Page 28 of Claiming His Prize

request the honor of your presence

at the marriage of their daughter

Allison Elizabeth

to

Theodore Paul Rinald

Saturday, the twenty-sixth of January

at 5 o’clock in the evening

Reception to follow

Wedding—the art of compromise.At least that’s how Allison had come to think of it.

Her parents were excited and proud at her graduation. They threw her a wonderful graduation party at their house, inviting a lot of people Allison didn’t know, other than from her father’s work-related parties, but that was okay because they all brought envelopes with checks. She and Todd had decided to use each and every one for Todd’s further education.

After their wedding, he was going to go back to school for his masters. It was obvious the wedding was of bigger import to her mother. She spent the entire graduation party talking about it, even though Allison kept asking her not to. It seemed rude when she knew they wouldn’t be inviting the majority of the people at the party, at least not all the business wives her mother kept talking to. Her mother hadn’t quite accepted that yet.

April through July was really the big ‘wedding’ season, so they didn’t have too much trouble finding a venue available for a winter wedding, despite her mother’s dire predictions.The guest list was the next big issue, although when Allison said she’d rather pay for her own wedding if that meant she could get what she wanted, her parents gave in. One-hundred-fifty people were invited, and one hundred thirty-two were coming, all friends and family.She had relented and invited a few people from her father’s business, his bosses and his work team, but none of his business acquaintances. This was about her and Todd, not about showing off for her father’s friends.

She let her mother upgrade the meal… and the chairs for the reception… and the linens… and talk her into an overpriced dress—which was absolutely gorgeous, even if it was far too much money to spend on a dress she would only wear one day. But it kept her mother happy. Plus, she really did like the upgrades, even if she didn’t think they were necessary.

Todd’s mother was so thrilled her son was getting married, she had no special requests. Allison adored Todd’s mother. To keep things on an even footing, she and Todd decided to pay for their mother’s dresses as a gift, and Allison’s mother and Mrs. Rinald—Allison was still having trouble calling her Tess as she’d requested—bonded over dress shopping, without any of the snobbishness Allison had worried about from her side of the family. It seemed as though her parents really were changing, just a little.

The biggest drama actually came from Allison’s friend, Chrissy, who was incensed Diana had been asked to be the Maid of Honor while she was “only” a bridesmaid, then tried to take over planning the bridal shower and bachelorette party. Poor Diana had her hands full dealing with her. Fortunately, as the bride, Allison was able to stay out of it. Not that Chrissy didn’t try to recruit her support, but Allison had no problem disappointing her, telling her should talk to Diana about. It got to the point, she started hoping Chrissy would throw enough of a fit, she would resign her position as a bridesmaid. The other two bridesmaids weren’t too impressed with Chrissy, either, and eventually, Chrissy figured out she needed to calm the eff down and try to play nice.

By the day of the wedding, everyone was smiling and getting along famously—or at least faking it enough for Allison’s purposes. It was her own fault for asking Chrissy to be a bridesmaid. She’d known what Chrissy was like before she’d made the decision to include her in the bridal party. Expecting Chrissy to be anything other than herself was ludicrous. Deep down, their friendship was strong enough, Chrissy stopped playing the spoiled brat and put on her best face for her friend.

Yesterday, they’d gone to the nail salon en masse for mani-pedis. Chrissy had tried to persuade all of them to get the same color, but Allison had said she couldn’t care less, and they’d ended up choosing whatever color they wanted. She was starting to suspect when Chrissy got married, she really didnotwant to be a bridesmaid. It was all too easy to picture her bridesmaidzilla as a bridezilla.

Today was hair, followed by makeup, then pictures.Hair was another thing Allison had let her bridesmaids choose for themselves. Her own was done up in a loose curly style, pinned to the back of her head with tendrils trailing down in the very back and along the sides. Somehow, the entire thing stayed secure when she moved, despite all those hanging tendrils. It was a very soft style with one loose curl on each side to frame her face, very romantic looking, especially with her dress.

She’d managed to find one with straps. Strapless always made her worry she was going to spend all night tugging on it. The dress was basically backless, the straps wrapping around her shoulders and connecting to the front of the dress under her arms. A demure sweetheart neckline made the front appear much more innocent than the back. The skirt was a full A-line—made fuller by the crinoline underneath—and had a detachable chapel-length train. Little pearl beads and embroidery decorated the dress—along the waistline, on the straps, and little pockets of it around the skirt. It was a wonderful combination of traditional in the front and sexy in the back.

Since the back was so dramatic, she’d decided to wear a birdcage veil, pinned in place with a pearl-encrusted comb. All the girls oohed and aahed once the veil was in place, and she got teary when she looked in the mirror. She looked every inch abride.Even the hair and makeup trial hadn’t given her this glowing, glorious image.

As excited as she’d been about getting married, Allison was really starting to wish they could just get the day over with. She was a bride, and she wanted to see her groom damnit.Other than the rehearsal dinner last night, she hadn’t seen Todd in almost forty-eight hours and didn’t count the rehearsal dinner as quality time. They’d had fun, but they’d always been surrounded by their family and the wedding party—not exactly conducive to quality time together.The whole ‘not seeing the groom before the wedding’ was getting real old… real fast.

Still, she tried to quell her impatience as the photographer arrived and took pictures of her, followed by pictures of her and her bridesmaids, then her and her parents. Her father looked quite impressive in his tux, his eyes already looking suspiciously pink. The dark purple dress her mother wore made her look younger than she was, and she glowed with happiness almost as much as Allison. The bridesmaids were each in the dresses they picked out. Allison had chosen a dark red, then allowed them the run of the store, as long as they picked a floor-length dress in that color. They’d ended up in different styles that suited each of them. Diana was wearing a silver satin sash, the ‘accent’ color for the wedding and a way to mark her out as the Maid of Honor.

Allison’s bouquet was a stunning array of white lilies and red roses, studded with small gems that made it seem as though it was glittering. The bridesmaids carried white roses, also studded with gems.

After the pictures, the women were relegated to the bridal dressing room while the men arrived to get their pictures done. They’d wanted to get as many pictures as possible before the ceremony without Todd and her seeing each other, so they wouldn’t keep the guests waiting too long between the ceremony and reception. Of course, they were having a cocktail hour, but they really didn’t want that to go longer than an hour at the most.

Once the pictures were over, there wasn’t much to do but sit around and wait for the ceremony. It was agony, knowing Todd was somewhere in the building, having his picture taken and not being able to see him.Fortunately, Tess had brought snacks while they were waiting, figuring they might be hungry. Gathering around the table to talk and gossip helped the time to pass a little faster.

When it was time to go downstairs, Tess gave her a kiss on the cheek, then flitted off to go see her son. Allison’s mother hugged her tightly before heading down with her father—he said was going to wait for Allison down there. She was pretty sure he just wanted to make sure her mother was going to be okay—she seemed constantly on the verge of tears today—happy tears, but still. Allison’s heart pounded as the rest of the bridesmaids headed downstairs, each giving her a hug on the way, then she and Diana were left alone.

“I can’t believe it’s finally here,” said Diana.

Allison laughed. “You’re telling me! This has been the longest day ever.”

“Well, that too,” Diana said, giggling. “You’ve been the very epitome of patience, though.”

“Only because I don’t have another choice,” Allison said with a heartfelt groan. “May I recommend an early morning wedding?”

---