I guess I can’t marry Maddie off to Alec, after all. Mia would probably come around once she accepted Maddie wouldn’t try to seduce Mateo, but it’s probably best to just leave it. Also I don’t know Maddie well enough to be sure she wouldn’t try to seduce Mateo, and nobody needs that.
After mani-pedis and some nerve-steadying mimosas, my bridal party and I head to the bridal room at the church. I don’t go to church, but Sal apparently has one that he goes to with his mom, so that’s where we’re getting married. It’s beautiful, with stained glass windows, soaring ceilings, and cherry wood pews. Candles and white rose petals have been set up along the path I’ll walk up the aisle. Isabella has some more white petals to drop on her way down the aisle.
It’s perfect.
The ceremony doesn’t even mean that much to me—big, small, a success, a flop. None of it matters to me. All that matters to me is becoming Sal’s wife, going to our home tonight, and boarding a plane to Italy tomorrow so we can spend a full week away from it all, just enjoying each other. What matters to me is the life we’ve already started building together, the memories we’ve already started making, the dreams that have already come true.
While I get ready with Mia, Cherie and Maddie, a photographer snaps photos. My dress is absolutely incredible. I tried on a few strapless dresses that looked nice, but the one I settled on is a full white ball gown with an embellished overlay, sheer but similarly embellished sleeves that also add a little more modesty to my bust. Then there are these two soft, perfect panels of fabric that skate down each hip to fill out the skirt even more, with more embroidery along the bottom.
I feel like a princess in it, and even though it’s big and heavy and I have no idea how I’m supposed to ever pee once I put it on, I can’t wait. I can’t wait to walk down that aisle and see Sal’s face waiting for me at the other end.
As my stylist affixes the last pearl pin in the back of my hair, I’m already floating on cloud nine—and then Maddie taps me on the shoulder, her eyes alight with quiet pleasure.
I turn my head and stunned relief swirls through me when I see Sal’s mom standing right behind Maddie. She still looks a little guarded, but I’m so overcome with happiness that she showed up for Sal, I can’t keep from pushing off my chair and stepping forward to hug her. She clearly wasn’t expecting it, but she looks a little mollified when I pull back.
Her gaze wanders over me. I’m still in a white satin robe since I haven’t put my dress on yet, but my hair is done, my make-up applied; I feel prettier than I ever have before.
“Well, don’t you look lovely,” Yvonne says, a bit tentatively.
“I’m so happy you decided to come,” I tell her.
“I know, I know,” she says, nodding like I’m embarrassing her.
Maddie flashes me a grin from behind her, giving me a double thumbs up that makes my smile widen.
Yvonne clears her throat, reaching into her purse and drawing out a small white box. “I know you have to get ready so I won’t keep you, but I thought since you don’t have a maternal figure in your life, you might not have your something borrowed.” Lifting the lid from the jewelry box, she reveals a lovely pair of diamond and pearl earrings. “The women in my family—we sort of have a tradition of wearing these at our weddings. I wore them when I married Antonio, my mother wore them at her wedding, and her mother wore them before her. I never really thought to bring them out before Madeline’s wedding, but if you want to, you could borrow them for today.”
Her offer fills me up, and I can’t help hugging her again. “I would love that. Thank you so much.”
The photographer has been lurking, and she suggests we get a shot of Yvonne putting the earrings on me. Yvonne seems to like the idea of being included, so I let the photographer move me around into different lighting and snap a few shots.
Once Yvonne is gone, Mia comes over to help me get my wedding dress on.
“Was that Sal’s mom?”
I can’t help grinning. “It was.”
Clasping her hands together, she smiles with relief. “Oh, good. I knew she would show up.”
Laughing a little, I tell her, “That makes one of us.”
Mia and Cherie end up having to double team dress-duty so I don’t rip the damn thing, but once they get it fastened and arranged, I can already tell it’s worth it. Then Mia brings over my veil and puts it on me with the help of the hair stylist.