Page 4 of Enraged

“Get out the damn shower. You’re getting married in two hours!” He faked exasperation, rolling his eyes.

“Be out in two minutes,” I promised.

Two minutes and forty-six steps later, I was sitting across from Bristol as he swept her beautiful curls into a less extravagant version of the hairdo that he and I had planned for myself. Bristol smiled at me; a sweet mischievous smile that made me wonder how the gears inside her little mind were turning. I thought back to the Flower Girl Discussion from eight months ago.

Of course, she can be your flower girl, but the problem is, she may not act right,” Cruise explained. “Sometimes, she just wakes up and decides to be a terrorist.”

“She will be the perfect flower girl because she is unapologetically herself,” I responded. “If she decides she wants to toss petals, she can, if she decides she wants to yeet the basket at the guests, that’s okay, too.”

“Dear Lord, let’s not encourage her madness,” Bailey insisted. “Let’s pray she will wake up and be the sweet little girl we are trying to raise her to be!”

Truth is, I was looking forward to watching her walk down the aisle because I was curious to see what she would do.

We all watched in companionable silence as he twisted and pinned Bristol’s curly hair. He finished in record time, sending my sweet niece to my bedroom to approve his work.

“Now the beautiful bride!” Blaine tapped the seat of my dining room chair. I sat down obediently, doing my best to stifle a moan as he combed my scalp with his fingers.

Head messages and hair tickles are second to none.

Alexa continued with her Y2K playlist. As Blaine twisted his expensive golden curling iron through my long blonde hair, Nelly serenaded us.

“The higher the hair, the closer to heaven!” He reminded me as he teased and pinned. From the corner of the chaise lounge, Bailey snorted, clearly amused by the fact that he had quoted Dolly Parton.

Being named Jolene, I had heard Dolly jokes all my life.

Thanks, Mama.

About a hundred and sixty bobby pins and half a can of hairspray later, my hair was swept into the curly, messy luxurious updo that I had picked out from Pinterest.

Blaine passed me a handheld mirror and I gasped. He had far exceeded my expectations, turning my long locks into something you’d see in a movie.

I have bridal hair.

From beside me, he beamed, obviously thrilled that I loved the way he had transformed a bank loan officer slash candle company owner into a bridal beauty.

“Now, we do makeup!” He clapped his hands.

“I think since you’re about to get makeup and then Mama will help you get dressed, I’m going to head on over to the church and make sure everything is perfect and ready to go,” Cassie spoke up.

“That would be awesome, honey. The wedding coordinator is there but we both know how subpar she has been, so I’dappreciate you making sure everything is the way that Lena and Jace want it!” My mama encouraged me.

Cassie sprang to her feet. “I’ll take my dress with me and throw it on after I’ve triple checked everything!” She promised.

She patted my shoulder as she made her way to the front door.

Hopefully, everything is as it should be and she’s able to just go chill in the bride’s room.

“Aunt Lee Lee, are you gonna wear lipstick?”

Bristol’s sweet voice brought me back to the present.

“Yes ma’am, I am!”

Kneeling in front of me, Blaine gave me a hundred-watt smile.

It was in that moment that I made the executive decision to tell my nerves to fuck off. I sat back and enjoyed getting to be the princess for the day.

A blink of an eye later, we pulled up to Creek’s Edge Baptist Church.

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