Chapter Six
“JUST brEATHE, ANDIE. In and out. That’s it.”
Andie tried her best to focus on Star’s voice.
But failed.
Every breath felt like trying to inhale through a straw that someone had pinched shut.
“You’re okay. It’s alright. There’s nothing to worry about.”
Andie repeated Harry’s words to herself.
She’s okay.
I mean, I’m okay.
I’m alright.
I...I have nothing to worry about because it’s totally normal for brides to hyperventilate on their wedding day.
Right?
Wedding jitters. Cold feet. Do-a-Julia-Roberts-in-Runaway-Wedding.
It had many names because It was normal. And so common and...and expected even that It was probably mentioned in every wedding magazine, brochure, and manual there was. It was—
You just stop right there, Andromeda Jackson!
Can’t you see you’re just making things worse?
Your bridal nerves are NOT another form of Pennywise.
Got that?
Harry bit her lip upon seeing how Andie’s fingers were shaking nonstop as she tried to reapply her lipstick for the fifth time.
She wished there was something else she could say or do, but an hour simply wasn’t enough time to know a person, much less know how to comfort them when they were about to marry a man they had only known for days.
Not that she was judging either Andie or Paul.
Been there, done that, but God was just so amazing that He had made her marriage work despite her billionaire husband initially marrying Harry under false pretenses.
So, really...
Harry closed her eyes to whisper a silent prayer in her heart. Dear God, if it’s Your will, may this marriage change both of their lives completely, and have them not just fall in love with each other, but may they fall in love with You, too.
“Talk to us, Andie. Is there any way we can help?”
Star’s gently spoken words had Andie swallowing hard. A part of her still couldn’t believe that the lovely woman in front of her was really that Star. The woman who wrote that even lovelier note on the Bible, and the reason she had found the courage to knock on Paul’s door.
This woman was that Star, and so—
“Were you instantly attracted to your husbands when you first met?”
Star and Harry nodded, and Andie breathed a sigh of relief. So far so good. If she could just have three things in common with these two women, she would have nothing to worry about, and she would know for sure she was doing the right thing in marrying Paul.
And so...
“What made you think they were the one for you?” Andie asked next.
Harry’s lips curved in a smile that was half shy, half rueful. “That’s a really good question, and it’s probably why Paul wanted Devon and me to be witnesses in your wedding.”
Andie’s brows furrowed as she tried to decipher what Harry was leading to. Was theirs another whirlwind romance—
“I’m what you’d call a mail-order bride.”
Holy cow! No way! For real?
Harry burst into laughter at the comical array of expressions that flitted over Andie’s face.
Andie then turned to Star, wondering—
The other woman grinned. “Wynd and I do have something in common with Harry and Devon, but it’s not that.”
Oooh, another mystery.
“Ours was also supposed to be a marriage of convenience—”
Andie nearly jumped for joy. Yes, yes, yes! That was exactly what she wanted to hear. That being another thing she had in common with these two wonderful ladies—
“But just like Harry and Devon, Wynd and I—”
Two down, one to go, Andie thought happily.
“—fell in love along the way.”
Star and Harry were both perplexed when they saw Andie pale.
Fell. In. Love.
Well...
That’s that then.
“I, um, need to go to the powder room...” Andie could only mumble the words and was also unable to meet either woman’s gaze as she turned away.
Star looked at Harry. What do you think is wrong?
Harry bit her lip. I have no idea.
A few minutes passed, and Harry’s stomach started churning. Would she be intrusive if she were to knock—
The door to the judge’s office suddenly opened, with a court assistant poking her head in. “Ladies? They’re ready whenever you are.”
“We’ll be right there,” Star answered while Harry knocked on the door to the powder room before entering. “Andie just needs—”
Her voice trailed off upon seeing Harry burst out of the powder room, a dismayed look on her face.
Oh no.