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As she sat there, Sage arrived, and she put an entire hair bag on the counter next to Bessie. “I’m so sorry I’m late.”
Bessie looked up and then stood to hug her best friend. “You’re not late,” she said. “You’re right on time.” She stepped back and looked at Sage. Her hair looked a little lighter than it usually did, but she’d already twisted and pinned it up, so it was hard to tell.
“Your hair is done already.”
“So let’s get yours done, and then I can do my makeup.” Sage gave her one of her trademark smiles, and Bessie sat back down. Sage started working her magic with hairspray and curling irons and pins, and Bessie watched as she turned into a queen.
In fact, Sage set a tiara in her hair as the last thing she did, beaming as she leaned down and pressed her cheek to Bessie’s. “He is so lucky.” Then she turned and went to get herself ready.
Wyn was already dressed, and she helped Bessie into her wedding dress. She stepped into a pair of heels that lifted her up a couple of inches, and she watched her friends as they got their dresses zipped up, buttoned, and pinned.
She hadn’t put any restrictions on colors, because she wasn’t going the traditional route. She liked yellow, because it was sunny and happy, and Oliver called her “sunshine.” So she’d put those bows on the chairs. She’d requested flowers on her wedding cake and the altar, but without color restrictions.
So it was that Lauren wore a light pink dress that went well with her dark hair and deeper complexion. Joy wore blue, because she was blonde and blue-eyed, and she knew how to make herself look amazing. In fact, Bessie suspected that she’d sewn this dress too.
Cass wore silver, because everything about Cass spoke of glamour and glitz, with a level of sophistication that one couldn’t learn. Bea wore a soft shade of indigo that Bessie wasn’t sure she’d ever seen before. And when Sage came out of the dressing room, she wore a gold dress that made her hair look even lighter. It alone was a short dress, ending at the knees, and as she stepped into a pair of black heels, her legs took such an amazing shape.
“Wow,” Bessie said as Sage cocked one hip for the group. “You look like a movie star.”
Sage laughed, her head tipping back in the carefree way it always did when she let loose.
“Ty’s going to have a bombshell on his arm,” Cass teased, reaching to flip down one of the sequins on Sage’s shoulder strap. “Are you and him talking about marriage?”
“Not really,” Sage admitted. “Things are…”
“You’re still seeing him, aren’t you?” Bea asked.
“Yes, yes,” Sage said almost impatiently. “I’m just figuring some things out, that’s all.” She gave them all another smile. “He’s being very patient with me.”
“In that dress, I bet he is,” Joy said.
Lauren giggled, her hand resting protectively on her baby belly. Her dress swooped across her midsection so as to hide it, but Bessie knew it was there.
“Mom,” Wyn said. She stood near the door, her dress the color of green seaglass. She looked like an angel, and Bessie went to stand at her side. “It’s almost time.”
She put her arm around her daughter and leaned into her. “I love you.”
“I’m so glad you found him, Mom,” Wyn whispered. “You deserve someone who loves you and takes care of you, and I think that’s Oliver.”
Bessie smiled, her emotions still teeming near the surface. “Me too, baby.”
She turned back to the women in her suite and opened her arms. “Come on over here and give me a hug, and then Wyn’s going to get a selfie of all of us.” She gestured to Shelby, Bea’s step-daughter. “You too, honey. Everyone.”
They piled into her arms, hugging her and congratulating her and enveloping her in the love of pure friendship.
“All right,” Bea said, ever the taskmaster. “Bess, it’s time to get married.”
22
Sage took the flowers an employee at The Oaks Overlook handed her, her smile stitched in place. She couldn’t get it to flatten no matter what she did. This was the fifth of her friends to get married, and Sage’s happiness moved through her genuinely.
She simply wasn’t sure she wanted to get married again. Ty had asked her, point-blank, weeks ago, and she hadn’t known how to answer him. She’d learned a lot about him that Thursday morning, mostly that he wanted to have more control in their relationship.
She hadn’t even realized she’d stopped him from doing that.
Number two, he was more physical than she’d known, and she wasn’t complaining about that. He liked to hold hands, wrap her up in his arms, and kiss her as often as possible. And he didn’t want casual touching. Every touch was intimate and passionate and meaningful to him.
Yes, they argued about where to eat every time they went out. He teased her about her dislike of bacon, beets, mushrooms, and soft-boiled eggs. She’d taken to doing the same about things he liked that she didn’t understand—namely, rare steak. Why cook it at all if he was going to eat it with so much red in it?
