Page 24 of A Happy Endings Wedding
Chapter Seven
Hailey woke the next morning, her wedding day, with a lingering sense of despair. She’d dreamt she was walking down the aisle, and right before she got to Josh, the floor opened up and she landed in the sea. Gee, wonder what inspired that dream. She reached blindly for Josh and felt only blanket. Then she reached some more. Still no Josh. She opened her eyes and propped up on her elbows. He wasn’t in bed. Rose and Max were curled up at the foot of the bed.
“Josh?” she called.
Silence.
She sat up and grabbed her phone from her purse, powering it on. There was a text from Josh.It’s bad luck to see the bride on our wedding day before the vows. I’m helping Jake with Owen and hanging with my brothers. I already fed the dogs and took them for a walk. See you at the chapel. Love, Josh
She tossed the phone on the bed. Sure, now he paid attention to wedding traditions. Now when she was wallowing in the pit of despair. She grabbed her phone again and sent out a group text to her friends.Anyone around for breakfast? Lunch? Anything?
The excuses started rolling in, all of them boiling down to: Busy with my own thing. See you at four for getting-ready time.
First Josh and then her friends ditched her.Fine.The pregnant cursed bride would spend her wedding day alone. No, not alone. She’d spend it with her fur babies. Only they understood her. She shifted to the end of the bed and stroked them both. Rose’s ears perked, but they both kept right on napping. She sighed and headed to the bathroom to get ready. She really couldn’t handle being alone today. And she couldn’t handle even one more thing wedding related. She needed a break from all that.
That was when she remembered Anna, the nice woman who’d brought her fruit salad and ice water before. She picked up the room phone and called the kitchen, hoping to find Anna, and was transferred directly to her. “Hi, Anna, it’s Hailey. Could you pack a picnic for the beach today?”
“Of course.”
“Great! If you can find a beach umbrella and a couple of chairs too, that would be perfect. I’d love for you to join me.”
“You would?”
“Yes. Everyone needs a day at the beach once in a while.” In fact, she’d been sure she wouldn’t have time to enjoy the beaches here with all the wedding stuff, but here she was with a wide-open schedule. “I’d be honored. Just give me an hour to get ready.”
She could hear the smile in Anna’s voice. “I’ll meet you in the front hall.”
“Excellent.”
And that was how Hailey went from freak-out to chill out. It was a wonderfully relaxing day at the beach. Max and Rose frolicked in the waves, dipping their paws in and running all around. Hailey read a romance by one of her favorite authors, and Anna paged through a celebrity gossip magazine. Hailey even got a little nap in.
She walked back into the palace through a side entrance, carrying her fur babies cuddled against her chest, and ran into Jake wearing a tuxedo with the white silk handkerchief she’d ordered special for Josh peeking out of the breast pocket. Why was Jake wearing his twin’s tuxedo jacket?
“Hey, sweetheart,” he said, walking over to her at a slow pace.
She was immediately suspicious. Jake never called her sweetheart. He also never moved slowly. “Do not eventryto pull a twin switcheroo on our wedding day. No, sir! I know Josh like the back of my hand and you are not him.”
Jake grinned and kissed her cheek. “I’m glad you got the right twin to marry. I’m on furry duty. My job is to impersonate the irate groom and kick the furry party out of the ballroom on schedule. Your groom is getting ready with the guys, enjoying his last hours of freedom.”
“Ha-ha and thank you.”
He glanced at her stomach. “I hear congratulations are due.”
She blushed. “Claire told you.”
“Everyone knows. Women talk; men listen.”They do?
She leaned close. “We wanted to keep it secret until after the wedding. Was Josh mad that I told?” She figured the twins had talked about it already. She hadn’t seen or talked to Josh since before the bachelorette party.
Jake grimaced. “Actually, Claire called me last night after she got you to bed and told me what happened. I filled him in, and all he cared about was you going overboard. He was furious like I’ve never seen him before. I had to talk him down.”
“Would’ve been nice if he’d checked on me.”
Jake gave her hair a tug just like his twin. “He did. He went back to your room and you were already sleeping. He checked your forehead for fever and took your pulse.”
Her eyes widened. “He did?” She’d slept right through it.
Jake grinned. “Yeah, and then he texted to let me know you were okay, so Mad could live. He got up early this morning because he’s planning something for you.”
