Chapter Six
It seemed like time passed at the speed of light once Lauren lived with Cole. She slowly fixed the house up with Jane’s help and gave it a warmer touch, framing pictures of them and of their friends. Lauren added a few paintings to the walls and even painted the walls a warm brown color and the kitchen a soft green. It felt good to have a home again, somewhere to settle in and love again. Every month it seemed to come more and more to life, and Cole smiled with every change. Lauren spent equal amounts of time between the two houses since she was still hanging out a lot with Jane, planning the wedding and working on their side jobs.
It was fun, and Lauren felt like she was accomplishing something.
Despite her happiness about her new home, Lauren also missed her dad a lot and sometimes when she was alone, she talked to him and told him about her new life. She told him that somebody loved her and that she was happy here. She just wished that he could be a part of things here.
The wedding was coming up fast, and Lauren found herself over at Jane’s almost every night, making this or that for the ceremony. Lauren admired the fact that her friend wasn’t going expensive with this and making a lot of favors herself. They were having the wedding at a cute little barn in town that had been fixed up for such occasions. It was perfect. It offered a beautiful tree out front that they could say their vows under if it was nice enough outside. The barn was open and welcoming. They could set up tables in there and food with a dance floor outside for the party. It was going to be a true country wedding, and Lauren couldn’t wait.
The guys grilled dinner for the girls while they worked on the wedding preparations and joined them to keep them company. It was like the perfect foursome, both of them happy couples and all friends. Lauren was getting to know some of the other people in town as well through the wedding planning.
It wasn’t Georgia, and Lauren missed some of her friends and the state itself, but she was happy. She fell more and more in love with the simple farm life and just sitting outside at night looking at the sky. She and Cole made love every night, unable to get enough of each other. They’d snuggle together and fall asleep before the alarm went off early in the morning and the day would start over, all over again.
The closer the wedding day came, the less time Lauren could spend with Cole due to all of the last minute things that needed to be done. She was at Jane’s all day and night, and though the guys still cooked for them, it was busy.
The evening before the ceremony, Jane’s pretty white dress was hanging up in the spare room of the cottage along with the pretty lavender dress that Lauren was going to wear. The entire town was going to be there and the families of the bride and groom were helping with setting up the food and the decorations. It was a big deal for Julesberg and Lauren was looking forward to it even though she was exhausted.
She went home that night with Jane in tow since Jane wanted to stick to tradition. She was going to sleep in the spare bedroom, which really meant that she was going to keep Lauren up talking in the manic way that she did when she was nervous and excited.
It was charming in a way, but Lauren found herself longing to be in Cole’s arms in the next room just feeling his skin against hers. After tomorrow, things would settle down, and the newlyweds were going to New York for a honeymoon. Lauren and Cole were keeping an eye on the cottage, of course, but they were planning to spend a lot of time in their own house and their own bed. Not a sexual person by nature, Lauren found herself missing Cole when she was so busy, missing his body.
It was a restless night and Lauren dragged herself out of bed, never happier to see a pot of coffee in the kitchen. Cole was reading the paper at the table as she trudged in and he gave her a sympathetic look. “You look so tired, baby.”
“She talked so much last night,” Lauren lowered her voice as she glanced towards the hallway. “I know she’s excited and I’m so happy for her, but I’m glad that it will be just us tonight. I just want you to hold me in your arms.”
Cole stood and walked over to her before he cupped her face and kissed her. “I understand. I am so happy to see my best friends getting married but I miss you.”
“Hand me a cup of coffee and nobody gets hurt,” Jane said suddenly. Lauren looked over at her with wide eyes, feeling embarrassed that her friend had caught them talking about her behind her back. How much had she heard?
“Look at the two of you. You’ll be next walking down that aisle,” Jane teased as Lauren handed her a steaming cup of coffee.
“Oh, geez. Just shut up,” Lauren said as she rolled her eyes and took another sip of her own coffee. “Let’s get through this day first, okay?”
“I have to agree with you on that. I love Adam more than anything, but all of this planning has worn me down. Do you know what it’s like to deal with two moms?” Jane rolled her eyes and Cole and Lauren laughed. The families were wonderful but there was no doubt they could be overbearing as well. “I just want to say “I do”, kiss the hell out of him and party through the night. Then party on our own later.” She winked and Lauren shook her head as Cole pulled her close to him.
“So what’s the itinerary like?” Lauren asked for the hundredth time as Jane pulled a donut from the box that Adam had dropped off earlier.
“We need to be at the salon in two hours with the moms and then at the barn by three. I think Mom said something about brunch at the salon too since she’s paying for the full treatment. It will be relaxing in theory, I’m sure, but let’s hope there’s champagne involved.” Jane caught the look that Cole gave her and smiled. “Just a little, Dad. I don’t want to be drunk when I marry Adam.”
“Good. He’d hate that,” Cole muttered as Jane and Lauren shared a look.
They hung around the kitchen for a few more minutes before Cole headed over to Adam’s to spend some time with him. Jane and Lauren took showers and dressed in jeans and t-shirts before Jane’s and Adam’s moms stopped by to pick them up.
The moms were an adorable combination of nervous and excited women. “It’s going to be perfect, ladies. Just calm down and let’s enjoy this,” Jane said to them. She was glowing now and Lauren settled back in the seat and took a slow breath.
They went to the spa in town where everyone got a full body massage. They were in the same room, so the women could talk throughout the lavish experience. They sipped champagne and laughed as the moms recalled their own weddings, making Lauren and Jane cry.
From there, they moved onto manicures and pedicures. Jane’s mom frowned a little at her daughter’s choice of bright purple for her toes and pink for her fingers, but Jane told her to get over it. While she loved her country life, Jane would always hold onto the vibrant part of herself that she was born with. Lauren picked a soft green for her toes and a muted lavender for her fingers to match the dress and quite frankly, because she wasn’t as comfortable with herself as Jane was.
They ate a light brunch of various sandwiches and some desserts before they got their hair and makeup done for the ceremony. It was relaxing and Lauren smiled as Jane took pictures of them and made the moms take some shots as well.
After lunch was finished and cleaned up, they were taken to the main part of the salon and set up at different stations. Lauren opted for soft curls that fell around her shoulders with just a little of her hair pulled back while Jane had her short bob curled around her face. She typically didn’t do too much with herself apart from some makeup and she looked thrilled as Lauren glanced at her.
The mothers just had their hair curled but they looked beautiful.
The makeup was natural but stunning. Jane had her eyes darkened with some mascara and some shimmery shadow and went with dark matte red lips. She was a cute girl to begin with but she looked absolutely gorgeous now. Lauren hugged her and told her that Adam was going to lose his mind when he saw her.
They dressed at the salon, having brought all of the dresses and stood inside as they made one last toast. Jane smiled as she thanked them for being there with her and raised her glass as the women clinked them together. They sipped the drinks and took the last few minutes to relax before the chaos set in.
They got into the car and drove over to the barn, where the staff was just finishing the decorations. Lauren looked around at the tables as they made their way to the room in the back, thinking how sweet everything looked.
There were about twenty tables set up with cream candles floating in purple candle holders along with bouquets of light purple roses and white lilies. Soft twinkle lights were strung around the rafters. A buffet was set up against the back wall of the barn. The weeping willow was waiting for the couple with an archway of purple and cream blowing in the soft Fall breeze.