Chapter 19
LENA CONNER
“I used primer and waterproof mascara and eyeliner, but I can’t make any promises about your shadow if you cry,” Reina warned as she used a large round brush to sweep away excess powder from my face. “I say that knowing you’re going to cry, probably more than once.”
“Me? Never!”
“It’s the job of the mother of the bride to start the waterworks, which, in turn, makes everyone else start crying. It’s an unwritten wedding rule.”
“I just can’t seem to help myself. There are even some commercials that make me cry,” I admitted.
“My mom always tears up during the holiday ads where they show someone coming home to surprise their family.”
“Those get me every time, so let Jaz know she’s not alone.”
“The military ones hit me the hardest,” Opal chimed in from behind me.
“When I was pregnant with Teague, there was a diaper commercial that showed different mother animals and their young. It turned me into a sniveling mess every time I saw it.”
“I remember that one!” Reba said from the bed where she was sitting with Violet and London.
“It was the worst or the best, depending on how you look at it,” Violet said, smiling at me through the reflection in the mirror.
She looked at her phone and said, “Liberty asked me how you were doing, and I told her that you’re doing great because there’s so much activity, but you’re gonna be a blubbering mess during the ceremony. ”
“I have to warn you guys . . . Mace is going to give a toast that will have everyone on the edge of a breakdown,” Reba announced. “He asked me if it was too much, and I could barely answer him through my sobbing.”
“Great,” I muttered as Reina held a clear shield over my face so Opal could coat my hair with more hairspray. Once she was finished, Reina leaned down so that we were eye to eye and said, “Make sure the photographer gets plenty of pictures of you while your face is all done, okay?”
“I will.”
“You look beautiful,” Reina said before she leaned in and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “Now I have to go make sure the wild animals haven’t brawled in the living room and ruined their makeup.”
“If a single one has touched their hair, I’ll kill ‘em, and you won’t have to worry about it,” Opal threatened.
“You’ve still got to take care of Janis, right?”
“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Reina moaned as rearranged her supplies on the vanity in front of me. “She should be here any minute, but y’all take your time and just let us know when the room is available.”
“I think they’re here to give me a pep talk, which I probably need. I’ll do my best not to cry through it.”
“No pep talk!” Reba announced. “We just came over so we didn’t have to listen to Mace and Angus bitch about having to wear a tie.”
“Tavin acts like it’s a form of torture every time he has to get dressed up,” London complained. “You’d think that after all these years of accompanying me to different events, he’d be used to it.”
“But then what would he complain about?” I asked.
“Oh, I’m sure he has a list somewhere so he doesn’t miss anything. I’m almost positive he adds to it now and again to change things up.”
“As if you don’t complain,” Violet chided.
“It doesn’t count if I only complain about his complaining!” London said cheerfully as Opal and Reina walked out into the hall.
“Did y’all see Finn on your way over?”
“Yes. He was carrying his tux and shoes and said he’d wrangle the guys into their ties with force if necessary,” Reba told us. She laughed before she said, “One of us should go over there to keep the peace.”
“It’s your house,” Violet reminded her.
“And your husband,” London added.
“Your husband is throwing as much of a fit about wearing a tie as mine is,” Reba retorted as she gave Violet an exasperated look.
“It’s almost like they’re twins or something,” I said sarcastically.
“All you have to do is get dressed, right?”
I shook my head and stood up so I could untie my robe.
As I let it drop, Reba said, “Oh, honey! You look beautiful. That color is gorgeous on you!”
“Bella took Marla and I to the designer that made her wedding dress. She helped us choose patterns and fabric we liked.”
“You can tell it’s custom,” London assured me.
“Damn,” Violet whispered.
“That’s some bougie shit,” Reba muttered. “Wow.”
“I can’t even begin to imagine how much this cost, but I can tell you right now that I’m wearing it again, even if it’s for my own funeral!”
“Wear it at all of your kids' weddings!” London suggested.
“Or every wedding you attend for the rest of your life,” Violet added.
Reba laughed before she said, “And then get buried in it!”
“I know y’all are joking, but I’m absolutely serious! I bet this cost more than my first three cars combined.”
“At least,” London agreed.
