“Breathe in, Beth,” Kendy commanded, standing behind me while working on the buttons on my dress.

I sucked in the deepest breath of my life. “Seriously, I am,” I whined.

I wished I hadn’t visited the cupcake truck the day before and the day before that and the day before that.

Kent and I had been determined to try every flavor the week before, and we’d succeeded after tracking down the cupcake truck around the city using social media. And today, my wedding day, I was suffering from one too many cupcakes as Kendy had been trying to squeeze me into my dress for the last fifteen minutes.

“Okay, there.” Kendy finally finished with the top button and patted my shoulders.

Finally, I let out the breath that I’d been holding in, filling out the gown. By the end of this night, I swore, I’d have button marks etched into my skin. The bodice was squeezing the life out of my stomach, and the top was pressing tightly against my chest. One wrong turn, and I was convinced that one of my boobs would fall out.

“Wow, cleavage.” Kendy giggled as she stepped around me to take me in.

I would have hit her, but I could barely move, let alone raise my hand. “Shut up.”

Kendy looked cute in her bridesmaid dress, the style complementing her petite figure. When I’d told her the bridesmaid dress would be peach, she’d almost vomited in her mouth. When I’d shown her the ugly peach dress, she cried, and when she’d tried it on, she’d nearly died.

I’d nearly died, too—of laughter.

We’d both decided that we would make them into curtains for Aunt Diane. She loved the color peach, but of course she did because that color had been in during her time.

Kendy twirled her finger, signaling me to turn, and I sighed as I cooperated.

When I pivoted to face her, her eyes were shining. “Beth Boo, you look amazing,” she squealed.

“Please, Kendy, this is not my real day. Don’t make it feel like it is,” I begged. “Okay, Miss Peach?”

We both laughed.

Tugging me toward her, she gave me the biggest Kendy hug. It was the type of hug where I couldn’t breathe because she’d wrap her arms around me to the point of suffocation.

“Okay, nothing is going to fall out there,” she said, patting my backside. “I’m just telling you the truth. You make one gorgeous bride.” She gave me one last squeeze and pinched my butt cheek. “Are you ready?” she asked. “It will be over before you know it.”

The knock on the door broke us from our embrace.

Aunt Diane peered in. “Bethany, you look darling.” The crinkle in her eyes showed her delight. “Honey, everyone is waiting on you. Come here, and let me give you some lovin’.”

I nodded, smiled and hugged Aunt Diane as asked. It was a fake smile that I knew would be plastered on my face the whole day, so I’d better get used to it.

When Aunt Diane released me, Kendy linked her arm through mine and led me through the door. “Come on, let’s go.”

I walked out to a sea of paparazzi. The flashes of light, the oohs and aahs, the tightness of my dress, and the hunger in my stomach had me seeing double. The forced smile remained on my face as the photographers started positioning me back and forth and forth and back while shooting away with their cameras. They had me posing in every direction with my flowers, without my flowers, with Kendy, without Kendy, with Aunt Diane, and with them both.

My breathing accelerated as the seconds progressed, and I wobbled when the photographer continued to position me. I heard the thumping of my racing heart in my ears, and all of a sudden, I felt a dizziness that left me unsteady. Before I knew it, I jolted to the bathroom, locked the door and dropped to the floor before I started dry-heaving over the toilet.

“Beth? Open the door, honey. Are you okay?” Kendy asked, her voice laced with anxiety as she jiggled the knob.

“Give me a minute.” I stood and gripped the sink with both hands, using it as support, as I stared at the wide-eyed girl in the mirror. Flipping on the faucet, I cupped my hands and rinsed water in my mouth.

“I just need a minute.” I patted my mouth with the white hand towel that had been hanging on the wall and slid against the wall, sitting next to the toilet. My dress pooled at the bottom of my feet, and the train trailed along the white marble tile. My eyes focused on the tile on the floor noticing the specs of cream against the white marble.

As the minutes dragged on, I ignored the knocking and the yelling outside.

I didn’t even know how long I’d been sitting there, staring at my hand and the gigantic rock on my ring finger. I didn’t think I could go through with this. The day had just begun, and given how it was going thus far, I knew I wouldn’t make it down the aisle without another round of dry-heaving or full-on panic attacks.

I ignored the violent attempts Kendy was making to get me to open the door.

“Did you hear me, Bethany Marie Casse? I’m going to break down this door. Do you understand? Open this door now!”

I even ignored her desperate pleas of concern.

“Beth Boo, are you okay? Open the door, hon. How do I know if you are okay if you don’t open the door or even talk to me?”

Even her empty threats did not break me from my trance.

“Bethany Marie Casse, damn you. I swear, I’m going to tell the world about you-know-what. You know, that tiny little secret you’re hiding. I’m going to tell them all.”

His voice was what broke me.

“Beth?” Kent’s voice was filled with concern. “Beth, open the door.” He knocked lightly. “Let me in.”

I picked up my train, opened the door, and peered at him through my lashes. He was so beautiful that I wanted to cry. It was his face that I’d wanted to see—because only he knew what I was going through, because we were the only two that were living this lie together.

When I moved to let him in, he pushed the door open and shut it behind him.

