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There was a moment of silence before she said, “You what? You need my help?” Her voice sang. It felt to him as if she'd been waiting to be wanted or needed her whole life. “Yes, of course. Anything, Bastien. Shall I come now?”
CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE
Charlotte took a long look at herself in the mirror and smiled. This wasn’t her dream wedding, but she didn’t care. She was getting her dream man. While the dress was pretty, its modern edginess was better suited to Emmaline. It seemed a lifetime ago that her friend walked ... no, ran ... barefoot down the aisle in the same dress to Miles, but it was just a few short months ago.
For a wedding in a flash, Annette and her friends had pulled off a miracle. She hadn’t expected anything more than to exchange vows on the beach with Bastien. But when she arrived at The Kessler, the extravagance of creativity, energy, and heart that everyone had expended was obvious and touched her deeply. Besides the dress, she didn’t think she could have done better herself, even with more time.
Tilly was catering the event, and Marybeth had filled the venue with gorgeous flowers. Marybeth wasn’t one to let anything go to waste. Charlotte wondered if they might be leftovers from a funeral and thought that it would be fine if they were. In many ways, funerals were no different from weddings for the intensity of love they celebrated. And if it were not for a funeral, she would have never met the love of her life.
A sharp knock echoed from the door, a first-floor suite of The Kessler. “Come in,” Charlotte called. No one knew she was there except her friends, who’d given her a few minutes to herself.
When Annette opened the door, she was caught off guard. “Annette,” Charlotte uttered in surprise.
Annette was far from the mother-in-law she had imagined, but she had to admit she was warming a tiny bit to her quick wit. She was grateful not just for Bastien being on Earth, but also for being the catalyst for his search for a wife. Her dreams of a mother-in-law who would welcome her as a daughter of her own would have to come true in another lifetime. Annette and Charlotte shopping, cooking, and decorating together was as unlikely as a pig flying in Louboutins. Her smile at the image that had popped up quickly turned to sadness as her parents’ absence emptied her full heart for a moment. She breathed it in and then let it go. This was a day for joy. Still, she wished her parents had lived to share her special day. Without her father to give her away, she’d be walking down the aisle alone.
Annette examined Charlotte from head to toe, her smile turning to a look of disappointment. “Look at you.” She shook her head. “It’s all wrong.”
Charlotte shifted her weight from one foot to the other, her heart thudding against her ribcage.Here we go, she thought. Just when she thought it might be safe to go in the water, here came Jaws. She glanced down at the improvised dress she hadn’t chosen—it was a more “hip” wedding dress and nothing like the elegant ivory gown she had imagined herself wearing. She continued to convince herself that it would do. Bastien would marry her in a potato sack. That much she knew. Enough, she told herself. She wasn’t a little girl. She could move past her fantasy because the reality of her future was so much more than she had ever dreamed.
“I don’t know. It’s not the dress I dreamed of, but it will do.” With a deep breath, she looked in the mirror and resigned herself to the fact that this was the dress she would wear.
Annette’s eyes narrowed as she studied Charlotte. She moved around her, pulling and tugging at the gown, her forehead creased with a frown. “No, it won’t work,” she said firmly. “If there’s one thing I know for certain, you don’t lie to yourself or make compromises on your wedding day. You wouldn’t go to a friend’s wedding in a dress you didn’t like. How will you feel when you see the pictures of you in something that’s not you? It will be like a bad haircut you have to see for the rest of your days. Take it off.”
It wasn’t Annette’s fault that Charlotte’s dream wedding gown had been ruined, but did she have to criticize her so harshly on her wedding day? Especially while she was missing her mother and father so profoundly. Her gaze pierced through Annette, her fury clear and present. “I can’t. It’s all I have for today.”
Annette stepped closer, her fingers tugging on the zipper. “You’d be happier in a gunny sack and ten times as attractive. This thing is shaped like a satin condom, for heaven’s sake. Twinkies have more ‘line.’” The surrounding air suddenly went arctic, a spark of rage igniting in Charlotte’s eyes.