“This dress really emphasizes the difference in our family and the one Bella is marrying into.”
“That’s for sure,” Reba said in awe. “It wouldn’t make any difference if it were from Walmart, though. Bella would still want you by her side.”
I thought about how proud I was of my daughter.
Even though I still worried about the lifestyle she was marrying into, I had faith that she knew what she was doing and Matteo would keep her safe.
I hated that she would be living so far away, but I’d seen her more in the last year than I had when she was away at college, so I felt a little better about the distance.
The fact that Matteo had a plane at his disposal really helped with that challenge.
“Let’s check on the girls and then go to Reba’s to gather up the men. They’re probably sitting in front of the television watching the game or something equally off-task.”
Reba shook her head before she said, “Not a chance! I hid the remotes in a tampon box in the guest bathroom.”
“Have I told you lately how much I adore you?” I asked.
“You have but feel free to tell me again.”
◆◆◆
TAVIN CONNER
“Where’s the fucking remote?” Mace growled as he pulled a vase down off the bookshelf and peered into it. “I know she hid it.”
“Probably because y’all are supposed to be getting dressed and not watching the game,” Chess said without looking up from his phone where he was watching the game.
I couldn’t see the screen, but the earbud he’d given me when he walked in kept me abreast and made it easy for me to keep up with the conversation without having to miss any of the action.
“May want to get on that, guys. The women will be here any minute, and they’re gonna be pissed you aren’t anywhere close to being ready. ”
“How long does it take to put on a fucking suit?” Angus asked. “The longer I wait to put it on, the less time I have to fucking wear it.”
“You’re gonna complain all night, aren’t you?” Finn asked.
We all yelled, “Yes!” at the same time as Angus settled into the recliner and hit the button to raise the footrest. He didn’t say another word, just relaxed for a nap that I knew would soon be interrupted by his wife, who would give him hell for being lazy.
“Why are all of you here anyway?” Mace asked. He addressed Finn when he said, “I know why you are, but do we really need the rest of them underfoot?”
“I’ve been asking that about all of you since you were born,” Finn replied flatly as he leaned back to relax in the other recliner. “Focus, Mace. Remote. Find it.”
Without opening his eyes, Angus asked, “Can you believe little Bella is getting married?”
“I don’t want to think about it too hard because it makes me . . . I guess I’ve been around my in-laws too much because the first word to come to mind is ‘homicidal,’” Chess said with a sigh. “I don’t have anything against Matteo, really. It’s just that . . .”
“He lives a million miles away,” Mace said from the dining room as he started rifling through one of the drawers in the credenza.
“I hate that, but he’s a pretty nice guy,” I said in Matteo’s defense.
“He’s not good enough for her,” Angus chimed in.
“Honestly, who would be?”
Finn frowned and said, “We could start with someone who doesn’t live so far away.”
“Remember when she and Dylan first came home?” I asked. “We had no idea what in the hell we were doing.”
“They trained us pretty quickly,” Finn recalled with a grin. “I knew better than to get her dressed more than five seconds before we walked out the door. She’d either puke or have a blowout every time I did.”
“I learned to always sleep with one eye open,” Chess added. “Remember that time we were napping together on the couch and she woke up before I did and shoved her finger so far up my nose it touched my brain?”
“As an adult, her fingers still aren’t long enough to find your brain,” I teased.
“You accuse him of not having a brain, but you were the one who rushed her to the emergency room with mysterious bruises because you thought she had the plague,” Mace pointed out.
“The nurses couldn’t stop laughing,” I muttered, still bitter about the situation. “I didn’t know she’d been playing with chalk. I just saw that her legs were the wrong color, and my mind instantly went to something horrible.”
“Remember when dumbass over here hired Attila the Hun to keep them? I couldn’t stand that hag,” Angus growled. “Wonder what happened to her.”
“She’s probably in a shallow grave somewhere after the kids she was watching staged a revolt and got rid of her ass,” Mace said, just as grumpily as his twin.
“Sometimes it’s like looking at Bellamy when I look at Bella. It breaks my heart and makes me happy at the same time,” Finn admitted. “I think that’s why it makes me so sad to have her so far away. It’s like I’m losing another piece of her.”
