Page 12 of Beautifully Used
“Me? You’re the bride. You’re the one that’s supposed to glow with radiance. Nobody is supposed to outshine you on your big day.”
“Oh, I’ll shine plenty, don’t worry, but you’re going to look so good. I can’t wait to see you in it. So get up and get dressed.”
“I need coffee.”
“Got it right here.” She jumped off the bed and handed me a cup that had been sitting on top of the dresser.
“Thanks.” I closed my eyes, inhaling the robust smell of the caramel-colored brew, then took a sip. Lena knew just how I liked my coffee, a little half and half and a smidgen of sugar. “How soon do we need to leave?”
“As soon as you’re ready. We need to go into the city.”
“The city? As in San Francisco?”
“No, not that city. Redding, where you and Brodie were yesterday.”
“Oh. Good.” I yawned again. “Because I don’t think I’m up for a super long drive.”
Lena giggled. “Me either, girl, but we have an appointment at eleven this morning. We need to get going.”
The drive into Redding went much faster this morning with Lena than it had yesterday with Brodie. Maybe because we talked the entire time about the wedding and all the plans she had made, and I wasn’t feeling so self-conscious about Brodie’s hot body sitting right next to me for what seemed like an eternity as I had during the previous ride. Lena talked most of the time about Jackson and how wonderful he was. This was the first time we’d had the opportunity to talk without Jackson or Brodie being around. The weird thing was, Lena mentioned that Brodie was hardly ever at home since she’d moved in, and she was surprised that he’d been there for the past couple of nights. She said he claimed he didn’t want to cramp their style, but she figured it was more Brodie’s style that had become cramped. That was one of the reasons she and Jackson had put a rush on things for the house; so they could move out as soon as they were married.
The sidewalks weren’t as crowded today as they had been yesterday when Brodie and I were walking around, and the air had a slight chill to it, I noticed. I tugged the sweater I’d worn a little closer for extra warmth. On our way to the dress shop, Lena and I stopped in front of a little shop to admire the shoes in the window. “We should go in here to get your shoes before we try on the dresses. That way, if they need to hem your dress, they’ll be able to get the right length.”
“What about your shoes?” I asked.
“Got ‘em right here.” She held up the bag she was carrying. “They’ve already done mine. This is supposed to be my last fitting, so keep your fingers crossed that they got it right. If they need to hem yours, we’ll need to come back in a couple of days to pick it up.”
We bought my shoes—or should I say stilts—and headed to the dress shop. Lena had insisted I get four-inch high heels so I would look taller standing next to everyone else in the pictures. I was five-foot-five, which in my opinion wasn’t all that short, but I suppose compared to everyone else, I was. Lena was an easy five-seven, and Jackson and Brodie were both over six feet. In fact, Brodie was even a bit taller than Jackson.
“Crap, we’re late,” Lena said, glancing at her watch. She grabbed my hand and tugged me along as we hurried down the sidewalk. In the rush, I ran smack into a wall of a guy as he came out of one of the shops we were passing.
The collision had me tilting toward the pavement. “Whoa!” The guy held on to my arms, righting me before I fell all the way onto my backside.
“Sorry,” I managed, and Lena turned back to check on me.
“Are you all right?” he said, still holding on to my arms.
I nodded. “Yeah. I’m fine.”
He looked at Lena. “It’s Lena, right?” He released my arms and took a couple of steps back.
“Yeah. Do I know you?”
“We met once. I’m the new guy on the soccer team. Jeff? I came into Jackson’s bar with the team about a week ago.”
“Oh. Yeah.”
“Who is this?” he asked, staring at me. In fact, his beautiful grey eyes never left mine.
“This is…” Lena wrapped her arm around my shoulder and pulled me close against her, “my maid of honor, Gabby. We’re on our way to pick up our dresses.”
“Right. The big day is almost here, isn’t it?” He smiled, showing bright teeth. He ran his fingers through his over-the-ear dark blond hair, but the front came right back down over his forehead, landing in an attractive curl right above his eyebrows.
“Yep. You’re coming to the wedding, aren’t you? I think Jackson invited the entire team."
“Yeah, sure, wouldn’t miss seeing my man Jackson get hitched.”
“Well, your man, is going to be my man soon.”
