AllFreeNovel
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“Well, you proved her wrong,” Christine said.
“Actually, I tried to return the dress the day after I bought it,” Amanda remembered with a laugh.
“What!” Susan cried.
“I went with her,” Audrey finished the story, “and begged her the entire way not to do it. I told her it was the perfect dress. But when we got to the store, the woman who worked there told us they’d recently instated a no-returns policy.” Audrey cackled. “I have a feeling she made that up on the spot.”
“It’s funny. I felt so certain, at that moment, that I didn’t want anything to do with this dress. But now, I can’t imagine not having it,” Amanda said, wrapping one of her glorious curls around her finger and sipping her champagne.
“Sometimes, the universe has to make up its mind for us,” Audrey said. “It’s just like how the universe brought us all back to the Vineyard for one reason or another. Me with my surprise pregnancy. Aunt Susan, with her divorce and her new and old love for Scott.”
“Me, with my all-out obsession with that handsome sailor, Tommy,” Lola said dreamily.
“And me, with my pastry business at the Bistro,” Christine added.
“That and your love for Zach,” Audrey reminded her.
Christine’s cheeks burned red at the memory. Amanda watched as each of her aunts, her mother, and her cousin stirred with memories of the previous three years, enraptured by the choices they’d had to make to get to this moment.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Amanda, Audrey, and Susan all called out, “Come in,” in unison and laughed at themselves.
“We sound like a choir,” Amanda said.
“Maybe we should start one. The Sheridan Women’s Choir,” Susan said.
The door opened, and Max’s voice sailed through the crack. “Mama!”
“Max!” Audrey hurried to open the door wider, then popped down to wrap her toddler in a hug. “How are you doing, buddy?”
Max was dressed in a little suit that Amanda and Audrey had hunted for at a little wedding boutique outside of Boston. His wild curls looked angelic and slightly sloppy, and his black shoes were very shiny and new.
“My shoes, Mama,” Max groaned and pointed at them.
Audrey raised her head to smile up at the person who’d brought Max to see her. “Hi there, stranger.”
Noah, her fiancé, stood in the doorway, waving nervously at Amanda, Susan, Aunt Lola, and Aunt Christine. Noah looked handsome, dressed to the nines to be Sam’s groomsman, but his eyes stirred nervously, as though something was wrong.
“Is Max okay?” Audrey asked.
“What? Oh, yeah. Of course.” Noah put on a grin that looked false. “I think he just hates his shoes.”
“Do your shoes hurt, Max?” Audrey asked sweetly.
Max nodded so that his curls shook.
“Well, why don’t we just take them off?” Audrey suggested, glancing over at Amanda. “I mean, they’re not necessary, right?”
Amanda laughed. “I see no reason Max needs to wear shoes.”
“Yeah!” Max raised his fists joyously as Audrey untied his shoes, then flipped them off. Now in only his socks, he raced around the suite, a free man, and said hello to everyone.
“He’s such a ladies’ man,” Audrey said, rolling her eyes.
“Aud? Can I talk to you?” Noah asked, his tone difficult to decipher.
Amanda frowned and locked eyes with Audrey, who looked similarly worried.
“What is it? Is it about the wedding?” Audrey asked, wanting to keep things out in the open for Amanda’s sake.
