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When Sam got up the next morning, he spotted a white envelope by his front door. Someone must have shoved it through the narrow sliver of space between the heavy wood and what used to be weather-stripping.
It had his name on it in a bold black scroll.
Was his temporary matron-of-honor woman breaking up with him already? He hadn’t even learned the way of the gumbo. This could be a record for him.
He took the envelope and tossed it on the little dining table and poured himself a mug of the coffee he’d just brewed, his eyes on the gaudy cup he’d brought home from the parade.
He should throw the cup in the trash and hide out here in the woods all day. But he had some best-man duties to attend to. Or at least he thought that was how this worked even if his best-man trainer had probably bailed on him. This time, for good.
Before he opened the envelope, he picked up the Mardi Gras cup and read over the words stenciled there. On one side, it represented the Krewe of Spirit Cinderella float. A pretty sparkly, blue and white shoe made the point. Then he turned it around to the other side where the “Madeline’s Closet” motif filled the space with the storefront façade of the shop and the words “Come on in. This closet is big.” printed underneath.
Could he dare drink beer out of this dainty thing?
Sam put the cup back on the table and sat down to open the equally annoying dainty envelope. It even smelled good, a soft fruity scent wafting out from it.
Inside he found a one-page rule sheet:
Dear Sam,
Here are your best-man duties. I’m sure Brodie doesn’t expect all of this but I did promise to train you in the Way of the Gumbo. (He smiled at that. Madeline did have a good sense of humor.)
You can give Brodie a gift if you’d like. Nothing fancy but something he’ll appreciate. (Nobody had mentioned a gift to the groom from him. Now he had to go out and take care of that.)
They’re having their honeymoon in Driftwood Bay, in the new beach house they bought and you helped them remodel, so you’re off the hook on helping with that. And since it’s a little late anyway, ignore this one. (Then why did she mention it?)
Don’t lose the wedding ring! That is your responsibility.
(He almost panicked but remembered Brodie would give him the ring right before the wedding.)
You will walk in the recessional with me (the matron/maid of honor) after the ceremony is over. After pictures, help them make it back to Mom and Dad’s for more pictures. We’re all just walking from the church to the house, so that’s easy. (Not so easy. Walking down the aisle and out of the church with her would end any coherent thoughts, but he’d try to remember what to do next.)
We both sign the wedding certificate as witnesses to the joyous day. (Yay! He couldn’t wait to take care of that task so he could GO BACK HOME!)
You will sit to the bride’s right at the reception and once they are seated and everyone is quiet, you will make your toast. I can make one then, too, if I want. (The toast. That toast had become the bane of his existence.)
You can dance with Michelle after Brodie and my father have each had their special dances with her. (Okay, he could handle that, at least.)
And that’s about it since this is a very informal wedding.
Thank you for agreeing to do this.
Regards,
Madeline Sonnier Parker
Sam sat staring at the precise instructions and then he saw the prissy P.S.
Oh, and this morning after the Bridesmaids’ Brunch, I will meet you at your cabin and we will write the toast together. I promised you that.
I only ask for one dance at the reception in return.
One dance with Madeline. Dang if it wouldn’t be worth all the hassle. He’d had one quick feather of a sweet kiss with her, followed by one badly timed but good kiss from her, and then the final kiss he’d offered up there in her little turret-room apartment.
Well, at least he’d made that one count.
That final kiss had shown him that she wasn’t pretending to impress her stupid ex-husband. No one had been around and she’d kissed him back just fine.
Mighty fine.
So fine in fact, that he’d laid awake most of the night wishing he could kiss her again. Wishing he’d never met her but thanking God that he had.
If they could create that kind of combustion with just one kiss, imagine what they could do with one long, slow dance.
He’d pick the song.
“I think I’ve got this best man thing covered,” he said to his empty, ugly-paneled cabin. “A piece of cake.”
And a pistol of a matron of honor.
Madeline checked the bow on the gift she’d found for Michelle that would come from Melissa and her. Melissa was the only other attendant in this wedding, but her little sister had left it up to her to find a nice present for Michelle. The necklace held a seashell with a tiny pearl inside.
“I want to keep things simple,” Michelle had told them a few months ago after she and Brodie had agreed to get married here and honeymoon back in Driftwood Bay where they’d be living. “I want a simple country wedding with both of you there with me.”
Tomorrow afternoon, Michelle would get that country wedding. But today, Madeline would pamper her sweet sister and be the best matron of honor anyone had ever seen.
“Hey.”
She turned from the pretty table in the private room at the Delta Diner and smiled at Melissa. “You look pretty.”
Melissa shrugged and tugged at her short, flared skirt. “I had bags under my eyes when I got up about thirty minutes ago.”
Madeline worried about her baby sister. “Late night?”
“Yes.” Melissa’s expression went from pale to dreamy. “But I sure had fun. Met a new guy.”
