Say Yes (20 page)

“Violet,
are you almost ready?” Mama called. “Darlin’, the limo is here and we have to
be at the church in less than an hour.”

Mama,
Daisy, and I were all dressed and ready to go. Daddy was waiting by the front
door in his tuxedo. He looked so happy and sad at the same time…it was so
sweet. Mama was wearing a beautiful baby blue silk dress and her hair was done
in a pretty low elegant chignon. Daisy looked so gorgeous in her long flowing
dress, and her hair had been styled in loose curls with one side pinned with a small
blue flower. I had my hair twisted and curled into an intricate style that
rested at the nape of my neck, and I had a few loose curls hanging down,
touching the top of my back. My new side bangs made the style look just
perfect.

“I’m
coming, Mama,” Violet called, and we all walked to the bottom of the stairs,
waiting for her to make her debut. I heard the rustling of her dress as she
began to descend down the stairs, and when she came into full view, I choked
back my tears. I had never in my life seen any woman look more beautiful than
Violet did in that moment. The silhouette of the dress was like a ball gown,
made for a princess. It had a sweetheart neckline, and it laced up the back. It
was decorated with beautiful beads and crystals, and they made the dress
glisten like snowflakes. Her blonde hair was up in a gorgeous style that was
loosely curled and pinned, and her veil was attached on the underside of her
hair. Thank God I had the foresight to wear waterproof mascara, but it was
still a struggle to keep from crying. She took my breath away. Just then, my
heart tugged a little bit as I realized that my baby sister was all grown up
and getting married.

“Oh,
my,” Daddy said, a lump in his throat. “I can’t believe I’m about to give you
away.”

She
walked to him and hugged him tight. “Don’t cry, Daddy. This isn’t an ending,
it’s a beginning. This is a happy day,” she said.

“That
we’re going to be late for if we don’t leave soon,” Daisy said.  We slid our
wraps around our shoulders as Daddy put on his dress coat, and we carefully
helped Violet out the door, careful not to get her dress dirty. Once we were
comfortably in the limo, Daddy opened a bottle of champagne and poured five
glasses, one for each of us. Thankfully, neither he nor Mama noticed that Daisy
just held hers and pretended to drink.

We
finally made it to the church, and we all hurried inside. It was packed out,
and every pew was filled with friends and family. In the third and fourth rows
on the left side, Violet’s whole kindergarten class was in attendance. They all
looked so precious. Violet was waiting with Daddy in a side room, and Mama was
getting lined up in the precession. Suddenly, I felt an arm slip around me, and
I looked up. My breathing stopped as my eyes fell on Luke looking dashing in
his tuxedo. It was all black except for a silver cummerbund, and he had his
hair slicked back and parted off to the side. He kissed me on the lips. “You
know, it’s really not right to look this breathtaking. You’ll take the
attention off the bride,” he said.

I
leaned into him, inhaling his scent. He smelled like delicious musky cologne,
peppermint, fresh laundry, and just his signature Luke smell. “Thank you. Oh
God, you look so…hot,”

He
smiled his crooked, sexy smile. “Thanks, baby.” There was a rush of excitement
as we started being paired off for the wedding to begin. Pachabel’s Canon in D
started playing over the speaker system, and we knew it was time to take our places.
He leaned his lips to my ear and whispered, “Save a dance for me?”

“You
can have them all,” I replied, and I kissed him quickly as he was ushered away
to join Daisy behind me.

Just
then, Jack appeared at my side, and he held his arm out for me. “Lilly, you
look beautiful,” he said, giving me a playful nudge. He led us up the line to
stand behind Mama.

“Thanks,
Jack. You look handsome too. I didn’t know that you could clean up this nice.”

“I
have my moments,” he said, smiling. His eyes flicked to Daisy, and for a
moment, he looked sad.

“Anything
wrong?” I asked.

“Of
course not,” he said.

“So
I take it things didn’t go well with Daisy the other night?” I whispered.

He
looked at me. “Lilly, come on. Don’t act like you don’t know what happened.”

