“Update?” Caroline asked. Caroline sat on the couch in full bridal attire, holding a pretzel in one hand and a drink in the other.
“So, Sophie and I got all the tables and dance floor moved with the help of a very nice young man who works at the hotel. It’s good to go. Plus, it’s gotten worse out there.”
All of the women turned toward the window as rain clapped hard on the window.
Caroline drained her glass.
“They say it’s good luck for it to rain on your wedding day!” Taylor said.
“If one more person tells me that…” Caroline threatened.
“Sophie actually wants me to deliver you for the first look,” Taylor said.
“Okay, let’s go,” Caroline said. Addison and Zoey followed, Zoey holding up the back of her dress and Addison holding the pretzels.
The reception room was at the rear of the hotel, and Brady and Caroline’s wedding was not the only one of the day being held in one of the ballrooms. Zoey noticed several hotel employees scurrying around to arrange layouts of reception spaces due to the rain. Caroline had originally wanted to get married in their gardens, a spot overrun with flowers and perfect for photos, but another couple had booked it well over six months before Caroline did. “At least she has to have it inside, like everyone else,” Caroline said. Zoey agreed since one of the cornerstones of their friendship was pettiness.
Caroline and Zoey entered the reception space, and Caroline’s face softened with wonder. The linen-covered tables were evenly split around the dance floor so the guests could sit and watch the ceremony. Somehow, Taylor and Sophie had found some decorations that were supposed to be at the ceremony site and decorated a wall next to the dance floor.
Caroline walked around to admire each table, letting her fingers trace the nameplates and the red and pink centerpieces. Each table was named after a place Caroline and Brady had visited together with a photo of them there. The Bora Bora table was Zoey’s responsibility, and Taylor had switched it from the Tahoe table to the Bora Bora table for her.
Zoey and Addison watched Caroline, hoping that she wouldn’t have a full-blown meltdown. “I think she looks fine,” Addison said.
“She could blow at any moment,” Zoey said.
Lauren arrived five minutes later from taking photos of the guys and took a few photos of Caroline with her bridesmaids. She even suggested going into the hotel’s lobby, since the hotel had some interesting architecture and water features.
Zoey and Addison were told to hang out in a small lounge offset from the main fountain so Caroline and Brady could do their first look. Zoey texted Makenna, and she and Taylor showed up minutes later and joined them at a small table surrounded by overstuffed leather couches.
Makenna somehow transformed from a girl wearing a baseball hat and head-to-toe black to a vixen wearing a long red halter dress with a plunging neckline. Her skin looked flawless and airbrushed with a red lip similar to Zoey’s with a strong highlight and contouring that could cut a bitch. Makenna slightly leaned onto the bar with her perfect butt perked up to order a drink.
Dan and Jonathan entered the lounge, and their faces lit up.
“Hi there again, stranger,” Jonathan said, walking toward Zoey.
“Hey,” Zoey said. “Come here often?”
“Not often,” Jonathan said. “I have something for you.”
“Oh really?” Zoey said. She looked down at his crotch and he laughed.
“Not that,” Jonathan said. He held up a piece of paper, folded in quarters, between his fingers.
“What is that?” Zoey asked.
“Just a belated note. I was an idiot and didn’t do one earlier.” He handed it to her. She began to open it, and Jonathan stopped her.
“Wait until I’m gone to read it.”
She shoved the note in the bust area of her dress. She arranged it so the note tucked perfectly in there.
“I have an important question for you,” he said. “Will you be my date for this wedding? I don’t have a plus-one.”
“Funny, I don’t have one either,” Zoey said. She tapped her finger against her cheek. “Okay, I’ll be your date.”
“Excellent,” Jonathan said. “I have gotten a lot more comfortable on the dance floor.”
“Oh, this is news,” Zoey said. Zoey remembered his prom where Jonathan refused to dance and she had to pull him up and whimper at him for twenty minutes before he relented. Writing a note immediately and now he danced without holding a gun to his head? Maybe things could be different.
He leaned an elbow against the bar as Dan did half-squats to adjust his pants.
“You look like a male model,” Zoey said.
“You flatter me,” Dan said. “How do I look?”
“Like those pants are a little short on you,” Makenna said. Her heels caused her to tower over Dan, Dan reaching her nose.
“I can’t help that I replaced a hobbit,” Dan said. Kyle was probably an inch-and-a-half shorter than Dan.
“You still look good, though. Even without the mustache and wearing floods.” Makenna headed back to the bar to order another tequila soda.
Dan approached Jonathan and Zoey. “She is my soulmate.”
Jonathan tentatively put his arm around Zoey’s waist, and she stepped closer to him. The occupants of the lounge noticed with raised eyebrows.
“Whose speech will be better, the best man or the maid of honor?” Dan asked.
“My money’s on Zoey,” Taylor interjected. Dan was the only one voting for Jonathan. Jonathan kissed Zoey on the cheek, and the eyebrows quirked higher.
Caroline walked into the lounge holding her bouquet, a tissue already balled in her fist.
“How was the first look?” Addison asked.
“Awkward. And beautiful. Brady cried a little bit,” Caroline said. “The photographer wants some guy shots.”
Dan and Jonathan walked to the entrance of the lounge and looked back. Jonathan blew a kiss and then Dan did the same. Jonathan winked at her from the doorframe and disappeared. Zoey’s stomach fluttered. She would get to dance and have fun with Jonathan and maybe finish what they started the night before.
“I’m probably due in there soon to knock out some family shots,” Makenna said, taking her drink with her.
Caroline huffed and sat down on an oversized leather chair, her dress puffed up around her. Less than a minute later, the bartender delivered a drink.
“Compliments of the gentlemen at the bar,” The bartender said. He placed a shot of whiskey right in front of Caroline. Two old men at the bar waved their congratulations.
Caroline raised her hand to thank them and then threw back the shot. “Oh, that burned all the way down.”
“Wonder if one of them is single,” Taylor said. The women laughed as they all waved flirtatiously at the men and winked at them; one blew a kiss back to them.
Sophie came and got them when it was almost ready to start. Addison held up Caroline’s train as they walked back to the reception area while Zoey held the flowers and Taylor acted like security.
As they approached the entrance of the reception area, family members still looked surprised to see Caroline outside the doors, trying to sneak in around her. Taylor kissed Caroline and disappeared to find her spot.