Zoey
Somehow, today was the wedding rehearsal. It seemed like only yesterday that I had walked into my mother’s home, unknowing that everything would change so quickly. It honestly felt like a blink ago that my sister had handed me the tablet and the wedding book from hell, asking me to be her maid of honor.
I didn’t regret doing this for my sister, though I did lament the amount of time it had taken.
However, I did get to know Caleb along the way, so maybe it was all worth it.
I shook my head. No, I wasn’t allowed to think about him too often today. Even though he would be right there with me, for the entirety of the wedding rehearsal, and maybe a little bit after.
We didn’t have plans that evening other than being near each other, and I couldn’t help but want more.
How had I fallen for him so quickly?
I knew a crush from childhood and then on into adulthood was far different than what it was like to be with the man himself. And as I understood the different layers of him, and I got to feel him against me almost every night this week, I couldn’t help but need.
It should’ve worried me, but it didn’t. Not in the way that it probably should have.
I pushed thoughts of Caleb out of my mind because this was not about him. Today was all about Lacey and John. Okay, so the whole weekend was about them.
The wedding was on Saturday, and they’d scheduled the wedding rehearsal for Thursday. There had been another event booked for Friday at the place they were holding the rehearsal, so they’d made this work. Plus, John was able to make it work for his job, and now we were here at a beautiful, old, and rustic-looking farm, ready to have the rehearsal.
They would be getting married here on Saturday, as well, and I honestly could not imagine a better place for the two of them.
Because Lacey might seem chic and city-like, but she loved nature and adored old farmlands and mountains. The same with John. Soon, they would be living in the big city and wouldn’t have this view every day.
So, they were going to take advantage of every ounce of it that they could.
And I was happy that I could be a part of it.
The old farm was still a working farm, but they had made half of it a place for people to visit, and they had even built an inn on the grounds. We would be staying at the inn on Friday and Saturday night. Tonight, we’d be going home, which I didn’t mind because I would probably need a break from Lacey and my family for a while.
Not that I didn’t love them, but weddings always brought out the scary in people.
“Wow, pumpkin, you’ve sure done it, haven’t you?” my dad asked, and I grinned and looked over at him.
“This was all Lacey.”
He shook his head and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, kissing the top of my head. He had always done that, and it just reminded me of home.
Because when Mom and Lacey had been stuck at the hospital, Dad had been with me to make sure I got to school, help me with my homework, and to work far too many hours to make sure we could afford everything that my little sister needed.
It had never truly been him and me against the world, but he’d always been my person within the family.
“It looks wonderful. And I never would have thought of having a wedding and a rehearsal at a farm. But this works.”
“This doesn’t really scream farm to me,” I said honestly, looking around at the elegant area with the Rocky Mountain backdrop. He laughed.
And the place really didn’t feel overly country. The inside of the old barn, the one that the farm owners didn’t use anymore because they had built a refurbished one that was actually meant for farming, had been turned into a hall of sorts.
It was all grey wood and rustic-looking. There were long benches inside, as well as some outside since the weather had cooperated.
Everything had clean linens and white and light gold plates and accessories. The tables had been set beautifully, and I couldn’t actually wait to see what would happen on the wedding day. The rehearsal was just part of it. This was but a glimpse into what the wedding day would be like, but the colors would be even more vibrant and stunning on Saturday.
“It looks beautiful, the lighting’s great, and I know that your sister is going to have the time of her life, especially once she blinks and realizes that her future husband is standing at the other end of the aisle.”
“She’s been fun these past few weeks.”
My dad laughed.
“That’s a wonderful way of putting it, pumpkin.” He kissed the top of my head again and then gestured towards the man standing on the other side of the hall.
“And if my eyes aren’t deceiving me, there’s another man that I should probably be talking to. About you?”
I blinked and shook my head. “That’s Caleb, Dad. You know Caleb.”
He nodded. “I do. And I’ve seen the way you two look at each other. Should I get all big, bad dad on him?”
I froze but then laughed nervously. “Let’s not. We’re just, you know, friends.”
“I don’t want to know what that ‘you know’ means. However, he makes you happy. I can see that. So that makes me happy. But just know that if he changes that somehow, I will kill him. I have my ways. It would be long and painful, and no one would miss him.”
I actually didn’t know if my dad was joking at that point. “You know, you should probably leave Caleb and go give this talk to John. After all, he’s marrying your sweet baby girl.”
“He’s marrying one of my sweet baby girls.” He squeezed my shoulder again, and then let go. “I should go and see where I’m supposed to be. If not, I’m sure Lacey will tell me.” He rolled his eyes, and I laughed, shaking my head.
“Coast clear?” Caleb asked as he walked towards me.
“Were your ears burning?” I asked, laughing.
“Oh, not so much. More like every part of me because I saw the look your dad was giving me. He going to kill me?”
I shook my head and slid my arm around his waist. He held me close, and I did my best not to sigh like the Disney princesses that my friends tended to act like when they were thinking about their men.
I was not going to become them.
“He just wanted me to know that he would kill you for me if needed.”
“That’s nice.”