“I
do. And Jack, I really think you need to talk to Daisy.”

“She
made it clear that she didn’t want me, Lilly.”

“No,
she just asked for more time to figure things out, and believe me, she didn’t
need that long.”

He
sighed. “How do you know that?”

I
wasn’t about to tell him that Daisy was carrying his child. “Jack, I just know.
Have I ever lied to you?”

He
looked at me for a moment, and said, “No.”

“Okay
then. So, will you please promise to talk to her? Trust me,” I asked.

“Okay.
I will. For you. I just don’t think I can take another rejection,” he said, and
the doors to the sanctuary were opening.

“It
will be okay, I promise,” I said, giving his hand a squeeze. The doors opened
all the way, and my mother began her walk down the aisle to take her seat in
the first row. After Mama was halfway down the aisle, Jack and I started to
follow her.

The
sanctuary was absolutely beautiful. I felt like I was walking through a snowy
wonderland. Evan was waiting at the front, looking so handsome in his tuxedo.
He looked so happy. When Jack and I reached him, we took our places on either
side of Evan, and we turned to watch as Luke and Daisy followed us. I looked
over to Jack, and his eyes were on Daisy. I looked over to her, and she was
looking at Jack with a hopeful look on her face. I hope that this worked out,
because even if they weren’t going to be parents, Daisy and Jack made a perfect
couple.

I
looked over at Luke, and his ice blue eyes were on mine. He was smiling at me,
and I could feel the love radiating from him. He took his place next to Evan as
Daisy stood next to me. We looked at each other and smiled. Then, the
traditional wedding march began to play, and all eyes in the sanctuary turned
toward the back. As Violet and Daddy started to walk down the aisle, everyone gasped
and muttered their awes at how beautiful she looked. I looked at Evan for a
moment, and there were tears in his eyes. I could feel my eyes beginning to
moisten as well. Oh no, Lilly, don’t cry, I thought to myself. After they
reached the front of the sanctuary, Daddy placed Violet’s hand in Evan’s, his
eyes brimming with unshed tears. He leaned in and kissed her cheek, and patted
Evan’s arm. After taking his seat, the preacher began to perform the ceremony.
“Dearly beloved, we gathered here today on this joyous day to celebrate the
union between Evan Christopher Sanderson and Violet Hope Harrington…”

The
reception was in full swing. Everyone was dancing, eating, and having a good
time. Luckily, in Glenbrook, there was a lovely banquet hall that was perfect
for Violet’s wedding. There were white and blue Christmas lights strung up
everywhere, and the tables were decorated with white and ice blue silk table
cloths. There were beautiful votive candles floating in little glass dished
filled with water, and the tables were all lit with silver taper candles.
Violet had planned a gorgeous wedding. The food was actually pretty good as
well, I had to admit. Of course, mine was better. On the menu was filet minon…I
had to smile. Luke was sitting next to me at the main table, and when our
plates were served, we looked at each other and smiled. He leaned in and kissed
me. He took a bite, and made a face.

“What
is it?” I asked, giggling. “Is it bad?”

Swallowing,
he said, “It’s good, but yours is so much better.”

I
squeezed his hand. “You have to say that because you want to get lucky
tonight,” I teased.

“I’d
say anything to get lucky enough to roll around naked with you, Lilly. But, I
happen to be telling the truth on this. You’re food is fantastic.”

“So,
you aren’t just trying to get me to go home with you?” I giggled.

He
leaned in close to my face, our noses almost touching. “Last night without you
in my bed was one of the longest nights of my life. Believe me, baby, you’re
coming home with me tonight even if I have to drag you there.” His eyes burned
into mine. “Unless you don’t want to…” he trailed off.

I
leaned in and kissed him, sliding my tongue past his lips to touch his. When we
broke apart, I whispered, “Oh, I want to.” He raised his hand to my cheek and
ran his thumb across my bottom lip.

“God,
I want to bite this lip so bad,” he whispered to me. “How much longer is this
wedding going to last?”