“We’ve still got Dylan, although the older he gets, the more he reminds me of Angus,” Chess teased. “I think he spent too much time with him during his formative years.”
“They’re all growing up and going off on their own,” I said sadly, thinking of my own children now. “This is going to be the first of many times we have to get dressed up to give away one of our kids.”
“The other ones better have smaller weddings, or I’m gonna pack Vi up and move away,” Angus threatened.
“Are you ready to give the toast, Mace?” Finn asked.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
“Liberty finished the slideshow that will play while all of us dance with her,” Chess said.
“You don’t think it’s too much?” Angus asked. “This is her day, not ours.”
“She chose this location because she knew it was important to Bellamy, so I think she’d expect nothing less,” Finn assured us.
“Those two changed our lives,” Mace said, his voice thick with emotion.
“I didn’t know if we were going to survive those first few months after we brought them home,” I admitted.
“Hell, we didn’t know shit! I’m surprised they survived!”
We laughed because Angus was right. Bella and Dylan were a learning experience for all of us. As crazy as it was, I wouldn’t change a minute of our time with them. It prepared me for parenthood in a way that nothing else could have.
“I can’t believe our Belly Button is getting married.”
◆◆◆
DYLAN CONNER
I heard the ropes creaking and knew someone was coming up but guessed it was one of the kids.
They didn’t spend nearly as much time here as we had growing up because of the huge play area behind the office, but I had a million memories in this tree house.
They were playing over and over in my head today, and I knew exactly why.
I had felt like I’d been adrift since Bella left Rojo, but I always had the secret hope that she’d come home someday. Now, in marrying her mobster, she was solidifying that would never happen.
It had gotten easier over the last year, especially since I still talked to her almost every day. As a matter of fact, I probably talked to her more now than I did when she was home.
“I thought I might find you here.”
I turned around and whispered, “What the fuck are you doing up here?”
“I’m visiting my bestie one more time before I become an old married woman.”
“Shit. You’ve basically been married since you left.”
“True, but it’s going to become official today.”
“Shouldn’t you be getting dressed or something?” I asked as Bella sat down beside me and started swinging her legs just like I had been for a while now.
“Shouldn’t you?”
“It will take me five minutes to put on that monkey suit you insisted we all wear, but you’re gonna need to put all that shit on your face so you don’t scare the guests and terrify small children.”
“I already put my makeup on, asshole.” I wrinkled my nose when I looked at her, and she punched me in the arm. “You’re supposed to tell me I’m pretty.”
“But Mom and Dad always said we shouldn’t lie.”
Bella scooted closer so that we were touching from knee to shoulder, and I lifted my arm up so she could fit even closer. She relaxed against me before she asked, “What do you think our lives would have been like if Bellamy and Dylan hadn’t been in that accident?”
I thought about it for a second. I’d always wondered that myself. I finally said, “I don’t think our lives would really be much different. We would have grown up just a few houses away from where we did, and we would have been surrounded by a crew of cranky uncles just like we are now.”
“As much as you drive me crazy, I still miss seeing you all the time,” Bella whispered.
“I had a rash one time after scout camp. I miss you more than I miss it.” Bella laughed softly and then sniffed, so I warned, “Don’t you dare cry and mess up all that shit on your face!”
“I’m not gonna cry!”
“Liar.”
“Okay. I’m not going to right now.”
“Do you remember that time we fell out of here and Mom tried to get Dad to tear this thing down?”
“Yes! I’m glad he talked her out of it.” We were quiet for a few minutes before Bella asked, “Do you think our kids will play in this tree house someday?”
“I’ll make sure they do. It’s the best fort in the state, remember?”
“Yes! We were ready to fight off zombies from up here.”
“I had my first cigarette up here,” I reminded her.
“So did I,” Bella chortled.
“You gave me so much shit about that, but you smoked too?”
“Just that once. I had a coughing fit and thought I was going to die.”
“I miss you, Belly Button.”
For once, Bella didn’t tease me when I blurted out something she knew I didn’t want to admit. “I miss you, too, Dill Pickle, but I’m only a phone call and a short flight away.”
“Same.”
“Love you.”
“I love you too. Most of the time.”