Summer awoke with a dull pounding in her head, briefly forgetting where she was. She sat up with a start, surprised to see Elise in bed beside her.
“Good morning, Summer Sunshine!” her friend shouted, making the pounding that much worse. “I was beginning to think you’d never wake up.”
“Is she awake?” Kristina Rose asked upon exiting the tiny hotel bathroom, her hair and makeup already perfectly in place.
“Kind of,” Summer groaned as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.
“Wow, what a night!” Jennifer squealed, plopping down onto the foot of the bed and bouncing happily on the springs.
“You can say that again!” Maisie added as she picked up the phone on the nightstand and signaled for everyone to be quiet. “Yes, I’d like to order room service,” she murmured into the receiver.
Maisie nodded and then asked, “Well, what do you recommend?”
Twenty minutes later, they all sat cross-legged on the pair of queen beds with a huge assortment of eggs, bacon, ham, grits, and baked goods piled high on a bellhop cart parked in the narrow space between the beds.
“This doesn’t seem very healthy.” Kristina Rose frowned as she poked at a danish pastry.
“We’ve got ya covered, girl.” With a flourish, Maisie removed a silver lid from a plate of poached eggs, melon, and turkey sausage.
“So . . .” Elise said between bites of her third strip of greasy bacon already. “Today you woke up to me, but in just four more days you’ll be waking up beside a sexy piece of man meat.”
“Elise!” Kristina Rose looked embarrassed enough for all of them.
“What? She will be, and soon enough so will you,” Elise pointed out.
“Not really appropriate, though, especially considering you and Ben used to date,” Maisie mumbled.
“Yeah, like a million years ago! I’m just trying to ask Summer if she’s ready is all.”
“It’s okay,” Summer said with a laugh, picking up the danish Kristina Rose had rejected and taking a huge, delicious bite. “I’m ready. And nervous. And excited. And a hundred other things.”
“Well, of course you are!” Jennifer said as she swayed from side to side, her eyes huge and alert despite the early hour. “You get used to it really fast, though, and I mean that in the best possible way. I love being Mrs. James, and you’ll love being Mrs. Davis.”
“It must have been so weird for you,” Maisie said, glancing toward Jennifer as they ate. “All at once you became a wife and a mom with almost no time to prepare for it.”
“Hey, I had plenty of time, even though I know you’re still mad about not being able to come to our wedding. It really was a spur-of-the-moment thing, I swear! Anyway, it’s easy when you’re in love, and I’m double in love with Liam and Molly Sue. But this is about Summer, not me. How are you doing with everything?” Jennifer reached out and gave Summer’s shoulder a squeeze, leaving behind a bit of grease in the process. Oh, well, at least they were all still in pajamas.
Summer thought about this for a moment. How was she supposed to feel on the eve of her wedding? She felt so many things, but more than anything, she felt just as she always had—like herself. “I’m ready,” she said at last. “I’ve been ready for a long time.”
Everyone nodded and continued to dig in to their breakfast array.
But Summer no longer felt hungry. She thought back to the rehearsal dinner the night before, the absolute rage her fiancé displayed when his father turned up with hardly a moment’s notice.
Kristina Rose noticed right away. “What’s wrong, honey?” she asked, placing her plate to the side and coming to sit directly beside Summer.
“I’m still worried about Ben.”
“You think he may have cold feet?” Elise asked. “I can tell you for a fact that boy has never been happier in his entire life. What’s there to worry about?”
“He was really upset when his father showed up at the diner,” Kristina Rose mentioned. “But Jeffrey promised to take good care of him.”
Summer sighed. “Maybe, but the only example he has of a marriage ended horribly, and I know how his brain works. He must be tearing himself apart right now.”
“Your parents’ marriage wasn’t so great, either, right? And you don’t think you’re doomed to repeat their mistakes, do you?”
“But Ben and I think differently. I guess it’s the whole glass half-full, glass half-empty thing. Because of his depression, his glass is always running on empty.”
“But if you put your half glasses together, then you have a full drink,” Jennifer said, jumping to her feet and coming to stand in front of them. “That’s what marriage is.”
“A shared glass?” Elise asked with a hearty laugh, still seated the same as before. “I like it.”
“Are you upset that your parents aren’t coming?” Kristina Rose asked once everyone had stopped laughing.
“Let’s get one thing straight here. I only have one parent. I never knew my dad, and my stepfather is the furthest thing from a parent out there. But yes, I’m sad my mom couldn’t make it out.”
“What’s her excuse?” Elise asked with a mouth full of even more bacon.
“Elise, seriously!” Kristina Rose shouted.
“What? If I had a daughter, I wouldn’t miss her wedding for the world.”
“It’s okay,” Summer murmured. “My mom lets me down a lot. I’m used to it. Besides, I have Aunt Iris.”
“And don’t forget your cousin, Sunny Sunshine!” Jennifer said, eliciting a fresh round of laughter.
“And you have Susan,” Maisie added. “She’s a mom to you now, too.”
“Do you think we should have invited her to come to Austin with us?” Kristina Rose asked with a frown.
“Nah, not her scene,” Summer said. “And we’ll have plenty of time for just us before the wedding. And remember, we’ll be living together after, too.”
“You are a saint,” Elise said. “I love Mrs. D and everything, but man.”
“It’s not like that,” Summer answered. “I love her and want to make sure she stays on the path to recovery. The worst thing Ben or I could do would be to leave her on her own. She’s had enough heartbreak already without losing Ben, too.”
“Like I said, a saint.” Elise winked as she reached for the last piece of bacon.
