Page 14 of Snowed In with Four Firemen
Hailey shakes her head. “Is it? They won’t be able to make it up the mountain if this weather keeps up. It’s freaking me out.”
“Hey, hey,” I say, stepping forward and placing my hands on her shoulders. “It’s going to be okay. The storm might’ve been bad earlier, but it’s letting up now. The vendors will make it. And even if they don’t, we’ll figure something out. I promise you, Hails, your wedding is going to be perfect no matter what.”
Hailey takes a deep breath, nodding slightly. “I know, I just…I want everything to go smoothly. I’ve been dreaming about thisday for so long, and now it feels like everything’s falling apart. Let alone the fact that you almost got killed.”
I shake my head, giving her a reassuring smile. “Nothing’s falling apart. You’ve got so many people here who love you and want to make this day special for you and Sam. And look, I’m here with you, sweetheart. Now take deep breaths with me.”
“Em—”
“Please?”
She nods reluctantly and starts to breathe in sync with me until I see her calming down.
“You’re right, Em. Thank you. I just needed to hear that.”
“Anytime, Hails.”
She pulls me into a hug, holding me tightly. “I’m so glad you’re here, Emily. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“I’m glad I’m here too,” I reply, hugging her back. “Now, why don’t we sit down and relax for a bit? And we can go over your folder and see if we can plan for contingencies.”
“You don’t think I’m being a Bridezilla?” she sniffs.
“What? No. The storm was bad enough. It’s okay to worry about it. What’s not okay is to give yourself pimples by freaking out.”
She touches her face. “I have a pimple? Where?”
I grin. “I was just kidding.”
She makes a face. “Not funny.”
“Get the folder, please?”
Hailey nods and pulls away from our hug and quickly retreats to the small coffee table set up to the side. She grabs at a thick, well-worn binder—the infamous wedding folder. I’ve seen it a few times before, and it is usually filled with inspirational pictures, color swatches, and vendor contracts. It’s much bigger than the last time I saw it.
“Okay,” she says, flipping it open to a page marked with sticky notes and scribbles. “Now what? Just looking at the book is making me nauseous.”
I take the folder from her. “Breathe. Now let’s go over the plan again, just in case we need to make any changes. I want to be prepared for anything.”
We start going over the schedule, making notes on what we might need to adjust if the vendors can’t make it up the mountain. Hailey jots down ideas for alternative decorations and how we could move the ceremony indoors if the storm doesn’t let up. It’s a good thing that Hailey knows this place like the back of her hand. Despite the stress, there’s something comforting about having a plan, even if it’s just a contingency.
As we continue to flip through the pages of Hailey’s wedding folder, the conversation drifts back to our childhood once more. During summers, I spent most of my time at Hailey’s house, trying to avoid the drama at mine. And Hailey’s mom was always accommodating.
“Do you remember that time we tried to build a treehouse?” Hailey laughs, her eyes sparkling with the memory.
I grin, nodding. “How could I forget? We thought we could do it all on our own without any help. And then Jace showed up with all his tools and actually managed to make something out of our pile of wood and nails.”
Hailey rolls her eyes playfully. “Yeah, he always had to be the hero, didn’t he?”
My smile fades as I think about our earlier conversation. He was always there, always looking out for us, even when we were being stubborn and trying to prove we could do everything on our own. I remember the way he smiled at me that day, so proud of our little treehouse.
But then, other memories start to flood back—the way Jace and I grew closer as we got older, how he became more thanjust Hailey’s older brother to me. I think about the nights we stayed up late talking on the phone, sharing secrets and dreams. The way he would sneak me out of my house to go for midnight drives, just to talk and be alone together.
There were so many good times—times when I thought we could last forever. But then things started to change, especially when Chloe Yeager came into the scene.
“But I guess it was kind of sweet,” Hailey continues, breaking me out of my thoughts.
I clear my throat. “Sure.”
