Chapter 26
My alarm didn’t get a chance to wake me up the next morning because Raleigh decided to take over its job.
Loud, thundering raps against my door jolted me out of a deep sleep, and I knew without opening my eyes who it was.
We’d confiscated Angel’s key.
I rolled out of bed and stepped into the jeans I’d worn the night before, leaving them undone.
“All right!” I said, flinging the door open to find Raleigh with his fist raised, poised to continue the incessant pounding.
Any smartass remark I had about the situation was swallowed as my eyes landed on the stroller at his side.
“Hi, princess!” I bent to unbuckle Evie and lift her into my arms. She cooed and babbled, and the slobbery smile on her face made the rude, early awakening worth it.
“I thought she might sweeten the deal.” Raleigh followed me inside, shutting the door behind him. “And this.” I turned, and he retrieved a coffee from the base of the stroller, which I happily accepted.
“Oh, good. I don’t have to murder you and leave this pretty girl one daddy down. You know, I thought my wedding day would warrant a nicer wakeup call.”
“That’s not my style.” My best friend collapsed onto the sectional, spreading his arms across the back and kicking his feet up on the table. “You ready to do this?”
“Hell yeah, I’m ready.” I settled into the seat next to him, tucking Evie into one arm so I could drink my coffee. “I never thought I would be, but I couldn’t see myself anywhere else. Where’s Angel?”
“Checking in on James, then heading to the venue to make sure everything is in place.”
“Have you seen it?”
“I have; it’s really nice. Hannah and James did an amazing job with everything.”
“I’m sure you helped.” I winced, Evie latching onto a fistful of hair and tugging—hard. “Ow!”
Raleigh laughed and pried his daughter’s hand out of my hair. “That’s why I started tying mine up. Why don’t you go shower? Hannah’s going to be here in twenty minutes to do your hair, and she said to make sure it was clean.”
“I’ve hardly had any coffee!” I protested, handing the baby over anyway and getting to my feet. “What’s wrong with what I normally do?”
“For starters, baby slobber doesn’t make very good hair gel. I don’t think that’s the product Hannah intended. Besides, that breaks the one rule she gave me.” Raleigh looked up at me with a smile that made his piercings catch the light. “Now go. You have a wedding to get to.”
On my way to the bathroom, I snatched my phone from the nightstand, filtering through the notifications that didn’t matter in search of James’s name. I found it near the bottom.
See you soon…
Mr. Campbell-Clark.
I didn’t even bother to fight the goofy grin on my face.
That name had a nice ring to it.
I’d just tugged on my suit pants and my undershirt when Hannah knocked on the door. Raleigh let her in, and she rushed into the room, a dress bag draped over her arm and a tote slung over her shoulder. Her hair was in rollers, makeup flawlessly applied.
“Oh, good,” she said. “I don’t have to drag you out of the shower. There’s not enough therapy in the world for that.”
I snickered. “How are you so put together already?”
“Years of practice.” She pulled a chair out from the table. “Sit.”
I dropped into the chair, and it was like the signal for hell to break loose.
Hannah worked at my hair while Raleigh took turns feeding me and Evie our breakfast. My dad appeared, then half of the photography team.
Noah was a small, quiet guy with dark hair and eager blue eyes.
He buzzed around us, camera snapping a mile a minute.
I kept trying to twist around to see what Hannah was doing, so she had Raleigh drag a mirror over so I’d sit still. From there, I watched as she combed gel through my hair and twisted my curls around her finger. Eventually, she picked up a blow dryer and I jolted away from her.
“That looks like a torture device!” I protested, indicating the claw… thing she’d attached to the machine.
“Shut up,” she laughed. “It’s just a diffuser.”
The minutes crept by, and I watched the clock closely. Erin was supposed to show up any minute to give Hannah the first part of her surprise, and I was going to kill her if she was late. The closer we got to leaving for the venue, the more my leg bounced. My stomach fluttered.
“Nervous?” Raleigh teased, scooping the top half of his freshly washed hair into a knot on top of his head. He stood in nothing more than black pants, his piercings and tattoos on full display.
A smile eased across my mouth. My leg didn’t still, but I was no less content. “Wired,” I admitted, taking a deep breath. “I’m ready.” Then to Hannah, “Did you get to see James before you came here?”
