Page 20 of Seven Year Itch

Ali knew she looked familiar, but it wasn't until the woman drew closer, she realized it was the woman her husband had met with the day before. Serena. A name permanently etched into her brain from the moment she'd read it scrawled in her husband's distinctive handwriting.

Looking up, impatience dripping from her tone, the woman said, "Finally, you're here." She took Ali by the arm, leading them deeper into the hotel.

Ali tried to twist her arm free. "Wait just a damn minute. What the hell—"

"We're running behind schedule." Serena cut her off.

"Hey!" Mia yelled behind her as she was pulled forward.

What the heck was going on? Ali gave another tug on her arm. "Listen, lady, I don't know what you—"

"We really need to hurry." Serena picked up her pace, dragging Ali behind her. The woman was stronger than she looked.

Completely bewildered, Ali opened her mouth to voice her objections again, but their arrival at a closed door with Serena unceremoniously flinging it open halted her speech.

It took Ali's brain a long moment to comprehend what her eyes were seeing, and even then, she didn't fully understand what was going on. Mia came up beside her, sharing her same bewildered expression.

The room was midsized, about the size of her bedroom at home. Two beauty stations were set up along the side wall, complete with vanity, mirror, and the high-tech chairs seen only in salons. A table laden with breakfast foods occupied a good portion of its center. A couch draped with garment bags dominated the far wall.

"What the hell is going on?" Mia, obviously recovering first, voiced the question on the tip of Ali's tongue.

Serena, blinking her baby-blues behind a pair of steel-framed glasses, waved an envelope in Ali's direction. "Here. Read this, then we really must get you ready."

Mia, leaning in and looking over Ali's shoulder, whispered, "There's no way in hell Garrett's having an affair with that bossy witch."

But Ali barely paid her any attention. She was too busy staring at the envelope in her hands. White and thick, the paper was high quality and looked a lot like an invitation. Her name was written across the front in calligraphy. She flipped the envelope over, slid her finger under the flap, and pulled out what was indeed an invitation. Printed in gold cursive on thick card stock, it read:

We Are Forever

In honor of celebrating seven years of marriage, please join Garrett and Alison Evans as they renew their wedding vows on Saturday, the tenth of June, two thousand and seventeen at two o'clock in the afternoon at the Freemont Hotel, 1234 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills California

She heard Mia gasp from over her shoulder and couldn't agree more. What the hell was going on?

≈≈≈≈

Ali stood in front of a full-length mirror, admiring herself draped in cream satin. Formfitting with a plunging neckline and long, skintight sleeves the dress was sexy as hell. Her husband had good taste.

Even after reading the wedding announcement, it had still taken Ali an embarrassingly long time to figure out what the heck had been going on, but once the light bulb had clicked, it had flashed like a neon sign.

Then chaos, by the name of Serena—AKA the wedding planner—ensued. With her damn clipboard in hand, she'd started rattling off things that needed to be done if they were to be ready on time.

After nibbling a light meal, a makeup technician had performed a miracle on Ali's emotionally exhausted, hungover face after which, a stylist had produced a complicated hairdo Ali would never in a million years be able to replicate.

She smiled into the mirror as Mia came into view behind her.

"We really do clean up well," Mia said, giving Ali a smile in return.

"That's quite a dress." Bright pink was not a shade she'd ever seen Mia wear.

Mia grimaced. "Yeah, not my first color choice, but hey, it's a free dress."

Ali laughed.

Mia nudged her shoulder. "So... tell me what you're thinking." When Ali raised her brows in question, Mia elaborated, "About all this." She waved her arms encompassing the room.

If Ali looked at the big picture—the trouble Garrett must have gone through to set the whole thing up—she found it hard to hold onto her anger. She really did love the big ass.

Ali sighed. "He meant well, and the extent he went through to pull this off, it was sweet. Makes it hard to stay upset."

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