One Bride for Five Brothers

“Rory, you better be here on time. In fact, you should come here a few days before the wedding. Maybe go to a spa, get some beauty treatments done, and get the fitting checked. Tara wants her wedding to be perfect, and it is the least you can do for your only sister.”

Of course. It is always about Tara, the successful Loughlin daughter. We all should be honored to be of service to her.

“I’ll see,” Rory replied as she picked up her breakfast plate and dumped the food in the bin. Her hunger had vanished as her mother continued laying into her.

“Do you have the money for a flight? Should we send you some money?” She then shouted out to Rory’s father. “Bill! We should send Rory some money for the flight to LA.”

“Mom, no! I do not need money. Stop assuming things.” Rory was furious. She always hated it when people assumed things about her.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, Mom!” Rory raised her voice, an inch away from losing her cool. Be cool, Rory, be cool.

“Just make sure that you don’t arrive too late for the wedding!” There wasn’t much trust in that voice. “Your father is asking if you have paid the property bills already?”

Damn. He never forgets anything.

Bill Loughlin was a serious man who was proud of his meticulous work ethic, and it was rare that he didn’t have everything organized in an orderly fashion. Rory wasn’t surprised that he remembered the dates for the tax and insurance payments.

“Yes, Mom. I was just going to,” Rory lied. She also knew that her mom hated it when she called her “Mom.” Mary Loughlin preferred being addressed as “Mother.” Unless it was her younger daughter, who had the freedom to call mommy dearest whatever she wanted.

“Make sure that you do. Your father is going to be upset if you lose that property.”

Yeah. He who hasn’t set foot here in years, will surely be upset. He probably will be more upset that his younger daughter did not get the property instead.

“Anything else, Mother?”

“What? You can’t talk to your mother for ten minutes? What are you, the pope?”

“I’ve got stuff to do, so I have to go now. Say hi to Dad for me.” Without waiting for a goodbye, Rory hung up.

She sat down on the chair with a thud. Her head was aching, as it usually did when her mother called. Nobody likes to be a disappointment to their parents, and as much as Rory told herself that she didn’t care about what anyone thought of her, deep down inside she did and it killed her.

Rory was thankful that Lizzy didn’t appear at her usual hour, as she needed time alone with herself to get over the debacle of a phone call with her mother. She was more thankful for the bunch of tourists who had ventured into her shop out of the blue and bought a whole bunch of books for themselves and their kids. Maybe this day won’t be so bad after all.

Sometime later, Lizzy slid in with half her wardrobe on her arm. Dresses, shoes, tops, hats—she had them all.

“Are you sure you have enough clothes there, Liz?” Rory chuckled.

“Don’t be mean. If we’re going to look our best, we have a lot of work to do,” Lizzy replied.

“Funny. I never thought I’d ever hear about ‘working a lot’ from you.”

“You’re on a roll today. Do you want me to do you up or not?” Lizzy stuck her tongue out.

“Oh, you love me too much not to do that for me.” Rory walked up to her and pinched her cheeks.

“Stop it! Now help me get all this stuff in the house.”

If there was one thing Lizzy knew, it was fashion. There was no doubt in Rory’s mind that she was the better dressed one of the two. Lizzy talked her into closing the store early, and it was barely early evening when they stood staring at a room full of clothes with Lizzy trying to pick and match items in her head like a mad stylist.

“Why the hell have you brought a pair of speakers?”

“Right! I totally forgot about them.” Lizzy rushed over and plugged in her iPhone to the speakers. Beyonce blared out and she pumped up the volume.

“Because this! No self-respecting girl ever gets dolled up without some Beyonce in the background.”

Though Rory laughed as Lizzy showed off her dance moves, she had to admit that the girl could really shake that booty. Even though Rory kept insisting that she didn’t want to wear any makeup, Lizzy forced her into it. In the end, Rory was glad that she did. For the first time in a long time, Rory looked into the mirror and admired herself. She looked good—really good.