Epilogue
Six months later
Nadine
I meandered into the elaborate gardens behind the Mayor’s Mansion and marveled at the way it had been transformed.
The gardens had been separated into two sections.
One was reserved for the actual wedding ceremony.
The gazebo, where Reynolds and I were going to say our vows, was festooned with tasteful tulle garlands and silky bows.
Climbing roses trailed all over the structure, lending it an almost fairy tale quality.
I smiled and looked around. Rows of white chairs formed two rectangles bisected by the aisle of perfect grass on which the wedding party would travel.
Tulle, fairy lights, and those big English style roses I couldn’t remember the name of were strung on white wooden posts that stood on either side of the aisle. It was so, so pretty.
The movements of the company hired to deliver and set up the chairs and tables caught my attention, and I looked over at the reception area.
There was no tent, since the weather was predicted to be perfect.
A parquet dance floor stood in the middle of the reception area with a stage nearby for the band.
Fairy lights were strung everywhere around the garden, and I could tell they’d illuminate the perfectly decorated tables beautifully.
Buffet tables were placed around a portable bar.
Things were progressing just as they should.
There wasn’t a balloon in sight, and I laughed.
When I’d first asked Madeline to be my wedding planner, she’d wanted to know what I had in mind for decorations.
I’d mentioned a balloon arch, and she had threatened to quit immediately.
I was only half-joking, but now I could see the balloon arch would just detract from the elegance of the décor.
Just because something was the height of elegance back in Puckins didn’t mean it was classy everywhere else. Or anywhere else.
As usual, I was so impressed with Madeline.
I don’t know how she seemed to know everything about elegance and class.
When she danced onstage at Sugar, she was the exact opposite of that, so she was a mystery.
It didn’t help that she never discussed her past, either.
I had quit trying to pry it out of her long ago, but I wasn’t going to give up on one thing.
She was fantastic at being an event planner.
It was something she did on the side, mainly for good friends, but I thought she needed to pursue it as a career.
When this was over, I was going to talk to her about quitting stripping and doing it full time.
Maybe she could enter the auction and use the funds she got from it to start her business.
I looked around for her, but she wasn’t up and moving yet this morning.
We had a sort of joint bachelor and bachelorette party the night before.
Most people were still recovering. I hadn’t gotten drunk, though, and neither had Reynolds.
Today was too important to both of us to be hungover for it.
Plus, we’d been focused on finally getting Leo back for tricking us into each thinking the other one was into costumes and role playing during sex.
We’d hired a stripper, one of the girls from Sugar we all knew Leo thought was incredibly hot, and made sure he knew she’d be there. He’d been all excited about it.
Then she’d come out dressed in the alien costume he’d sent to my condo. His mouth hit the floor, before he’d immediately looked for Reynolds and me. We’d been hunched over each other, laughing hysterically in the corner.
“Y’all suck,” he’d said, though he’d been laughing. “I kept wondering why y’all hadn’t said anything. I started to be afraid I sent the costumes to the wrong condo.”
We’d spent a hilarious hour or so cataloging the events of what had gone on between Reynolds and I thanks to Leo’s interference.
Carmen had been kind of pissed at Leo, but the rest of us thought it was hilarious.
I’d never seen Nico or Byron laugh so hard.
They both had tears in their eyes when they realized I’d been dressed as the alien thinking Reynolds was into that sort of thing.
It had been the highlight of the night. We’d kept it to ourselves, though, that Reynolds and I had become big fans of costumes and role playing after that—though we knew where to draw the line. No more aliens or any sort of weird creatures for us.
All of my bridesmaids had stayed over for the night.
The groomsmen and Reynolds had crashed with Nico Salazar, whose penthouse took up the entire top floor of Salazar Heights.
Reynolds was going to get ready there and arrive home in time for the wedding.
He didn’t want to ruin tradition and see me before the wedding, which I thought was sweet.
And I was enjoying a little alone time. The fight and declaration of love at the Mayor’s Ball had done the opposite of tank Reynolds’ career.
