Chapter 38 – Willa #2
It’s perfect. They didn’t go with personal vows, something that Hallie told me she pretended to fight Jesse on, giving him a hard time even though she didn’t actually want to, but Jesse’s voice still holds strained emotion as he repeats his father’s words to Hallie.
My throat aches as I watch them vow to love and cherish each other for the rest of their lives.
“Are you crying?” Leo whispers, and I slap him.
“It’s beautiful.”
He looks at me with a soft smile on his lips.
“It is,” he whispers, then presses his lips to my hair as I rest my head on his shoulder.
It doesn’t take long for Mr. King to announce Jesse and Hallie as husband and wife, for Emma to cheer louder than anyone before the wedding party makes their way back down the aisle.
I wave and smile at everyone as they pass us, sticking my tongue out at Emma when she walks past on Madden’s arm, Nat on the other side, and making her giggle.
“Tits look good in that dress!’ Nat squeals as she walks by, and I laugh, shaking my head.
“Hey, Will!” Wren says with a small wave, her eyes still watery from watching her oldest brother and best friend marry as she walks by on Colton’s arm. “Hallie wants you for pictures!” My brow furrows, but she tips her head towards where everyone is moving. “You two follow.”
“I don’t—” But Adam is coming up the aisle behind her, ushering Leo and me to step ahead.
“It’s best not to argue with Hallie, especially not on her wedding day,” Adam says, and I can’t argue with him.
And even though I refuse to be in all of the bridal party photos, Hallie eventually convinces Leo and me to stand with them for a few, and once again, I’m reminded that Holly Ridge is, and will from now on, always be my home, and these people are the family I’ve chosen for myself.
The reception is utter chaos.
It’s in one of the storage barns that, according to Leo, the guys spent most of the last two weeks moving tons of holiday decorations out, cleaning, and then decorating as per Hallie, Wren, and Mrs. King's vision. It truly is gorgeous. There are two long tables for everyone to sit at instead of small assigned seats, and a huge buffet of more food than this number of people could ever eat. The entire place is decorated in flowers, greenery, and more fairy lights than I’ve seen in one place, but from what I understand, Wren has an arsenal, and this is only a small fraction of what she normally puts on her house for the holidays.
At the back end of the barn is a small stage with a band, and there’s a sweetheart table at the front, though Hallie decided she hated being away from the excitement and ended up forcing Jesse to eat sandwiched between everyone.
In one corner is a huge bar, apparently a wedding gift from Colton to his sister, with Colt’s tenant-slash-alleged dream woman, Sloane, making drinks.
According to Hallie, she doesn’t actually know how to make many drinks, but Colt doesn't seem to mind leaving the excitement of the party to help her out as needed.
When Hallie throws the bouquet, Emma catches it, making everyone laugh as she races around, fist pumping the flowers in the air.
“Well, that’s that, a freaking twelve-year-old is going to find her true love before me,” Nat grumbles, and I laugh, putting an arm around her shoulders and pulling her in close.
“We’ll find you a man. You’ll meet a million of them on tour with me, of course.”
Her body goes still before she turns to look at me. Her dark curls are a bit more tamed today, the top half pinned back, and her green eyes are huge when she takes me in.
“What?”
I lift a shoulder.
“I mean, if you want, of course, I know you have a job here, but…I’m gonna need someone I can trust to do my hair and makeup.” I bite my lip, feeling like I should hide the smile spreading over my face. “And someone to dress me.”
“No way,” she whispers.
“Did you break her?” Leo asks low, and I elbow him.
“Oh. My. God,” she whispers. “Oh my god.”
“Though, if it’s too big of an ask, I totally understand, I—” I start, but I’m stopped.
“Shut up,” Nat nearly yells. “No take-backs, Wilhelmina.”
“My name is not Wilhelmina,” I inform her with a laugh.
“I know, but you need a big girl name when I need to be stern with you, and if you’re going to be all nice girl and feel bad about asking me to be your stylist, and go on a world tour with you, you need to be big girl-voiced back into reality.
” I roll my lips in and nod, trying to hide my humor and failing.
“Can I take that you mean you’ll think about it?”
“You can take that to mean that tomorrow, once I’m not hungover, you and I are getting on a call with Harper, because I have ideas.
Big ones.” She puts her hand in front of her, looking off in the distance.
“Glitter. Sparkles. Rip away dresses. So much color, you’re going to be a walking rainbow.
