“Seriously, Vicki, you’re beautiful. The gray- green in the dress matches your eyes.”
She stared down at her breasts. “No one is going to be looking at my eyes.” Looking up, she grinned. “Everyone will be looking at you, Jules.”
“Do you think this is really going to happen?”
Vicki reached for my hand and squeezed. “It is. You and Van are meant to be. I mean, who finds an incredibly sexy, sweet, and rich guy in a snowstorm?”
Pivoting right and left, I looked at my hair. Vicki had styled it up in a twist adding to the vintage look. My earrings were rhinestones and sapphires and dangled near my neck. Margaret had brought them, saying they were my something borrowed and something blue. The dress was old, and my engagement ring was new.
“Just a minute,” Vicki said as she exited the bathroom. Before I could follow, she was out the door of the suite and into the hallway.
As I watched after her, a hand came in, reaching for the doorknob.
My skin chilled.
Albert peered around the doorframe. “Ms. McGrath.”
Oh, thank God.
“Albert, I didn’t know you were on door duty.”
“We’re not taking any chances, ma’am.” He smiled. “You look pretty.”
I twisted slightly at my hips so the skirt would move. “You say that to all the brides.”
He turned away and back. “Miss Woodson is on her way. I’ll be out here in the hallway until you’re ready.”
My pulse increased as I tugged my freshly painted lip between my teeth. “Are they ready downstairs?”
Vicki came in past Albert. She was beautiful in my dress. I was a little jealous she filled it out better than I. Then again, this corset-like bodice in this wedding dress pushed me in and out in all the right places.
“Yes, ma’am. The judge is here. The guests. All they need is a bride.” He nodded at Vicki. “And a maid of honor.”
“That’s us,” Vicki said with a large smile as she held up a penny.
“If you want to buy the dress, you can have it.”
“No.” She knelt on the floor at my feet. “Give me your shoe.”
I wobbled as I wiggled my foot out of one shoe and watched as Vicki dropped the penny into it.
“Now,” she said, holding the shoe in place as I reinserted my foot. From her crouched-down position, she looked up at me. “There, Jules. Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a penny in your shoe.” She stood, her smile glowing. “Nothing will stop this wedding.”
There was no great hall or two-hundred-year-old church. I wasn’t about to face a guestlist of hundreds, and yet my skin tingled, my pulse raced, and my palms perspired. “I don’t know why I’m nervous.”
“You’re not nervous. You’re excited. This is right. You know it.”
I nodded. “I do.”
The door opened and Albert appeared with a fresh bouquet in his hands consisting of hydrangeas, lamb’s ear, and curly willow. The stems were secured in ivory ribbon. “These are from downstairs. Mrs. Curry got it from the florist.”
Margaret.
Vicki grinned. “You found more than a hot guy. You found a home. These people are…”
I looked down at the bouquet and back to Vicki. “The best. Being around them feels the way family is supposed to be.”
“You know, I hate that you’re going to live seven hours away from Chicago.” Her eyes shone. “But at least I know you’re happy and not alone.”