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Magnolia
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EVERYTHING IS SETTLED when Blake regains consciousnesses and calls his partner to come and talk to the police chief.
I apologize for the misunderstanding and we’re given a stern talking to by Blake’s boss. I’m embarrassed and so is Mom once the edibles start wearing off.
We all pile into a couple of Ubers in the wee hours of the morning, looking forward to our beds before tonight’s rehearsal dinner.
I rest my head on Max’s shoulder, my hand safely ensconced in Porter’s warm one. I’m struggling to keep my eyes open but something pulls me out of my semi-asleep trance. “What about Blake? Shouldn’t we go to the hospital? I need to see that he’s ok with my own eyes or—”
“Don’t worry, Baby.” Max places a soft kiss on the top of my head. “He just texted that he’s on his way home. The doctors wanted to keep him under observation for twenty-four hours but he basically discharged himself. He’s got a mild concussion and we’ll keep an eye on him. After all, he’s got a doctor, an EMT and the best nurse in the world to look after him. He didn’t want to miss the rehearsal dinner.”
I nod. “Well let’s hope that things go as planned from now on. I’m surprised Jen is still talking to me after tonight. I’m the worst maid of honor in the history of weddings.”
Porter chuckles. “I think she’s just fine. I heard her giggling with your mom while we were waiting for you to get back your things at the station. She said that this was a bachelorette party she’ll never forget and that she can’t wait to plan yours.”
“Heck no!” I shudder. “I think this was enough bachelorette party to last me for a lifetime. You guys can do what you want for your bachelor party, you know I trust you. But no more strippers for this girl. I’ve decided that I’ll book myself and the bridal party into a spa the day before the wedding, since we shouldn’t see each other the day before and all, and we’ll all get pampered.”
It’s Max’s turn to laugh. “Your mother will be really disappointed. She kept going on about having missed out on the stripper.”
I groan. “Yeah, well my mind’s made up. I’ll get her a ticket for one of those big stripper shows for her birthday. But I’ll make sure I’m well far away from the action.”
We get home as the sun is rising, making the still sleepy Silver Springs look all pretty in the pinks and oranges of this spring sky.
I fly into Blake’s arms, holding him tight and whispering how much I love him into his ear.
As Max and Porter take care of letting Frank out and feeding him, Blake and I step into the shower to wash away the police station and the hospital respectively.
We slowly wash each other and when Blake’s fingers dip between my legs to make sure that I’m clean “everywhere”, I attempt a weak protest. “Babe, you were just knocked unconscious, I don’t think—”
“Someone hit the back of my head with an electric guitar, Trouble. My fingers are fine, so is my mouth and so is my little head. So the only thing I want before I fall asleep with my girl in my arms, is to make her come.”
And who am I to deny him what he wants?
But Blake isn’t the only one who wants to help me relax, as I find out once I get into bed and Porter begins trailing kisses up my inner thigh with a precise target in mind.
Max is the last one to join us in bed and slips right underneath me, knowing how much I love to fall asleep on top of him. My sexy Norse god can’t keep his hands to himself and uses his hard on to thrust against my over sensitive skin. He doesn’t try to take me, he just wants to give me one last moment of bliss before sleep takes us all under.
***
Magnolia
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JEN’S WEDDING DAY
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“YOU LOOK GORGEOUS, Jennie. Like a dream,” I say, helping my bestie get up from the stool by the vanity in her bedroom.
Our eyes meet in the mirror and she smiles, squeezing my hand. “It all feels like a dream, Mags. I never thought I could love someone the way I love Gemma. I’m so lucky to have her.”
“I hope she knows how lucky she is to have you, babe. You’re just one of the best people I know. And if Gemma doesn’t take proper care of you, there’s gonna be hell to pay, I swear.”
She giggles, taking one last sip of champagne from the flute glass on the vanity and stumbling a little on her feet.
“Are you all right?” I ask, steadying her and miraculously managing not to step on the long train of her white dress.
“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just that the shoes I ordered are way higher than I expected and I’ll have to take it extremely slow as I walk down the aisle. I don’t want to trip on my wedding day.”
“I’ll be right behind you,” I reassure her. “I’ll make sure that no one trips the bride.”
Jen smiles again. “Awesome. Thankfully the walk to the backyard isn’t a long one or all bets would be off.”
“I think the backyard looks beautiful, Jennie. It definitely was the right choice to have the ceremony there.”
Jen winks at me as I pass her her bouquet of sunflowers. “Yeah, we debated it at length and in the end we decided that we wanted a small, intimate ceremony and that we wanted to have that memory tied to this house. So that when we’re sitting outside with a drink in years to come, we can still see how we were on our wedding day. Sappy, isn’t it?”
