Lark grinned and told me, “Just wait. My genius idea will soon be revealed.”
Meanwhile, a little troubleshooting had to be done with the dinner buffet. Fortunately, the reception was being catered by River and Cole, and they were brilliant. They found ways to work around the lack of electricity, and Dylan helped them make a few last-minute changes to the menu. It all looked like it was coming together beautifully.
The one thing that wasn’t looking so great were the swags of red roses. They’d been really expensive and were draped over the white, wooden arch Dylan had built to serve as the backdrop for the wedding ceremony. But the constant onslaught of rain kept beating them down and making them look sad and droopy, and that wouldn’t do.
After consulting with JoJo, who was getting her makeup done by our resident drag queen Eliot in her bedroom, Lark said, “Kel, take your men and figure out a pretty way to display the roses on the front porch. Oh, and stick some lanterns out there too, but make it fabulous. Think boho chic floral fantasy meets gilded age realness.”
“I have no idea what that means, but we’ll make this shit look good,” Kel said, before going to collect the flowers with his men in tow. We all believed there was an unspoken and never acted-on love triangle between Kel, Hudson, and Noah, so it was interesting to see the three of them working together. I secretly hoped they’d end up as a throuple, but they had a long way to go before anything like that could happen.
I carried Owen upstairs, and since he was getting cranky, I tried putting him down for a late nap. Surprisingly, he dozed off almost immediately. Meanwhile, Lark searched his storage boxes in the attic and found a thick bolt of rainbow tulle. “I knew when I impulse-bought this that it would come in handy someday,” he said. “Tell me it isn’t the perfect thing for the arch.” Lucky and I agreed that it was. Then we helped him strip the strands of battery-operated lights from the shelves in his room, because, according to my brother, “There’s no such thing as too many twinkle lights.”
Between the three of us and those supplies, we managed to work some magic in the backyard. We also got pretty soaked in the process, because the rain hadn’t let up. Once we went back inside, my brother loaned Lucky one of Dylan’s shirts, since they were close to the same size. Then he said, “It’s getting to be about that time, so I’m going to go get changed. See you guys in a few minutes.”
I grabbed a towel on the way to my room and closed the door behind us. Then I took a look at Owen as I returned the baby monitor to the dresser. He was really out—not surprisingly, since it had been a busy afternoon.
After I peeled off my wet T-shirt and dried off with the towel, Lucky came up behind me and kissed his way across my shoulders. As he slipped his hands around my waist, he asked, “Is there anything else I can do to help?”
I turned to face him, and he planted a big kiss on me. “That’s very helpful,” I said with a smile.
We ended up kissing for quite a while, before we decided we really should get dressed. Since we were just going to get soaked all over again, we stuck with our wet jeans but paired them with button-down shirts.
Lucky asked, “Does Owen have a raincoat? It’s not that cold out, but he still might catch a chill if he gets all wet.” I thought it was sweet that he seemed so concerned.
“He actually has an entire rain ensemble, thanks to his doting uncles.” I showed Lucky the tiny yellow raincoat and matching hat, which looked like a duck with its orange brim and beady eyes. That went with the cutest pair of baby-sized rain boots I’d ever seen. He agreed that it was all ridiculously adorable.
Kel sent out a group text a few moments later, which said: Early bird guests have started to arrive, including Yolanda’s mom, aunt, and cousins. We’re making everyone comfortable with cocktails in the living room, so you all can take your time.
I opened my bedroom door and looked around. I could hear Lark and Dylan laughing and talking in their bedroom. Then Eliot’s door opened, and when he saw me, he waved me over.
He was in full drag, and I was so proud of him, because he rarely showed anyone that side of himself. I hurried across the landing and gave him a hug as I told him, “You look amazing.”
He was a very different person when he was in drag, as evidenced by his confident smile as he said, “Right? My friend Marjorie loaned me this fabulous raincoat, which was a little boxy until I cinched it to the gods.” The trench coat was bubblegum pink and tightly fitted around his narrow waist with a wide, black patent leather belt. That in turn coordinated with his black patent platform boots. A wide-brimmed black hat completed the look.
I asked, “Has your family ever seen you in drag?” Since he and Yolanda were cousins, the women who’d just arrived were his mom, aunt, and sisters.
“No, and let’s just say they’re not exactly fans of the artform. But I decided to go for it anyway, with Marjorie’s encouragement.” He called a cute young woman over and said, “Marj, meet my housemate Logan and his hot boyfriend Lucky.”
Marjorie reminded me of a cartoon character. She was all of about five-two with short red curls, and she wore a cute raincoat with a ladybug pattern and red rain boots. “Well damn,” she said, as she looked up at Lucky and shook his hand. “You really are hot.” It was an interesting contrast, since he was at least a foot taller than her.
“I agree on the hot part,” I said, “though he’s technically not my boyfriend.” It seemed silly to tack on that last part, but I didn’t want Lucky to feel uncomfortable with a label he hadn’t been expecting and probably didn’t want.
She shook my hand next. I noticed she and Eliot wore the same shade of red lipstick and nail polish. “I’ve heard so much about you, Logan,” she said. “Eliot goes on and on at work about his family here at the pink Victorian, so I feel like I already know you.” It was news to me that he talked about us, but it was also pretty touching.
When we stepped into Eliot’s room, we discovered Yolanda lounging on the chaise by the window, wearing her version of a wedding dress. It was a simple, sleeveless design and came to mid-thigh. But what made it remarkable was that the whole thing was composed of hundreds of flower appliques in varying sizes, styles, and shades of dark red, overlapping to form a dress that was equal parts fantasy and fashion.
She was clearly feeling no pain as she raised a glass of red wine and exclaimed, “Aw, there are some of my boys! Come in and have a drink.”
Eliot breezed across the room and plucked the wineglass from her hand. “You’ve had enough, sis,” he said. “I won’t allow you to be a messy drunk on your wedding day.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right, and I like it when you call me sis,” she said. “It’s better than ‘cousin.’ Kind of like a family upgrade.”
Eliot sighed and passed the wineglass to Marjorie, who instantly finished it off. Then he told Yolanda, “Focus, Winorella. Have you decided if you’re sold on this hairstyle? We can still go with your idea of wearing it down, but I think this is going to stand up to the rain a lot better.”
Yolanda’s long, dark hair was draped over one shoulder in a thick French braid. She shrugged and said, “Whatever. Like I care what my hair’s doing. When can I see my sweet, beautiful JoJo? I miss her.”
“Not until the ceremony,” Eliot told her. “You know JoJo wants to surprise you with her completed look. Now, let’s talk footwear.”
Yolanda muttered, “Ugh, do we have to?” While that was going on, Dylan and Lark squeezed into the room, and Marjorie introduced herself and offered them some wine.