Ruth is a bit set on the whole event. Tell your brother I’ll be there, and remind him we didn’t have to do this whole thing of not seeing each other before the wedding.”

“Wrong. My mom is sitting in the corner of my room, alternating between giving Sophia the stink-eye and making sure Ad stays put. I’m her last chance for her son to marry a nice Jewish girl, and Sophia is neither nice nor Jewish.”

Wringing my hands, I asked, “You sure she’s not upset about that when it comes to me?”

“Nothing upsets her when it comes to Adam. He’s the favorite son. If he’s happy, she’s happy. Plus, rumor has it you’re fine with raising a Jewish family, or whatever else you promised my brother.” Cal waggled his eyebrows at me. “Does that mean ...” Lowering his gaze to my belly, he stared at the tie on my robe.

“Would you stop staring at my wife in her robe?”

At the sound of Adam’s voice, all the stress bled from my body.

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