Charlotte’s palms started sweating as she faced off with Bastien’s mother. She could feel the heat rising, her temper flaring as the woman stood there looking down her nose at her. “I know you don’t like me, but…” Charlotte balled her hands into fists, her voice rising, “I was starting to appreciate your wit and elegance, and we both love your son. So, let’s get along for his sake.” Her words seethed with venom, and she could see the shock in Bastien’s mother’s eyes before she continued. “I’m glad you’re here because I’d like to start my marriage to Bastien off right and lying to his mother isn’t the way to go.” Charlotte took a deep breath, steeling herself for the next words that would change their lives forever. “You were right. We were faking the marriage.”
Annette laughed. “Oh, honey, you’re mistaken if you think you faked anything.”
Charlotte watched her intently, utterly perplexed, trying to decipher the meaning behind her words. Most likely, they hadn’t pulled the wool over her eyes. “I’m sorry we tried to fool you. We only wanted to ensure that Chloe got what she wanted for Ivy. She wanted Bastien to raise her, and you pointed out that he wasn’t married, so we thought...”
“The only one you were fooling was yourself. One look at my son, and I knew. I may not have been the perfect mother, but despite what they thought, I loved my kids and always knew what was happening with them.”
“You knew he was lying.”
Annette shook her head. “No, I thought he might be, which was why I hired the private detective, but looking at him looking at you, I knew he was in love. I saw it in the photo from the beach. You don’t think I know Bastien’s eyes? Of course, I do.”
“Oh.” She had read the situation all wrong. Annette wasn’t coming in at the last minute to knock Charlotte off the altar and run away with Ivy.
Annette stood behind Charlotte, carefully unzipping the back of the dress as a mother would do for her daughter’s first prom. As the garment dropped to the floor, Charlotte stood in only her white lace bra, underwear, and heels. Annette then walked to the door and quickly returned with a garment bag.
Annette beamed as she said, “Your wedding day is one of the most important days of your life. You deserve it to be perfect in every way, and you should have the perfect dress.” She lifted the garment bag with a whoosh, hung it at the top of the door, and unzipped it. The teeth of the zipper clicked, slowing one by one until the opening revealed what looked exactly like Charlotte’s own stunning wedding gown.
Charlotte gasped. She strode toward it, letting her fingertips brush over the beaded lace bodice. “How did you get my dress?” she asked.
Annette chuckled. “Annette Richmond never takes no for an answer,” she said as she removed the ivory gown from its hanger and helped Charlotte step into it. “You should never settle. Not when it comes to men, and not when it comes to dresses.” She zipped up the back and beamed at her. “It’s a perfect fit, just like you for my son and granddaughter. You look simply stunning.”
Charlotte tried to hold back the tears, but one still trailed down her face. There was one more tough subject to discuss. “If I’m the best choice for Ivy, does that mean you won’t be challenging Bastien for custody?”
Annette exhaled deeply and stepped away. “I owe everyone an apology, but I’m not good at that, and I’m certainly not going to try now. Suffice it to say, the pain of losing my daughter was unbearable. I was lashing out and had convinced myself Ivy was better with me. In a few short weeks, you seem to have accomplished what no woman has come near in almost three decades—the taming of Bastien Richmond. Anyway, Bastien was correct; I’m too old to be a parent to a five-year-old. After spending only a few hours with Ivy, I felt like I had completed a marathon. Trying to keep up with that child is like trying to catch the wind. It’s simply not possible,” she said, eyeing Charlotte’s ring. “That was my mother’s, and I hope it brings you luck and joy. She was a formidable woman, beautiful and creative like you.”
Charlotte let her finger float lightly over the smooth surface of the enormous rock, thinking about when Bastien knelt by the shore and asked for her hand in marriage for the second time. She accepted, and they then took a shell and threw it into the ocean, wishing happiness for all. Even though the shell hadn’t returned, Charlotte felt their wish had been granted.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
Annette leaned in and kissed Charlotte’s cheek. “No, darling. I’m the one who should thank you. You’ve brought me something I have been missing for a while now—hope and a family.” She walked towards the door, but then stopped and turned. “I’ll send your friends in.” She pulled the door open, but before she stepped out of the room, she added one last thing: “Ivy is insisting she wear her red dress.”
