AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Lexie
Itwasabeautiful fall evening. The sun was starting to dip beneath the clouds, setting off a warm glow around the outside of Beau’s for Eagle and Sedona’s wedding. Lexie was standing on the lower deck with Adam waiting for the rest of the crew to get down to the reception area so they could proceed with the rehearsal. She was chewing on the edge of her thumbnail as she felt Adam’s warm hand brush against her, pushing her hand from her mouth. She shook her body, trying to release the built-up anxiety over having to see Nav again. She didn’t take Avanna’s advice--in fact, she had done the opposite, taking off on a two-week trip to Arizona to visit Adam and Kennedy. They all flew back to Otsego just in time for the wedding.
“Stop. I talked to Eagle--he won’t be here tonight,” Adam’s calm voice said.
She looked over at him and raised an eyebrow. “He’s missing the rehearsal?”
Adam laughed. “Yes. He just started working at the Otsego fire department and can’t get out of his shift tonight. He has the rest of the weekend off, but being the newbie, he couldn’t get out of it for tonight.”
Lexie breathed out a sigh of relief and Adam squeezed her tightly from the side. “Looks like they’re finally ready.”
Lexie nodded and they walked together down to the spot where the ceremony was going to be held in less than twenty-four hours. She looked around at the space she had worked so hard on. Honestly, most of her friends had helped, but she had asked for the outdoor duties due to her lack of creativity. She could dress anyone and pick out a stellar outfit for any occasion, but don’t ask her to paint anything or put together any crafts. The chair rental people had already arrived and placed the white chairs out in a semi-circle facing the forest. The path leading to where they would all be standing had been trudged up and replaced with wood chips. The gondola at the front of the aisle where Sedona and Eagle would be standing was breathtaking. The white and pink flowers contrasted against the greens woven around and all the flowers draped off and down the sides creating the perfect backdrop.
Beau’s wife, Michelle, had been ordained online and was performing their non-traditional ceremony. “Hello everyone!” Michelle yelled out. “Welcome to the rehearsal. My hope is to make this as painless as possible. My nephew Lewis is going to be running the sound machine, so follow along with your directives and walk down the aisle five steps behind the people in front of you. That should give us plenty of time to get Sedona up here before the music stops. Any questions?” she asked as she slapped her hands together. “Alright, let’s get started!”
Lexie lined up behind Avanna and made sure Destiny and Dayton were behind her as the flower girl and ring bearer. She smiled at the two young children--twins that were four years old. When Sedona asked Lexie for permission to ask Oliver’s niece and nephew to be the flower girl and ring bearer, she broke down in tears, happy to continue including them in her life, especially such an important moment for not only her but her entire friend group. Their mother, Oliver’s sister, was standing off to the side of the line up and waved gently at Lexie. She flashed back a smile and leaned down to get onto the same level as the children. “Hi, guys! Are you so excited about the wedding?” Lexie asked.
Destiny yelled out, “Yeah, I get to wear a princess dress!!”
“Oh yes, you do! Do you know what you have to do when you walk down the aisle?” she asked.
Destiny nodded her head rapidly. “Mhm, I throw flowers like confetti!”
Lexie laughed, “Yes, yes you do.”
As the music flipped on, she stood and turned to face the front of the group to make sure she didn’t miss her moment. Since Sedona’s mother had passed, Eagle was the first one to walk down the aisle. There was a gap left where Nav would be between Eagle and Payson. When Payson was halfway down the aisle, Adam stepped up before the bridesmaids followed suit. Lexie followed after Avanna and turned to make sure Destiny and Dayton were following behind her. She stood in her rightful place right beside Sedona and gazed around, looking at the friends around them.
She didn’t really want to see Nav, but knowing he wasn’t here didn’t sit right with her. He should have been here for this. He told her how much regret he had about missing out on everything the last few years, so why was he okay with missing out on this? And why did he move back to the town he swore he’d never return to? He hated having to be in the same town as his father, who had made Otsego his permanent home. He had a great job in Etville and was on track to take over a lieutenant role. Moving to Otsego meant fully starting over as the newbie in the department and none of it made sense. She knew she should just talk to Nav about it, make sure he wasn’t in any kind of trouble, but her guarded heart was telling her no.
The rehearsal went off without a hitch and within thirty minutes the friends were piling into cars and heading to Blue Mingo Grill for the rehearsal dinner. Since Sedona and Eagle both have small biological families, they didn’t have to worry about serving a bunch of people. Instead, they rented out the patio of the place where they had their first date so they could all be together before the chaos of the wedding would begin.
