Chapter 30
“Is doing everything impulsively a French thing, or…?” Aubrey widens her eyes as we gather at the kitchen table.
“Oh, it’s sweet.” Marian bustles behind us as we frantically try to make sense of how to hold a wedding in a rush. Like less than a day, rush. Make that hours. In hours, I will be Sawyer’s wife. Tomorrow is the big day, and I am suspended between a giddiness for it to happen and a panic that we can’t pull it off on time.
Dalton was our saving grace, insisting that Sawyer and I both file for a license to marry when Sawyer presented me with his mother’s ring. My cousin’s reasoning was that my mother would doubt I was engaged just because he said so. As he expected, she sent her assistants and lawyers to look into the validity of Sawyer and I being betrothed. Having those legal documents ready helped us to hurry with this ceremony, but still. Less than a day?
I whimper and slump with my elbow on the table and my chin in hand. “I don’t even have a dress.”
Aubrey points at me and smirks. “Now that’s the definition of irony.”
Lauren swats a hand at her. “Nothing about this is ironic.”
I shrug. “It’s madness trying to hurry like this.”
“You could elope,” Aubrey suggests before she takes another bite of the pancakes Marian made.
I shake my head. I tried that with Owen, and it didn’t stick. Although rushed, I want a real ceremony with Sawyer. This will be my first and only time to marry, and I don’t want to skip it for the sake of sticking it to my mother.
My riches don’t matter. I’m wealthier than any other billionaire if I have Sawyer’s true love.
“No eloping. That feels like a crummy way to do this. I’d feel rotten about it afterward.”
I want to walk down the aisle to him and see him as happy as I feel about it.
Marian gasps, dropping the skillet on the burner. We all freeze, looking up from the drawing Lauren has sketched of the Goldfinch’s large dining room that we’ll convert into a small wedding venue.
“Marian?” I ask carefully.
Lauren’s eyes are wide, and Aubrey furrows her brow.
“That’s it!” The BB guru snaps her fingers and pivots to grin at us. “That’s it!”
“Uh, what’s what?” I ask, lost and wondering if she’s losing her marbles.
“Rotten!”
I lick my lips. “Marian, I know we haven’t had much time to hang out and get to know each other, but if you’re speaking in some kind of code, I’m lost.”
“Jason was telling me that the tomatoes will go rotten in the old garden we’ve abandoned behind the cottage out there.” She points her spatula toward the window. “But the new garden.”
Lauren catches on with a squeal. “Near the gazebo Jason just built for you! Yes!” She whips toward me. “An outdoor wedding, Claire! What do you think?”
“Oooh, I like it,” Aubrey says, crumpling up the paper sketch of the dining room. “Fresh air. Lots of room.”
“The lilies are in bloom,” Marian adds.
“The daisies, too.” Lauren nods. “That would be gorgeous.”
I nod, smiling. “Sure. That’s fine with me.” I giggle, though, squinting at Marian. “He built you a gazebo?”
Marian rolls her eyes and dismisses me with a wave.
We laugh together at her blushing.
“Sounds serious,” I tease.
“Ha!” Marian points the spatula at me. “You’re the one getting as serious as can be with one of those Cameron men!”
I shrug. “True.” Accepting that as my new reality is a marvel each time I hear it. This time tomorrow, I won’t be Claire Rennard, but Claire Cameron. “Mrs. Sawyer Cameron. Mrs. Cameron. Mrs. Claire Cameron.”
Aubrey laughs at me, testing it out. “You could hyphenate.”
Lauren scrunches her face. “Rennard-Cameron? That’s a mouthful.”
“Mrs. Claire Cameron,” I settle on with a dreamy sigh.
“Not unless we tell the boys about the change in plans first,” Marian says. She leans toward the doorway to the dining room, calling out to Jason and Caleb, who are busy rearranging the furniture in there. She turns to Lauren. “You could mow out there again, lower the blades so it’s nice and short.”
“I bet we could find a rug to stretch out,” Aubrey adds.
“I’m not sure when I can mow,” Lauren says. “We’re going to the spa later.”
“Oh, that’s right.” Marian shrugs. “Well, I’ll mow then.”
“Wait, aren’t you coming to the spa day too?” Aubrey asks.
“Nah. I’m too old.”
“You are not too old to go to a spa,” I protest. If anything, she’s too old to be mowing. Guilt hits me. “Marian, I know you mean well, but are you sure you want us to have the wedding here?”
“I told you, Claire. I won’t take no for an answer. It’ll be here. I can’t wait!”
I sigh, giving in to her excitement even though I worry about putting her on the spot like this. She doesn’t have many guests in the BB right now. She’s not worried about them. We, all six of us, converged here for breakfast, and Marian latched on to the possibility of turning the Goldfinch into an impromptu wedding site.
If this is what makes her happy, I’m fine with it.
“All right.” Lauren taps the pencil on her lip, viewing her list. “We can still do the fairy lights and string them outside. The candles could line up along the ledge of the gazebo…” She grins. “All that lace we found in your attic, Marian. That would look pretty draped on the wooden beams.”
