Chapter Twelve
Riley
Oh holy hell.
My alarm was blaring and I was too sore to roll over and turn it off.
“I think I’m dying,” I groaned into my pillow. The bed shifted and I felt Camden lean over me and grab my phone off my nightstand.
“Time to get up.” Camden’s voice was raspy from sleep. Super sexy. He rolled back over me but gave my ass a sharp slap before he was completely clear.
I yelped and then moved my hand to the spot, rubbing it but then groaning because moving hurt even more than the stinging on my butt cheek.
“I’m never moving again.” I rolled onto my back, whining the whole way.
“That’s the idea, babe.”
“You be quiet. You don’t have to get up for another two hours. I’m not talking to you.”
“Don’t you need a ride to the airport?”
“I was just going to take an Uber.”
He rolled back over and gave me a searing look. “I’ll drive you.”
Even though my whole body was sore from lifting boxes and walking up and down stairs all weekend, I relaxed a little at his words.
“Okay,” I agreed. It was pretty sweet that he wanted to take me to the airport, even though an Uber would do just fine. I wasn’t going to argue with him. “I’m going to go take the hottest shower known to man.” I stood up slowly, feeling every muscle stretch and strain along the way, and padded into the bathroom. I’d only spent the weekend at the new house, but fuck if I didn’t fall in love with my new bathroom. If I wasn’t trying to catch a plane that morning, I would’ve drawn a bath, but instead I turned on the waterfall shower head and made it as hot as I could stand it.
Ten minutes later, I was still standing under the hot water when I heard Camden’s voice.
“I’ll never again live in a house without a glass shower.”
Opening my eyes at his voice, I saw him leaning against the doorjamb, a sexy smirk on his face.
“You perv,” I said, even though I really liked the idea of him watching me shower. And even more, I looked forward to the day I could do the same to him.
“Pervy and proud,” he said with a laugh. “Here.” He walked to the opening of the walk-in shower and held out his hand, showing me two pills. “Advil.”
“Ugh,” I groaned, taking the pills from him. “You’re the best.” I popped them in my mouth, then filled my mouth with water and swallowed them down.
“Also,” he said, holding out his other hand, which was wrapped around my phone, “it’s been going off like crazy for about five minutes.”
“Who is it?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t look.”
“Well aren’t you the good fiancé who doesn’t invade my privacy.” I made a loud and exaggerated kissy face at him. “But will you check it for me? It’s probably just Hadley with some crazy story from the weekend.”
I watched as he swiped across the phone screen and tapped it a few times.
“It’s Rose.”
“Rose? What did she say?”
“There’re, like, ten texts from her.” I watch as he scrolls up on my phone and it’s obvious he’s reading. After a few moments he says while still scrolling, “Looks like she’s sick and can’t make it to Arizona.”
“The trip is canceled?” I asked hopefully, the idea of crawling back into bed for a few hours totally bringing a smile to my face.
“Uh, no, she wants you to go without her.”
“What?” I cried out. “By myself?”
“Looks that way.”
“What?” I cried again, only that time more hysteria laced my words. “I can’t go alone.”
“She thinks she ate something bad and has food poisoning. She can’t fly.” He keeps scrolling and reading. “She already had a car to chauffeur the two of you around, so there should be a driver waiting for you when you land. They’ll take you to the hotel and then wherever else you need. She says she’ll email you the itinerary.”
“Oh my God,” I sob dramatically into the water. “This is going to suck so bad.”
“Maybe it’ll be better by yourself,” he supplied, his voice hopeful.
“No, Rose was a really good buffer between Penelope and me. Now I’ll have to be the point person and I’m confident it’s going to suck.”
“Well, at least it’s just two days. Tomorrow night you’ll be home and it’ll be over.”
“Uhhhh,” I groaned. The day just seemed to be getting worse and worse. Only the thought of a nice alcoholic drink by the pool that evening made the idea of going to Arizona the least bit palatable.
As the morning progressed, I made the conscious decision to just grin and bear it. I gave myself a silent pep talk all the way to the airport, telling myself that if I thought it was going to be a horrible trip, it would become a self-fulfilling prophecy. I had to put positive vibes out into the universe.
Camden pulled my small carry-on bag from the trunk of the Batmobile and set it on the ground next to me.
