“It’s cute how you think I would ruin this body with a pregnancy, even if that were an option. No, sweet cheeks, Cruz would be the one sporting maternity jeans and empire waist tops.” A shudder worked through him. “Trust me when I say we’re both happy adopting. There are plenty of kids out there who need love. The idea made me nervous back in the day, but now that I understand your complex relationships with your family better, I’m confident we can’t do any worse.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“No offense meant. You turned out spectacularly well.” He began layering foundation. “All I’m saying is you drew a hard lot in life. You didn’t get many years with your mother, and none with your father. You were raised by her best friend, and it…gives me courage. You love Maud so much, still, even after all she did to you—for you—and it reassures me that Cruz and I can have that with any child we eventually welcome into our family.”
“That came out much nicer than your first attempt.”
“I’m sorry, girl, but your family is bonkers.”
“You should have just stopped there, but no. You had to keep going.”
Granted, my paternal grandfather was being called the Scourge of Savannah, and the woman I had looked to as an aunt had been complicit in my parents’ murders. My maternal grandmother had disowned my mother and tried to kidnap me, and my maternal aunt had tried to kill me after her kids failed to do the job for her.
Looking at it that way, I had to admit, “I see your point.”
A commotion in the hall told me another guest had arrived. Sure enough, in walked Clem.
“You made it.” I dared not turn my head. “I was starting to worry.”
“I hate I missed the bachelorette party,” he said. “I was on a mission, and I couldn’t break free sooner.”
The fae glamour transforming Taz into a man still took me by surprise now and then, but Jake Clemmons was his preferred identity, and I respected his choice.
“I get it.” I held out my hand, grabbed on, and yanked him in front of me. “I’m just happy you’re here.”
Bluetooth speaker in hand, Lethe linked to her cell and set it on the nearby desk. “Get ready to rock.”
The music was deafening, but it got the girls dancing as they started in on their own hair, makeup, and nails. As much as I wanted to laugh when the Grande Dame got swept into the mosh pit forming at the front of the room, Neely leveled a threatening gaze on me that kept me sober and my makeup firmly in place until I could add the sigil I designed for his peace of mind to set the finished product.
The sheer volume kept me in the moment and my thoughts from bouncing from Eva to Javier to Laurent to what might happen next.
When it came time to get dressed, I worried Woolly might flood the place with her happy tears.
The A-line gown was pure white, a shocking contrast to the requisite crimson of my bridesmaids. Floral lace motifs cascaded over tulle in a gorgeous multilayered effect. Its off-the-shoulder cut flattered the illusion portrait neckline, the illusion half-sleeves, and the illusion back.
The only jewelry I wore was the necklace Linus had made for me from Mom and Maud’s cremains.
The thin chain and lariat style were elegant and complemented the cut of the dress, and the three-karat diamonds capping each dangling strand gave me the bling I was otherwise missing.
Once I slid on the tiny toe prisons—I mean, shoes—I was ready to walk down the aisle.
Dripping from the kitchen tipped me off before another deluge of Woolly’s tears flooded the sinks.
“Don’t cry,” I warned her. “You’ll make me cry, and then we’ll both be in trouble.”
Every window cracked open, and each set of curtains slid apart in order to give her the clearest view.
“You’ll be able to watch the whole ceremony.” Screw etiquette, I was getting married on my front lawn in clear view of Woolworth House. “You won’t miss a thing. I promise.”
The Grande Dame approved, thinking it a political move. Our Society peers would likely follow her lead. Let them think it was a statement that two old and powerful houses were joining as one.
The people who mattered knew the truth, that I would never exclude my mother, in whatever form she occupied, from the festivities. She had lost too much for me to cost her that too.
The real fun would begin when the ceremony got underway and our guests got an eyeful of our bridesmaids, groomsmen, ring bearer, and flower girl.
My future mother-in-law would swoon if she had an inkling of the diversity in our retinue. Her earlier show of kindness in attending me instead of Linus almost made me feel bad about blindsiding her, but my family took many and varied shapes. I wasn’t willing to exclude a single member from this day, and neither was Linus. The Society and its xenophobia could grin and bear it for me one day the way I did for them every day.
All too soon, Lethe was taking my hands, ducking to meet my eyes, and asking, “Are you ready?”
No hesitation. No second thoughts. No regrets. “Yes.”
Hooking her arm through mine, she led the way. “Then let’s go tie ourselves a knot.”
The front lawn had been utterly transformed, and it took my breath away. White chairs dotted the grass in tidy rows. Fairy lights twinkled, strung from salvaged wood poles to either side of the aisles. A path of river rock harvested from the creek behind the house served as the carpet I would walk, an old gwyllgi tradition that warmed my heart. And there were flowers. Everywhere. Petals, blossoms, buds.
Maud would have loved it.
The thought summoned a cold hand on my opposite shoulder as Cletus joined us, much to the surprise of those able to perceive him. I twined my fingers with Cletus’s and Lethe’s, and we strolled up the aisle, the other bridesmaids falling in behind us. When we reached the podium, I took my place front and center, and Lethe took hers a step back. So on and so on, the bridesmaids fanned out behind me. With a tender caress of his bony fingers down my cheek, Cletus drifted into the background, unwilling to let his unorthodox inclusion detract from the ceremony.
Familiar faces dotted the crowd: Clem, Esteban, Mr. Hacohen, Matron Orestes, Mary Alice, Oslo, and the Tatter crew. I wished for Cricket and the girls from Haint Misbehavin’, but I had to settle for a dozen girls from Haint Behavin’, who were all paranormal and wouldn’t faint once the ceremony began.
The orchestra the Grande Dame insisted on began to play as the flower girl emerged from the vicinity of the carriage house, where the groom’s party had dressed. Eva was gorgeous in a miniature version of my dress dyed the color of a bleeding heart. Her hair hung in ringlets the humidity conspired to tug straight again. She carried a delicate white wicker basket and tossed rose petals harvested from Maud’s garden.
Behind her came the ring bearer, our little Oscar, which gave anyone unable to see him a fright.
Oh well.
A silk pillow drifting down the aisle, rings glinting in its center, didn’t rate on my weird scale these days.
Tethered to the pillow by a slender magical chain, Keet fluttered here and there. Guests unable to perceive Oscar must believe we had taught our bird to play ringbearer, like the chain was what kept the pillow aloft. From all the whirring and clicking, who knows? They might have assumed he was animatronic.