Chapter 28
Twenty-Eight
Taylor
I’m determined to attend Iris’s wedding even though I feel like a beached whale and even my favorite maternity dresses are tight on me. Kate has come over from next door to help me get ready and is curling my hair in long spirals while I try to sit still.
Eliza comes in to check on my progress and lets out a happy-sounding gasp. “Mommy! You look so pretty!”
“Auntie Kate is a magician.”
“Your mom is naturally gorgeous. I’m just helping her pull it all together.”
“And Auntie Kate is a fiction writer now, too.”
Kate laughs while Eliza’s little brows knit with confusion.
I reach out to her and bring her in close to me while Kate sees to the finishing touches.
“Did you decide on a movie for us to watch tonight?” Kate asks.
She generously offered to stay with the kids so I can attend the wedding.
My parents and sisters left yesterday, after promising to be back soon for another visit.
In some ways, I’m relieved to have the house to ourselves after an endless parade of people for the last two weeks, but the quiet is also a reminder of the one person who’ll never again come strolling through the door.
I miss him fiercely. I long for him every minute of every day and deep into every sleepless night.
I force my thoughts away from him for right now, so I won’t ruin the makeup Kate carefully applied to hide the dark circles under my eyes.
The baby is a constant reminder of the man I loved with all my heart and soul. Our little one is always on the move, like his daddy was, and I’ll be surprised if I get through the next week without him making his appearance.
Christy and Trey are my dates to the wedding, and they’ll be arriving to pick me up in about twenty minutes.
While Kate takes Eliza downstairs to supervise dinner for her and Miles, I put finishing touches on my outfit and check myself in the full-length mirror that Will installed for me on the back of our bedroom door. I decide I look as good as I can under the circumstances.
I’m worried about taking attention away from the bride and groom, but when I told Iris that, she said to stop being silly and get my ass to the wedding—if I felt up to it.
No pressure, of course. I love her so much.
I want to be there for her the way she and Gage have been there for me since the second I called her with the news of Will’s accident.
His foreman, Bryan, has been doing his best to keep things running smoothly without Will, but it’s been a struggle for him to manage the job sites and the business.
It’s become clear to me that I’m going to have to step in to help at some point, but not until after the baby is born.
Bryan has assured me he can handle it for a while and has promised to ask for help if he needs it.
The business is highly successful, so I’d be crazy not to do what I can to save it and keep it running, but the thought of that is just another thing that makes me want to crawl into bed and pull the covers over my head indefinitely.
Since that’s not an option, it looks like I’ll be getting into the construction business.
In an interesting development, my new Wild Widows friend Lexi’s fiancé, Tom, has offered to help if I need it, as he, too, is in the construction business and apparently met Will in the past. I thanked them both and told them I’ll definitely need all the help I can get as I figure out how to keep Will’s business running without him.
Add that to the list of things I never expected to have to deal with in my life. The list gets longer all the time.
With one last check in the mirror, I decide I’m presentable. I grab my purse and the dressy winter coat that won’t button over my belly and head for the stairs, determined to have a good time tonight.
All my problems will still be there in the morning, and soon enough, I’ll have three kids to care for on my own. I may as well try to have some fun while I can.
Iris
Before I leave the house to marry Gage, I decide to spend a few minutes with Mike.
I haven’t done that in a while. Finding out about his affair with Eleanor and the child that resulted changed how I feel about him forever.
That said, he was my first love, my husband, the father of my children, and I still wish he hadn’t died so tragically.
I won’t lie. It’s rough to find out after your husband is dead that he had a secret life that didn’t involve you and your children—and to understand that we probably wouldn’t have gone the distance had he lived.
Many of my widow friends have no doubt whatsoever that the person they lost was the love of their life. That’s not true for me. Not anymore.
However, I wanted a minute with him, the good memories and the overwhelming love I once felt for him before I pledge my heart and future to Gage.
I sit behind the desk in the office where Mike did the paperwork for his aviation business and hold a framed photo of him with the kids.
“Well, Michael, I wanted you to hear it from me, which is more than you did for me, incidentally. But never mind about that. I’m getting married today.
