Page 59 of Blue Hawaiian
With that attitude, no wonder Luisa’s mom was pissed.
Jess turned to her sister, trying to hold still as one of the attendants placed spacers between her toes. “Don’t stress about it. This isyourwedding, not theirs. Besides, isn’t this what Marc wanted? Didn’t you say he fell in love with Maui when you were here two years ago?”
Gabi looked down. “He did. But…he originally wanted us to get married in Napa. I had to talk him into having our wedding here. And then, when we couldn’t have a sunset wedding like we wanted, I had to convince him a brunch wedding was just as good.”
“The brunch wedding was a great idea,” Jess said. “What’s not to love? Mimosas, pastries, a fully stocked coffee bar. Sounds like heaven to me.”
She’d been on board since day one. She’d take breakfast fare over a boring plate of chicken any day.
“We didn’t have a choice about the time,” Gabi said. “Even though we started planning a year ago, the coordinator told us all the sunset weddings for Friday and Saturday night were booked for the entire summer.”
Jess sought to reassure her. “After all the work you’ve done, it’s going to be fabulous.” She locked eyes with Luisa, who nodded.
“Thanks,” Gabi said. “I just keep worrying that I’m forgetting some tiny detail.”
Jess spoke up quickly. “If you have any last-minute errands, let me know. I’m glad to help.”
“Since you’re offering…” Gabi said. “I still haven’t found the perfect shells for the table settings. Would you mind checking out the stores in Lahaina? I can send you pictures so you’ll see what I had in mind.”
“No problem. I can handle shell duty.” If Jess sweet-talked Connor, she could easily convince him to drive her around.
“Great. That’s one thing off my plate,” Gabi said. “Don’t forget the shuttle’s taking us to the cacao farm tour and chocolate tasting at three. We’ll meet in the lobby. And the bachelorette party starts at eight tonight. We’re doing a bar crawl in Lahaina, but we have the shuttle all night, in case we want to go somewhere else.”
“Please say you’re not making us do something distasteful, like wearing glittery headbands or drinking out of penis-shaped shot glasses,” Victoria said.
Gabi shuddered. “Never. We’ll be wearing matching leis, but that’s it. Just because we’re going out drinking doesn’t mean we have to loseallsemblance of control.” She gave Jess a pointed look. “Right?”
Normally, Jess might have chafed at her sister’s tone. But she’d learned her lesson after her night at the Blue Lagoon. She gave Gabi her sweetest smile. “I’ll be on my best behavior.”
She could save the naughty antics for later, after Connor returned from the bachelor party. She’d promised him she’d wait up, no matter how late the hour.
After the spa treatment ended and the others went their separate ways, Jess lingered behind, waiting to catch Gabi alone. She approached her sister, who stood at the edge of the lanai, looking out at the ocean. “Are you okay? Luisa and Victoria were kind of salty about the destination wedding thing.”
Gabi let out a lengthy sigh. “Do you think it was unreasonable asking everyone to come here?”
Squinting at the bright sun, Jess brought out her sunglasses. “No. Like I said before, it’syourbig day. They need to chill.”
“I can see why Luisa would be pissed. She’d probably have more fun if the rest of her family were here. But Victoria doesn’t have the right to criticize me for choosing a destination wedding. She’s having a huge Winter Wonderland wedding withtwentyChristmas trees.”
“Twenty trees?” Jess giggled. “Even for her, that’s excessive.”
Gabi took off her sunglasses and wiped her eyes. “She’s been kind of bitchy this whole trip. That golf outing was miserable.”
Yet another reason Jess was grateful she’d missed it. She lowered her voice, even though no one was around but the attendants who were cleaning up the breakfast spread. “I’m not sure how much she told you, but she’s having trouble with Ben. He cheated on her last month.”
“Really? Now it makes sense. They were sniping at each other all during golf. I can’t believe she’s still marrying him. That would be a deal-breaker for me.”
“Same. Not that I plan on getting married any time soon.” For now, Jess was perfectly happy just to indulge in a tropical fling.
Gabi’s voice tightened. “But you’re having fun, right? You’re enjoying Maui? I’m sorry it didn’t work out with Lance.”
When would Gabi understand she wasn’t responsible for everyone’s happiness? No wonder she could never relax.
“I’m having a great time,” Jess said. “Maui isglorious. And I know you weren’t thrilled about my Hana excursion with Connor, but I’m glad I got to see that part of the island.”
“Hana’s totally worth the trip. Though I made Marc doallthe driving. Those narrow roads were terrifying.”
“I know, right? A couple of times when we went over those bridges, I had to close my eyes because I thought we were going to have a head-on collision.”
