Starry-Eyed Love (Spark House)

I don’t think I realized exactly how unnatural it was for me to handle all the administrative work until Declan took over the role. I could manage the finances, but the other stuff took up so much of my mental and emotional energy. I had to spend hours preparing for things that take him minutes.

It wasn’t an effective use of my time or my skill set, and I’m a bit embarrassed that I didn’t realize that sooner.

I find Avery and Harley in her dressing room. She’s not freaking out about her dress, though. Avery isn’t even wearing her dress. She’s currently wrapped in a robe, and so is Harley. They’re both lounging in chairs, drinking mimosas.

“Jackson said there were dress problems.”

Avery waves a hand in the air. “That was just to get you back here.”

“Let me guess, you were checking on the decorations,” Harley says.

“No. I was checking on the appetizers. Shouldn’t you put your dress on?”

“It’ll take five minutes. Sit down and have a cocktail.” Avery points to the empty chair with her toe.

There’s already one poured for me. I take the empty chair. “I can’t believe this day is finally here.”

“I am so ready to get this whole ceremony over with so I can enjoy the party.” Avery chugs what’s left in her glass and reaches for the champagne bottle.

Harley grabs it before she can, though. “You need a glass of water and a trip to the bathroom. And you need to eat at least three crackers before I’m letting you have another glass of champagne. You can’t get drunk until after the ceremony. And preferably not before the speeches are done either.”

“That’s … irritatingly reasonable.”

We send Avery to the bathroom, and Harley and I get Avery’s dress ready.

As promised, we make Avery eat crackers and cheese and drink a glass of water before she’s allowed to have another glass of champagne, which Harley dilutes with a generous shot of white grape juice behind her back.

“Have you been doing that all along?” I ask.

“Yup. You know how much she likes those sickly sweet wines, and this keeps her from getting sloshed before she walks down the aisle.”

“So freaking smart.” I give her a side hug, and we deliver a drink to Avery and then slip into our own dresses before Gran comes in and we help Avery into hers.

“I have a little something for you.” Gran takes a small velvet bag out of her clutch and passes it to Avery.

“What is it?”

“It’s your something old.” She smiles and winks.

Her something borrowed is one of my clutches, something blue is the ribbon around her soccer ball-inspired bouquet, something new is the dress, and Gran said she had something old taken care of. I’d forgotten about that until now.

Avery carefully opens the bag. Inside is a single ornate hair clip encrusted with sapphires. “Oh, this is beautiful, Gran.”

“I gave that to your mother on her wedding day as her something blue, and I know that she would want you to have it for your special day.”

“Oh!” Avery waves her hand around in the air. “I think I’m going to cry.”

“Your mascara is waterproof, so you’re safe to shed some tears.” I pass her a tissue.

Avery takes a seat and lets Gran fasten the hair clip.

And then we’re all hugging, Gran telling us how proud she is and that our parents are looking down on us from heaven, feeling the same way.

And then it’s time to walk down the aisle.

Harley and I are Avery’s co-maids of honor, and there aren’t any other bridesmaids because her other closest friends are Mark and Jerome, who also happen to be Declan’s closest friends and his best men.

I’ve been paired with Jerome, so he meets me at the end of the aisle and holds out his arm. I slip my arm through his, and we wait until the wedding march starts playing before we head down the aisle.

I spot Jackson close to the front. His eyes shift briefly from me to Jerome and darken slightly before they return to me and soften. For a moment I think about what it might be like to walk down the aisle with him waiting for me at the end, before I refocus my attention on the wedding officiant.

We take our places, and Harley and Mark come next, then Declan appears and walks his mother down the aisle. There were a few threats that he would uninvite her if she continued to create drama, so she’s been subdued the last couple of months.

Gran takes the place of our father and walks Avery down the aisle. She’s been home for the past month, and she brought her beau from Europe with her. They’re madly in love, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there were wedding bells in their future too.

The ceremony is beautiful, and despite Avery being very much a yoga pants and T-shirt kind of woman, she looks stunning in her dress. I’m grateful for waterproof mascara because I can’t quite keep my emotions from taking over when they say their vows, which they wrote themselves.