Page 20 of Shameless With Him

“Right?” I said at Amelia’s words.

“We were sort of thinking we would do what the ladies of Friends did,” Erin said, grinning.

“You mean Rachel, Monica, and Phoebe?” I asked, frowning, trying to remember the episode.

“Exactly. They all decided to be maids of honor for each other. You just have to decide who’s going to be first.”

“That’s actually a really good idea. But what about your sister? Or my sister?” I asked.

Amelia winced. “Yeah, we thought of that. But if that’s who you choose, then we’ll make that work, too. However, you said yourself, you don’t like being your sister’s maid of honor, what would happen if she was your maid of honor?”

Images of what had happened when Monica was Phoebe’s maid of honor, and Monica had driven Phoebe crazy slid into my mind. “Well, Monica did get the job done,” I said. Erin snorted.

“Your sister’s going to drive you crazy. I love her just like you do, but…” Erin trailed off, and I shook my head.

“You barely even know her.”

“Okay, fine. I like her. She’s a great girl. However, you told me yourself that she would be too much for you.”

That was true, but I did feel kind of bad. “And I know she only picked me to be her maid of honor because she knows she can walk all over me. She’s my baby sister.” And she had almost died. But I didn’t mention that. However, the girls knew. “So, I guess you’re right, I wouldn’t want my sister to be my maid of honor.” And now I felt like a heel.

“And I already talked to my sister about it. She’s far too busy with the girls and life anyway. And she’s pregnant again.” Erin grinned at the word, and I clapped my hands.

“Really?”

“Yes. She’s due right around the wedding if we go with the date Devin and I were thinking of picking. I told her we could wait, but she nixed that idea quickly. She asked if she could sit rather than stand. Mostly because she’s been on bed rest with the other babies, and we’re worried.”

“That makes total sense.” I paused. “She’ll be okay, though, right?”

“That’s the plan.” Erin frowned. “My sister is the strongest person I know. So, yes, she’ll be fine. But I don’t want to put any undue stress on her and the baby. She will be a matron of honor in spirit, but will not be part of the wedding party. I want you two to be. Is that okay?”

“I think that’s perfect.” I reached out and squeezed her hand while keeping my other clasped tightly around the bouquet.

“And,” Amelia said, cutting in, “since you’re super busy on Lacey’s, I figured I should be Erin’s maid of honor first because her day is coming up before mine. And then you can be mine, and Erin can be yours.”

“That sounds wonderful,” I said, and the girls clapped again. Brides. “Except for the fact that I’m not engaged. Meaning we may have to wait a long time for that.”

Or, you know, eternity.

“You never know, we weren’t looking for love when it happened.”

I blinked at Erin’s words and then looked over at Amelia.

Amelia raised a finger. “Okay, I was looking for love when I found Tucker, I just wasn’t looking for him.”

Erin and I couldn’t hold back an, “Aw.”

“Right? I love him so much.”

Amelia returned to looking like a Disney princess, and I rolled my eyes and went back to work. I nicked my finger on a thorn, growled at myself, and moved to wash my hand. I cleaned out the wound, added Neosporin, and then went back to work. It was routine at this point.

The girls were sorting for me, both of them having taken their lunch break to help me with backup. I had a large wedding to do flowers for—centerpieces, bouquets, boutonnieres, and mussy tussies for the mothers. Lots of things to do, but I was getting it done.

Erin had already finished the wedding cake, at least as much as she could. She would work on the rest in the morning, the day of the wedding. Amelia wasn’t part of this deal since they were having an indoor ceremony, and they didn’t need landscaping, but we were having fun with it.

I loved my job, I really did, but the thought of weddings, so many of them all at once, was a little overwhelming. And it reminded me of the fact that, yes, there was an imaginary groom in my dream wedding.

Caleb. And I still didn’t have a plan for how I was going to get him to notice me.

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