Page 27 of Hello Handsome
Even though I usually wore my hair up, I let it down tonight and straightened it so the ends fell above my breasts. Looking in the mirror, my stepdad’s voice echoed through my mind.
You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.
My eyes pricked with tears for younger Agatha. Someone who desperately craved love and approval but couldn’t seemto get it at home. Someone whowasbeautiful despite the judgments of a miserable man.
“You look great,” I said to woman looking at me in the mirror, something I wish I had told my younger self all those years ago, then gave myself a wobbly smile.
Etta had asked me to send her a picture of my outfit, so I picked up my phone and snapped one in the mirror. As soon as I sent it, her reply was lighting up my phone.
Etta: GORGEOUS
Aggie: Thanks, friend. <3
I smiled to myself and closed my phone. Gray was set to arrive in five minutes, and this time, I wasn’t going to stare out the window waiting. Instead, I went online and found an affirmation video. If my kids were around, I might have been too embarrassed, but I was all alone. No one to impress.
I leaned back on the couch, careful not to mess up my hair, and listened to the affirmations spoken in a woman’s soft, comforting tone.
You are safe.
You are worthy.
You can handle anything life brings your way.
I moved my lips, silently echoing each phrase and willing myself to believe it could be true. Some were easier than others.
But when I heard a knock on my door, I wasn’t stressed about who would or wouldn’t show up; I felt steady, ready to handle a wedding with my best friend.
When I pulled open the door, the setting sun shone around the halo of Gray’s cream-colored Stetson. I noticed his soft blueeyes first. Then the button-down he paired with black jeans and dress boots.
I was so busy admiring this tall drink of water and reminding myself that we were just friends right now, I didn’t realize he was sizing me up, too.
“Wow, Aggie. You look…”
“Gorgeous?” I suggested, stealing Etta’s word.
His grin was warm. “Exactly.” He held his arm out for me. “We have a wedding to get to.”
I slipped my arm through his, noticing for the millionth time how good his cologne smelled and how solid his muscles were under my hand. My heart sped up, oblivious to my need to be just friends.
He held the door open for me, making sure I was safely in the truck before closing the door, and that's when I thought… A wedding might have been a really bad idea.
Rhett and Maggie’swedding was at the small acreage ten minutes outside of town where they’d built a home for themselves. It was a beautiful drive there, especially this time of day, with the evening sun slanting over light-green blades of grass waving in the prairies. Rolling hills added something for my eyes to play with like a gentle slide on a playground.
And Gray next to me, with a country song playing softly on the speakers? It was like something out of a painting. I wished I could paint this moment and hold it close forever, regardless of what came to pass between Gray and me.
Of course, the moment couldn’t last as long as a painting, and soon, we were parking alongside the dirt road to walk to the wedding set up in Rhett and Maggie’s backyard.
Gray let me hold on to his arm again, a necessity when walking in heels on a dirt road.
“Do you like weddings?” I asked him.
His lips lifted slightly, and he dipped his head to the side. “Not as much as I like marriages.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. I’d never heard someone phrase it that way.
He sidestepped a hole in the road, probably made by some animal, and then explained, “Weddings are about a promise–to love and be there for your partner… forever.” There was a slight shake to his voice, and he swallowed. “I’m more excited about the life two people can build together than a party with a buffet.”
I chuckled at the last line.