“Oooh. It’ll be so magical.” Marian squeals. “I am so dang excited!”
I laugh, glad to have entertained her. But we don’t have time to pick at the preparations. We are heading out later. The guys are driving to Denver for tuxes, and the girls want to go to Copper Mountain for a last-minute spa day.
Then tomorrow, the wedding!
“What do you think, Claire?” Lauren asks me as she points toward her list.
“I think I’m still stunned this is happening.”
Aubrey smiles. “What about a dress?”
I wince. That is an important detail. “When are we going to the spa?”
“Four o’clock,” Lauren answers. “And you are coming, Marian.”
“Then Jason can mow out there.” Marian nods and wipes her hands on her apron. She sets the last pancake on a plate and turns off the stove. “Come on, let’s go look at the gazebo and garden so Claire can have a better idea of the area.”
Gazebo and garden or a narrow dining room, it doesn’t matter to me, but as we walk through the grounds, I draw in deep breaths of fresh air and smile.
“It’s gorgeous out here.” It really is like something out of a fairytale. Flowers are blossoming, bees buzz in the distance, and everything smells so sweet and natural.
“Is it anything like what you’ve dreamed of?” Aubrey asks.
I give her a lopsided smile. “No.”
Lauren and Marian shrink, pouting.
“Because I’ve never dreamed about my wedding. I never thought about it, knowing early on that it wouldn’t be a love match with the way my mother treated it.”
“That’s so sad,” Marian says as she takes my hand. She squeezes it, then pats it, nodding firmly. “She’s wrong.”
“You got that right,” I reply cheerfully. As the hours tick down to the day, I feel more confident. Everyone is so happy for us and eager to stop what they’re doing to help prepare. And with the surrounding support and excitement, I let myself fall under the spell of being thrilled for this to happen, more confident in Sawyer’s feelings for me now.
“Doing this last minute like this is perfect, actually.” I smile at the women as we head back inside. “I don’t have to worry about trying to live up to any biases or standards. Just going with the flow.”
“More like starting from scratch and making the best of what we have on hand,” Aubrey says.
I nod, glancing at the time in the kitchen. “That’s true. So maybe I should try to whip up a dress for this before we go to the spa.”
Marian laughs. “Whip up?” She gestures at the room where she insists upon a “system” to make her delicious meals. It’s nothing more than a dominance of the kitchen, shooing anyone out when they don’t do things exactly as she wants. “You whip up a salad or a snack. Not a dress.”
I wink at her. “I’ll leave the food to you,” I tell her, knowing she’s probably most excited to prepare the cake. “I’ll leave the decorations to you and you,” I tell Lauren and Aubrey. “But I will work my magic and figure out a dress.”
In five hours. I shake my head, realizing this is utter insanity, but I’ve never felt more alive.
Lauren drives me back to my cabin, and when she drops me off, my mind is racing with possibilities. I have enough samples of fabric that I can make do. With some extra lace that Marian stored up in the attic that Lauren just aired out, I can see a simple but elegant design shaping up in my head. Even though I’m working on the fly, rushing my way through an entire garment in the nick of time, I stick to it and don’t take a break. I’ll have lots of time to relax at the spa later, and tomorrow, I can’t see anyone expecting me to do anything but walk down the aisle to Sawyer.
Oh, Sawyer.I smile in the privacy of the cabin, so excited to hurl myself into this whirlwind of a marriage with him. It’s sudden and hectic, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
The sooner I’m his wife, the more complete I think we’ll both feel, and it has nothing to do with my money.
It’s just us. How we click and have ever since the moment we saw each other.
My fingers ache by the time I’m done, and I grin at the final product. With moments to spare, I try it on carefully and blink away the tears that come to my eyes as I stare at my reflection in the mirror. I’ve created a simple dress of white satin with a fitted bodice and a flowing lace overlay; I love the way it flows around me, and I’m happy I could incorporate Marian’s attic find in my wedding dress.
I hear the girls come in, but I don’t leave the privacy of my bedroom yet. “I’m in here.”
“Are you ready to go?” Aubrey asks, yelling to be heard over the music I left playing in the living room.
“Yeah. Just uh, want to get your opinion on this little something I ‘whipped’ together.”
I exit, walking slowly to make sure I can catch each of their expressions. Like my whirlwind relationship with Sawyer, these women represent instantaneous bonds of friendship. It doesn’t matter that we haven’t known each other for long. I see it in the awe on their faces. I hear it in the gasps as I show them the dress. And Marian, the sweet woman, bursts into tears. She smiles through them—happy tears—and holds her arms out to hug me.
“You are a beautiful, darling bride, Claire. I’m so happy I found that lace for you.”
I lean in for her to press a kiss to my cheek and savor the love she showers on me. It’s a form of affection I’ve never received from my mother, and I want to savor this moment forever.
Creating a bridal gown for myself in the span of hours is a miracle.
Gaining these girls as true friends is another.
But tomorrow, I’ll have the best blessing in walking through that garden to make my vows to Sawyer.