“Well,” she says, clicking her tongue. “You only got engaged three months ago.”
We did. Three months ago to the day, Alex slipped the gold oval-cut ballerina ring on my finger in the middle of a gas station parking lot. When we called our families an hour later from the courthouse parking lot and told them we were eloping,bothof our mothers popped blood vessels in their eyes.
“This was the compromise,” I tell her. “Youthrew a fit when we wanted to elope, so we’re doing the wedding thing.”
She huffs, buttoning the last of the tiny buttons on my dress. “The wedding thing.” I can’t help the smile that curves my lips at the snarky tone. “I’mso sorrythat I want to see my only daughter marry the love of her life.”
“Yes, yes, I know. I’ve heard it all before,” I say, smoothing my hands down the front of my off-white dress. It’s a mixture of layered lace and tulle, and the fluttering sleeves are entirely transparent. When I tried it on in the bridal shop, I felt like I’d walked out of the pages of a fairy tale.
Despite my tone, Mom starts tearing up as she watches me in the mirror. “You’re getting married today.”
My smile is shaky, and I have to hold back my own tears to keep from ruining my makeup. After Sebastian, I wasn’t sure I’d ever evenwantto get married, not when I felt so precarious, so unable to trust. But with Alex, I can’t imagine anything less. I want it all with him.
The door to my childhood bedroom cracks open, and Ellie’s grinning face peers through the gap. “Hazel,” she breathes. “You look stunning.”
I do a little spin, the skirt of my dress twirling around me. Out in the meadow, surrounded by the wildflowers and butterflies, I’ll look like a fairy, which is exactly what I was going for.
“Alex is going to love it,” she tells me with a wink, and my own smile widens.
“How much time do we have?”
“Cam should be ready for photos in just a few minutes, and we have about a half hour before the ceremony starts. He told me to have you head out to the meadow.”
“Perfect,” Mom says, reaching for the hem of my dress, although I’m not sure why she’s bothering. The hem is going to be covered in dirt and dust by the time the night is over.
The photos don’t take long since Alex and I decided to forgo bridesmaids and groomsmen because of the small guest list. As I peer through the shop doors, I can see everyone important to us, dressed in varying earth tones to match the colors of summer in the meadow. The ceremony will be short, the music will be loud, and there will be ice cream instead of cake.
Alex is already at the front, his hands shoved into the pockets of his rolled-up khakis. His white linen shirt is a little wrinkled, and there’s a lipstick stain under his collar from where I snuck out when Mom was greeting guests earlier. I unbuttoned the top three buttons and slipped my hand inside, pressing my lips on his pulse point, and when he groaned, I laughed into his skin, urging him to be quiet.
He left the shirt unbuttoned, and when his eyes snag on mine and a smirk crooks his mouth, I know he’s remembering that moment too.
“Hazel,” Mom yells from behind me, sliding the cracked barn door shut. “You can’t let Alex see you. It’s bad luck.”
I refrain from telling her that Alex sawallof me in the downstairs powder bath a half hour ago when he slipped free every button down the slope of my spine and let my dress pool on the floor at our feet.
“What’s wrong with your dress? “Mom asks, and I freeze.
Slowly, I ask, “What do you mean?”
Her hand presses into the base of my spine. “These two buttons are undone.”
“Oh,” I say, my pulse jumping in my throat. “Must have come unbuttoned.”
She begins fastening them. “I don’t see how. These holes are so tiny.”
“Mm,” I mutter noncommittally.
Mom halts her movements, looking at me more closely over my shoulder. “Hazel…”
The shop door opens, and Cam peeks in with Dad right behind him. “Mom, you can go sit down. We’re about to start.”
Mom’s lips brush my cheek, and she whispers in my ear. “I’m on to you, Hazel Girl.”
The grin I give her is wide, and she smiles back, but before slipping out the door she says, “Wait, family hug.”
Cam groans, and Dad looks like he’s holding one back, but they both slip through the door, and then their arms are coming around me, all three of them enveloping me. I have to hold back the tears that threaten to fall.
“I’m glad you found Alex,” Mom says, her words muffled.