His approval ratings had skyrocketed even higher than they’d already been.
People seemed unanimous in their backing of me as his girlfriend, much to my surprise.
Apparently, Whitney had been perceived as being fake to the public. They liked me much better.
Which was fine with Whitney. She had moved to Atlanta and was now dating a handsome lawyer with political aspirations. I could picture her being a future governor’s wife. Or maybe even a First Lady one day. I just hoped she would become nicer over the years.
Ever since Reynolds had announced our engagement about a month ago, there had been constant scrutiny of us in the press.
I’d appeared on West Bay Today, which had just about given me a panic attack.
I’d done well, though, and West Bay was excited that their handsome mayor was getting married.
A media circus had surrounded us over the past six months, and it was nice to have a little peace and quiet.
I walked over to a table and sat down with a cup of coffee.
I enjoyed the scenery, the sounds of people laughing and talking as they set up for the event, the chirping of birds in the distance, and the smell of freshly cut grass.
It was the perfect environment to just sit and think.
Since it was only noon, I didn’t expect people to be up and about for another hour or so.
I would have a few moments of peace before I had to become the center of attention yet again.
I was a little nervous at the thought of marrying Reynolds.
As his wife, I would always be in the public eye.
With my background, I was on edge, worried that I’d say or do the wrong thing.
So far, though, the people of West Bay liked my backstory.
They’d seemed to embrace my impoverished background.
It was as if I balanced out Reynolds’ image of being too rich, too stuffy, too perfect.
People seemed to believe that if he loved me, he’d love people of all backgrounds.
He did, so I guess it was a good thing that everyone seemed to realize it now.
I wondered how many years it would take before I quit being afraid to let loose and just be myself.
I took a sip of coffee and squinted up at the clouds.
They were white and fluffy, dancing over the sun from time to time and blocking the searing heat momentarily.
A gentle breeze blew through the gardens.
For late August, the temperature was surprisingly not horrible today.
It was only supposed to hit ninety, and the humidity was low.
By the time of the wedding this evening, the temperature was supposed to be in the lower eighties.
For West Bay, that was almost a miracle this time of year.
“What are you doing out here all by yourself?” Jelly startled me as she came over and plopped down at the chair next to me.
“Hey,” I said with a smile. “Just thinking.”
She rolled her eyes but grinned at me. “You always did like to think deeply about things. For someone who hated school and studying, I always thought that was weird.”
I shrugged. “I wasn’t thinking about school, I can assure you.”
She laughed, and we sat there for a few minutes in comfortable silence.
I studied her out of the corner of my eye.
I’d given up on trying to call her Ray Ann a while ago, but I still tried to hide it from Carmen.
I think she knew, though. As long as the customers at Sugar called her Ray Ann, Carmen would be okay with it.
I hoped.
“How’s life?” I asked. Jelly and I didn’t get to talk all that often.
I was busy building a life with Reynolds.
She was busy working at Sugar. Plus, she’d recently started working as a front office receptionist at a medical office for a prominent young surgeon at West Bay Children’s Hospital.
I knew she also wanted to continue her education, hoping first to become a registered nurse and then continue on to be a nurse practitioner.
Her vivid blue eyes flicked to mine. “Pretty good.”
“Wow. Don’t tell me too much or anything, Jelly.”
She gave me a little grin. “Today’s not about me. It’s about you, Nadine.”
“Pshaw,” I waved a hand at her.
She laughed at my wording, like I knew she would. “God, you’re weird. I don’t know how we ever got to be friends.”
“Mrs. Hufstedder put our cots right next to each other in pre-K. I latched onto you, and you couldn’t get rid of me.”
Jelly surprised me by pouncing on me and hugging me. “I love you, Nadine Walker. You know that, right?”
I gaped at her. “Um… I guess?”
“Are you happy?” she asked, ignoring me.
I smiled then, a real smile. “So happy,” I admitted. “I couldn’t have picked a better husband than Reynolds. He’s loving, and generous. And he’s hot as hell and awesome in bed,” I sighed.