Page 78 of The Glass Dolphin

“Okay,” Maddy said fiercely. “Now, come on. Come help me gather up all of my stuff. Let’s practice my makeup one last time. You can tell me about Rob and why you think you’re falling in love with him.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t need to.” Maddy smiled softly at her daughter and tucked her hair behind her ear. “He must be something special to have caught you for so long.”

“Yeah.” Chelsea sighed. “I guess I do really like him enough to admit that maybe I’m falling in love with him. Maybe.”

Maddy giggled with her daughter as they returned to the master suite. “Sweetheart, falling in love isn’t weakness. It’s wonderful and exhilarating, and you love adventure.”

“Falling can hurt,” she said simply. She got out Maddy’s makeup bag, and Maddy sat in front of the vanity, and then moved back so Chelsea would have room too.

“It can,” she admitted. “But you don’t really know until you take that leap.”

Chelsea met her eye, nodded bravely, and then said, “I think we should go easy on the dark makeup today. Everything is pink, blue, and apricot, and you should be too.”

“Make me beautiful,” Maddy said as she closed her eyes. The conversation turned easy after that. Bea came in with Knox, and they chitchatted about Kyle’s job in the city, and when they could come back to the cove.

Before Maddy knew it, it was time to leave for the ferry station, and it took all of them to get her clothes, makeup, and hair supplies to Rock House. When she entered the bridal room, Robin turned from where she spoke with another woman.

“And there’s our bride,” she gushed as she strode toward her. She wore a beautiful dress in the most cornflower of blues, which really accented her eyes. Her makeup sat flawlessly on her face, and her step was sure and strong.

She moved right into Maddy and hugged her. “You’ve got everything?”

“We’ve got it all,” Maddy confirmed. “Ben texted when he got on the ferry, and we timed it so he was taking the one right after me. He should be here in twenty minutes.”

“Perfect.” Robin’s smiled dazzled Maddy, and she thanked all the stars in heaven that she’d found this woman. Not only for Bea and Kyle’s wedding, which had been moved last-minute last year, but for herself.

Robin exhaled and turned. “Okay, we have an hour. You ladies help your mother into her dress, and I’m going to go check on a few things.” She left the room, and Maddy faced Bea and Chelsea. They both looked like they came from her, as Bea had blonde hair and blue eyes too.

“Your makeup just needs a few touchups,” Chelsea said.

“Who’s doing your hair?” Bea asked.

“Julia.” Maddy put down her hair kit just as the door opened again. This time, Julia, in all her dark-haired glory, walked in. “There she is.” She took a few steps until she reached her, and she gripped her tightly in a hug.

“You’re ready for this,” Julia whispered in her ear. “It’s going to be so amazing.”

Maddy had lost Julia when she’d been married the first time. She hadn’t had a truly close, trusted friend in the bridal room, not like she did now. She clung to her, the way she wanted to cling to the memories of the two of them and how far they’d come in the past couple of years.

“Mom, don’t cry,” Chelsea said.

Maddy laughed, or she might burst into tears. She released Julia and they separated. “It takes ten minutes for me to get zipped and laced into my dress,” she said. “That gives you forty-five minutes for my hair. Chelsea can do the touch-ups on my makeup at the same time.”

Julia nodded, her battle face slipping into position. “Let’s get this done.” She plugged in the curling iron and started setting out the jars and bottles of hair products that would transform Maddy’s normally semi-wavy, long hair into a curly up-do. Classic and elegant and totally befitting a woman her age.

“Are Ben’s parents in town?”

“Yes,” Maddy said. “He entertained them all day yesterday, and we only saw him for a few minutes in the evening.”

She sat and she let Chelsea, Bea, and Julia talk and work around her. She loved going to the salon and spa, and she loved being taken care of. Every women should have that on their wedding day, and with only about fifteen minutes before the ceremony would begin, the door opened again.

Maddy expected Robin, and she got her—along with several others. Alice entered, and she’d chosen a pink bridesmaid dress. Maddy had simply texted out the colors, asked them all to walk in her bridal party, and said they could wear whatever they wanted.

Slacks, skirts, dresses, she didn’t care. Each of them came in wearing something flowy and pastel, and Maddy felt like she’d missed out on a shopping party. She probably had. She worked a lot compared to some of the ladies in the group, but she smiled at each of them.

“Wow,” she said to Laurel about her peachy, barely-there dress. “That’s stunning on you.”

“I don’t normally like dresses the same color as my skin,” she said. “But this one called to me.”

---