“I did. He looks amazing. You’ll see him soon enough. First look is in an hour and we’re right on schedule.”
She tapped my shoulder, a signal that she was finished and I could stand up.
Raleigh handed me the black button-up shirt that I’d wear under my tux, and between him and my dad, guided it onto my shoulders.
I caught their eyes in the mirror; their deep blue eyes sparkled—as mine did, but for a different reason.
I swallowed down a wave of emotion. Raleigh’s deep chuckle rumbled in my ear, and I went to work on my shirt buttons.
“Don’t start crying on us yet, Clark.”
“I’m not!” If anything, I was starting to get nervous.
Hannah disappeared into the bathroom to take her hair out of the rollers, and I took the opportunity to check my phone—and stash her dress bag in the closet.
Erin still hadn’t shown up, and I didn’t have any messages from her.
Dropping the phone to the table, I let my dad help me into my jacket and secure the cufflinks.
“Your mom wanted to help you with your tie, if you’d let her.”
I crooked a brow at him in the mirror. “Does Mom know how to tie a bow tie?”
“She’s been practicing for weeks.”
“Fucking hell.” I couldn’t take it anymore. Tears welled up, and one spilled down my cheek before I was able to press the heels of my hands into my eyes. Dad chuckled and squeezed my shoulder and when I looked up again, Raleigh was in my face.
“Hold on, Matt!” he said, stopping my dad from handing me a tissue. Then he pulled out his phone. “I need to get proof of Ryder Clark crying.”
“Fuck off!” I blubbered out a laugh, shoving his large hand away and accepting the tissue as my mother pushed through the suite door and into the room, feigning offense.
“He’s crying and I missed it?”
Raleigh opened his mouth, but our photographer cut him off, leaning over and showing her his camera. “I’ve got it.”
Screw it. If they wanted to spend the day embarrassing me, so be it. Throat tight, I reached for the scrap of red satin, so dark a red that it appeared black, and handed it over to my mother. “Would you help me, Mom?”
Now it was her eyes turning glossy. She accepted the tie from me and shoved me back into the seat. “Sit down,” she demanded, sniffling. “You’re too tall.”
Dad and Raleigh shuffled around in the background, Raleigh wiggling Evie into her fluffy white dress. She clearly wasn’t pleased with the selection, so my dad joined in, fussing over her to distract her from the stressful event.
“Where’s my dress?” Hannah asked. She had emerged from the bathroom, brown hair falling in loose waves over her shoulders. She scanned the room, searching for the dress bag.
“It’s on its way,” I assured her.
“What are you talking about? I brought it with me.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“Yes, I did, Ryder! Don’t gaslight me!”
Baby in hand, Raleigh stepped up to me and lowered his voice. “What’s going on?”
“You’ll see. But if Erin isn’t here in the next thirty seconds, I might need you to drive the getaway car.”
“We have to leave here in fifteen minutes,” Hannah was saying, taking on a look that was too similar to her mother for my liking. I gulped, slightly scared as she turned a blue-eyed glare on me. “I know I walked in here with that dress and if you—Mom?”
“I’m here!” The door had burst open as Hannah was scolding me, and Erin rushed into the room, cradling a second dress bag.
Her hair was swept away from her face and pinned into a bun at the nape of her neck, and she wore a matching dress to the one that Hannah had intended to wear.
“Sorry! Dress crisis. It almost didn’t fit. ”
Hannah was staring at her, disbelieving. “What are you doing here?”
I, meanwhile, let out a sigh of relief. “You could’ve texted me, Erin.”
Erin mouthed another apology over Hannah’s shoulder, who’d appeared between us. “What the hell is going on?”
Instead of answering her question, I turned to my mom. “Did you bring it?”
Grinning ear-to-ear, she nodded. “It’s right here.” She reached into the handbag she’d brought with her, withdrawing a small jewelry box and handing it over. She tapped my father and a very confused Raleigh on the shoulder, ushering them into the hallway. “Let’s go, you two.”
Noah went to follow, but I stopped him. “Can you stay?”
“Um, sure. Where do you want me?”
“Wherever. Just keep doing what you were doing.”
