Page 1 of Four Weddings to Fall in Love
Chapter 1
Max
“Fuckinghell.”
I hear the woman before I see her—I’m busy adjusting the suit bag in my hand—and nearly trip over her leg.She’s fallen on the stone path that leads to the hotel on the lake.
“Are you okay?”I ask.
Before I can extend my hand, she jumps up.Her purple dress ends just below her knees.
“Yeah, I’m fine.These shoes just aren’t made for running.”The petite East Asian lady gestures to her silver stilettos with her bouquet.One of Tessa’s bridesmaids, I assume.“Even for walking, they’re a fucking nightmare.”She pauses.“Sorry.”
She doesn’t need to apologize for her language, but perhaps she senses that I’m not the sort of person who swears vehemently, well, ever.A quiet “shit” is as far as I go and—
Wow.She smiles at me, and I’m struck by how beautiful she is.
There’s a giggle from behind the pink rose bushes.Her gaze snaps in that direction.
“For fuck’s sake,” she mutters.“The flower girl escaped again, and I’m tasked with bringing her back.”She dashes off toward the roses.
I shake my head and continue along the path.Someone else in a purple dress flies out the door of the hotel.Is she also in pursuit of the flower girl, or is there another wedding-related emergency?
God, weddings are such chaos, and I have four to attend in the next three months.
I head into the lobby, check in, and proceed to my room on the second floor, where I hang up my suit and open my suitcase.Still over an hour until the ceremony starts, so I’m in no rush.It’s not as if it’ll take me more than fifteen minutes to get ready.
My phone rings.It’s my parents, so I answer.
“Did you get there safely?”Mom asks.
“Yes,” I say, “but traffic was bad so it took almost three hours.”
I would have called within the next few minutes if she didn’t call me first.I never want her to worry, and I do my best to ensure she doesn’t have to worry aboutme.
“Max!”My dad’s voice bellows over the phone.He’s the louder of my parents by far.“How’s it going?Any pretty bridesmaids?”
“The wedding hasn’t started yet,” I say crisply, even though I’m thinking about the woman I saw earlier.
“I think that means yes.”
“It does not.”
We chat for a few more minutes, then I tell him that I have to get going.Before I get dressed, I glance out the window, toward the small lake.Chairs are set out for the ceremony, and the wind whips around some gauzy material at the altar…and the flower girl is running down the aisle, pursued by two bridesmaids, two other women, and a Canada goose.
My lips twitch.
Weddings aren’t my cup of tea.Not because I don’t believe in love—I do—but because there are so many people, and I get asked about my own romantic prospects.It’s gotten worse recently, thanks to the fact that I’m thirty-five and single, I suppose.
Plus, something usually goes wrong.The groomsmen have horrible hangovers and look like death warmed over during the ceremony; the maid of honor slips and falls onto the cake; the father of the groom gets punched in the face by his brother, due to some quarrel that started twenty-seven years ago; the photographer is trying to hide a dead body.Obviously, the latter hasn’t occurred at any weddings that I’ve attended…at least I don’t think so.But anything can happen at a wedding.
Even if it mostly goes according to plan, the parents of the happy couple might freak out over something minor.Maybe the peonies in the bouquets aren’t quite big enough, or the canapés aren’t the perfect temperature.
The next three weddings I have to attend are those of my cousins.All of Auntie Gladys’s kids are getting married this year, and she’s definitely the sort who’d make a big deal out of small imperfections.My mother and Auntie Gladys don’t get along at the best of times, and she’s really been trying Mom’s patience lately, constantly calling my parents about one thing or another.So while I’m happy for my cousins in theory, I’m not looking forward to those weddings.
But this wedding, my friend Malcolm’s, doesn’t involve family.It should try my sanity a little less, though the long drive wasn’t a good start to the day.
I head outside twenty-five minutes before the ceremony is due to start.
