22. Chapter 22
Chapter 22
J ane was about to head downstairs with Haley, who was throwing a few more last-minute things in her bag, when she got a text from Luke. She leaned against the wall and opened her conversation thread with him.
“Hey,” it said. “What you up to?”
She smiled to herself as she replied. “About to go meet the glam squad.”
“Can’t wait to see you,” he sent back, and her cheeks warmed.
Another text came in on its heels: “Send me a pic.”
Then another: “It’s not bad luck for me to see you before the wedding, is it?”
Her smile got bigger. “I’m not the brIDE, Luke,” she typed back. Yet , she finished in her head, and legitimately embarrassed herself. Pull it together , she thought, even as she couldn’t wipe the giddy grin off her face.
“So I’ll be expecting a picture then,” he wrote back, and tacked on a thumbs up emoji and a wink.
She sent back a neutral-looking smiley face. “You’ll be seeing me soon.”
“Not soon enough,” came the rapid-fire response.
Jane shook her head at herself, even as she was loving every second. Haley appeared next to her, carrying her bag, and tried to look over Jane’s shoulder. “Are you text flirting?” she teased.
“I’m definitely being text flirted with,” Jane said, holding the phone in close.
“Look at your face,” Haley laughed. “Yeah, you are.” She gave Jane a warm smile. “Good for you, Janey.”
***
They had a big room at the hotel to get ready. Haley had found a great local makeup artist who was coming with an assistant, and Blake’s mom had handled getting a couple hair stylists. There was a table filled with light food in the corner—bagels, mini-avocado toasts, some small sandwiches and a long charcuterie board. Jane and Haley and their moms got there first, followed by Blake’s mom. A few minutes later, Ashley came into the room, trailed by Maddie, and headed straight for the food.
“I’m starving,” she said, loading up a small plate. “And so tired.”
Haley gave Jane a knowing glance. “Catch another sunrise this morning?” she said.
“Actually, no,” she said, intentionally-or-maybe-not yawning into the hand with her sparkling new ring. “But I’m still trying to catch up.”
Maddie piped up then. “We did.”
Everyone turned to her in surprise. “ You were up all night?” Haley said.
“No,” she said, starting to blush. “We got up early. Ian came and picked me up.”
Of course , Jane thought. Responsible Maddie. Still, she liked that Maddie had some surprises up her sleeve, too.
“So how was it?” Haley asked.
“Good,” Maddie said, with an air of so there .
Jane smiled. Ashley might have gotten engaged first, but Maddie would be just fine.
Auntie Miss stepped into the middle of the room, brandishing her paper list. “Okay, girls, we need to make sure we stay on schedule today. Ashley or Maddie, we’ll start with one of you for hair.”
“You go first,” Ashley said to Maddie, still helping herself to the food.
“All right,” Maddie said. Haley was the first to get her makeup done, and Jane took a plate of cheese, fruit and crackers and sat next to her while she waited for her turn at hair. Haley kept flipping her phone around in her lap, checking on things here and there, but mostly out of nervous, excited energy.
“Anything good on there?” Jane said, pointing at the phone before popping a cracker in her mouth.
Haley picked her phone back up. “Bree and Kristy are going to come hang out in a little bit and just get a quick blowout.”
“Oh, yeah,” Jane said. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you about Bree.”
Haley went to look at her, and the makeup artist gently guided her chin back to center. “What about her?”
Jane lowered her voice a little. “Have you noticed anything with her and Tommy?”
Haley’s eyes narrowed, and the makeup artist softly tapped the side of her face with the brush to get her to relax her face. “Maybe,” she said. “Are we thinking the same thing?”
“Probably.”
“Did she say anything to you?”
“She didn’t have to say anything,” she said. “Her face said it.”
I don’t know about that , Haley’s expression said, but she waved her hand. “That’s fine,” she said. “You’ve got Luke.”
Jane pursed her lips. “I don’t know if I’ve got Luke.”
“You’ve got him if you want him,” Haley said. “That’s what I think, anyway.” The makeup artist turned to get an eyeshadow palette and Haley took advantage to look at Jane. “So how was the kiss? You didn’t tell me.”
Jane gave her a look. “What do you think?”
Haley lit up and high-fived her, almost sending her plate of food to the floor. “Careful,” Jane said, laughing as she steadied herself.
“What are we high-fiving?” the makeup artist said.
“Oh, it’s a good story,” Haley said, then looked at Jane. “You always did love a good story.”
It was true. It was a joke, but it was definitely part of the reason Jane became an editor. There weren’t many things she loved more than a good story.
“Okay, Jane,” Auntie Miss called over from the other side of the room. “Time for hair.”
Jane had her hair done first—tiny braids pinned back with loose waves—and then, once Ashley and Maddie were finished up, Jane got her makeup done while Haley was having her hair done. It was timed that way by Auntie Miss for the photographer, who arrived then to take some getting-ready shots of them before they got dressed.
Haley’s hair was in a romantic, intricate, loose, low bun, with pieces coming out in the front, and her makeup was glowing and radiant. “Oh, Haley, I love it,” Jane said, waving an arm up and down as she covered her mouth with her other hand. “The whole look.”
“It’s not the whole look yet,” she said, but Jane could tell she was pleased with it.
“No, it’s not,” Auntie Miss said. “Now let’s get you girls in your dresses.”
Haley went with Auntie Miss to retrieve her dress out of the plastic, while the others got changed, helping each other with shaking out hemlines and pulling up zippers. “Come help me with the back?” Haley called over to Jane.
There was a full-length, gold-rimmed mirror on the far wall. Haley stood in front of it, totally ready now, and looked at her reflection, her face rapturous at the sight of herself all done up and in her wedding dress for the first time. Auntie Miss started crying, and then Auntie Jess grabbed her hand and started tearing up, too. “How do I look?” Haley said, as if she needed to ask.
“Perfect,” Jane pronounced. “You look absolutely perfect.”