“No,” I reassure her, working hard to keep my emotions in check. “I think it sounds perfect.”
“It’s what we both wanted. But we caved to our parents’ request to have a big reception, so after the ceremony, we’re all off to the Country Club for a lavish dinner and some much needed dancing – I have ballet flats for that part of the night.”
“Me too,” I say, fussing with her veil again. “I can’t wait to dance with my guys and I also promised a dance to my dad in return for no funny business. No edibles, no excessive drinking and no mentioning of dicks by him or Mom. They both promised solemnly to be on best behavior.”
Jen giggles. “Don’t be too hard on them. Look, one day we’ll laugh about all this shit.”
“Yeah, but I’d rather limit the potential for disaster. I really feel responsible for the way your bachelorette party ended.”
Jen shrugs. “Water under the bridge, Mags. If I could forgive Peaches for trying to break me and Gemma up, I can overlook a little trip in a police car. Your parents meant well.”
I can’t stifle an eye roll but I know she’s right. “We’ve both come a long way when it comes to forgiveness, haven’t we?” I muse.
Jen’s grin makes an identical smile bloom on my own face. “Fuck, yeah. But you know, sometimes you need to give people a second chance to discover their hidden qualities. Look at Debbie. You two are closer than ever and you’d have missed out on a great friendship with your future mother-in-law if you hadn’t forgiven her meddling. Peaches is the same. She isn’t that bad once you get to know her, so if it’s so important to Gemma that she officiates today, I truly don’t mind.”
I agree with her. Blake and I have kept Peaches’ secret and she’s worked hard to start a new life here in Silver Springs.
“I decided that it’s time that she starts dating again though. She said that she hasn’t had anything meaningful since Gemma.”
I narrow my eyes, I’ve seen that determination in my bestie’s eyes before. “What are you scheming, Jennie?”
She offers a nonchalant shrug. “I might’ve signed her up on Tinder ...”
“Jennie!” I scold her, “as if Tinder dates didn’t cause enough trouble for me! You should know better.”
“Nah-huh,” she argues. “Last I checked, you got yourself not one, not two but three smoking hot fiancés!”
“Yeah but not on Tinder. I think it was fate. Remember? It all started when I kept trying to return that paperback I got at the bakery, Love Blooms. I think it brought me good luck because every time I started reading it, Max, Blake or Porter would magically be nearby.”
Jen considers my words for a second. “Do you still have the book somewhere? Or did you return it to the library?”
“I actually lost it. But strangely last time I asked Buttercup, she said that her library card had no overdue items. So I guess someone must’ve found it and returned it.”
There’s a knock on the bedroom door. “Hey girls, are you ready?” Jen’s father and Blake are in the hallway, ready to walk us down the aisle. My guys settled the contention on who got to walk me with their tried and true “rock, paper, scissors” and I’m starting to suspect that’ll be how we’ll decide which last name will go on that marriage certificate.
“You look stunning, Trouble,” Blake whispers in my ear as we walk behind Jen and her dad.
My eyes skim over his tall, strong body in a navy blue tuxedo. “You don’t look bad yourself, babe.”
My words cause a naughty smirk to part his lips. “I can’t wait to corner you somewhere a little private during the reception and put a crease or two in that gorgeous pink dress.”
I giggle, feeling heat spread in all sorts of inappropriate places at the thought of Blake’s hands under my long, flowing gown.
The ceremony begins without a hitch and I have to fight the urge to cry when I see how gorgeous the two brides look together.
Jen is wearing the traditional white dress and is a vision in tulle and shimmering crystals, while Gemma opted for a tailored white suit that enhances her gorgeous, lean figure.
Peaches agreed to Jen’s request to forgo the Class A army uniform and is wearing a tasteful blue sheath dress.
I have to admit that she’s prepared a beautiful ceremony, talking about how the brides complete each other and how their love has its foundation on trust and mutual respect.
“And now, dearly beloved, it’s time for the brides to exchange rings as a symbol of their eternal love for one another. A love that cannot be broken and will never end like the circle of the rings they’ll offer each other remains unbroken. Who has the rings? This is the time to bring them here.”
Jen’s mom had the rings on a gorgeous silk cushion that she’d embroidered herself and had fitted the whole thing inside a wicker basket that she’d placed on the grass right beside her.
“Oh my God!” she blurts with the basket in her hands. “Jen’s ring is missing!”
I don’t lose my cool and I must admit, that’s partially due to the fact that I asked Jen to put someone else in charge of the rings, since I can be a little distracted at the best of times. “It might’ve slipped inside the basket,” I suggest, holding the basket to give Lynette the chance to lift the cushion and look.
