“You got it.”
His mother squeezed his hands. “Mrs. Henderson said the cake is still good and she said Aislinn can have it here within the hour.”
He was speechless, and his heart had never felt quite so full. This family was just…he had no words.
But one more person did.
Aunt Georgia walked over to him, looking completely serene–which wasn’t always a good thing. When she stopped in front of him, Austin held his breath and waited.
“Beau and I have a case of champagne from the yacht club ready and waiting. I spoke with the florist Mia had booked and she is waiting for my call to have fresh bouquets and flowers sent over.” She paused and her smile turned…genuine. “These are our gift to you and Mia, if you’d like them.”
Now he was pretty sure he was in the twilight zone.
Scarlett raised her hand. “I know I’m not a professional photographer, but it is a hobby of mine and I happen to have a phenomenal camera. I’d love to take all the pictures for you today.”
His mind was screaming at him to say yes and thank everyone and run home to tell Mia, but he wasn’t so sure she’d be okay with this. After all, no one from her family was here–there’d be no one to walk her down the aisle. Looking over at Sydney, he silently begged her to tell him what to do because she was Mia’s best friend and would know the right thing to do.
As if she read his mind, she nodded. “Austin, no one’s ever done anything like this for Mia. You’ve met her family and you know how they are. I think she is going to be blown away that we were all able to pull this off for no reason other than we love you both.” He saw her eyes well with tears. “The only thing we haven’t really worked out is who would walk her down the aisle.” Pausing, she softly laughed. “And if I know you, that’s exactly what you were thinking.”
“It really was,” he said gruffly.
“Well,” his mother said with a confident smile. “We have the perfect solution.”
“Wait,” he interrupted. “Before you tell me, it seems like there is a lot to do, and I’m sure Mia is going to want to know sooner rather than later.”
“You heard the man!” Jackson called out. “Let’s get to it! We have a wedding starting at four this afternoon! Everyone knows their job, so let’s do this!”
Everyone went off in different directions and now he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do–was he supposed to tell Mia? Was someone going to call her? Was he even going to be allowed to see her before the ceremony?
Jill and Sydney walked over. “We’re going to get Mia,” Jill explained. “Susannah has a room ready for us to use to set up. Once we have her here, you can go home and do your thing and be back here by three. Got it?”
He nodded and watched them walk away. When it was down to just Austin, his brothers, and mother, he had no idea how to thank them.
“Okay, now we can go have breakfast,” Garrett said, turning them all toward the door.
“But…there’s so much to do!” he protested. “I feel like there’s more that I should be helping with!”
And like he had earlier, Jackson shoved him through the doorway. “Shut it. Mom’s got her famous French toast casserole waiting at home and I am not missing out on it! So if you’re going to whine all the way there…”
Grace gently smacked the back of her youngest son’s head. “Austin is riding with me. We’ll meet the two of you back at the house. I need to talk to him about who’s walking Mia down the aisle.”
As they walked out to the cars, Austin wasn’t sure how much he liked having everything out of his control–just like he’d been accused of earlier–but he supposed he’d find everything out soon enough.
7
“Wait…what?”
“We’re kidnapping you!” Jill told her excitedly. “Now go get ready!”
Mia looked at Sydney in confusion. “What is she talking about?”
With a weary sigh, Sydney tugged Mia across the living room and into the bedroom. “You’re getting married today!” she explained. “For real! Everything is set, so…go get your stuff!”
Yeah, she was going to need more information than this.
And possibly more coffee.
“How am I getting married today? And where is Austin?”
With a groan, Sydney walked over to the closet and began gathering things. “You can call him in a little bit. He’s having some sort of French toast casserole with his mom and brothers, and apparently, it’s a big thing. But he’s expecting your call.”
Jill walked into the master bathroom and called out, “Do you want to shower before we leave or do everything there?”
“Where is there?” Mia demanded, feeling at a considerable disadvantage at the moment. She was still in her robe and was enjoying a relatively lazy morning up until five minutes ago. “Will you both just…sit down and talk to me?”
Both of her friends turned to look at her and she felt a little guilty for snapping, but…it seemed like she was missing some key information.
“Okay,” Sydney said, sounding very much like the voice of reason. “Here it is. The entire Coleman family has rallied and is throwing you a wedding today. This afternoon, specifically. It’s going to be at Magnolia on the Sound and I believe there’s going to be around forty people.”
“But…how? We don’t have anything ready!” she cried, still unable to wrap her brain around what she was hearing.
“Oh, everything’s been taken care of,” Jill said as she sat on the corner of the bed. “Food is covered, champagne and flowers are covered, music, photographer…um…” Pausing, she glanced at Sydney. “What am I missing?”
“Cake! Yes, Aislinn is delivering the cake, and Pastor Steve is doing the ceremony.” She let out a long breath. “The only thing missing is you, so…”
A million questions were racing around in her head. “I don’t…I mean…how did everyone…” She looked between the two of them. “I need to talk to Austin!”
“They’re probably just sitting down to eat,” Sydney reasoned. “Go and take your shower while we get your gown and everything loaded in the car. Then, we’re all going to get ready at the B&B. Susannah gave us one of the rooms to use and it’s all girlied up for us!”
Once again, Sydney took her by the hand and led her into the bathroom. “Seriously, go take your shower. When you’re done, we’ll collect all your stuff to do your hair and makeup in the bridal suite. Haley’s offered to do your makeup, but I told her no.”
“Oh, um…”
“She’s fifteen and just…no,” Sydney murmured. “Parker’s offered to come over and do it, or if you want to do it yourself, have at it.”
“I can’t even think…”
“Think in the shower!” Jill chimed in. “We don’t have all day!”
Her heart was racing and she felt a little sick to her stomach. Grabbing both of Sydney’s hands in hers, she knew she was seconds away from a full-on panic attack. “Syd, I…I…” With her stomach roiling, she couldn’t get the words out. The room started to spin, and then… “I think I’m going to be sick…”