Chapter 37 - Gwen - Bumping into You
Chapter 37
Gwen
I’m relaxing in my room going over last-minute items with Courtney on the phone when a knock sounds at my door. Hope at seeing Niall surges through me before I realize the knocking is coming from the hallway door, not our shared door.
“One moment, Courtney, let me get this,” I say into the phone, then hold it against my chest as I open the door to see Trent.
“Hey, Gwen,” Trent says, looking sheepish. “How are you?”
“What’s wrong, Trent? What’s happened?”
“Well, you know how I was responsible for holding onto the rings?”
“Yes. . . .” I say, my nerves spiking.
“Well, I seem to have misplaced them.”
“Excuse me? You. Lost. Them?” I ask through gritted teeth. “As in the wedding rings? As in the rings that Greg and Holly need to get married tomorrow?”
“Well,” he says, taking a step back, “I misplaced them.”
“Then I suggest you un-misplace them. The wedding is tomorrow, Trent. Tomorrow!!”
“Right, okay, I will go recheck my things,” he says, stepping back into the hallway just as I register the sound of Courtney’s voice coming through my phone.
“Gwen?” she says. “Can you hear me?”
I had completely forgotten she was still waiting on me. I pick up the phone and say, “One minute, Courtney.”
Then turning my focus back to Trent, I say, “I suggest you turn your room inside out. Check everything and everywhere even if it doesn’t make sense. And please tell me the moment you find them, and not a word to anyone in the meantime, got it? I’ll figure something out as a backup plan.”
“Gwen?” asks Courtney through the phone. “What’s happened? Anything I can help with?” I put my phone back up to my ear, Trent eyeing me warily.
“Actually, yes, we do have a problem. Trent is here and has just informed me that he’s lost the engraved wedding rings.” I send another glare in Trent’s direction.
“Oh,” says Courtney, “that is a bit of a situation. How about I help him look for those rings?”
“That would be great,” I say. “I’ll help you look too.”
“And,” says Courtney, “there are a few places on the ship where we can get backup rings if we don’t end up finding the original ones.”
“Okay, good,” I say. “The rings are engraved though. If we do have to get new rings, we’d need to make sure they’re engraved too.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem,” says Courtney. “Would you text me what the engravings are in case we have to go that route?”
“Yes, I’ll send you a text right now.” After sending the text, I say, “Thank you, Courtney. I appreciate your help with this.”
“My pleasure,” says Courtney. “Tell Trent I’ll be over there shortly.”
I shut the door after relaying the message and hanging up with Courtney. Ugh, please let this be the only thing that goes wrong today.
I’m just about to leave with Trent to search for the rings when Gillian rounds the corner looking a little worried.
“Hey, Gwen. Hey, Trent,” she says. “Gwen, do you have a second?”
“Yes,” I say. Then I turn to Trent. “You go ahead and meet up with Courtney. I’ll be there in a minute.”
Trent nods and heads to his room.
“What’s going on?” I ask Gillian.
“I have some bad news,” she says.
“Are you feeling okay?” I ask, worried that something is wrong with the baby.
“Oh yes, I’m fine, but Maggie isn’t. She isn’t feeling well. She’s laying down in our room now, but I’m pretty sure she has a fever, and she’s as pale as a ghost.”
“Oh no, poor Maggie. Okay, one moment, I think I have something you can try.” I leave the door to my room open as I rush and grab my emergency bag.
“Thanks, Gwen,” says Gillian. “I’m hoping it’s just a bug and she’ll be good for the wedding tomorrow, but there is no way she’ll be able to make it to the rehearsal dinner tonight.”
I pause momentarily at her statement. It hadn’t even occurred to me that Maggie wouldn’t make the rehearsal dinner. And if she doesn’t feel better soon, that would mean that she’d miss the wedding too.
“No worries,” I tell Gillian, trying to hide the tension in my voice. What are we going to do if there’s no flower girl at the wedding? “Here is some Tylenol and Ibuprofen, as well as a thermometer. You can order room service and get some apple juice or Powerade. I believe they have it in those little drink dispensers in Duke’s Diner and outside the pizzeria.”
“I’ll keep you updated,” says Gillian. “Either Miles or me will come to the rehearsal dinner to see what Maggie needs to do during the wedding, in case she does feel up to going, but the other is going to stay with her.”
“Of course,” I say, leaning in to give her a hug. “Let me know if you all need anything else.”
She nods then heads back to her room.
Well, all the relaxation I felt at the spa is now gone. Now I need to figure out a backup plan in case there is no flower girl. I pull out my phone and text Courtney.
Gwen
Something else came up. Are you and Trent ok to look for the rings?
My stress level is through the roof as I pace around my room trying to think. After a few minutes, my phone vibrates, and I check my texts.
Courtney
Of course, I can handle the rings. You take care of whatever you need to.
I’m taking a few breaths trying to calm myself when another knock sounds at my door. If someone else is coming with more bad news, I might just lose it.
I swing open the door, almost hitting Niall with it.
“Whoa, you’re going to take someone out with that swing,” Niall says. Then, seeing my face, he asks, “What’s wrong? Talk to me.”
“It’s nothing I can’t handle,” I say as I turn away from the door.
Niall follows me inside, and we both sit on the couch.
His warm hands tilt my head in his direction.
“Gwendolyn, whatever it is, I’m not going to leave you alone. You’re clearly in bits about something and I’d like to help you.”
“You don’t even know what’s wrong,” I say. “Everything’s just falling apart.”
“Why don’t you tell me what’s going on? Then we will figure out how to fix it, together. Come here, mo ghrá .”
I turn from Niall, my shoulders slumping as my eyes well up with tears. I should have focused more on the wedding. I should have been double-checking everything. No, triple-checking.