“It’s not here. It doesn’t make sense. I personally put the rings on here this morning and the basket was on the guest room bed until I got it out an hour ago and set it out on the dining table.”
Blake intervenes, trying to calm Lynette down. “Ok, ma’am. Let’s keep calm. There’s only about fifteen people here. And we’re all close friends and family. So no one could’ve taken it. Maybe it’s fallen off while you were carrying the basket? I bet it’s a simple case of retracing your steps. And everyone can help look.”
Blake escorts a trembling mother of the bride back down the path we just walked, all the way into the dining room and up to the table where the basket with the rings was placed right before the ceremony began.
A few minutes later they return outside and it’s obvious by the distraught look on Lynette’s face that the ring is still missing.
My eyes meet Blake’s blue ones and understanding immediately takes us to the same conclusion: we both look at Peaches, who’s remained quiet by the little wooden arch covered in flowers that was erected especially for today’s ceremony.
“Ok, there’s no need to panic.” Blake has the situation under control. “Lynette, please check all the places where you know for sure the ring has been, take someone with you to help you double check everywhere. Everyone else, please look around the backyard and remain outside. Let’s keep the house as clear of people as possible so as not to create more confusion. Just to make it clear, we’re looking for a white gold eternity ring encrusted with diamonds. Max, Porter, please make sure every area outside is thoroughly checked.”
Blake and I approach Peaches together and I’m grateful that my fiancé takes the embarrassing task of addressing the elephant in the room ... or should I say in the garden?
“Peaches, can we have a word in private?”
Gemma’s ex nods and the worry in her eyes is impossible to miss. I wonder if that means that she has nothing to do with the disappearance of Jen’s wedding ring or that she knows exactly what happened to it and she’s just been caught red handed.
“Yeah, let’s go to the kitchen,” I suggest. “We should be alone, there’s just Shreddie and Frank in there. Gemma thought it would be better to keep them confined there during the ceremony. Shreddie still gets nervous around strangers, that’s why I brought Frank over, he calms her down.”
“I didn’t do it, if this what you’re thinking,” Peaches declares as soon as we close the kitchen door behind us.
I throw a look at the cat’s bed where Shreddie and Frank are snuggled up together. A faint snoring sound comes from the bed and I can’t help but smile at how cute the unlikely couple looks.
“No one said you did.” Blake’s firm voice attracts my attention back to the matter at hand.
Peaches crosses her arms over her chest in a defensive stance, worry etched all over her features. “Right. Is that why you immediately looked at me when the ring wasn’t found? Or why you wanted to “have a word in private”?”
Blake sighs and takes a seat at the kitchen table, inviting Peaches to do the same. “Ok, yes and no. Look Peaches, you’ve been doing great. You’ve come such a long way since a couple of months ago. But I know this mustn’t be easy for you. Seeing your ex getting married to someone else. So just in case that made you anxious and you felt out of control enough to— I thought it would be better to talk about it in private, that’s all.”
“So, you do think I stole Jen’s ring?” Peaches says through narrowed eyes.
Blake sighs. “Honestly? I don’t. But can you blame me for wanting to rule out that possibility once and for all?”
“No. I get it. Last time something went missing and there was just friends and family around, I was guilty. But I swear on all that’s holy that this time, I have nothing to do with it. You can search me and check all my belongings. I’ve actually never even seen the rings. Look, after you and Magnolia confronted me about that Buddha figurine, I’ve worked really hard to get better. My lack of impulse control when I got stressed ruined my life. I lost my career, everything. So I promise I would never touch anything that doesn’t belong to me. I admit that at first I came here with all kinds of bad intentions. I wanted to split Jen and Gemma up and when I took that Buddha? I was planning to hide it in Jen’s underwear drawer, so that she’d get blamed for stealing it. I’d heard Kyoko-San talk about the symbolic value that statuette had, and I knew they’d be looking for it everywhere.”
“Peaches!” I gasp and she shrugs, her lips quirking up in a smirk that looks anything but cocky. It’s a sad kind of smirk.
“I know. I was a class A psycho-bitch. The ex from hell. And I regret everything I said or did in the first couple of weeks I arrived in Silver Springs. But I swear to God that you guys opened my eyes and I’ve been walking the twelve steps, including making amends.”
Gemma comes into the kitchen, closing the door behind herself and coming to stand behind her ex.
“Did you guys find the ring?” I ask.
“No.” She sighs, pulling a chair out and lowering herself onto it. “And Jennie is freaking out. She thinks it’s a bad omen. My parents are trying to calm both her and Lynette.”