Smiling,
I said, “Well, everyone’s made their speeches, we’re all eating dinner, so all
that’s left is for them to cut the cake, throw the bouquet, and then see Violet
and Evan off on their honeymoon.”

“And
then I can get you home and take this dress off your beautiful body,” he groaned,
and tingles shot through me as he ran his other hand down to the small of my
back, just above my behind.

I
fanned myself with my hand. “Okay, enough of that. You’re not playing fair.”

“Just
getting you as turned on as I am,” Luke said.

“Trust
me, you don’t need to try. Come on, let’s eat,” I said, picking up my champagne
glass and taking a long sip.

After
we all had eaten dinner, Violet and Evan cut their wedding cake together. The
French vanilla cake had five tiers, and was covered in ice blue fondant and had
been airbrushed to look like glittering snow. It was delicious. When Violet
threw her bouquet, it landed effortlessly in Daisy’s hands. She shot Violet a
look that read, “Very funny,” and we all clapped for her. Luke was the one that
caught the garter that Evan tossed. It would give me something to tease him
about for years to come. Soon, it was time to go help Violet. “Well, I better
go help the bride get ready to leave.”

Luke
raised a hand to my face. Caressing my cheek and said, “I’ll meet you after.”

“Definitely,”
and with a quick peck on the lips, I stood up from my chair. Daisy was sitting
at the table next to Daddy, and her eyes were on Jack, who was standing at the
bar talking to Evan. I walked to her and leaned down. “Hey, Daisy, we need to
go help Violet get ready to go,” I said.

“Okay,”
she answered, and slowly stood up and followed behind me.

Once
we were out of earshot, I asked, “So, you haven’t talked to Jack yet?”

“No.
I know I need to, and he keeps looking at me like he’s waiting for me to say
something, but I’m…I’m scared, Lilly,” she admitted.

“I
know it’s scary, telling someone something like this. But, have a little faith
in him. He might surprise you,” I said. She just shrugged her shoulders, and we
walked into a small room to wait for Violet. A few moments later she came into
the room.

“Hey,
girls,” she said.

“Well,
hey there, Mrs. Sanderson,” I said, and she smiled brightly.

“I
like the sound of that,” she answered. She walked over to Daisy and took her
hands in hers. “You okay? I take it you haven’t told Jack.”

“Not
yet, but I’m going to. I just want to wait until after you and Evan set off. I
don’t want to distract from your night,” Daisy said.

“Well,
good luck. And please let me know how it goes,” Violet said.

Daisy
laughed. “Vi, I’m not bothering you on your honeymoon. We will talk when you
get back from Hawaii,” she said. “Come on, we need to get you dressed! Evan’s
probably waiting on you.” I grabbed a dress bag that was hanging on the door as
Daisy began helping Violet get out of her dress.  Soon, she was dressed in a
beautiful pink chiffon dress and cream heels, and her hair was down, falling
around her shoulders in soft waves.

“Well,
you ready to ride off into the sunset?” I asked her, taking her hand. Daisy had
joined us, and held her other hand.

Her
eyes were glistening with tears. “I am, and I never would have made it through
this wedding without you two. Thank you,” she said, a tear falling from each
eye.

We
pulled her into a hug. “You are so welcome,” Daisy whispered in her ear, and
now the tears falling down my cheeks as well.

She
pulled away from the hug, and nodded at Daisy. She then turned back to me,
tears pouring from her eyes. “It just hit me that this is the last time I will
see you before you go back,” she cried.

“Oh
Violet…” I said, crying.

“I
just want you to know that I love you so, so much, and I am so happy that I’ve
been able to spend these past two weeks with you. It’s been amazing getting to
know you all over again, as an adult.”

“It’s
been my pleasure, Vi. You have become such a beautiful, intelligent, loving
woman and I am so proud to have you as my sister.”

She
pulled me into a hug. “I love you so much, Lilly. I’m going to miss you.”

“Hey,
you won’t have time to miss me. I’ll be back for a visit before you know it,” I
said.