Chapter 15
The next day, Gregory and Sascha made love, and she was so glad they could safely do so now. They showered and were dressing when Gregory said, “I have my private investigators checking into Sam the traitor’s descendants.”
“Oh, we were supposed to work on that last night.”
“Yeah, but we had more important business to take care of.”
“We did. What about the mix-up of the babies' situation?”
“Yeah, they’re checking into it.”
“Okay, so we don’t have that to do right now.”
Then Maria made sure they had breakfast.
“We need to start planning for the wedding as it’s coming up so soon,” Sascha said, starting to feel a little stressed.
Neither she nor Gregory wanted to delay the wedding, just as none of the relatives on either side of the family did, which would have lessened the pressure.
Gregory, likewise, needed to do his part. He was just as eager to. He was calling the males in his family and hers to invite them to a tux fitting.
Sascha called Mrs. Landry, Aunt Meg, Kat, Rose, and Lucy. “If you’re free, I would love to go shopping for a wedding gown and have you all come along today. I made arrangements for a tea party afterward. We’re having the venue at Lemoyne’s.” She gave them the date for the wedding.
“Oh, I’m so glad you’re truly going through with the wedding,” Mrs. Landry said.
“Me too,” Rose agreed.
“I’ll meet you at the formal shop,” Lucy said.
“Prescott will drop me off,” Katrina said. “Gregory called him and invited his dad, Uncle Jimmy, and Camden to go to a fitting for his tux.”
“Okay, good.”
“Are you going to invite Damon to take part in the ceremony?” Lucy asked.
Sascha didn’t say anything for a moment, surprised that Lucy would ask. Then Sascha said, “He’s coordinating the wedding event.”
“Yeah, but he can escort me, since I’ll be a bridesmaid. He’s friends with all the guys. He can be part of the wedding party also,” Lucy said.
“Sure. I’ll run it by Gregory since it's his choice, but I’m sure he’ll be fine with it. And he can ask Damon. Oh, and thanks, Mrs. Landry, for hiring a couple of bodyguards for us. One of them will be with us when I’m trying on wedding gowns.”
“Gregory was totally against it, but I think he’s coming around.”
“He was fine seeing the bodyguards when they showed up. Okay, well, I’ll see everyone this afternoon then. I can’t wait!” She was so excited to get together with the ladies and try on gowns. She had figured if she ever got married, she would just wear one of her colorful, pretty gypsy costumes.
She had no intention of wearing just a boring white gown. Yet, in reality, she wanted something that looked like a wedding gown, with pops of color.
All the ladies were dressed for a tea party, with photos taken at the bridal salon, where they sat and waited for the bridal consultant to show off different gowns. Sascha had already told them she only wanted to look at gowns with some color.
The bodyguard Henry had gone with Sascha and stood near the doorway, as if he were a bouncer at a club, looking gruff, though dressed in a suit, as if he were ready to attend a dance.
She saw several dresses that looked like floral ballroom gowns, really not like a wedding dress. She wasn’t interested in any of those. Then the bridal consultant brought out another gown, and this one was Sascha.
Three-dimensional blue, yellow, purple, orange, and white floral lace flowers decorated the white gown, giving it the color that Sascha liked.
It had a sweetheart neckline with a corset bodice and matching off-the-shoulder straps that continued with a full white lace skirt and long train—very unique and romantic.
And yet all Sascha. Plus, it was a wedding gown, not just a party gown.
She paired it with long tulle sleeves, a crown of matching flowers, and an embroidered veil. It was elegant, yet almost fae-like and suited her perfectly.
A photographer took several photos of her and the ladies. The other ladies picked out their own dresses—the bridesmaids, the bride, the mother-in-law of the bride, and, for Aunt Meg, who had raised her as her daughter, the mother of the bride.
Sascha wanted them to pick colors that matched what she was wearing, but also something they really wanted to wear and could wear for other functions.
“Let’s do mismatched colors. Like all of us wear a different color,” Mrs. Landry said. “We could wear the same colors as the flowers on your gown.”
“I opt for pink,” Kat said. “And I will have to go with a style that will fit my expanding belly.”
“Yellow for me,” Lucy said.
“I’ll wear blue,” Mrs. Landry said.
“Oh, purple for me,” Rose said, sounding excited.
“I’ll go with orange,” Aunt Meg said.
Then they chose the gown styles that would fit them best, and more photos were taken. None were to be shared until after the wedding.
Each of the ladies wore a circlet of flowers. Everyone was beautiful.
