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Kelli laughed, although she was too stressed to really find anything funny right now. “Brides always forget to eat. Keep yourself fed today. We need you up at the altar!”
“If you say so,” Amanda said.
Kelli breezed back out of the suite, then leaned against the wall, out of sight, and took several deep breaths. As she waited for herself to stabilize, she listened to Susan and Amanda in the next room, talking about how beautiful the suite was and how marvelous the day had gone so far. All Kelli had to do was maintain their level of happiness.
“Kelli?” Christine and Lola appeared on the staircase in front of her, smiling Sheridan-women smiles.
Kelli burst away from the wall. They’d caught her taking a moment to herself, which shouldn’t have been allowed on such a dramatic day.
“Happy wedding day!” Kelli cried, her voice nearly breaking. “Susan and Amanda are already in the suite. There’s plenty of champagne to go around.”
“Won’t you have a glass with us?” Lola asked.
Kelli winced, watching as, far down the staircase, Officer Bobby returned to the hotel, in-uniform, then strode up to the front desk to speak with the woman whose rings were supposedly “nowhere to be found.”
“I have to run, unfortunately,” Kelli said. “Have an extra glass for me, won’t you?” She then fled down the staircase, her heart in her throat, praying that very soon, she would find time to sit down again.
ChapterThirteen
For the wedding, Amanda had purchased herself, her bridesmaids, and her mother and aunts beautiful silk robes with their initials monogrammed on the left chest. Now that Christine and Lola had arrived, Amanda slid the robes from the bag her mother had carried in and passed them out, saying, “I want us to be cozy before we have to put our dresses on.”
“Amanda! These are divine!” Lola cried as she raised the robe in front of her.
Already, Christine unbuttoned her blue dress and slipped into the robe, saying, “That fabric is such a relief.”
“So luxurious,” Susan agreed as she swung her arms through hers and flipped her hair out along her shoulders. “It was such a good idea, Amanda.”
“What was a good idea?” Audrey appeared in the doorway, wearing a mischievous smile. Although Amanda had just said goodbye to her at the Sheridan House only twenty minutes ago, Audrey raced across the suite to throw her arms around Amanda. “The robes! You really got them?” She quickly changed, throwing all modesty out the window, and looked at herself in the floor-to-ceiling mirror along the wall, which offered three different angles so you could see that much more of yourself. “I want to walk down the aisle in this. Can I?”
Amanda laughed. “I only spent months picking out the perfect bridesmaid dresses…”
“You probably spent months picking out the perfect robes, too,” Audrey pointed out.
Susan grimaced, looking slightly uneasy, as though she wasn’t entirely sure if Audrey was joking or not. Amanda knew her mother was anxious about the wedding, wanting everything to go precisely to plan— all because of her love for Amanda. Amanda knew better than most that tremendous love often meant tremendous fear.
“She’s just being Audrey,” Lola told Susan, placing her hand on Susan’s shoulder.
“I know. I know.” Susan tried to laugh, but it sounded all wrong.
Christine opened the fridge to find a bottle of champagne, which she opened with ease, without making it pop, which was proof of her many years in the gastronomy business. She then poured five glasses, which they all raised. The bubbles glinted in the sunlight.
“We made it,” Susan breathed, her eyes a mix of sorrow and unadulterated joy. “My little girl is getting married today. I just love you so much, Amanda. I don’t know what to say.”
This was a rarity. Susan Sheridan always knew what to say.
“I’ll say something,” Audrey said, raising her glass a little bit more. “I don’t know if I’ve ever been happier to watch someone else’s love story play out. Sam and Amanda remind me that true love exists— but that it’s different than I ever imagined it to be. It takes work. It takes compromises. And more than anything, it requires a very good sense of humor. I mean, just this morning, at three, in fact, it sounded like there were a couple of teenagers down by the water.”
“Audrey!” Amanda cried.
“You were out with Sam this morning?” Lola’s smile was mischievous, just like Audrey’s.
Amanda’s cheeks burned with embarrassment.
“You just couldn’t wait to see each other?” Lola continued.
Susan grimaced, as though fearful.
“I don’t believe in all that bad luck stuff anymore,” Amanda told her mother with a shrug. “I genuinely trust Sam. I know he’ll be there for me.”