Erin stepped over to the closet, opening the door and hanging the dress bag from the top. She lowered the zipper and pushed the canvas fabric out of the way, letting the white satin slip dress take shape. The train hit the floor, and so did Hannah’s jaw.
“Mom,” she gasped, “tell me you aren’t going to wear that.”
“You are,” Erin and I said at the same time.
Hannah’s head whipped around to me so fast that I thought she’d faint. “What? I can’t wear white to a wedding.”
“Our wedding,” I corrected. “Which means you can if we say you can.”
“James approved this?”
“He did, and he’s with Kian as we speak.”
Hannah shook her head, as if trying to bring herself back to reality. Then her eyes narrowed. “Doing what?”
“Han, you’ve moved mountains the last six weeks to give us the perfect wedding.
By the sounds of it, you’ve spent your entire life doing it.
You’ve turned out to be an amazing young woman, and you’re the entire reason that I’m standing here.
There’ll never be a good enough way to thank you for it, but I can start with this. ”
Erin sniffled, and I glanced over to see her fanning her eyes. “I’m fine. Continue.”
Laughing, I turned back to my daughter. “You gave us the wedding of your dreams, so thanks to you, we know it’s everything all of us have ever wanted. We would be honored to share this day with you and your husband.”
Hannah’s eyes welled up with tears. She floundered, searching for something to say, but Erin spoke first. “You always said it was your dream to wear my wedding dress. I hope that’s still true.”
Our daughter nodded, bottom lip trembling. “It is. But… Ryder, I can’t take this day from you. You’ve come too far for me to steal your spotlight.”
“You’re not taking anything,” I promised. “You’re joining me in it, and James and I can’t think of anything that would make us happier. You put all of this together for us, and we agreed together that this was how we want to repay you. Will you let us?”
Hannah blinked rapidly to keep the tears from ruining her makeup. I held my breath, and just when I thought I’d pass out from the lack of oxygen, she nodded and drew in a deep inhale. “Well, I’m glad I brought silver shoes.”
“Better get into that dress then,” I said, clearing my throat. “We’ve got a wedding to get to.”
Hannah took the dress and disappeared behind the dividing wall in the room. Erin and I watched each other, misty-eyed as we waited for her to call for help.
“You did a good job with her,” I told her.
“Thank you. You’re doing a good job.” Erin brushed a stray curl from her face and took a few steps closer to me.
“I know this whole thing got off to a rocky start, and I’ll never be able to apologize enough for that, but I’m glad you stayed.
Hannah’s glad you stayed. For what it’s worth, I am sorry. ”
I shook my head. “Water under the bridge.” A smile tugged at my lips, and that was when Hannah reappeared around the wall. “Wow,” I sighed, breathless.
She looked stunning. The satin dress fit like a glove, hugging her waist and flaring at her hips. She smoothed the fabric over her, then looked up at us. “Can someone zip me up?”
Erin stepped forward. “I’ve got it.”
Hannah turned her back to her mom, and the zipper slid into place. I moved aside so she could have the space in front of the mirror, and a gasp burst out of her. “I can’t believe this is happening.” She twisted around to face me. “James is really okay with this?”
“It was partially his idea.” While Hannah made last-minute adjustments to her hair and makeup, I reached for the box that Mom had handed me before she left. “Since you’ve got your mom’s dress, I wanted you to have something from my side too.”
Opening the lid, I carefully pried the necklace free. I undid the little gold clasp and brought the necklace around to her front. “According to my mom, this has been in our family for generations. She wore it on her wedding day, and her mom before her, but that’s as far as we can trace it.”
Hannah swept her hair to the side, and I fastened the jewelry around her neck. Admiring it in the mirror, my daughter’s tear-filled eyes dropped to the light pink teardrop crystal that had settled in the middle of her chest. “What is it made of?”
“Rose quartz, and let me see if I can get this right: It encourages unconditional love and provides a sense of calm and tenderness.”
Hannah met my gaze in the mirror as I dropped her hair back into place. She shook her head and blubbered out a wet laugh, then she whirled around and wrapped her arms tightly around my neck. “Thank you, Dad,” she said, squeezing me.
Terrified that I’d ruin her dress, I settled my hands cautiously around her. “Ready to walk down the aisle?”
She pulled back to look at me, taking my hands in hers. “Yeah, let’s do it.”