“Have you heard from Judson lately?”
Melissa grimaced. “Don’t be a buzz kill. Judson and I are finished. No engagement for us.”
“Good,” Madeline said as she fluffed wonderful-smelling lilies and bent puffy bows into even puffier bows. “Because I’ve helped plan two weddings for you to two different men and frankly, I’m kind of tired.”
“I’m not getting married ever,” Melissa retorted. “So let’s focus on this wedding. The one that’s gonna happen tomorrow.”
Madeline gave up. She’d deal with her sister’s drama later. She had so much to do today. The last-minute decorations needed to go up at the church, and she wanted to check with her mom on the reception again.
If the weather held, the reception would take place in her parents’ backyard, same as the party they’d had for practically the whole town the other night. Since the wedding and reception had been kept to mostly relatives and a few friends, none of this had been hard.
Except the part about helping Sam with his toast.
That would be very hard because if she pushed things, her heart could get broken all over again.
She’d taken the coward’s way out and sent him a note about most of his duties, but she wouldn’t shirk on the most important one. She’d help him come up with a good speech to send Brodie and Michelle into their life together.
And she’d get her one dance with him and that would be that. The end of her time with Sam Hinson.
Mom Ruby and Michelle walked in and Madeline’s heart melted.
“Michelle, you look so pretty,” she said.
Her sister wore a denim maxi skirt and buttery tan boots, a lacy white blouse and lots of turquoise and silver jewelry.
“Thanks. Most of this came from your shop, you know.”
“I do know but I usually only see this stuff on mannequins or hangers. You were made to wear that outfit.”
Michelle grinned. “I can’t wait to wear that vintage bride gown we found. Brodie is going to love it.”
“He loves you,” Madeline said.
Mom Ruby stood between them, a hand on each of them. “Melissa, get over here. We need a group hug.”
Melissa came running with her cell phone. “And we need a selfie.”
“Of course,” Ruby said, shaking her head.
When they’d taken several shots, they parted and Michelle turned to Madeline. “So how’d things go with you and Sam last night?”
Madeline busied herself with straightening napkins. “We had a nice time. He caught a cup.”
Michelle’s eyes widened. “Wow. That sounds so exciting.”
“I detect sarcasm,” Madeline retorted, her mind on hot kisses and Cinderella wishes.
“We saw you two together,” Michelle said. She whirled and spotted the tiny box next to her plate. “Oh, what’s this?”
“Your gift from your attendants,” Madeline said, not fooled by her sister’s diversion tactics. “You can’t open it yet.”
“I have gifts for both of you, too,” Michelle said. “And no, I didn’t buy them at your boutique.”
“That could be interesting,” Melissa said, lifting her winged eyebrows. “I need caffeine.”
Ruby laughed and found her seat. “I’m glad it’s just us four. We can have some girl talk.” She looked from one daughter to the next and then her eyes settled on Madeline. “What’s new?”
“Not much,” she said, glancing toward the kitchen. “Now, where is that first course?”
Ruby smiled her motherly smile and patted her short brownish-blonde bob. “I am starving,” she said. “So good to see all my girls together.”
Madeline tried not to blush. She was a grown woman well beyond the hormonal teen years. But mercy, kissing Sam had awakened every hormone that had ever passed through her body.
And obviously her all-knowing mother had figured that out. Or had heard that she’d kissed Sam in an unabashed moment of pure need in a horribly misguided effort to show her ex that she’d moved on. And right into the arms of a dangerously gorgeous man.
Did anyone know that Sam had retaliated by kissing her in a nearly perfect Cinderella-meets-the-prince moment very close to her balcony? No. That had to stay her sweet secret.
He’d called her Maddie. And the way he’d said it had made her feel as cherished and special as the ‘something old’ she’d found to give her sister on this special occasion.
Now if he’d only forgive her and give her that one last dance.
“Let’s eat,” Melissa said on a whine. “I’ve got to get my nails done.”
“You will be at the wedding, won’t you?” Michelle said in a bless-your-heart way.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Melissa retorted. “Am I still in the wedding?”
“Why would you not still be in the wedding?” Michelle replied.
“We need some hot tea,” Ruby said, waving to the waitress.
Madeline smiled in spite of the gentle sniping that always went on with her sisters. She loved her family and they loved her. This was her foundation, a thread full of faith and family and hope.
She had to wonder. What kind of foundation did Sam have to fall back on?
She really wanted to know about that and ... everything else about Sam Hinson. Could she get all of her questions answered with just one dance?
Maybe she’d better start today when they met to write that infamous toast. She needed to understand why Sam seemed aggravated about her kissing him in front of Evan, even though they’d agree on the terms up front. And somewhere in there, she needed to let Sam know that this was no longer about Evan.
At all.
Now it had gone beyond that.
Way beyond that.
Because ... she wouldn’t mind being kissed again.