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ALLISON
This was another woman’s day. I should not be here. I should have said no and asked him to elope with me. The only consolation about this day I have is that I won’t be wearing her dress. I’ve also been assured multiple times by multiple people that she picked nothing out about today.
She didn’t care.
She just told the planner to do it all.
So, here I stand in a dress that is borrowed and a little too tight, in front of a floor-length mirror, staring at my reflection. My hair and makeup are perfect, but only because the best of the best in Dallas were hired for the event.
Everything else about me is borrowed.
“You look absolutely stunning,” Parker’s voice calls out from behind me. Shifting my gaze from myself to the reflection of her in the mirror, I give her a smile.
“Thanks,” I whisper.
She moves closer behind me, then I feel her hand on the center of my back. Slowly, I turn around to face her. She wraps my hands in hers, eyes never leaving my own. Then her smile widens.
“You have your something new,” she says, releasing my hand, and touching my belly, “and your something borrowed.” She fingers the dress I’ve borrowed from her. “What about blue?” she asks.
Sinking my teeth into my bottom lip, I touch my hip. “Robin’s-egg-blue lingerie from the shop.”
“Perfection,” she says softly. “After today, everything will be the way it’s always meant to be.”
Those words shouldn’t bother me, but they do, slightly anyway. I want to believe this is the way it was meant to be, but I can’t deny it’s hard to think about the fact another woman was supposed to be here, and Parker would be welcoming her with open arms as well.
Nothing about what was supposed to be for this day should take away the years of sisterhood Parker and I share, but I just can’t shake the sour taste in my mouth about it. Pressing my lips together, I roll them a few times and decide to ignore the way I feel. It will go away, and all will be right, just the way she says it will.
“Are we ready?” Claire asks. “The guys are waiting.”
There are only two groomsmen. Wells and Coleman. They will be walking their wives down the aisle, and Henry will be escorting me since I don’t have anyone. I would have walked alone, but I decided Henry would be the better option.
Parker wraps her arms around me in a hug, then she and Claire are gone, and Henry appears at the door. He smiles. It reaches his eyes, which surprises me. He moves closer toward me, a step, then two before he’s just a few feet away.
“Are you ready?” he asks.
Tipping my head backward slightly, I look up at him. “I am,” I lie.
His lips twitch into a smile. “You aren’t, but you will be.”
“When?” I ask.
“About the time you’re pronounced man and wife,” he says with a simple shrug.
I don’t believe him, but the time has come. It was a quick twelve-hour engagement, and the whole thing is insane, but then again, the whole relationship with Hendrick has been that way.
From just playing around, fucking because we loved the way it felt, to becoming more. So much more. And then running away, a pregnancy, a breakup, an engagement to someone else, and now this marriage.
Insane.
Henry offers me his arm, and I take it before he guides me toward the closed double doors. Slowly they open as the wedding march begins to play. The guests stand, and I’m surprised to see they’ve made the sides even, so it doesn’t look like I have nobody. Which I do. Have nobody.
Hendrick is standing at the end of the aisle, his eyes fixated on me, a smile on his lips. His dark hair is combed perfectly, his tuxedo gorgeous, fitting him as if it was made for his body, which I’m sure it was.
He appears older, more distinguished. He looks more like his father right now than he ever has. We slowly walk toward him. He doesn’t move a muscle, and I can’t help but be completely and totally mesmerized by him. I cannot believe I’ll be walking in here as a single woman and walking out of this church as Mrs. Hamilton.
When Henry is asked who gives this woman away, he proudly states that he does. When Hendrick reaches out for me, I slip my palm in his and move closer toward him. I don’t hear the rest of the vows. I say my part when I need to, but all I can do is stare into this man’s eyes.
When I’m pronounced his wife, Hendrick lifts his hands to cup my cheeks and touches his mouth to mine. I feel his tongue slide across the seam of my lips, then he lifts his head and rests his forehead against my own.