“Are you going to be all right going by yourself?”
I waved his question away. “I’ll be fine. It might be fun even. Everyone loves meeting with caterers. Free samples of yummy food—what’s not to love?”
Camden clearly saw right through my positivity ruse but was smart enough not to comment on it. “Call me when you land, okay? I might be in a meeting, but leave a message.” His hand came up to cup my face and he leaned in, kissing me softly. “I’ll miss you.”
“I’ll miss you too,” I replied with a sigh. Turning and grabbing the handle of my bag, I walked into the airport, repeating under my breath, “It’s just two days. It’s just two days.”
Much to Rose’s credit, even though she wasn’t there to manage the trip, it went off without a hitch. I was still placed in first class—with free champagne—and there was a driver waiting for me with my name on a sign and everything. This driver, Richard, was friendly and professional and didn’t make me feel weird one bit that I was a woman traveling alone. When I climbed into the town car, I turned on my phone and immediately called Camden.
As he’d warned, he didn’t pick up, but I left a message telling him I’d landed safely and would call him later. Then my phone pinged with emails and I opened the one from Rose. She’d laid everything out for me with times and addresses; all I had to do was be where she wanted me to be and act on her behalf.
I can totally do this.
I took in a deep breath and tried to keep the positive thoughts rolling through my head.
Richard brought me to the same hotel Rose and I had stayed at previously and waited while I checked in and took my bags to my room. I freshened up a bit and put on a new blouse, then headed back to the car.
“Where to, Miss Smith?” Richard asked as I buckled my seat belt.
I read off the name of the bridal shop and its address to Richard directly from the email Rose sent me.
“Very good,” he replied, and then we were off. When we pulled up to a different bridal boutique twenty minutes later, I took a deep and calming breath while Richard opened my door for me. I stepped out and tried to look cool, calm, and collected.
“I’ll be waiting for you when you’re ready to leave, ma’am.”
“Thanks, Richard. You can call me Riley.”
He only nodded in reply.
I took one more breath, pushed my shoulders back, tipped my chin up, and walked into that bridal shop like I owned the place.
My eyes instantly found Lily in a sea of white gowns and her eyes lit up when she spotted me.
“Riley,” she exclaimed. “Oh, I’m so glad you’re here.” She welcomed me with a hug. “My mom had a last-minute meeting she had to go to and Rose is sick, and I just didn’t think I wanted to do this on my own. I’m so glad you’re here.” She was obviously flustered. My years of bridal training kicked into gear.
“Don’t worry about a thing, Lily. I will help you handle everything,” I said as I rubbed a hand down her arm reassuringly. “Have you been assigned a consultant yet?” I asked, my voice soft and gentle.
“Yeah, her name is Buffy,” she said, crinkling her nose.
I held back a laugh. “Okay, let’s find some dresses.”
An hour later, Lily and I were still alone, which I was absolutely okay with. She’d tried on a few dresses, none of which she’d fallen in love with. I went back out to the sales floor and started sifting through the racks again. Unfortunately, I’d already looked through them all and nothing had worked.
I let out a frustrated sigh, pushing heavy weddings dress down the rack when a woman smaller than me pushed a rolling rack full of dresses right next to me.
“Hello,” she said with a friendly smile.
“Hi,” I responded.
“Don’t mind me. We just got a shipment in, so I’ll just drop these off and be out of your way.”
“These are new?” I asked, hope shimmering around this retail angel like bright lights.
“Yep. Just got them in today.” She hung eight glorious dresses in the size eight section where I had been looking for the last twenty minutes. Eight brand new dresses.
I looked around, wondering if any other people had heard the woman and if I was going to have to fight off some bridezillas, but then I zeroed in on the new merchandise.
The first three were clear nos; I didn’t even entertain the idea of bringing them back to Lily. The fourth, however, went in the immediate yes pile. It was a stunning pink satin dress with a very low back. It looked elegant and sexy. Dress five went into the no pile, but six and seven were maybes. I decided to bring them back with me just on the chance she’d want to see them on. They were beautiful dresses, but I wasn’t sure they fit her vision. However, at that point we were past the point of being too picky. Sometimes, as I’d witnessed many times in the past, you just needed to put dresses on.
The eighth dress, however, took my breath away.
