Page 23 of A Wedding in the Bay

“Perfect.” Caitlin grinned. “Let’s get to work.”

In a few short minutes, they were working busily away on correcting the invitations. They stacked the fixed invitations in the center of the table, and once those were done, they started to address envelopes. They talked cheerfully as they worked, and nibbled snacks—being careful not to get any food on the invitations or the envelopes. The laughter and chatter that filled the room helped to ease the bride-to-be’s anxiety, and it brought a sense of camaraderie to the task at hand. Her heart warmed as she realized how great her support system was.

“Thank you all so much,” she said, pausing in the middle of her work. “I mean it. Thank you. For helping me tonight, and for being such good friends in general. You’ve all accepted me and helped me come out of my shell here.”

Murmurs of acknowledgement rippled around the table as her friends listened to her words, and Josie met each of their gazes as she kept talking, feeling emotional.

“I know I was a little closed off at first, and I kept my private life hidden. But keeping things to myself meant that I was denying myself these amazing friendships. I’m so thankful I learned to open up more, so that all of our friendships could deepen into what they are.”

Alissa who looked as though there were some tears in her eyes, leaned over and hugged Josie tightly. “I’m so glad too,” she said. “We’ll always have your back.”

Caitlin and Olivia stood up and hugged Josie too. The bride-to-be had to blink back some tears as her heart filled with gratitude and happiness. She had never expected to have a life with these kinds of friendships in it—but she was so thankful that she did.

“Wow, all of these good feelings are making me hungry,” Olivia joked. “I need a cookie.”

The other women laughed and everyone took a short break to eat the soft, chewy chocolate cookies that Josie had provided.

Once all of the envelopes had been addressed, they started an assembly line—Alissa placed the invitations into the envelopes, Caitlin sealed the envelopes with a damp sponge, Josie placed the return address stickers in the top left corner, and Olivia put on the stamps.

In what felt like hardly any time at all, the task was finished.

“Wow,” Josie said, glancing around the table in amazement as she realized that they were done. “That went so fast! I can’t believe how sweet you all are to help me. I’m almost glad—no, I am glad that that mistake happened. This way I got to share this experience with all of you. And writing out the addresses was so much quicker with so many people!”

“We had a great time,” Caitlin assured her, smiling. “This was a lot of fun! I always like spending time with you all.”

They continued to talk happily and munch on snacks for a while. Josie felt calm and happy—all of her stress over the misprint had completely melted away. She knew that there might be other wedding disasters—or at least some other small setbacks—but she wasn’t worried about them. She took a deep breath, looking around the table and smiling. With the wonderful women surrounding her on her side, she wasn’t worried about anything.

The four of them continued to talk about their lives. They talked about Caitlin’s plans for an informal wedding, Alissa’s excitement about her coming baby, Olivia’s budding relationship with Corey, and Josie’s upcoming wedding.

“We all have so much wonderful stuff going on,” Alissa reflected. “It makes me really happy.”

“Agreed,” Josie said, smiling. “There is something I’m a little worried about, though. Not the invitations,” she added, laughing.

“What is it?” Caitlin asked, her eyebrows lifting in concern.

“Well, you guys know about my mom’s struggles. I wasn’t sure if I should invite her to the wedding or not, but Wesley and I talked about it, and I’ve decided that I want to.”

Her friends nodded, listening intently.

“I’m going to outline a list of boundaries for her and leave it up to her whether she wants to come or not,” Josie said, taking a deep breath. “I really hope she wants to.”

“I’m sure she’ll want to,” Alissa said, making warm eye contact as she looked at her friend. “She might decide not to come for other reasons, but I’m sure that she’ll want to be there with you on your big day.”

Josie smiled, nodding and feeling a warm glow in her core. The other women around the table nodded and murmured agreement also.

“I hope everything works out,” Olivia said sympathetically.

They talked about Josie’s dilemma for a little while longer, each of them offering encouragement and support. Josie felt glad that she’d brought it up to them—she now felt less worried about the situation than she had before.

Friends make life better in so many ways, she thought. I feel like I don’t have to face anything alone anymore.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“That won’t do. Where do I keep my gloves?”

Everett stood in the center of his kitchen, frowning. There were a few items piled at the end of his kitchen table, and he was wondering where to put them. Johanna was coming over in less than an hour to look through his telescope with him, and ever since he’d returned home from his boat, he’d been trying to tidy up his well-lived-in home.

Muttering incoherently, he scooped up the gloves from the end of his table and walked over to the front closet, where he tossed them up onto the top shelf. He felt he couldn’t have too messy of a house when Johanna came over—her own home had been completely spotless. He felt nervous about her coming over and seeing his house the way that it was.

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