Page 15 of The Vineyard Bride

As they worked, they blared music from the speakers and danced around the cabin, pregaming with champagne from one of the numerous bottles they’d had delivered to the cabin.Bit by bit, Amanda found herself having much more fun than she’d allowed herself to have since the accident.She delighted in how beautiful the cabin looked and the prospect of two beautiful days together with some of her favorite women, gossiping, eating, and drinking in the spring sunlight along the water.

Amanda set up a dessert table in the kitchen, dotting beautifully decorated cupcakes across china plates.Audrey stepped back into the kitchen, covered in glitter from one of the decorations, and attempted to brush herself off.

“It’s no use,” Audrey said with a laugh.

“Once glitter is on you, there’s no hope,” Amanda agreed.

Audrey’s smile widened.She poured them both a bit more champagne and then checked the time, reporting that they had a half-hour before the guests were slated to arrive.

“It’s good you pushed me out the door,” Audrey reported as she sat across from Amanda, a bit to the left of the cupcakes.“Left to my own devices, I never would have decorated the entire place in time.”

For a moment, Amanda and Audrey allowed themselves to investigate their work.Amanda sipped her champagne, allowing the bubbles to float across her tongue.

Audrey tilted her head knowingly and asked, “Do you think you’ll ever want something like this?”

Amanda guffawed, dropping her eyes to the cupcakes.“A bachelorette weekend?”

Audrey nodded.“Why not?”

“I don’t know.My friends didn’t give me much of one back in Newark.It was always expected that I would marry early.Chris wasn’t a surprise for anyone.Maybe he didn’t even seem worth celebrating, either.”

“That’s mean,” Audrey countered.“If I had known you better, I would have thrown you something insane.”

Amanda chuckled.“It’s true that we didn’t get close until after Chris left me at the altar.Thank God for Chris.”She lifted her glass in the air playfully, toasting her ex-fiancé wherever he was.

“You and Sam seem really close.Especially since the accident.You’ve hardly left one another’s side,” Audrey pointed out.

Amanda puffed out her cheeks.“It seems pretty intense.Different, really, than it ever was with Chris.It’s not that I feel this urgent desire to immediately marry him or something.It’s like I feel looser and freer with myself and my time and my stupid lists.I mean, the other day, I even let myself sleep in till nine.”

“Nine o’clock in the morning?Amanda!You slept half the day away,” Audrey teased.

Amanda laughed, genuinely pleased at the differences between herself and her cousin.They brought out the best in one another and would always, as they flourished through their twenties, thirties, forties, and beyond (God willing).

A rap at the front door of the cabin broke their reverie.Amanda leaped up to find Susan and Christine, both dressed up in short skirts and leather jackets and high-heeled boots.

“Your Aunt Christine forced me to put these on,” Susan said with a sigh as she stepped in, clopping her heels.

“We’re celebrating Lola’s last days of being single.You can’t do that dressed in jeans and a t-shirt,” Christine touted as she removed her leather jacket to reveal a newly cinched waist.

“Christine!You look hot,” Audrey cried, leaping up to hug her aunt.

Christine blushed as Susan waved a hand.

“Our Christine used to hate exercise.Now, she refuses to miss a morning of spin class and has even dragged me out for a few classes,” Susan explained.

“Endorphins, baby,” Christine joked.“Can’t get enough.”

Susan’s lips parted as she assessed the cabin and its decorations.“It looks incredible in here.Truly Pinterest-worthy.”

“It was a team effort,” Amanda added, smiling at Audrey.

“Who else is coming?”Christine asked.

“Mom’s friends, Valerie and Jenny.Have you met them before?”Audrey asked.

“No,” Christine replied.

“They’re interesting,” Audrey stated, tilting her head to-and-fro.“I think they’re leftover from Mom’s party days.Jenny’s an artist and Valerie’s still trying to make her music career take off.Back in the old days, when Mom was this free-spirited twenty-something journalist, I think their friendship made a whole lot more sense.”

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