Page 5 of Wedding Whitney
The seamstress nods, and I look down at the elegant but decidedly lavish satin and organza fabric flowing around me. The top is off-the-shoulder and edged in lace, showing off just a touch of cleavage without being tacky. The bodice fits tightly around my waist but then explodes out in a skirt worthy of a Disney princess. Miles of fabric with silk and tulle and organza—I’ve lost track of the material because there’s so much of it. The train is ten feet long, my veil has even more fabric, and the above-elbow satin gloves make me feel like someone else.
I’ve been modeling since I could walk, but my wedding day is something else, a special celebration between myself and Jake, and the incredible journey we’ve embarked on to find our way back to each other after a rocky start. Sharing it with five hundred people—most of whom I don’t care about—seems unfair, but it means so much to my grandmother, whom I do care about.
“You’re so fucking beautiful,” Hailey says, shaking her head. “You give me a complex.”
“Stop that.” I turn to smile at her. “Your husband has eyes for no one but you.”
“I’m still struggling to get my body back after the twins,” Hailey sighs. “I look at you up there and I’m not sure I want to be in all these pictures.”
“You look amazing!” I protest, stepping down from the dais and hurrying over to her. “And I want you in all the pictures. You and Katherine and Dani.” Dani Petrov is one of my other bridesmaids, though she can’t come to Dallas this far ahead of time.
Katherine lives here in Dallas, and Hailey came with her husband, Kane, and their twins, making it a vacation before all the wedding insanity begins, so it isn’t as much of an inconvenience for them. Dani and her husband, Sergei, will be arriving this weekend after dropping off their son, Niko, with family in Las Vegas so they can have a little break and he can spend time with his cousins.
“Okay, I have to go,” Katherine says, getting up and hugging me. “But I’ll see you on Sunday for brunch?”
“Absolutely.”
Katherine leaves, and I get undressed. Hailey and I have a fun day planned of lunch and shopping while Kane spends the afternoon at the hotel pool with the twins.
“What are you guys doing the next few days?” I ask as we drive toward the restaurant where we’re having lunch. Though both Hailey and I live in Anchorage, since Jake and Kane play for the Alaska Blizzard, I grew up in Dallas, and this is still home in some ways.
“We’re going to the Fort Worth Water Gardens one day and the Botanical Gardens another,” Hailey says. “But we’re playing it by ear because the kids are so little, and they need to nap and all that. It’s really nice having an afternoon to myself. I love my family, but sometimes I need a break.”
“With all the travel Jake and I do, all we want is to be together,” I admit. “But obviously we don’t have kids, so that makes a big difference.”
“Are you going to?” Hailey asks, cocking her head slightly. “Considering his history.”
I look away. “I don’t know. We did some genetic testing last week when we got here, but I haven’t heard anything about the results. I really wanted to know if we’d be able to have children together before we got married, but Jake said he doesn’t care. He’s fine with adoption, me using a sperm donor, whatever I want. I think after so many miscarriages with his ex, he’s over it. He didn’t want to get tested at all, but he knows it’s important to me to have a definitive answer. That’s the only way I can make decisions.”
“The chances that you carry the same gene that made it impossible for him and his ex to have a baby is minuscule,” Hailey says gently. “You know that’s not going to be the case.”
“I hope not, but it’s hard not to worry. The good news, of course, is that we’re not ready for any of that. My modeling career is going well, and he’s always on the road, so we don’t want to slow down for a family just yet.”
“I don’t blame you.” Hailey smiles. “In retrospect, I want to say I wish we hadn’t gotten pregnant the way we did, but I can’t. Who knows if we’d even be together if I hadn’t gotten knocked up unexpectedly? We liked each other, but I was living in Boston, and he’d just moved to Anchorage. I was also in law school, so the chances that I would have left school to randomly move to Anchorage are slim.”
“I guess things really do happen for a reason sometimes,” I muse as I park the car.
“No doubt about that.”
We go inside and have lunch, talking about the wedding and lots of other things, but in the back of my mind, I’m still thinking about the genetic testing. Babies seem like something I don’t have to think about for a long time, but not knowing what might happen bothers me on Jake’s behalf because he’s gone through so much with his ex, and I want to prevent as much as I can if it comes down to it.
We’ve talked about almost everything to do with our pasts, our relationship, and what will change once we’re married, but we haven’t truly delved into the hard stuff about babies. Though we’ve agreed we aren’t ready yet and don’t plan to try any time soon, it feels important to talk about the details.
And it’s beginning to look like it’s up to me to open the lines of communication.
Chapter 4
Jake
Whitney’s family really likes golf, I think to myself as I stand in the scorching Dallas sun wishing I were anywhere else.
Golf is fine, but not when it’s this hot, and definitely not with Whitney’s father and brother. Whitney tolerates her father and dislikes her brother immensely, but she’s trying to mend fences and make everything pleasant for the wedding.
I don’t care one way or the other, but it’s important to Whitney’s grandmother, and therefore important to Whitney, the one whose feelings I care about the most.
“Have you decided how you want to spend your bachelor party?” Whitney’s brother, Brett, asks, grinning.
“This is my second marriage,” I say patiently. “I’ve already done the strip clubs and all that. I’m good with whatever.”