I think you’d like Gage, and I know you’d appreciate everything he does for the kids.
They adore their Daddy Gage, but they still remember you and miss you and will always love you. As will I.
“Despite everything, I love you. I miss you. And I think of you every day. I hope wherever you are, you can see that we’re doing okay and that there’s joy in our lives. It didn’t happen overnight… That’s for sure. But we’ve done it, and I hope you’re proud of us.”
After I return the photo to the desk, I take one last look at the life I used to live before I step forward into the new one with Gage.
He and Tyler left earlier with Stan to meet his father and brother at the country club where we’re holding the wedding.
I found out Gage is a member when he suggested we have it there.
I’ve teased him mercilessly about being a country clubber.
He rolls his eyes and says it was good for business when he was still running his company and how he’s never gotten around to quitting.
That’s coming in handy today because it’s a beautiful venue for a wedding.
I drive Mimi, Sophia and Laney to the club around noon to start preparing for the four o’clock ceremony.
Hours later, when we’ve been primped to within an inch of our lives, I can’t believe the miracle that’s taken place with my hair and makeup.
Sophia and Laney are adorable in the white dresses they chose to be my flower girls.
The stylist did elaborate updos for both of them, with flowers tucked into their hair and lipstick that makes them feel so grown up.
I can’t wait for Gage to see them. They’re delirious with excitement as we count down to the final moments before the ceremony begins.
Roni and Derek will be our only attendants, and I love the idea of four widows standing together as Gage and I pledge our love and our lives to each other. At some point over the last couple of years, they’ve become our closest friends. We didn’t consider asking anyone else.
I’m sure my stepsister and Gage’s brother expected to resume the roles they had in our first weddings, but we wanted people who represented the journey we both undertook to get from disaster to this day.
Tyler will escort me down the aisle and serve as our ring bearer. He’s with Gage and Derek until the last minute.
“You look stunning, Iris, but then again, you always do,” Roni says when she gives me the final once-over. She’s wearing a lovely lilac silk gown, with her hair up in an elaborate style to match mine and the girls’.
“Aw, shucks, in this old thing?”
My white silk dress is simple and unadorned, leaving my shoulders bare.
It has a short train with flowers embroidered at the hem.
I didn’t want a veil, so my mother suggested the diamond tiara my grandmother wore to marry my grandfather.
I’m thrilled to have achieved my goal of looking bridal but not overdone for my second time around.
“Haha. Whatever you say. You’ll stop his heart in that sexy dress. ”
“Well, I hope not. I’m ready to leave widowhood behind.”
“The heart stopping will be in a good way in this case.”
“You look beautiful, too.”
“Thanks to your hair and makeup magicians.”
“They do good work.” I reach for her hand and hold on tight. “How’re you doing?” She’s been fighting the good fight on behalf of Angela and Brad since the blowup over their date, and I can see the toll it’s taken on her so soon after Taylor’s loss knocked the wind out of us.
“I’m okay but seething with outrage that it was necessary to go to war.”
“Right there with you, friend. How’s Angela doing?”
“Better than I’d be if I were her,” Roni says.
“And Brad?”
“It’s been tough. Apparently, he has a sister-in-law who ‘can’t believe he’s already dating again’ and hasn’t held back with him in person and online.”
“Someone needs to bitch-slap her.”
“No kidding. And poor Sam is out of her mind that it’s happening in the first place.”
I shake my head with disappointment in people. “No good deed goes unpunished.”
“I said that to her yesterday. The GoFundMe was such a huge success, but now they’re paying the price for all the exposure it gave to Angela and her story—and Brad’s by extension.”
“It’s revolting. The whole thing. They did nothing wrong, and I hope the uproar won’t be a setback for them.”
“We’re trying to keep that from happening by fighting back against the haters, but it’s an uphill battle,” Roni says with a sigh.
“And Mary Alice’s sister… Ugh.”
“It’s probably her grief for her sister talking, but she really needs to shut up.”
“Seriously.”
“Anyway…” Roni makes a visible attempt to rally. “Enough about all of that. Today is about happy, joyful things and two people who deserve everything wonderful.”
“I don’t know about that.”