“You don’t think I did it, do you Twinkles?” Peaches asks, her bottom lip quivering anxiously.
I look at the two women. “Hold on, does Gemma know? I thought—”
Peaches nods. “Yeah, she knows. I told her everything a couple of weeks ago. It was part of making amends for my recovery, but also I didn’t think it was right to officiate the wedding unless I came clean.”
I relax for the first time since we came into the kitchen. I wanted to believe in Peaches’ innocence but I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t have a little bit of reasonable doubt.
“What are you going to do if the ring isn’t found?” Blake asks.
“God, don’t even say that.” Gemma groans covering her eyes with her hands. “I still want to get married but I don’t know if Jen can be convinced that this isn’t some kind of fucked up sign from the universe that our union is doomed.”
I really want to help, my heart is breaking for Jennie and I don’t even blame her too much. God knows I felt that the universe was throwing signs at me left and right when I met my guys. “How about we go buy another ring? It doesn’t have to be anything expensive. Just something for the ceremony, so then we can look for the missing one. If Lynette saw the ring this morning when she put it in the basket, then it must be in the house. I’m the maid of honor, so it’s kinda my job to fix this, right? Especially after the snafu with the bachelorette party.”
Gemma sighs, I see the stress in the worry lines around her mouth. “Hopefully Jen will go for it. Or we’ll have to call it off and postpone it.”
My eyes go to Peaches again; this would’ve been exactly what she wanted but the concerned look on her face tells me that she was telling the truth and she isn’t behind this whole mess. But if Gemma’s ex isn’t to blame, who’s taken the wedding ring? Aside from Peaches, no one else here has any reason to want to stop the wedding. Both sets of parents absolutely approve of the relationship. The guys and I adore Jen and Gemma and so does Debbie. My parents were too busy eye-fucking Debbie and her date to even notice anything else— eww, I know.
“Well,” I say rising from my chair, “replacement rings don’t buy themselves, right? Blake, if you come with me, we should be back in no time. I have just the right place in mind. Peaches, can you ask Max or Porter to walk Frank out front, just in case he needs to go potty? I wouldn’t let him out to the backyard, we don’t want to have to clean dog poop from the lawn too today.”
The fact that there’s no movement from the cat bed, makes me look at it. Normally it takes just the mention of his name associated with the word “walk” to get Frank into an excited frenzy, jumping around and whining until he has his leash on. My puppy is still lying down in the cat bed next to Shreddie and the mention of the “w” word did get his attention, but rather than jumping excitedly, Frank is looking at me with guilty beady eyes and his ears down in his typical guilty look.
That gives me pause and I brace myself for the sight of more glitter poop – thank God the glitter was the only side effect of the recalled vaccine – and I get ready to apologize to Gemma for the mess. Frank is just a year old and he’s mostly housebroken but he still has the occasional accident, especially when something disrupts his routine.
I take a step toward the cat bed. “What’s up, Frankie Panky? Did you have an accident, baby? You’re not in trouble, just let Mommy see so we can clean you up.
And that’s when I see it. Not the glitter poop I was expecting, y’all. But there’s something shiny all right in that cat bed.
I bend down cautiously, Frank would never bite me but I wouldn’t trust Shreddie not to live up to her name and shred me like a head of lettuce, so I move slowly and extremely carefully.
“Holy Peach Cobbler! What have you got there, Frankie?” I carefully pick up the shiny white gold and diamond ring that was sitting in the cat bed between Frank and Shreddie. As I look at the ring, my dog wags his tail, looking mighty pleased with himself.
“My little magpie! Why in the world did you take Jennie’s ring, baby? I mean, I know it’s shiny and all but—”
Gemma and Blake come to stand by my side. “I think I know why he took it,” Blake guesses. “He’s seen Jen get a ring from the woman she loves, you get a ring from us ... I think Frank is head over heels for Shreddie and he wanted to make it official. Didn’t you, buddy?”
Frank seems to understand Blake’s question because he replies with an excited “Woof” and then gives Shreddie a sweet kiss on the nose that the cat returns eagerly.
My heart melts at how sweet those two are but we have a distraught bride to be put out of her misery and a wedding that won’t officiate itself.
“Let’s go get you two married! Thank goodness we’re watching Shreddie while you two are on your honeymoon, so these two will have some quality time together.” I wink.
The rest of the day goes down without a hitch. The wedding vows Jennie and Gemma exchange are sweet and romantic, the food at the reception is delicious and the drinks flow. We dance the night away and my last thought that night before I fall asleep between Max and Porter, is that the next wedding I’ll go to will be my own and I couldn’t be more excited to spend the rest of my life with my three wonderful men.