She paused mid-step as she walked down the church hallway. Oh, jeepers.
The dating game.
Was it time to get back into the dating game? Not that she stopped trying. Certainly not. She merely hadn’t gone out of her way to snag a new man. Perhaps now would be a good time.
She continued walking.
Not at the wedding, of course. After. She’d find a great man after the wedding. No matter how hard it would be, she’d stick to her checklist. The perfect kind of man she wanted. Her very own Prince Charming. In the correct order, too. No skipping this time.
Kind. Check one.
Funny. Check two.
Thoughtful. Check three.
Good in bed. Check four.
Okay. Maybe she should move that last one up a few slots. Check one?
Nope. That needed to stay on the bottom. Where had it gotten her already? Nowhere. That’s where.
Every time she tried the dating game, hunting for a man that would be perfect for her, she failed in every aspect. She always thought she snagged a prime catch, reeling that sucker in like she won a fishing contest.
First, there was Bradley. Delicious in bed. He topped ‘good in bed’ without breaking a sweat. First prize winner every time. That should’ve been her huge warning sign. He didn’t make it much further down the list. He cheated on her with his secretary.
Then came Todd. He didn’t even make it past check one when she brought him to a family gathering and he made her six-year-old cousin, who had a speech impediment, feel like it was something to be ashamed of. He even had the audacity to mock her cousin in front of her after they left the party. She never had the temptation to hit someone before, but that time it almost consumed her. Instead, she hopped out of his car before he could back out of the driveway and told him he better leave before her brother came out with his baseball bat. He was gone in under two seconds.
Her favorite one. Dominic. He made it far on the checklist, plus some. He had been her true love. Her one and only. Her soul mate. Her cosmic power that centered her world daily. That was—until he cheated on her.
She would like to say it broke her heart, but in truth, it had set her free. He hadn’t cheated on her, per se, as Bradley had. He had the decency to let her down gently that it wasn’t going to work between them before he took the plunge with another person.
But she had felt stripped of something magical, something special, something that all her other friends had. To this day, he was still her one and only…best friend.
His new relationship was doing great. She couldn’t be happier for him. Truly, unconditionally happy. Considering he was gay and couldn’t continue to ignore that, she was more than glad he found happiness. Just not at times when the reminder she was alone and still hearing those dratted words from people like aunt Zenda.
A spa session and a makeover with Dominic seemed crucial. And his partner, Freddy, well, he was the master makeover king if she ever saw one. He could take the most bedraggled human being and turn them into the most gorgeous creature living on the planet. She wasn’t calling herself ugly, but sometimes a girl needed a little sprucing up to gain some happiness back. To know that she was a worthy catch.
The minute she saw Dominic, she’d tell him to schedule an appointment with Freddy for her. She could already hear him say, “Darling, you don’t need to see Freddy with an appointment, he’ll get you in on the spot. He’ll drop anyone for you.” She knew he would, too, but his time was precious and deserved respect. She would, of course, argue with Dominic until she got her way. A pure master. He could never win an argument with her no matter the issue. Well, besides the one where he wasn’t really gay. She had talked herself blue on that one. She should call him now. If she didn’t tell him right away, she might lose her nerve to go through with it.
Patting the sides of her dress, she muttered under her breath. So much for letting Dominic know right away. No pockets. Duh. She left her phone in the room where Lily was beautifying herself. Her best friend Lily was finally getting married. It still seemed surreal at times.
While she thought of Dominic as her best friend—her guy best friend. Lily was her girl best friend. Some days, she didn’t know how she would’ve survived the aftermath of Dominic telling her he was gay if Lily hadn’t been there.
She had hoped to be her maid of honor. Sometimes it felt like a nasty fate had been bestowed upon her always being asked to be in her friends’ weddings, but she was never the maid of honor. Only a simple bridesmaid. Just once, she would like to be a maid of honor. Or the bride. That would be lovely, too. To have her own fairytale romance. Only in her dreams, apparently.
She had been totally let down and disappointed. Silly to feel that way. She knew Lily’s family well. So well, she was practically considered one of their daughters. But when it came to family, Lily never disobeyed. Her mother immediately had said her sister would be her maid of honor without asking or batting an eye. It was said with simple authority. One thing a person never did was disobey or question the words of her mother, and especially her father.
Lily had smiled at her mother and nodded. Of course, when they left the house, because yes, she had been there when it happened, Lily apologized profusely.
“I’m sorry, Fina. I was going to ask you. I truly was. I didn’t expect my mother to say that at all. She knows Lora and I don’t get along.”
“She’s your sister. I understand. Don’t worry, Lily. I know when your mother says something, it’s like it’s written in gold.”
“But you’ll be one of my bridesmaids, right? Say you will.”
“It would be my honor.”
A real honor. This wedding, out of every wedding she had been a part of, was a true honor. She would do anything for Lily. Absolutely anything. She was her best friend.
Finding her right now and making sure pre-jitter nerves weren’t swarming her body was what she should be doing. She needed to quit wallowing in self-pity. For the day, anyway. Tomorrow she would pick up where her mind had wandered and enter pity-land. Sometimes a girl had to pull that gallon of ice cream out and eat her pity away. She would do that, then call Dominic for an appointment with Freddy. Purge herself of all that sadness and find a new man. It was time she became the bride for once.
Deep breath. She would survive the day.
Running her hands down the soft contours of her periwinkle dress, she released one more breath.
No need to be nervous. She had done this a million times already. Nothing new. She couldn’t remember exactly how many times she had been a bridesmaid.
Seven times. No. More like ten. Maybe this one made it eleven. Or was it nine?
Did it matter? Nope.
She loved this dress. Loved it. Lily made sure she picked a dress that complemented her. Of course, no matter how many times she walked down the aisle as a bridesmaid, she always managed to look elegant and beautiful. Not as gorgeous as the bride, but she held her own. That alone made her nervous when her day finally came, making her think she wouldn’t look as elegant and beautiful.
Utterly silly. Of course, she would look elegant and beautiful. Her wedding day would be the grandest day of her life. She would look like a princess, feel like one, and be the most cherished woman on earth by the true love of her life. Whoever that fellow might be. She would hopefully know soon after Freddy used his magic hands with her hair.