“So everything’s falling into place,” Maisie said, seeming just as relieved as Summer was beginning to feel.
“Just about.”
“Uh-oh. What’s left?” Kristina Rose asked gently.
“Well, besides the problems with Aunt Iris’s garden and Ben’s dad, my wedding dress still isn’t ready yet. It was supposed to be ready almost a month ago, but the boutique I ordered it from keeps telling me they need more time.”
“But the wedding is Saturday!” Jennifer reminded them all.
“I know, I know. That’s what I get for ordering something custom rather than just finding something nice at David’s Bridal or something. But I plan on getting married once and only once. I just want it to be perfect, you know?”
“Well, of course you do!” Kristina Rose said, shaking her head. “Shame on them for keeping you waiting right to the final hour.”
“Where’s this shop? I think maybe I should pay them a visit to, uh, express the urgency of the situation,” Elise offered.
“Normally, I’d say no to Elise’s thuggish ways, but you’re kind of out of options here,” Maisie said.
“It’s here in Austin,” Summer said as she pictured Elise putting the fear of God into the slacking designer. Elise could be pretty scary when she wanted to be, but the specialty wedding shop had their fair share of bridezillas, too. Would Elise be able to get the job done? Well, she at least had a greater chance of succeeding than Summer did by herself.
“Perfect. We’ll swing by on the way out, and God willing, leave with your wedding dress.”
God willing, indeed.
* * *
Ben had hoped to have a heart-to-heart with his best man during their gaming bachelor party, but Beckett had ruined that possibility entirely. Now he felt more lost than ever, as worries gathered in his mind like storm clouds.
Would he be a good husband, or was their marriage doomed to fail just as his parents’ had? He was his father’s son, for better or worse—usually worse.
Normally he’d throw himself into work as a distraction, but Maisie had given him the full week off with pay, insisting he be available for whatever last-minute wedding details popped up.
So given his huge stretch of free time and his agreement with Summer to spend these last few days as singletons apart, he went to the only place he could think to go, the place that had been his safe harbor before Summer took over that role for him. He went to the library.
He could use this time to study up on the various marriage guides housed in the self-help section at the back of the library. He could learn how to be a good husband, put his mind at ease.
If he came equipped with all the solutions, then whatever problems might one day arise wouldn’t seem quite so daunting. At least that’s what he tried to convince himself.
Still, there was something about the feel of a book in his hands that put him at ease—if only for the moment. He gathered a few books from self help and a few more from the social sciences section then headed over to his favorite table to tuck in.
“Hi, Ben,” the librarian, Sally, said, striding over and taking a seat across from him. She smiled, showing off the gap between her two front teeth. Her pale skin seemed to glow underneath the fluorescent overhead lighting.
“Hi, Sally,” he said, offering her a quick smile. Sally, at least, was one thing that never changed. She was always here at the library, excited to hear about his latest research.
“What are you doing here? I thought you’d be busy with Summer all week, not sitting here, reading . . .” She craned her neck to read the heading at the top of Ben’s book. “Reading up on marriage traditions of the Indian subcontinent.”
“They walk around a fire seven times for luck,” Ben said, setting the book aside. “And Summer said we should spend a few days apart before the wedding.”
Sally frowned, her dark hair swinging gently as she shook her head from side to side. “Trouble in paradise?”
“No, Summer is perfect. It’s just . . .” He grimaced. It was strange talking about these things with Sally. They’d only ever discussed books and knowledge, not relationships. “It’s just,” he finished, “that I’m not.”
Sally nodded, but kept her expression otherwise blank. “Me neither, as a matter of fact. Few of us are.” She snorted and picked up the book.
“Summer is,” he said, getting straight to the heart of the problem as he stared down at the words on the page until they blurred. Summer was so far above him, he didn’t have a prayer’s chance of rising to meet her—and the last thing he wanted to do was to bring her down. He’d always known this, of course, but with their wedding so close, it weighed all the heavier on his shoulders.
“Yes, I know,” Sally said, and for a moment she sounded angry. But when Ben glanced over to her, she wore the same smile she always had.
“Ben,” she started, wetting her lips and taking a deep breath. “There’s something I need to—”
They both startled at the sound of loud footsteps echoing across the otherwise quiet library.
“Your mother told me I might find you here,” John Davis said, barging over toward their table, completely out of place in his surroundings.
Sally cleared her throat and pulled away quickly, returning to her desk upfront.
Both men watched her leave. When John turned back toward his son with an expectant look in his eyes, Ben said, “Yes, I’m here. Now please go away.” He couldn’t even bring himself to look at his father as he stomped over to Sally’s desk.
“What were you going to say?” he asked her, trying to pretend they were still alone in the sanctuary of the books.
She shook her head, her eyes wide as she looked from Ben to his father and back again. “It’s not important. I’ll leave you two to talk.” She rummaged through a stack of papers on her desk, trying to appear busy.
“I came all this way to see you,” John said. “Please can’t you give me five minutes?”
“I could have,” Ben shot back. “I could have given you those minutes one of the many times I was cleaning up after Mom because no one else was around to do it, or you could have taken your five minutes when I was having a conversation with myself as to whether I’d rather hang to death or take a quick bullet. Your time is up.”
“Ben, I’m sorry I wasn’t there then, but I’m here now.”
“That’s not going to be good enough,” Ben said, taking a moment to stare into his father’s hollow eyes before storming out of the library and heading anywhere but here.
Not good enough seemed to be the theme of the week. Oh, how he prayed it wouldn’t become the theme for the rest of his life.