I’d been frantic just moments before, but the dress stopped me in my tracks.
It was a golden champagne color. Not off-white, and not rose, but a dull golden hue. The bodice was lace and it flowed down into a tulle skirt. The intricate and delicate lace pattern of flowers trailed down onto the skirt, mimicking vines of flowers. It had a sweetheart neckline and was only tea length.
It was perfect.
“Hey,” Lily said, breaking me from the trance I was in while staring at the dress. “Find something good?”
“Oh, um, yeah,” I said, trying to pull my attention away from the dress. “I think you should try these four on,” I said, adding the last dress to the pile.
“Okay,” she agreed readily with a sweet smile. She was wearing a simple robe the boutique provided to all its brides, and I noticed how even in just a satin robe she looked beautiful.
I followed her back to her dressing room and hung all the dresses on the rack, my hand lingering on the last one.
Lily slowly examined each one and told me what she liked about them. I already knew what she was going to say, as I’d learned her likes and dislikes in dresses over the two days I’d spent shopping with her, but I listened as that was a huge component of my job as wedding planner.
“This one’s beautiful,” she said breathily as she came to the last dress, and I found myself holding my breath. Her fingers trailed down the delicate lace all the way to the hem of the skirt, pulling it out a little so she could take in the entire dress. “It’s such an interesting color, right?”
“It is,” I replied, expelling the air I’d been holding in.
“It’s nothing like any of the other dresses we’ve looked at.”
“It’s very unique.”
“But I don’t think it would work well for my wedding. Plus,” she said, looking over at me, “I really want a floor-length dress. I just have an image in my mind of me on my wedding day and there’s lots of material all the way to the floor.”
A wave of relief washed over me and I couldn’t figure out why, but I tried not to focus on it too much. Instead, I gathered the dresses she didn’t want to try on and headed out of the dressing room as she prepared to put on what felt like her twentieth dress of the day.
“You can just put those on the rack outside the door,” Buffy, Lily’s consultant, said as she entered the room.
“Thanks,” I replied. I turned once I was outside the door, found the rack she was referring to, and hung the dresses on it.
“Riley,” I heard a voice call from behind me. When I turned, it was very hard not to let my face show the dread I felt when my eyes landed on Penelope. “Oh my word. I have never been this late to anything in my life. Well, except maybe prom senior year.” She nudged me with her elbow and then waggled her eyebrows at me. “My date was Anthony Williams. Do you remember him? Well, we were two hours late to prom because once he saw me in my dress, he couldn’t keep his hands to himself.” She said the words as though they were the wittiest anyone had ever uttered, and I managed an uncomfortable laugh.
“I don’t remember him.”
“Really? He was the quarterback of the football team? Dark hair? Always wore his letterman jacket?” She looked at me expectantly, but I gave her nothing.
“Nope.”
“Hmm. Well, he was hot and he couldn’t contain himself around me.”
“Penelope? Is that you?” Lily called from inside her dressing room, saving me from having to respond to Penelope’s ridiculous assessment of her prom date.
“Hey, Lily. Sorry I’m late.”
“No problem. Riley’s been a big help.” Just as she finished her sentence, she opened the door of her dressing room and came out in one of the new dresses.
“How do you like it?” I asked, smiling at her. She looked phenomenal, like usual.
“I like it,” she replied, her voice hesitant. “But I’m not sure it’s the one.”
“I don’t think it’s a good look on you,” Penelope supplied.
“No?” Lily asked, insecure for the first time that day.
The distinct warmth of rage washed over my body and I knew I had to bite my tongue. I’d definitely dealt with a lot of rude people with my job, but something about knowing how vindictive and rude Penelope was made her harsh words cut even that much deeper.
“Let’s go take a look with the big mirrors,” I said, trying to distract Lily from Penelope’s comments.
Lily lifted the skirt and walked with me to the pedestal she’d stood at on and off all morning. “It’s pretty, but I just don’t feel like it’s the one.”
“Well, what do you like about it?” I asked as I stood behind her, meeting her gaze in the mirror.
“I like how fitted it is, and I like the length.”
“Okay, what about the neckline?”
Lily scrunched her nose a little. “I don’t think I like the halter.”
