“It really is my pleasure,” Ella assured her. “And the feeling is mutual.”
Madelyn grinned widely and held up her drink for a toast. Their gl
asses clinked and they giggled as they took their sips.
“Can I buy you ladies a drink?” A man asked, leaning up against their table. He was cute, with blond hair and brown eyes. Ella was fairly sure she recognized him from somewhere in the area.
“Well, tonight's the last night you can for me,” Madelyn informed him. “But, you might have better luck with my friend here.”
“I thought this was a girl's only night?” Ella frowned slightly and then looked closer at the man. “Chris?”
The man studied her for a moment. “Ella? I didn't recognize you. You look hot.”
“Thanks.” Ella recognized him as the grocery clerk at the store Ella got her groceries from. He was nice enough, but Ella knew he wasn't her type.
“Buy you a drink?” Chris smiled. “Unless there's someone else buying your drinks.”
“I, uh...” Words slipped through Ella's brain like water through a sieve.
“No worries. Someone else is buying for you tonight,” Chris said with a shrug. “You two ladies have a good night.”
And with that he sauntered off to the very next table with women and asked if they wanted a drink.
“I don't feel quite as special now,” Madelyn remarked, watching him schmooze with another set of single ladies. “But, it does raise an interesting question. You falling in love with anyone?”
“Me?” Ella immediately thought of Jace and nearly choked on her drink. Jace was marrying Madelyn tomorrow. “No, no, no. Not falling for anyone. No.”
“Uh huh.” Madelyn sipped her drink. “You should work on that answer.”
“It's complicated. He's seeing someone else. It would never work anyway.” Ella took a bigger swig of her drink.
Madelyn watched her for a moment. “Well, I'm sure your Prince Charming is just around the corner.”
The table next to them erupted in shrieks as one of the girl's the other table threw her drink in Chris's face. Apparently his game wasn't going very smoothly tonight.
“I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's not that guy, though.” Madelyn sipped her drink and watched the mayhem as Chris stumbled away and the girl's friends consoled her.
“Aw, shucks. And here I was hoping he'd be the one,” Ella replied with a shrug. Madelyn burst into laughter.
“Is it weird that I wish my fiance were here?” she asked after a moment. “He would have thought that was hilarious.”
Ella looked at her friend's face. It shone with love as she thought about the man she was going to marry tomorrow. “I think it's sweet.”
“It's corny, I know, but he really is my best friend.” Madelyn blushed and looked down at her drink. “I can't imagine my life without him.”
“I think love like that is beautiful.” Ella took another sip of her drink. “He seems really great.”
“He is.” Madelyn's face flushed with joy. “Did you know he proposed to me twice? The first time he was so nervous he forgot to ask the question entirely. He had to start over and do it again.”
Ella tried to imagine Jace that nervous. It made her chest ache. To be that nervous meant that there was real love there. Something that could endure the ravages of time. Madelyn and Jace would be so happy together.
“He's a lucky guy to have you,” Ella replied. And she was lucky to have him.
Madelyn finished off her drink and started on Gwen's. Ella was going to have to intervene soon, or the bride would be hung over tomorrow.
“Thank you again for saving the day,” Madelyn told her. “Honestly, I can't think of a single person who would offer their wedding dress to a stranger. But you did. I could get married in a brown paper bag, and Jason wouldn't care- but....”
“But the pictures would be terrible,” Ella finished for her with a smile.