Page 4 of Web of Lies
Dad steps closer to get a better look at the situation and hums as he straightens back up. “I've got good news and bad news.”
“Dad.”
He laughs gently and squeezes my arm. “The bad news is that its legs are stuck in the lace and we won't get it out without killing and possibly smearing it on the dress.”
Horror takes over my face at the thought of Mom's dress being smeared with spider. “What's the good news?”
“It's good luck to have a spider on your wedding dress on your wedding day. I don't remember the exact lore, but I remember my mom talking about how people used to sew a spider into their wedding dress for good luck, kind of like a blessing.”
“Dad.”
He laughs again. “It's only a tiny, little house spider, Larken. It will probably fall off as you walk, but that would be better than trying to get it untangled. Just roll with it. You're going to forget all about it as soon as your music starts playing anyway.”
Unlikely. “Probably not. But I don't want to ruin Mom's dress with a dead spider stain. You promise it isn't poisonous?”
“No, Larken,” he keeps laughing. “It isn't poisonous. Now let's go before you're late.”
Regan is straightening Annaleigh's dress when Dad and I walk into the entryway. She has my bouquet tucked under one arm while she tugs at the royal blue sash belt. She's my only bridesmaid, and would have been my Maid of Honor even if I had twenty bridesmaids, so she got to choose her dress. It's knee-length, strapless, and the same royal blue as the sash on Annaleigh's dress. To be perfectly honest, I chose the color pallet for the wedding around her dress because it looked too amazing on her to choose anything else.
“Now, try not to wiggle too much. You've only got to keep yourself together until the pictures, then you can change out of this dress. I know the lace is itchy, but the ceremony will only take about half an hour and we'll do your pictures first so you can get your comfy clothes on, okay?”
Annaleigh nods but she doesn't smile. We tried so hard to pick a dress that wouldn't be too itchy or too tight or too hot, but asking a four year old little girl to endure a fluffy dress for an extended amount of time on top of having to be quiet and follow instructions and smile nicely? Yeah. I bought her a few toys to make up for all that endurance.
“Annaleigh, you look just like a princess,” Dad tells her, then she smiles. “Where is Bryce?”
Regan smooths her dress as she stands up. “He ran for a quick bathroom trip. He'll be right back.” She notices my instant panic and pulls the small wooden box that holds the rings from the top of her dress. “I've got them. I wouldn't let that wild boy run to the bathroom with the rings. What do you take me for?”
“Thank you, Regan.” I release a breath of relief. “You're wonderful.”
Bryce comes rushing around the corner and I'm about to straighten his bow tie when the music starts playing from inside the sanctuary. We didn't want a wedding with a lot of moving parts, but I did want a flower girl, a ring bearer, a bridesmaid, and a traditional walk to the altar with my dad.
The big oak doors open just wide enough to allow Justin to slide through them. He looks down at the kids, nodding at each one, then smiles at me and Dad. “You look amazing, Larken.” Then he glances behind him at the closed door and offers Regan his elbow. “Shall we?”
“We shall,” she responds and hands me my bouquet and motions me to the side and out of sight of the door before she and Justin pull them both open wide enough to catch on their hinges. Their walking music starts and she tucks her hand over his arm and they step through the door.
I quickly wrap my mom’s necklace around the stems and ribbon dangling from the bottom of the bouquet and wait until the right cue from the music and motion Annaleigh and Bryce through. My dad looks at me and takes my hand in his. “You're going to do great. It's going to be alright.”
Then my walking music starts and I square my shoulders as I take my dad's arm so he can lead me down the aisle to the rest of my life.
***
The ceremony went perfectly. No one tripped, no one misspoke. No one cried except for me. Annaleigh survived the whole thing and made it through the pictures like a champ and is now wearing shorts and a tee-shirt to dance with anybody she can convince to take her to the dance floor. I think Adrian gave her and Bryce each a bunch of candy because they're both running laps around everyone else with suspiciously blue lips and sticky fingers.
My dad is sitting at a table with Adrian talking with the members of the board that we invited. Some of the board members are old friends of my dad’s and others are important connections. Either way, Dad asked me to put them and their plus ones on the guest list and I'm glad I agreed. I don't know who else my dad would have talked to; other than me, of course.
Regan's shoes are on the floor under the bridal table. She lost them about the same time Annaleigh lost her itchy dress. She's on the dance floor with her boyfriend now. Conner isn't a bad guy. What he lacks in direction he makes up for in affection. He adores Regan. He knows how lucky he is to have her and he spends a lot of time and effort making sure she knows it. The feeling is mutual, though. He gives her space to let go of herself a little and she needs that. Her job is very high-stress and he helps her feel like she's allowed to have a life outside of work and that it's okay to leave her job at work. I like Conner, I just wish he'd be a little more professionally consistent. I actually don't really know what Conner does for work. I just know that he flits around from job to job but he takes care of himself and keeps my friend happy, so I guess it doesn't matter in the long run.
Adrian catches my eye and excuses himself from his conversation. He smiles at me the whole time he's crossing the room. “Hey, babe. You doing okay?”
“I'm okay. I was just watching everyone for a minute. Everything looks really nice. How's the board meeting going?”
“Sorry,” he laughs, rubbing the back of his neck. “It's hard not to talk shop when we're all together. It's almost time for the cake.”
“Then the bouquet toss...”
His eyes find Regan twirling on the dancefloor. “Think she'll catch it?”
“I'm going to hand it to her,” I laugh. “Then we're running out of here and making a beeline for the airport.”
