As Haley and Trisha drove up to the inn, they saw the guys taking some Christmas lights to the backyard.
“Does this have something to do with my surprise?” Haley asked Trisha.
Trisha just shrugged.
Haley shivered as she got out of the car. The temperatures were really dropping, and the light snow that had started earlier was starting to pick up. When they opened the door and stepped inside, Snowball zipped by them. “I still can’t get used to seeing a cat here,” Haley said.
“Let’s go see how Laura and Kathy did,” Trisha said. Haley followed her into the kitchen where Laura was just putting out two pizza boxes.
“What is this?” Haley asked, laughing. “Pizza? No? We’ve never had pizza here.”
“And we’ve also never planned a wedding in forty-eight hours,” Laura laughed. “I’m making an exception. I know everyone’s hungry, and I need time to start preparing our rehearsal dinner for tonight and making some of the hors d’oeuvres for the wedding tomorrow.” Laura opened the pizza boxes. “So we have pepperoni and sausage and Canadian bacon and pineapple.”
“That’s Jeff’s favorite and mine,” Haley said.
Laura nodded. “I know, and it’s your wedding, so we had to have your favorite.”
Haley looked concerned. She came over and took Laura’s hand. “This all sounds like way too much. Honestly, we don’t need a cake or anything fancy. We could have pizza at my wedding for all I care. As long as we’re all together.”
Laura smiled and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “Now, don’t you worry about a thing. You know I’m used to making big meals every night, and this time, I have all this help coming. Your mom said she’s ready to pitch in, and so are Gail and Susie.”
“And I’ll help,” Kathy said.
Haley laughed. “You don’t cook! I think the best way you can help is stay out of the kitchen.”
Kathy laughed. “Look who’s talking.”
“I agree,” Haley said. “That’s why you won’t see me in here. I’m going to leave this to the pros or we will be ordering pizza.”
Laura laughed. “Nobody’s going to be ordering any more pizza after today.”
Haley gave Laura a heartfelt hug. “You really are the best. I love you.”
“I love you, too, sweetie. Now grab a slice of pizza before the guys get in here, and it disappears.”
Haley laughed.
Laura went over to the refrigerator and took out a salad and gave it to Trisha. “I whipped up a quick salad for you. I know you don’t eat pizza.”
Trisha smiled. “Thank you, Laura. That’s very sweet.”
“Who doesn’t eat pizza?” Steve said as he, Jeff, and Ben walked into the kitchen. “Trisha, you don’t know what you’re missing.”
Trisha held up her salad. “I’m good. I have my salad.”
Jeff came over and put his arm around Haley. “How did the flower trip go?”
Haley smiled a brilliant smile. “Amazing.”
“What did you get?” Jeff asked. “Let’s see.”
Haley shook her head. “Nope, it’s going to be a surprise. We’re going to put everything together when the rest of the gang gets here, but there is something you guys can do for me.”
“Whatever you need,” Ben said.
“You know the wicker baskets you use for Christmas Camp? If you would fill several of those with some Douglas fir branches that are around twelve to fourteen inches long, that would be perfect.”
Jeff looked intrigued.
“Consider it done,” Ben said. “We can go get some right after lunch.”
Trisha checked the time on her phone again. “Haley, we need to wrap up here to stay on schedule.”
Haley took a big bite of her pizza. “What’s left? I think we’ve done everything until the rest of the group gets here.”
Trisha shook her head. “I need to see what you’re both wearing so I can tell our photographer what to expect.”
“I brought the tux I was planning to wear and a suit. I wasn’t sure what would be best,” Jeff said.
Trisha and Haley spoke at the same time.
“The suit,” Haley said.
“The tux,” Trisha said.
Haley laughed. “You were only wearing the tux before for the photos for the B&B. I don’t even know if you need to wear a suit with a tie and all that for this wedding. This is just going to be a simple ceremony.”
Trisha looked appalled. “This is a wedding not a barbecue. This is one of the most important moments in your life, and it’s going to be photographed. You’re going to have those photographs forever.”
“I have to agree with Trisha on this one,” Jeff said. “I want to look my best for you. It’s our wedding, and you said you had an amazing dress. So, I’m thinking I need to wear the tux.”
Haley’s shoulders slumped. “Had a dress. I don’t have it anymore.”
“What do you mean?” Trisha asked. “What happened to your dress?”
“Nothing happened to it. I’m sure it’s perfectly fine hanging back up at the boutique in Boston. I was doing a trade with them. They were giving me the dress for all the publicity photos we were doing, and I was going to give them some, as well, for their own advertising. But all that got canceled, so I had to give back the dress.”
Trisha looked so upset you’d think she was the one getting married. “So, what did you bring to wear?”
Haley cringed. She had no idea this was going to be such a big deal. Seeing the way everyone was looking at her made her regret her next words. “I brought some black pants and a nice top.”
“No, I meant, what did you bring to wear for the wedding?” Trisha asked impatiently.
Haley looked at Jeff before looking back to Trisha. “That’s it. That’s what I brought for the wedding. I was in a hurry and still upset and not even sure what we would be able to do up here, so I just grabbed something I thought would work.”
