The sheer white curtains swayed lazily back and forth with the summer breeze. The walls of the loft were now in beiges and whites, and when the sun filtered through the windows, everything seemed to glow. Light seemed to engulf Jared, and I smiled at the halo it created around him. His eyes were a soft blue-grey, cloud free since he’d brought me home from the hospital.
Seconds later there was a knock at the door. Claire, Lillian and Bex walked through, arms full of sacks and thick catalogs.
Jared smiled at the sight of his family, and then laughed when he turned to see my overwhelmed expression.
“Be brave, sweetheart. Show no fear,” he whispered into my ear before affectionately greeting his mother.
“Nina!” Lillian gushed. “You look so much better, honey. You had us so worried!”
Claire set white sacks on top of a hot pink duffle bag while Lillian straightened a stack of bridal magazines on the coffee table.
Lillian smiled as she looked around the room. “Oh…Oh! I just love what you’ve done in here! It’s so light and peaceful! I’ve been telling Jared for years to brighten this place up and you manage to talk him into it within weeks!” She winked. “That a girl, Nina.”
“He practically forced me to choose a new color palette and shop for new décor. He was sure I didn’t like it before.” I smiled warmly at Jared who watched me with a soft expression.
“New color palette and décor?” Bex snorted.
Jared lunged at him and wrestled him to the floor, putting him in a headlock and rubbing his knuckles against Bex’s head.
“You’ll understand one of these days, punk,” Jared said, laughing.
Laughter filled the loft as we watched them wrestle on the floor. Bex made an impressive effort, but he was unsuccessful in escaping Jared’s grip. Jared finally stood up, bringing Bex with him by the collar. Jared hooked Bex’s neck with the crook of his arm and squeezed, and Bex threw his arm up and over his big brother’s shoulder.
“Have you seen this one, Nina?” Lillian asked, grabbing a magazine from the top of the stack. She licked her thumb and flipped to an earmarked page.
The picture was of a woman standing on a beach, the bright blue sky and azure waters behind her, looking quite bored and desperately in need of a meal. She wore a bright white v-neck dress, clinging to the edges of her shoulders. The bodice was gathered from shoulder to the silver beaded empire waist. The chiffon and silk dropped straight down into a flowing a-line skirt.
“It’s perfect,” I said, sighing over its beauty.
Jared peered over from the end of the couch and Claire covered his eyes with her hand. “You can’t look!”
“Well, you’re going to be easy to shop for!” Lillian giggled. “Does your mother have any favorites?”
“Cynthia doesn’t…do weddings,” I said with a smirk.
Jared pulled his sister’s hand from his eyes and smiled at me. “You like that one?”
“Well, I’d have to try it on.”
“Oh my, you will look so beautiful in that dress, Nina.” Lillian said as she hugged me to her, kissing the top of my head.
“Does it go with a small white chapel on a tiny island off Nicaragua?” Jared asked.
I looked up at him, trying to keep the corners of my mouth from turning up. “I think so.”
“What?” Lillian asked, looking at Jared with a confused half-smile.
“When we went to Little Corn during Spring Break, we found a little chapel on the island. That’s where the ceremony—the very small ceremony—will be. It only seats about fifty...possibly less.”
Lillian looked at me with surprise.
Claire gasped and then laughed, her mouth formed into an ‘O’. “You are so dead, Jared!”
“A Nicaraguan island?” Lillian said softly. “Okay…we’ll make it work,” she said with a sweet smile.
“You have to take a boat to get there, Mom,” Jared added.
Lillian looked at Jared and then at me, trying to find words. “Wedding guests taking a plane to Nicaragua, and then a boat to a tiny island with huts for accommodations,” she thought aloud.
I shut the magazine as Jared walked over to his mother, patting her shoulder. “It gives us a good excuse to keep the guest list to a minimum.”
Lillian’s eyes brightened. “There’s always the reception,” she chirped, thumbing through another magazine.
Jared laughed at his mother’s unfailing optimism.
Lillian hugged me again and stood up, hooking her arm around the shoulders of her youngest son. “Bex has an early training session in the morning. Let me know if you need anything, Nina. I love you both,” she smiled.
Claire shook her head at her mother with amused affection and then looked at me. “She lives for this stuff.”
“Don’t think you’re going to get away with anything like this, young lady,” Lillian called to Claire. “Plan on a ridiculously lavish church wedding, now.”
Claire waved to her mother, and I could see her expression turn to unease as I looked down to flip through more pages of the magazine.
“What is it, Claire?” Jared asked.
“We left a few loose ends at the restaurant. Those men are loyal to Grahm, Jared.”