From the way that he spoke, I didn’t think that he thought that was nice at all. However, we didn’t have time to focus on what that meant, or what we meant, because the wedding rehearsal was about to start.
I said goodbye to Caleb and then went to Lacey’s side as she went through her notes and looked around.
“Okay, we’ll get this done. Marni, are you doing okay, doll?”
We all looked over at John’s sister, who currently sat on one of the chairs near us. She patted her very round belly.
“We’re doing just fine here. Still have a couple of weeks until the due date. Don’t worry.”
Lacey smiled, but I didn’t know if there was much glee in that grin. “Oh, I’m not worried. That baby will not be coming on Saturday.” She knocked on wood, and I swore threw salt over her shoulder. Where she got the salt? I had no idea. “You’ll be fine, and then, in a couple of weeks, we’ll welcome a new member to the family. Everything in a nice, logical order.”
I barely resisted the urge to look at my mother. Because I had a feeling my mom was probably praying right along with Lacey at that point.
A bridesmaid giving birth on or during the wedding probably wasn’t a good omen for anyone. But Marni looked fine, and we still had time.
“Okay now, this is how it’s going to go,” Lacey began, but before she could get too far into her tirade, John came around and dipped her into a very deep, nearly inappropriate kiss.
That sent titters through Lacey, and I smiled, unable to help myself.
“Well, hi,” Lacey said.
“Hey there. I just wanted to make sure you knew that I loved you. And I cannot wait for Saturday. Everything looks great, light and love of my life. This is going to be amazing, no matter what happens, because in the end, I’m going to be your husband and you’re going to be my wife. And nothing else in the world matters except for that. So, take a breath, and know that I love you. Okay?”
Tears were freely flowing down my cheeks as well as Lacey’s at that point. My mother sniffled, and I swallowed hard as Caleb handed over a tissue.
“Thanks,” I gasped, wiping my face. “Where did you get this?”
“Lacey made sure all of us had a pack of tissues in our pocket. We’ll have some for the wedding, too.”
I held back a laugh. Of course, Lacey did. She really did think of everything. And while I knew my maid of honor—if I ever got married—was going to be amazing and helpful, I had a feeling that Lacey was going to be right alongside her. However, I wasn’t getting married anytime soon, and I purposely didn’t look over at Caleb as I thought those things.
“Okay, let’s get this rehearsal going. Caleb and Zoey? Get close. Because you guys are going to be attached at the hip for the rest of this wedding.”
Caleb slid his arm around my waist again, and I sighed dramatically into him.
“On it,” I said, and everyone laughed.
Lacey narrowed her eyes at us, but then went back to dictating the wedding.
Or planning it, whatever.
The rehearsal went quickly, and then it was time for the food. My favorite part.
There would be courses served and lovely cheese spreads and desserts and cake for the wedding. Tonight, though, was all about the pizza.
“Pizza and wine for a wedding rehearsal?” Caleb asked.
“Oh, this isn’t delivery pizza. And it’s not DiGiorno,” I said, making Caleb laugh.
“Okay, tell me, what’s so special about this?”
“Everything is cooked right in front of you in that wood-burning oven. You pick exactly what toppings you want. If you want to go classic with some Margherita pizza or pepperoni. Or if you want to go completely hipster and add some arugula and pears and whatever you want to it. You have fun, and the chef is sure to have the ingredients.”
“I’m not putting arugula on my pizza,” Caleb said dryly.
“I don’t know, I’ve had it before. It’s really good.
“Fine. You can put arugula, but if you touch my pizza with pineapple, we’re going to have words.”
I didn’t tell him that I actually liked ham and pineapple pizza. I already had to hide it from so many, might as well hide it from Caleb, too.
Everybody got their own pizza, and I groaned as I bit into the whole wheat crust, the cheese melting and almost burning my mouth.
“This is amazing,” I grumbled around my bite.
“Can’t talk, dying in bliss.”
I laughed and looked over at Caleb as he practically demolished his pizza. He hadn’t been eating that much recently when we’d been near each other, and I figured work was hard, or he wasn’t that hungry. I just didn’t know.
And that kind of worried me.
We were going steadily into this almost serious relationship, and he hadn’t really told me much about himself. I didn’t know everything, and he was pretty closed-off. I had to remind myself that even though we had been friends forever, we hadn’t been in this new part of our relationship for long.
I didn’t have to know every single secret, I just wished he would open up a bit.
Then again, I was holding the worst secrets from him.
The fact that I had loved him as the Caleb of my dreams for as long as I could remember, and the fact that I was totally falling for him now.
He looked over at me and winked before taking a bite of mine. I knew I didn’t have a plan when it came to making Caleb fall in love with me. And the thing was, I had done the exact opposite. I had fallen for him even more than before, and I had no idea how he felt about me.
I ignored that, ignored the Caleb of my dreams, and focused on the Caleb of my present.
Because I was so afraid that if I didn’t, if I didn’t live in the moment, there wouldn’t be a Caleb going forward.
As someone who tried her best to plan for anything, I didn’t know what the next step was. Or how I should feel.
Or if I’d have a Caleb at all in any part of my future.