Before I can stop him, Niall scoops me up and pulls me into his lap. I curl in against his chest and allow myself to be held. Niall, who was a stranger to me only a handful of days ago, now feels like such an important part of my life.
He hugs me, and it’s a hug that makes me feel cared for, so full of warmth and understanding, a sanctuary amidst the chaos of my emotions.
His strong hands stroke up and down my back, providing me with a sense of security, a sense of calm. He’s so tender, not saying anything and just letting me feel.
Time seems to stand still as we stay like this. There are things I need to get done, things that need to be fixed, but in this moment with this amazing man, I am safe to just be.
As my tears begin to dry and my breathing settles, Niall asks, “Gwendolyn, how can I help you?”
“I don’t know. Holly and Greg’s wedding is all messed up.” I wipe the tears from my cheeks.
“What do you mean? Surely, they are still getting married.”
“Hopefully,” I say, then mumble, “no thanks to me.”
“Rose, look at me,” he says sternly.
I look up at him and blurt, “It’s true. Their wedding isn’t going to be perfect, and it’s all my fault.”
“Why don’t you start with filling me in on what is meant to be your fault?” he asks, his eyes softening.
“Well for starters, Maggie is sick and may not be able to come to the wedding, which means that either Gillian or Miles may not be able to come. Then there’s freaking Trent, who has somehow managed to freaking lose the freaking wedding rings.”
“Well, those don’t sound too bad,” Niall says through soft chuckles.
“Excuse me?” I shoot up off his lap. “This is a nightmare. I should have kept Maggie with me instead of letting her stay at kids club all day. That’s probably where she got sick. And I should have kept hold of the rings. I never would have lost them. Holly and Greg had these rings specially made, and they had quotes engraved on them. They aren’t something that can easily be replaced.”
I start pacing around the room. How can Niall think this isn’t a big deal?
It’s Holly and Greg. They deserve the best.
“I’ve spent too much time with you,” I tell Niall. “And I’ve let myself get distracted. I should have just focused on the wedding and made sure everything was perfect for Holly and Greg.”
“Now, Rose—”
“Don’t ‘Rose’ me,” I say angrily. “You don’t understand.”
“I didn’t say that it didn’t sound too bad to make you upset. I simply meant that as long as Holly and Greg still get married, then that is the most important thing. Everything else we can fix. It may not be perfect according to the original plans, but it will still be a perfect day.”
I stop pacing. He’s right. Of course, he’s right. I just like things to be perfect. For things to go according to plan. If I have everything figured out and all possible issues planned for, then nothing bad can ever happen.
Niall sits on the couch calmly, his eyes full of hope and happiness.
The look stops me in my tracks.
“Okay.” I sigh. “Help me figure out how to fix this?”
“Well, for starters, I can be the flower girl,” he says happily.
I let out a laugh. “No really, what is your plan?” I ask.
“I am serious. Haven’t you seen those videos where the groom’s brothers or someone like that are the flower girls, and they have these bum bags with flower petals and sunglasses on? I could definitely do that.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. This is not helping, and while that sounds hilarious, it’s annoying because it cannot be the best option we have. “No.”
“Okay, what if Vivian stands in for the flower girl? She’s not a bridesmaid, but she could be a flower lady?” Niall offers.
“It’s not the worst suggestion you’ve given,” I agree. “I’ll have to talk to her about it. Now for the rings, Courtney is meeting up with Trent to try and help him find them.”
“ Cúla búla , for the rings, then, that one is resolved. Courtney won’t let Greg and Holly get married without rings. With her on this task, you don’t have to worry, right?” He looks up at me hopefully.
“That . . . that is true.”
“And you told her about the engravings, right?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, then rest easy knowing Courtney is on it. It’s literally her job to make sure cruise weddings go off without a hitch. I’m sure this isn’t the first time something like this has happened. She’s got it.”
I smile, starting to feel a little better about the situation and also a little bad about biting Trent’s head off, though I’m sure he understands.
Considering it is just the rehearsal dinner tonight, we don’t have to have either the flower girl or the rings with us. We still have some time before the wedding.
When it’s finally time for the rehearsal, I’m feeling much calmer. I am still hoping that Maggie feels better and Trent finds the rings, but I know we have backup plans. For now, I’ll just focus on the rehearsal.
The rest of the evening goes off without a hitch. The bridesmaids and groomsmen don’t actually walk in, so we stand at the front near the alter. The flower girl would enter first; Gillian is filling in for this part. She said Maggie is asleep and seems to have broken her fever, so that’s a good sign.
Mr. Kenton and Holly walk in, and even though it’s just the rehearsal, I’m tearing up along with our parents.
Knowing everything Holly went through, I couldn’t be happier for her.
As much as I love to tease him, Greg is such a good guy and loves her with his whole heart. Holly deserves nothing less.
I look at the groomsmen and catch Niall looking at me. His gaze is heated, even though the night air is cool, and a shiver goes through me as goosebumps race up my arms. A bump from my right has me glancing over at Margot.
“That is the look of someone who is head over heels for you,” she says.
“You think so?” I whisper to Margot.
“I do.”
“We haven’t talked about what will happen with us after the cruise,” I tell her, “and after Bradley, I’m not getting my hopes up. Not again.”
She nods and whispers back, “Well, don’t let the mistakes of the past keep you from potentially great things in the future. You deserve all this too.”
I nod in agreement. I do deserve happiness and a man who loves me for all of me. I just don’t know how we are going to make this work when I live in Tennessee and he lives hours away in Boston. What would we do about our jobs, our homes, our friends? Would we be too busy to even spend time together?
Nope, not going to think about it right now. Focus on the wedding, then after that, you can have a mini freakout.