Chapter 15
TESSA
A few days later, Tessa met her mother at Wedding Belles, a sweet little shop owned by Lila Montgomery, one of Tessa’s school friends.
“Oh, Tessa!” Lila gushed as Tessa walked into the shop. “I was so excited when I saw in the appointment book that you were coming in today! Congratulations!
She rushed over to hug Tessa. “Thank you,” Tessa said. “I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch before now. Everything has just been a little crazy.”
“Oh, no, don’t worry about that,” Lila waved her off. “I must say I was a little surprised, but not really surprised to hear you and Hayes got married.”
Tessa followed Lila towards the back of the shop to the fitting rooms and dress modeling area. “Really? Why?”
“Oh, you know,” Lila giggled conspiratorially. “I know you and Landry kind of hung out when he was back in town, but there has always been something about you and Hayes. So we were all surprised that y’all ran off and got married, but we weren’t all that surprised that you two ended up together.”
“Well, when you know, you know,” Tessa said uncertainly.
Were people really not surprised that she and Hayes were together?
They were very close friends and were together a lot before all this marriage stuff, but Tessa had never thought anyone thought she and Hayes were more than friends.
Of course, Tessa didn’t want to acknowledge that there had been a few times during those times that she had wondered a little bit what it would be like if she and Hayes were more than friends, and it did feel like there was some chemistry brewing between them.
Tessa shook her head. She couldn’t think about that now.
She had to dial in to her role as a new bride.
Like everything else, she would think about it later.
“So, I pulled some dresses for you based on our style form that you filled out online,” Lila was saying as Tessa tuned back into the present.
“But feel free to browse through the store to see if there is anything that catches your eye. And if you still don’t see what you want, we will scour the catalogs to find you the perfect dress! ”
“Thank you so much, Lila,” Tessa said. “I had thought I would go less formal since we are just having a reception, but looking at some of these has made me change my mind a little bit.”
“Oh, good! I was hoping that would happen,” Mary Kate Sinclair said from behind Tessa.
“Mom! I didn’t hear you come in!”
“You and Lila were deep in conversation, so I didn’t want to interrupt,” Tessa’s mother said as she gave her a quick hug. “Since you are expanding your vision, does that mean you and Hayes have discussed having another ceremony?”
“Um, not really. We haven’t really had a chance to talk about it yet,” Tessa stammered.
“Well, discuss it with Hayes, but please see how he feels about a ceremony before the reception. Just a small one! I know you had your reasons for eloping, but I would really like to see you and Hayes exchange vows.”
Tessa smiled patiently. It wasn’t her mother’s fault that Tessa was in the middle of this charade. For all Mary Kate knew, this would be Tessa’s only wedding.
“I will talk to him, Mom, but I’m not sure about it,” Tessa said gently. “It just seems like a lot, but, I promise, Hayes and I will talk about it.”
“Well, y’all just discuss it,” Mary Kate said. “It is totally your decision, no worries at all, sweetie. I just wanted to put it out there.”
“We will talk about it,” Tessa promised.
“Okay, then,” Mary Kate clapped her hands together. “Let’s try on dresses!”
Tessa took the obligatory “I said yes to the dress” photo with her mother, so Lila could post it on her social media sites.
With Tessa being Mrs. Hickory Falls, it was bound to help business for Wedding Belles.
The least I can do, Tessa thought, would be to drum up business for the town while I am lying to everyone.
As she drove home, she thought about the dress in the white bag in the backseat. The dress had fit perfectly, no alterations were needed, which Lila said was highly unusual.
The dress had almost made everything feel real. It was a beautiful, flowing dress with long lace sleeves. It was magical. For a moment, Tessa wished this were all real and not just some stupid game she was playing.
She thought about that for a minute. Did she want it to be real because she wanted all the wedding stuff to be real, or did she want to be really married to Hayes?
HAYES
Hayes heard Tessa’s car pull up in the driveway. He knew she had gone dress shopping today. He paced nervously. He wondered how it went. Why was he nervous? This isn’t real, he reminded himself.
Tessa came in the front door with a large, white garment bag. “Oh, don’t look,” she cried out, then laughed. “Well, I guess it doesn’t matter because the dress is hidden in the bag, and, uh, um, it’s not a real wedding.”
Hayes laughed with her, kind of wishing she hadn’t added that last part. “I guess dress shopping went well,” he asked as she hung the garment bag in the front closet.
“It was surprisingly fun,” Tessa said, grabbing Hayes’s hand and squeezing. “Oh, Hayes, the dress is so beautiful! I felt like a princess. Is that corny to say?”
Hayes squeezed her hand back. “No, I think that is wonderful.”
They looked at each other, then at their hands, which were still clasped together. Abruptly, they both let go.
“Well, there is one thing I need to talk to you about,” Tessa said hesitantly as she sat down on the couch. “My mother had some more ideas.”
“Okay,” Hayes said slowly. “What?”
“She wanted us to discuss the possibility of having a small ceremony before the reception party,” Tessa said.
“She said it was totally up to us, and I think she means that, but I do feel bad. I mean, in her mind, her only daughter is married, and she didn’t get to be there.
On the other hand, I feel like that just digs us into this lie deeper, you know? ”
Hayes took a moment and pictured Tessa in a beautiful white gown that made her feel like a princess. Was it going too far to have another wedding ceremony? Probably. But Hayes found himself agreeing with Tessa’s mother. Part of him wanted to see Tessa walk down the aisle in a wedding dress.
“I think it would be okay,” Hayes said quietly.
“Really?” Tessa questioned.
“Yes,” Hayes said more confidently. “As of this moment, your mother thinks you ran off and got married, and she didn’t get to see it. I don’t think it will hurt anyone if we say the vows again.”
Hayes ignored the voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Willow that said, What about you, Hayes? Won’t this hurt you?