“Katie! There you are!” Gemma cried out as she rushed toward me. “The guests’ll be arriving soon, so you need to go back to your office.”
“It’s that late?” I asked.
“Believe it or not.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah, in a little over an hour, you’ll be married. I won’t even ask if you want to get out of here because I know you don’t.”
“I’ll admit, I’m a little nervous about the wedding, but not at all about getting married.”
“That’s a good sign.”
I made it rather gracefully down the steps, and she nodded approvingly. “I should have thought about finding a way for you to practice without dragging your dress down here, but it looks like you’ll do fine. Now that I’ve seen you on these steps, I wish we’d got a gown with a train. It would have looked awesome trailing down those steps behind you.”
“But just imagine the potential for disaster. That really would have taken practice.”
“And it would have been overkill for the ceremony back home, which might have made people wonder, since you’re supposedly having a City Hall wedding here.”
We made it back to my office, where Nita had just opened a bottle of champagne. “I think this occasion calls for a toast,” she said, splashing champagne into plastic cups.
“I’m not sure me drinking right now is a great idea,” I said, eyeing the cup she handed me.
“Oh, come on, it’s like a tablespoon,” she said. “Even you aren’t going to get so tipsy you can’t walk on a tablespoon of champagne.”
Once all the cups had been distributed, Nita raised hers and said, “To Katie, Owen, and fairytale romances. May you live happily ever after.”
Once we’d all touched our cups together—carefully, so there was no sloshing—I took a sip, letting the drink fizz on my tongue. Nita was right about the small amount in the cup, so downing the whole drink in one swallow was barely an achievement.
“Lipstick check!” Gemma ordered. I turned to face her while she touched up my lipstick and added a slight coat of gloss. “Don’t tell me you’re getting teary-eyed,” she said as she inspected the rest of my makeup.
I hadn’t realized I was, but my eyes were stinging. Nita’s toast had triggered a burst of emotions. I loved all my friends so much, and I was glad they were here with me. I wanted to tell them, but I was afraid if I did I’d set all of us off. I was determined not to be the kind of bride who was late to my own wedding, and crying with my bridesmaids to the point we all had to redo our makeup would get in the way of that goal. Still, I tucked a tissue into my bouquet, just in case.
Gemma checked her watch. “Okay, it’s about time. I’ll run up to see if they’re ready.”
The butterflies in my stomach woke up at the realization that this was it. I checked myself in the mirror and almost didn’t recognize myself. I really did look like a bride. Wow.
“You look great,” Nita reassured me.
“But still like you,” Marcia added. “I hate it when brides look so fake, it’s like they’re totally different people for their wedding.”
Gemma returned. “They’re ready. Let’s go.”
The security department had an exit that led directly into the vestibule outside the lobby, and that’s where we went. It was a little crowded in there with my bridesmaids, me, Merlin, and my dress. “Oh, my, you look lovely, Miss Chandler,” Merlin said when he held his arm out for me.
The music began, and the vestibule doors opened. I avoided looking out into the lobby as the bridesmaids began their walk down the aisle. Merlin and I held back until the last second, when the music changed and I heard a rustle as everyone stood. We moved to the doorway and began walking.
It was pretty much the way things had been the night before, only with more people, but I barely noticed the details as I looked straight down the aisle to see Owen, looking even more handsome than usual in his white tie and tails, looking back at me. It wasn’t the formalwear that made him look so good, now that I considered it. It was the way he smiled so much he practically glowed.
I smiled in return as Merlin and I made our way down the aisle. The setting really was magical, with all those flowers and tiny lights overhead.
But then I saw a gleam in the canopy of flowers over the altar at the landing. I didn’t recall that having been there before. It wasn’t lights. It looked like sharp, polished metal, hanging right over where Owen stood.
20
I stopped in the middle of the aisle and called out, “Owen! Above you!”
Just as he looked up, a metal object swung down from above. He ducked, but at the same time, he waved a hand, and the scythe-like thing turned into a shower of flowers.