Chapter 57
Kate
Since Kate was in the wedding, she had to be up bright and early. She had a hard time falling asleep that night and was still groggy and disoriented when the alarm went off at four in the morning.
At least she had her dress all ready to go. Instead of making all the girls buy matching dresses, Ginny had simply picked a color family and told her bridesmaids to buy whatever they liked. Ginny liked the dress Kate had pulled when they went shopping in London. She is the polar opposite of Brandy, Kate thought then grumbled to herself, remembering how Brandy fawned over Grant.
The only good thing about being a bridesmaid was that she had an excuse to avoid Grant. She suddenly had a sinking feeling. What if she had to be a bridesmaid at Brandy and Grant’s wedding?
I’ll drown myself in the Hudson River first, she decided.
She watched the sun rise from the large window in the suite where Ginny and the other sixteen bridesmaids were doing hair and makeup.
“It’s too many,” Ginny confided in Kate while she drank champagne and watched Kate have her hair fixed in a messy, couture updo. The bride was going last so she would be freshest. “But I couldn’t not have them all.”
“It’s fine,” Kate assured her. “You have over three hundred people at your wedding. I think you need a big wedding party for that.”
Privately, Kate thought it was too many people. Apparently, Eric had had a hard time getting enough groomsmen together. She wondered whom she would be paired with. It better not be Carter. He would try to make her laugh.
The bride was finally ready, just in time to walk down the aisle. The small chapel on the estate’s property was packed. The Davenports didn’t want to insult anyone, and practically the whole town had gotten an invitation.
Kate waited outside with the rest of the bridesmaids. They were actually there before the groomsmen.
“Of course the boys are late,” Brandy said loudly as the men came down the path from the pool house where they were getting ready.
“Get in line,” the wedding planner snapped, pushing them all in order.
“I want you three marines in the front after the groom and best man,” she commanded.
Three Marines? Kate started and looked over. There was Carter, Mark and… oh no.
“Surprise!” Grant whispered to her as the wedding planner pushed him in line next to Kate. The brim of his hat cast a shadow over his eyes, but she could see him trying not to smile.
“What are you doing here?” she hissed as the doors to the chapel opened and the guitar quartet started the processional music.
Grant, Carter, and Mark removed their hats and gloves as they prepared to enter the chapel.
“You aren’t even friends with Eric,” she said, placing her hand in the crook of the arm that he offered.
“Eric needed another groomsman,” Grant said under his breath. Kate had to snap her mouth closed because now they were walking down the aisle.
She took her spot off the bride’s side and waited for everyone else to take their place. Then the music played, and Ginny walked down the aisle. She looked stunning. She wore a 1920s-inspired lacy dress. Kate looked over, and Eric was crying. Grant gave Kate a soft look. A part of her wished it were their wedding day. She sighed wistfully and let herself be carried away by the magic of the ceremony.
Afterward, they went out to take pictures, then they were finally able to go to cocktail hour. Grant and his cousins all hung together. They had a flock of people around them, wanting to say hello or ask them about the military. Periodically, Grant would look over at her and grin. She wanted to drift off in the magic of the wedding—she loved weddings—but the situation with Alan was a dark undercurrent on her mood.
“I believe we’re seated together,” Grant said to her while she was bent over the front table near the entrance to the room where the reception would take place. He handed her the card with her name on it. After escorting her to their table, he pulled out her seat and helped her sit down. “I hope the food’s good.”
“It should be,” Kate said. “Their restaurant here is one of the best in the region.”
Grant took another sip of his cocktail.
“Or you could just drink so much that you don’t even taste it,” she added.
“I’m not drinking that much,” he said and draped an arm around the back of her chair, stretching his legs out comfortably.
The wedding reception passed by, following the familiar format. Kate got teary-eyed at the father-daughter dance. Even if she did ever get married, her own father would probably not come. He had moved in with his mistress and promptly started a new family when Kate was still in grade school, and she had gotten barely more than a few phone calls and dinners with him since then.
Ginny looked radiant. After her first dance with Eric, she started pulling people out on the floor. “It’s a party!” she said. “Turn up the music!” She danced with all the groomsmen then all the bridesmaids.
Kate was laughing as Ginny swung her around then practically threw her into Grant’s arms.
“Hi,” he said.
Kate smiled up at him. She was more than a little tipsy.
“And you were telling me not to drink too much,” he said, his face close enough to hers that she tilted back her head and kissed him.
“It’s a wedding.” Kate giggled, leaning into him. “You’re supposed to go all out.”
Grant led Kate around on the dance floor.
“I want this for us,” he said when the DJ switched to a slow song.
Kate wanted it too. She looked around. Who was she kidding? She had missed the rehearsal dinner to give money to the professor whom she had believed when he said he wasn’t married and who was now blackmailing her. Her life was a disaster. She couldn’t drag any innocent bystanders in.
“I need to powder my nose,” she muttered and pulled away from Grant.