Instantly, I threw my arms around him, and almost started to cry. “I hate this,” I whispered against his neck.

His arms wrapped around my lower back. “The fact that you hate it makes me think I hate it more.”

We held each other in silence. He buried his head into the crook of my neck, taking in my scent, as his breath tickled my skin.

He spoke first, “Don’t do that again. You scared me.” He squeezed me tighter, pulling me closer against him and took a deep breath. “Kendy didn’t know why you wouldn’t answer the door. I ran here as fast as I could.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, closing my eyes. “Seriously, why are we doing this again? Because I don’t think I can pull this off.”

For once, the reassurance he had always given me about why we were doing this was not there. “It seemed like a good idea at the time,” he said. He sounded nervous, which made me feel slightly better.

Releasing me, he took a step back. His eyes slowly raked over my face and then my dress, taking me all in, which warmed me all over.

He met my eyes, unwavering. “God, you’re beautiful,” he whispered as he took hold of my hand.

I felt my cheeks flush as his look of intensity consumed me and drew me in. That pull, that electricity buzzed between us as our eyes locked, his chestnut brown to my emerald green and all I could hear was the sound of our breathing.

I pushed my boobs together, breaking the awkwardness. “Look.”

It worked as his eyes widened in amusement. “Interesting,” he said, a dimple peeking out from his cheek.

“I mean, I always knew I had them, but in this dress…yeah…interesting.”

He shook his head once, and then he pulled me into a soft embrace again. “I couldn’t do this…I wouldn’t want to do this with anyone else,” he said. “Let’s eat, have fun, and get drunk, okay?”

Releasing me, he pulled something that was wrapped in a paper towel out of his pocket. “Fries? I know you haven’t eaten.”

“Oh God. Mr. Plack, I love you,” I said, snatching the paper towel out of his hand. Greasy, old fries never tasted better.

He observed me in silence, and I smiled at him as I chewed every single fry. My stomach grumbled as if it were showing gratitude for feeding it.

“I’m ready,” I said, breaking the silence after devouring the last of the fries. I wiped my greasy hands on the expensive designer dress and reached for his hand.

He took it and kissed the top of my hand “You’re truly the most beautiful bride I’ve ever seen,” he said, his eyes never leaving mine.

I bet the flush on my cheeks was brighter than the pink blush I was wearing. “Let’s go.” I pulled him toward the door.

As we exited the bathroom, the paparazzis started again, blinding me with their flashes. I turned and buried my face in Kent’s shoulder, shielding my eyes from the lights of the cameras. His arms wrapped around me in protection.

“Okay, enough pictures for the moment,” Kent commanded.

Cheering and clapping erupted, and I glanced up, noticing everyone in the room.

Mr. Plack had Mrs. Plack in an embrace. Kendy stood next to Aunt Diane. Kendy motioned at Kent’s arm wrapped around me with her eyes and an all-knowing I-know-what-happened-in-that-bathroom look even though the only thing that had happened was I’d eaten fries.

“Nervous jitters, but she’s fine now,” Kent said, breaking the applause.

One by one, they came to greet us.

“I thought you had smartened up and changed your mind,” Mr. Plack said while winking at his son.

Mrs. Plack held my hands, taking in the sight of me. Her lips slowly quivered, and she covered one hand over her mouth. As her tears threatened to overflow, she stepped in to give me the biggest bear hug. “You’re so beautiful, Beth.”

“Mother, you said you’d try to control yourself,” Kent said.

She reached up and touched his face. “I’m just happy and so very proud of you.” Her tears pooled in the corner of her eyes.

“Okay, everybody, let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!” Mary clapped her hands, catching everyone’s attention and breaking the moment. “We are already fifteen minutes behind schedule. I’m glad I allotted time for mishaps such as this.” She moved Mrs. Plack out of my arms and pushed Mr. Plack in the direction of the door. “Kent, let’s go. You’ve already broken one of the most important rules. You’ve seen the bride,” she said, a look of disgust on her face.

“No!” I gripped Kent’s hand in both of mine. Immediately, the sound of my heart beating in my ears started to accelerate again. I didn’t want to let go of my lifeline.

Mary glowered in my direction, giving me a subtle evil eye. “Honey, you’ll see him in a minute,” she blurted out.

I wanted to honey her right in the face. I shot her the evil eye right back, but mine wasn’t as subtle.

Kent coughed to cover his laugh. “Give us a few seconds, please. Everyone out.”

Mary shot me a look before turning to stomp out the door, and the rest followed.

“The best thing about this day being over is that I’ll never have to see that lady again,” I muttered. “I swear, for the amount of money your mom is paying her, she should at least be nice, right?”

Kent placed both hands on my shoulders and moved me to face him. “Forget her. I’ll meet you down the aisle, okay? Don’t worry about anyone else. I’ll be down at the end of that aisle, waiting for you.” He grabbed my chin to meet my eyes in the most intimate stare. “Okay?”

My breath caught.

I could see speckles of gold in his chestnut irises. “Fine,” I said, pivoting toward the door. “I can’t believe you stuck greasy fries in your tuxedo.”

He shook his head and laughed as he followed me out. “I can’t believe you wiped your greasy hands on your fifteen-thousand-dollar dress.”