Page 65 of 4 Weddings and a Feud

“Baby-growing bodies can be unpredictable, I guess,” Mary said. “And the shaper garment was a no-go.”

“I’ll be there in ten.” A car chirped.

“Same.” Mary picked up her bag and walked out to give her bride the news.

* * *

This bride’s tears were one hundred percent Mary’s fault. And they weren’t even the worst part of the situation. Mary rubbed Teagan’s back as she sucked on her inhaler.

“I’m so,sosorry,” Mary murmured.

Twyla gripped her bride’s hand. “She’ll be okay now that we’ve got her medicine.”

Teagan set aside her inhaler and took a tentative, shallow breath. Her voice came out raw and scratchy. “Better than Aunt Beth would’ve been if one of those bees had stung her. God knows if she has an EpiPen on her.”

Mary made a mental note. She needed one of those for her wedding kit. “Better now?” she asked.

“Yeah. I just need to stay away from the flowers and that citronella spray. Remind me next time I get married to do it indoors.”

“Next time?” Twyla smacked her arm. “Here I am, beside you in sickness, and there you go?—”

Teagan stopped her with a kiss. “It was a joke.”

“You’re not allowed to joke after almost dying on me.”

“Hey.” Teagan patted Twyla’s hand. Twyla’s knuckles were white as she gripped Teagan’s other hand. “It’s all good. We’re married.”

“We are. Finally.” Twyla leaned forward and kissed her bride.

A smile spread over Mary’s face. Moments like this were why she’d taken the risk of starting her wedding planning business. The love overflowing the brides’ eyes made all the stress, the late nights, and the time away from her own loved ones worth it. Seeing the brides happy together in this private moment was better even than the kiss at the end of the ceremony Mary had so carefully choreographed.

“Now, let’s fix your makeup so we can get this party started,” she said. Fortunately, Teagan and Twyla had done their own, and it was much less formal than Rochelle’s makeup. A little powder, mascara, and a fresh application of lip gloss had them both looking refreshed and ready despite Teagan’s red eyes and pale cheeks.

Mary had just re-steamed the back of Teagan’s gown and handed her a bottle of water when her phone rang. Alex. She sent it to voice mail and instead tapped out a chipper text.

No time to talk, but everything’s great!!!

Three exclamation points were a little much. She backspaced over one of them. It still looked like she was trying too hard. She backspaced again. One exclamation point was good. It expressed excitement and didn’t make it seem like she was lying at all. Shit, now she’d spent entirely too much time on a one-sentence text. He’d have been watching the bubbles and be concerned that it had taken her that long to type it. He’d know she was lying. She backspaced one more time. No punctuation sounded breathless and distracted. Two accurate descriptors of her current mood. She hit send.

She’d have added a thumbs-up emoji or three if she had the time.

“Everything okay?” Teagan asked.

“What? Everything’s fine.” If she repeated the lie enough, it might come true.

Teagan sighed and looked out the window of the small classroom they’d been given as a brides’ room. Holding glasses of champagne, their guests meandered through the bee-free garden. “I’m so glad you’re here. We couldn’t have had this gorgeous day without you.”

Mary grinned. All the stress? Totally worth it. “Thank you. When you’re back from your honeymoon, I’d love it if you’d write a short testimonial. But now, if you’re feeling up to it, you should rejoin your guests. And have something to eat.”

Twyla put a hand on her wife’s back. “Come on. I want one of those mini empanadas while they’re still hot.”

The wives left the room, hand in hand, and Mary had only a second to smile with pride before her phone rang again. She reached to silence it—could Alex really not understand that she was working?—when she saw it was Evie. She tapped to answer.

“Bad news.”

Mary sucked in a breath. “Again?”

“You remember Devon, Rohaan’s nephew?”

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