The room was silent.
By the look on everyone’s faces, Haley knew she had really messed up. “Okay, maybe I should have brought a dress. I was just thinking we were going to be up here in the woods. Pants seemed more practical. They’re nice pants, designer . . .”
More silence.
Ben walked over and put his arm around Haley. “It’s okay. I have an idea.”
A few minutes later, Ben, Haley, Trisha, and Kathy were all upstairs in Ben’s bedroom. He was holding a white garment bag.
“My wife, Grace, was very sentimental,” Ben said. “She never could give away her wedding dress, and while I donated most of her clothes to charity, I just couldn’t part with this.” Reverently, he handed it to Haley. “I know she would want you to have it.”
Haley looked overwhelmed with emotion.
Kathy had tears in her own eyes.
“But, I couldn’t . . .” Haley said. She was at a loss for words.
Ben smiled. “You don’t have to wear it if you don’t want to, but I would like you to have it. Grace would have loved you so much, just like I do.” Ben kissed Haley on the cheek and left the room.
Haley turned to Kathy. “I don’t know what to say.”
Trisha took the dress from her. “Let’s see the dress.”
Kathy took it back from Trisha and gave it to Haley. “It’s Haley’s dress. She can decide what to do with it.”
“It seems pretty simple to me. You need a dress. Here’s a dress. Let’s see if it fits. You two are about the same size,” Trisha said.
Haley nodded. “I know. Jeff let me wear some of her clothes the first time I came to Christmas Camp and hadn’t packed properly. But a wedding dress is a whole different story, and I don’t know if wearing Jeff’s mom’s dress is the right thing to do . . .”
“I think it’s absolutely the right thing to do,” Trisha said. “This way you would be honoring his mother’s memory, and she would be part of the wedding. I know that would mean a lot to Ben, too.”
Kathy nodded. “I think she’s right. I think it would be really special. But only you can decide what’s right for you.”
Trisha eyed the garment bag. “So? Why don’t you look at the dress and then you can decide. I need to go check with the guys about the decorations. Let me know what you decide.” Trisha left the room.
Once she was gone, Haley turned to Kathy. “I don’t know what to do.”
Kathy put her arm around her. “Take a deep breath. It’s all going to be okay. Let’s just look at the dress and see what you think. Okay?”
Haley took a deep breath and nodded slowly. “Okay.” Her hands trembled as she slowly unzipped the bag and carefully took out a lovely classic satin sheath wedding dress. It had a simple scoop neck and long sleeves. Haley caught her breath when she saw it and fought back tears. “It’s perfect,” she whispered, holding the dress up to her. She looked at Kathy.
The tears were back in Kathy’s eyes. “It sure is,” Kathy said. “Try it on. See how it fits.” When Kathy took the dress from her, Haley quickly slipped out of her clothes and carefully, with Kathy’s help, put on the dress.
Amazed, Kathy stood back and looked at her. “I can’t believe it. It fits like it was made for you.”
Haley didn’t look surprised at all. She looked grateful. “Or like it was meant to be.”
Kathy nodded. “Exactly.”
Haley took a deep breath and smiled. “Everything’s finally all coming together. I have flowers. I have a photographer, a dress. This wedding is really going to work . . .”
“Wait, don’t say that, you might jinx . . .” But the rest of what Kathy was about to say was cut off by Trisha yelling up to them from downstairs.
“Haley!” Trisha hollered. “You need to come down here right away!”
Haley was smiling and humming the Christmas song We Wish You a Merry Christmas with Kathy as they headed down the stairs, but when they got to the bottom and saw everyone gathered in the sitting room looking concerned, Haley stopped singing.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
Jeff came over and took both her hands. “There’s really no good way to tell you this, so I’m just going to give it to you straight.”
“Okay, now you’re starting to really scare me,” Haley said. “Is everyone okay?”
Jeff nodded. “Everyone’s fine, but a weather system has moved in. We thought it was going to miss us, but it changed course, and we’re getting a direct hit now. The snow is coming down hard, and it’s supposed to last for several days.”
“But it was fine earlier,” Haley said. “It wasn’t snowing that much.” Haley walked over to the window and looked out. She was stunned. The snow was now coming down so hard all she could see was a whiteout.
Jeff joined her. “They’ve just closed Alpine Road and some other roads as a precaution.”
“But Alpine Road is the only way to get here,” Haley said. When Jeff nodded, it hit her full force. “So, this means no one can get here for the wedding—my parents, Gail, everyone from Christmas Camp . . .”
“Or Laura,” Ben added. “Thankfully, she left earlier right after lunch to get some things from home, but she won’t be able to get back here now.”
“And our wedding photographer won’t be able to get here either,” Trisha said. She looked as upset as Haley. “And your parents were bringing most of the food, the wedding rings, and your dad was officiating.”
Haley nodded. She was still struggling to comprehend what was happening.
“So, what does this mean?” Kathy asked.
Haley, heartbroken, looked at Jeff. “It means we have to cancel the wedding. Again.”