And then I’m going to start shopping because if I’m attaching my name to your brand, your streetwear needs a total revamp.
We can keep the cutesy stuff for Holly Ridge, but you’re about to be a colorful hottie when you’re Willa Stone.
” I laugh then, joy uncontrollable. She grabs my hands tightly and starts jumping.
“This is so exciting! I promise you won’t regret it! ”
“Everything okay over here?” Madden asks with a smile and an eyebrow raised, appearing out of seemingly nowhere. I have noticed that whenever there is a ruckus featuring Nat, I’ve found you can always find Maden coming around to see what’s going on.
“Get out of here, King,” she says, pushing on his chest. “I’m about to go on tour with Willa-fucking-Stone as her stylist. I was out of your league before, but now I’m not even in your stratosphere.
” She hugs me tight again, whispering a thank you, thank you, thank you in my ear as I laugh before running off to tell Hallie.
“What?” Madden asks, confused, but Nat is already gone.
“Will asked Nat to be her stylist and do her hair and makeup on tour,” Leo explains.
“On tour?” His brows furrow, and a look I can’t quite understand crosses his face, and I nod.
“I need people I can trust. She’s good with fashion, hair, and makeup. Kind of the perfect all-in-one choice for me.”
“No one more trustworthy than Nat,” he murmurs softly, watching her jump excitedly with Hallie. “When’s that going to be?”
I shrug.
“We’re still working on exact dates, but this summer. April or May should be the first dates.” He looks away again, wheels turning, but after a moment, something comes over his face, something I recognize intimately.
A shield.
And with it, he goes back to flirty, funny Madden.
“Well, make sure you save me some backstage passes. Definitely can get some hotties if I have the connections.”
I roll my eyes and shake my head, but agree.
“You tell me how many you need and they’re yours.”
He nods, then looks into the distance.
“I gotta go, I see someone I know,” he murmurs, then walks off without another word. I turn to Leo.
“Was that—”
“Weird? Very. What’s going on there?” he asks, and I shrug, genuinely. unsure.
“I don’t know, I thought they hated each other.”
“You also thought I hated you, so you’re not the best judge of character there,” he says, looking as if he knows something I don’t. I grin.
“Very true.”
“If everyone doesn't mind, it’s time for speeches,” Mrs. King says a bit later.
There aren’t a huge number of people here, just forty or fifty of Jesse and Hallie’s close friends, but the microphone is necessary with how loud this crew is.
We all move, sitting at the tables and turning towards the center of the room where Emma is now standing on the little stage.
She looks to me and gives me a small thumbs up, and I wink at her.
When Leo turns to me, giving me a skeptical look, I ignore him, keeping my eyes on Mrs. King, who is now handing the microphone to Emma, before shifting my gaze across the room.
I spot Adam standing in the back corner, removing his guitar from a case, and butterflies loop around in my chest.
“Hey, everyone. Uh, thanks for coming tonight. I’m just as shocked as I’m sure you all are that he conned Hallie into doing this,” Emma says, and everyone laughs.
I know she’s not actually Hallie’s biological daughter, but my god, is she so much like her now-step-mom.
When I look over at the bride and groom, Jesse, is rolling his eyes and shaking his head, while Hallie looks pleased.
“I’ve known Hallie my whole life, since she’s always been an honorary King.
She thinks it’s because she and Aunt Wren were always best friends, but if you know Hallie, you know that she’s just…
she’s a King. She was always meant to be a king.
She’s funny, and she’s loyal, and she’s honestly too cool for my dad, but she slummed it a bit so that I could have someone cool in my life. ”
Another laugh, and Jesse covers his face, Hallie tipping her head back and laughing as she leans into her husband’s side.
“But as I said, she was always supposed to be a King, and really, Dad was the only choice since she and Uncle Madden can’t be in the same room without fighting.”
“Because I’m always right and she hates that!” Madden jeers from the back of the room, and Hallie turns around to give him the middle finger.
“There’s so much I could say about my dad, about how he’s selfless and gave everything up when he knew I was coming into the world and how he’s the best dad I could ever ask for, and how I’m so honored and glad he’s my dad, but it’s not Father’s Day, it’s his wedding day, and everyone knows that means the only person who matters today is Hallie.
” The women in the room cheer, and I melt when I watch Jesse press his lips to Hallie’s hair.
Emma turns her attention to the redhead, and her face goes soft before she bites her lip nervously.