AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I knew these would come in handy someday,” she says as she takes off the lid.
At first, I was a little confused. The shoes inside are undoubtedly beautiful, classic-style white heels with bows on the back. But they’re emphaticallywhite. Then I see it.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I gasp as I tentatively reach for them.
Kate merely watches, a little smug, as I begin to fawn over them.
“Am I missing something?” Aimee asks Kate.
But I’m the one who answers. “These are the limited edition ‘something blue’ Louboutins. Look.”
I turn the shoes over, revealing a baby-blue sole instead of the classic red.
We all fuss over them appropriately before I slip them on.
“They go perfectly with the dress,” Kate admires. “But you still need something old.”
“I might have something,” Aimee says quietly as she brings out a small box from her jacket pocket.
I throw her a questioning look. “What’s that?”
“It was mom’s. It was all that was left from her jewelry collection after Father pawned off everything else,” she explains, opening the box for me to see.
Inside is a small locket, barely bigger than a quarter. With shaking hands, I pry it from its cushioning and unclasp it. There, in the windows of the gold plating, are two pictures. Two beaming, red-headed girls.
“I guess she thought Connor was too ugly to put in her necklace,” Aimee jokes through her tears. When she started crying, I don’t know. “God, I’m just so emotional today.”
I snort in a wholly undignified manner and clasp the thin, gold chain around my neck. The locket sits perfectly at the hollow of my throat.
“There,” Kate says, coming up behind me and squeezing my shoulders. “You’re perfect.”
I’ll never be that. But oh, I’m happy.
***
The venue is closer to a town hall than a chapel. But considering how little time we had to prepare, it’s impressive that Arnie was able to organize that much.
Still, Kate, Aimee, and Felicity have to sit in the back of the car with me while we wait for the officiant to arrive. The only person willing to arrive on such short notice.
Felicity had been more than a little relieved to get my call, explaining that when both Bella and I hadn’t returned to our flat after my birthday, she had assumed the worst. Like Aimee, she was more than a little skeptical about the impromptu ceremony but had come around quickly after I told her about Kate’s extensive shoe collection.
“I still can’t believe you’re doing this,” Felicity says for maybe the fifteenth time since we got into the car. “You’re absolutely mental if you ask me.”
“Mental?” Kate mimics Felicity’s British accent perfectly. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nuts? Crackers? Barmy? Lost the plot?”
Kate leans over to stage-whisper to Aimee. “Was that even English?”
The three of them are about to explode into what I’m sure would have been a very heated debate when there’s a knock on the window.
Ray smiles down at us. “It’s time.”
With my girls behind me, in a spectrum of color and styles, I approach the front door of the building. For the first time, I feel nervous about what I’m about to do. Not because of Arnie but of the depth of the commitment.
The rest of your life is such an insane amount of time. If I were to share it with anyone, it would be him. But what if I change? What if we grow apart? What if something tragic happens, and one of us is left broken-hearted?
Forever is a long time for things to go wrong.
