Page 42 of The Redemption of Remy St. Claire

“So that’s where everyone disappeared to.”

The petite librarian winked. “If it stops raining, they plan on spending some time at the park, and hopefully the girls will get a quick nap before the ceremony. Jake’s coming to help with the girls. I hope that’s okay.”

“That’s fine.” Would make an even eight. The bride, the groom, two witnesses, two guests, and two little girls. A perfect number. Symmetry. She liked symmetry. And anything more would be overwhelming.

As the women unpacked their stash, Remy’s stomach clenched. So many items.

“Show her the dress.” Marnie grinned from ear to ear.

“Of course.” Olivia’s enthusiasm was also palpable.

The younger woman opened one of the three garment bags. She held up a beautiful knee-length gown made of white silk.

Sleeveless, and it would show more cleavage than she was comfortable with, but the dress was beautiful. Considering her cream business suit laid out on the bed, this was quite a surprise. “How did you know?”

Marnie and Olivia exchanged a glance. “We didn’t.”

Olivia held the dress against Remy. “Rusty figured you might not’ve gotten something. He selected this himself. Of course, if you have something else…”

“I don’t.” Remy blinked several times. “This is perfect.”

Galvanized into action, the women spoke about facials, relaxing baths, and doing each other’s nails.

So this is what it’s like to have girlfriends.She’d known several girls in both high school and university, but never like this. This was a chance to bond with two women who were important both in her husband-to-be’s life as well as that of the girls’.

She gave herself up to their ministrations.

Chapter seventeen

Rustywasfidgetingwithhis tie for the third time when Jake reached out to stop him.

“Marnie sent me a text. They’ll be here in five minutes. It’ll be over about twenty minutes after that, and you’ll be a married man.”

He barely stopped himself from pointing out that until a week ago he’dbeena married man. Although Zach knew the whole story, Rusty didn’t know how aware Jake was. Or Olivia and Marnie, for that matter. When he’d asked for help in planning a wedding, the women had taken control of everything. He made a few suggestions, and they asked his opinion on a couple of things, but that’d been about it. Selecting Remy’s dress had been the most stressful thing he’d done.

Maybe he should ask Jake to text Marnie to see if Remy had liked the dress.No, you can wait.She was a grown woman of strong opinions. If she didn’t like the dress, she’d wear whatever she’d planned. For all he knew, she might’ve already selected a gown. He suspected not. She agreed to be hands-off, as she’d been prepping witnesses all week at work. She’d bristled at taking today—Friday—off. Fortunately, Zach put his foot down, which Rusty appreciated.

Now Zach sat on a wooden bench, one girl on each side, and he was showing them his camera. He’d gone camping with his friends West, Derek, and Ace last weekend. Despite the damp, they’d taken a bunch of shots of nature. The pictures enthralled the girls. Thank God for the distraction. Rusty wasn’t sure he could carry on a coherent conversation right now.

The elevator bell chimed, and the three men glanced over expectantly. Olivia and Marnie stepped out first, looking lovely in matching dark-red dresses. They stepped aside, and his future wife exited the elevator.

She took his breath away. Her hair was piled on the top of her head with little curled tendrils hanging down, emphasizing her elegant neck. She wore a cream wool coat, belted at the waist, but telltale white silk shimmered at the hemline.

She’d worn the dress.

As the moment spun out, he realized his guests were introducing themselves, but he couldn’t pull his gaze away from her. In less than twenty minutes, she’d be his wife. Suddenly nerves gave way to anticipation.

“Remy, Remy!” Calleigh reached out for her sister.

Remy crouched down. “What is it, sweetheart?”

“Do you think I’m pretty?”

She placed a finger to her lips, pretending to think about it, then gave both girls a big hug. “I think you two ladies will be the belles of the ball.”

Mira wrinkled her nose. “What’s that mean?”

“Only that you are the two prettiest girls here.”

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