“Okay, that’s good to know. So, I think back in the dressing room there’s another dress that’s long, fitted, and satin. It will be a very flattering silhouette, and it has a traditional strap.”
“Satin?” Penelope’s voice pulled me out of my focus.
“You don’t like satin?” Lily asked. It was painfully obvious that Lily cared about Penelope’s opinion, which was unfortunate since Penelope was a bitch.
“Satin is very nineties.”
“Although satin isn’t traditional, it will give you the look you’ve been saying you wanted. Plus, it’s a blush color, which is something you said you wanted.” I saw Penelope open her mouth to say something, and I was sure it wasn’t a helpful or supportive comment, so I cut her off. “Let’s go try it on.”
“Okay,” Lily replied with her signature sweet smile.
We walked back to the dressing room, and I was a little relieved when I saw the dress Lily had discarded was still hanging on the rack. Penelope followed Lily into the room, so I took another opportunity to drool over the dress.
“It’s gorgeous, isn’t it? Did Lily want to try it on?” Buffy asked, jolting me out of my dress drooling haze.
“Um, no. She didn’t like it.”
Buffy tilted her head to the side and narrowed her eyes at me. After a quick moment, her eyes dropped to my engagement ring. “Are you thinking about your own wedding?”
“Oh no,” I fumbled. “It’s just a beautiful dress. I was just admiring it.”
“I could put it in the back for you to try on when you get a moment,” she offered, her tone helpful and sweet.
“Are you going to try a dress on, Riley?” Lily’s excited voice came through over the door of her dressing room.
“No, no, I was just waiting and looking.”
“I think it would look beautiful on you,” Buffy added, taking the dress off the rack and holding it out, giving it a thorough look. “You have the perfect coloring to pull off a champagne dress.”
“Oh my gosh, Riley,” Lily said as she cracked open the door of her dressing room. “This is so exciting! I can’t wait to see you in it.”
“I can’t… I mean, we’ve got to get to the caterers.”
Lily frowned at my refusal. “Can’t we reschedule?”
“No, that’s not necessary.”
“We’re open until eight. You could come back later.”
“I’m not even sure when I’m getting married. Plus, I don’t think you’re supposed to try on wedding dresses without your friends and family.”
“So call your mom,” Penelope added impatiently. “I could call her for you, if you want.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “No, that’s not necessary. Let’s just focus on Lily, shall we?”
“Tell you what,” Buffy said, folding the dress over her arm. “I’ll put the dress on hold until tomorrow, and if you feel like coming back to try it on, it’ll be here waiting for you.”
I opened my mouth to tell her it wasn’t necessary, but she cut me off.
“If you don’t come back, no harm, no foul.” Then she disappeared with my dress.
Well, not my dress. I couldn’t be trying on wedding dresses—I couldn’t even pick a date for my wedding. Thinking about my wedding gave me hives. I didn’t have time to think about it, as there were a million other things to accomplish before I could focus on it.
But the dress was absolutely gorgeous.
For the briefest moment, I had a daydream of Camden in a dark tuxedo turning and seeing me for the first time in that dress. His eyes trailed up and down my body from the top of my head all the way to my toes, then back up to my eyes, and I saw tears start to form in his. Then he pulled me to him and whispered, “You look so beautiful.”
It was the first time I was able to have an actual visual of anything related to our wedding, and even though I didn’t go to that bridal boutique with the intention of trying on a dress, I had a feeling I would regret it if I left without knowing how that dress felt on my body.
“Oh. My. Word.”
I heard Lily’s voice and knocked gently on her door.
“Everything okay in there?”
“It’s perfect,” she whispered, and I couldn’t help the smile that came over my face.
The next hour was spent telling Lily how beautiful she looked in the dress that was obviously made for her. It was pink, elegant, and sexy—everything she wanted in a wedding gown. After just a few minutes of telling her how perfect it was, her mother showed up and the waterworks began. It was everything the moment was supposed to be, and I’d seen it a million times. But that didn’t stop me from getting a little misty too.
“Do you think they have a veil I could try on?” Lily asked me, her cheeks pink from excitement at finding her wedding dress.
“I can definitely check on that for you.”
With Buffy’s help, we found a few veils that would work and I watched Lily have a special moment with her mother, all the while realizing I wanted that with my mother too.