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The Beastie Boys Were Right
As Hale backed his Rolls out of the parking garage, I sighed. His hand rested on my knee, rubbing soothing circles at the hem of my sundress. “We’ll find someone, baby. Don’t worry.”
“We’re running out of time. All the wedding books say we should have an officiant booked by now.”
“We have plenty of time.”
“No, we have seventy-four days and if you subtract your travel dates that leaves us with roughly thirty nine. Thirty-nine days, Hale.”
“Just because I’m away doesn’t mean things can’t get done.”
“I know. You’re very impressive. But when you’re in a different time zone I have to field all of Quinn, Phina, Devyn, and Josette’s questions on my own. Not to mention deal with my mother, who still thinks this is going to be a quaint affair.”
He glanced at me. “Did you tell her it’s white tie?”
“That means nothing to my people. She offered to pay for the flowers and I know she can’t even afford the centerpieces, not to mention all the other stuff Quinn outlined.”
He frowned. “Tell her not to worry about the cost. She’s our guest. We don’t want her to pay for anything. She only has to attend and have a good time.”
“She wants to help.”
He navigated the afternoon traffic, the WTF creases between his eyes deepened. “We’ll come up with an affordable way for her to contribute so she doesn’t feel left out.”
The topic of my mother was a touchy one and I was being unfairly sensitive. My dad hadn’t responded—shocker—and I now felt like my attendees were going to be overshadowed by Hale’s ever-growing guest list, eight-foot topiaries, ice sculptures, god statues, and towering skyscrapers.
Like a growing shadow, the closer the wedding came the smaller I felt. “I feel like we’re rushing.”
“We’re right on schedule.”
“But we are rushing. Most couples take at least a year?—”
“Rayne.”
“I’m just saying, maybe we should postpone.”
“Rayne,” he said with limited patience and enough authority to command a boardroom. “The venues are booked and gears are in motion. We’ll find someone to perform the ceremony. You have to trust the process. Everything’s going to be perfect.”
“See, right there. You use that word too loosely. Perfect’s an impossible standard.”
“Look, as long as you’re there it’ll be perfect. None of this other stuff matters.”
“Well, if we don’t have someone to marry us, we can’t get married. I don’t make the rules, Hale.”
“We should look at the list Devyn sent again. Maybe some officiants are worth a second glance.”
“Like who? They were all terrible.”
“What about the first guy?”
“The one who kept looking at my zoomers?”
He glanced at me with a half-smile. “Can you blame him?”
“Fine. Hire him.” I flashed him a nipple. “You were the one who crossed him off the list in the first place.”
He grimaced. “No. You’re right. Your zoomers are mine.” He switched lanes. “What about the guy Josette found with the dove connection?”
“His prices were ridiculous. He totally started up-charging us the second he heard your name.”