They paid for their purchases and then went to a tea shop and had cups of tea and petit fours.
“Have you decided what you want for flowers for the venue?” Lucy asked.
“No, not yet. Gregory and I need to go to a cake shop and order the cake, but we need to do that together.”
“I could order the flowers if you would like,” Lucy said. “I’ll get with Damon and see how many we need and where to place them. I’ll confirm with you to make sure they work.”
“Okay, sure.” Sascha glanced at Aunt Meg. She was smiling a little. Sascha just hoped it wouldn’t turn into a fight.
“Food,” Aunt Meg said. “You have to decide if it’s a sit-down dinner or a buffet.”
“I guess I need to talk to Gregory and see what he would like. What would all of you like?”
“Either is fine with me,” Aunt Meg said. “One is formal, and the other is more informal.”
The ladies all agreed that it was up to her and Gregory, and that they were fine with either choice.
“I’ll help with invitations,” Kat said.
“I’ll help with that,” Mrs. Landry said. “And I’ll make sure we have even more bodyguards in attendance if they haven’t found the guy before then.”
Gregory was surprised to get a text from Sascha, telling him Lucy wanted Damon to be a groomsman, if Gregory was all right with it. Of course, he was good with it. He was just surprised that Lucy wanted Damon to be part of the ceremony.
Gregory texted Sascha: Yes! That would be fine. I’ll contact him before the guys meet with me to pick out tuxes.
Sascha texted Gregory: Wonderful! I’ll let Lucy know.
Though Gregory was still surprised at the situation. He called Damon before it was too late for him to show up and hoped he wouldn’t feel like he was being considered to take part in the ceremony at the last minute when he really was.
“Hey, Damon, it’s Gregory. Can you come to the wedding as one of my groomsmen?”
“I would love to, but won’t Lucy be there as one of Sascha’s bridesmaids?”
“Yep, and she wanted you to escort her to the event.”
Pause.
Gregory suspected that it didn’t go over well.
“Sure, I would love to,” Damon finally said.
“Okay, well, I’m getting hold of all the guys for an impromptu fitting of tuxes at a formalwear shop if you would like to meet us there in an hour. I’ve told Prescott, and he’ll bring his brother. I need to tell my dad and Sascha’s Uncle Jimmy.”
“Sure, that would be great.” Damon sounded relieved that he wasn’t the last one who was being called about it.
“All right. Great. I need to let you go so I can contact them then.”
“See you in an hour.”
Then Gregory called Uncle Jimmy. “Hi, it’s Gregory Landry.”
“The guy who’s marrying my daughter.”
“Yes. I wanted to see if you could come and join me for a tux fitting. I need to tell my dad too.”
“A tux.”
“Yeah. If you already have one, you don’t have to buy a new one.” Gregory knew Sascha’s aunt and uncle were well off, so money wasn’t a problem.
“Sure. Who all will be there?”
Gregory told him who all was coming, and Uncle Jimmy laughed. “Damon too?”
“Sure. We’ve been friends for years, and Lucy was the one who wanted him there.”
“Okay, well, that should be interesting.”
They ended the call, and Gregory got in touch with his dad. “Do you want to meet the rest of the wedding party and me at the formalwear shop on First Street? We’re going to get fitted for tuxes.”
“Yeah. What time?”
“In an hour.”
His dad didn’t answer for a few minutes, and he figured he was looking up his schedule. “Sure. I’ll be there.”
Then Gregory texted Sascha: Damon and everyone else are coming to the tux fitting. I don’t know if they all need or want new tuxes, since they might already have some, but we’ll have drinks afterward.
Sascha texted back: Sounds good. We picked out formal gowns and are having tea and cakes. I’ll see you later.
Gregory glanced at his bodyguard, Nick. “Let’s go.” Since he didn’t have Sascha with him, he figured they would ride in the same vehicle on the way to the shop.
When they got there, he texted Kat: Hey, what is everyone wearing to the wedding? I wondered whether we should try to match or just go with black.
Kat texted back: Black is always nice. The women are wearing pink, orange, blue, purple, and yellow gowns. But black will go with that, and I think better than trying to match what the women are wearing.
He texted: Okay, that sounds good.
He really preferred black. He already had two black tuxes, but styles always changed, and he wanted one just for their wedding that he could also wear to other events, like their New Year’s Eve party.
Sascha called him then. “After you finish your fittings and have your drink with the boys, we need to meet to decide on a wedding cake.”