Page 100 of Make Me Want it Too

My cheeks are sculpted, my brows shaped and filled-in lightly. A brown mascara and peachy blush make the dress make sense. Even my brown eyes don’t look boring. They look pretty.

We’re on the second floor of the guest house that overlooks the garden where the ceremony will take place. They’ve already set up the chairs. Over two hundred. Staff in all black are running around the grounds with huge bouquets of flowers. Security guys with earpieces have started patrolling the perimeter as guests arrive.

The altar is dripping with more flowers. Linens cover the chairs. Lights around the perimeter. They’re unrolling the pink runner down the aisle and covering it with buckets upon buckets of flower petals cascading all the way to the altar.

Livvy joins me at the window, champagne glass in hand, already in her dress as Bex gets the finishing touches on her makeup.

Guests are wandering into the ceremony area. Mostly in couples, a few groups.

“Mom. Do you know who that is?”

Mrs. Bishop comes over next to Livvy, who is pointing out the window to a man standing away from everyone else.

I can’t make out too many details from this distance, but he’s in a black suit that must be tailored within an inch of its life, because his chest and shoulders are so broad. His thighs also look like they’re about to burst several seams.

His hands are stuffed in his pockets as he looks around. His hair is thick and dark, both on top of his head and his full, short beard.

“Oh, that’s the Bridger boy. You remember Laura’s son, who used to live next door?”

“What?” Bex shoots out of her seat, much to Cami’s chagrin. She runs over in her robe, one set of eyelashes on, and practically smashes her face against the window to see out. “What is he doing here?”

“I took it upon myself to invite him, since you seemed to have forgotten. You two were practically joined at the hip growing up.”

“I remember, Mother.” Bex cranes her neck to get a better look at him. “He looks… different.”

“Well, you haven’t seen him in almost ten years. Did you expect him to still look like a teenager?”

“He definitely looks… grown up,” Bex says, jaw hanging, unblinking, in a daze.

The wedding coordinator pops her head in the door. “Five minutes to go time, ladies.” She looks pointedly at Bex, who isn’t even in her dress yet, then places her hand to the side of her headset and retreats into the hall, barking something into the tiny mouthpiece.

Cami finishes her makeup while Bex finishes her bottle of champagne.

Then Bex unzips her dress, which has been hanging in a pink garment bag near the window and takes it into the small dressing area to change.

“What the fuck is this?” Bex comes out a few moments later wearing the dress, holding it to her torso as the back still needs buttoned up. It’s the same dress she was fitted in on Monday—except for the addition of lace cap sleeves.

“It’s lovely,” her mom says, tears in her eyes.

“What. The. Fuck. Are these?”

“Rebecca! Language.”

Bex smiles sweetly. “I’m sorry, Mother. What the fucking fuck are these?”

Mrs. Bishop keeps her tone light. “Oh. I brought up the idea of adding those to Jake. He thought it was a great idea and talked to the seamstress. Now everyone will be focused on you and how beautiful you are instead of that little drawing on your shoulder.”

Bex blinks at her mother, lips tight. “You and Jake had alterations done to my wedding dress. Without telling me.”

“They did a beautiful job matching the lace on the rest of the dress. You can’t even tell that’s not how it originally was.” Mrs. Bishop smiles, a pearl and diamond brooch in the shape of a cross shining in the sunlight on the lapel of her mauve suit jacket.

I go to Bex and start buttoning up the back of her gown.

She’s quiet, but her breathing is fast and shallow.

Through gritted teeth, she quietly says, “I need you to get Jake. Tell him I need to talk to him, and I won’t walk down the aisle until I do.”

CHAPTER 20

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