Devotion: The Beauty in Between (Beautiful Series book 4.5) (5 page)

“Oh, that is just gorgeous,” I hear my mother say from my phone.

I smile. “It is, isn’t it?” I look around at the faces of my closest friends and see the agreement on their features.

“Try it on,” Paige urges me.

The attendant takes the dress from Lisa’s grasp and hangs it in the dressing room for me as I follow behind her and remove the dress I have on as she helps me into the new one.

“Almost a perfect fit,” she comments as she zips me up. I smooth my hands over the wide skirt and look at myself in the mirror. “If you think it’s too much but like the style, we have the same where the applique flowers
are white and there’s a silk purple belt that goes with it instead.”

I shake my head. “I like this. It’s classic but with a little ‘me’ thrown in the mix,” I tell her
.

She nods, then opens the curtain so I can show everyone else.

“That’s the one,” Stephanie says immediately.

“That is just
stunning,” exclaims my mother while the others all make their own comments in agreement.

“It’s perfect, isn’t it?” I agree, looking at myself in the floor to ceiling mirrors in the main area.

“So that’s it then – the Enzoani is ‘the one’?” the attendant asks with a smile.

I nod. “Definitely. This is
‘the one’.” I turn around and look to everyone else. “Did you check out the bridesmaids dresses yet?”

“We did,” Lisa says. “And we all really like t
his one.” She moves over to another rack and pulls out a lamé woven cocktail length dress. Underneath is a purple silk slip that is covered with a sheer black lace. There is beading and fine edge work around the v-neck and the hem. A strip of tulle ties it at the waist and all up, it looks very contemporary and elegant all at the same time.

“I love it. I want one to wear on stage at the next concert,” I comment, reaching out to touch it
lightly. “They’ll look gorgeous on all of you.”

“We don’t have all the sizes here. But we can definitely order them in and have them properly fitted within the week if we put a rush on it,” the attendant says. 

I take another look at the wedding dress in the mirror. “This was a lot easier than I thought it would be,” I comment.

“Purple is very ‘in’ right now. You cho
se a good time to get married,” the attendant informs me as she moves around taking the measurements of each bridesmaid.

I can’t stop smiling as I look around the room. It’s starting to feel like this was all meant to be.

“But what about the black lace? Isn’t black bad luck at a wedding?” Stephanie points out about the bridesmaid dresses.

“I don’t believe in that shit, Steph. Besides, we’ll need someone with a little black to match Mrs Bailey,” I reply.

“Hey, no mention of Cruella DeVille today, ok?” Lisa says.

“
Cruella DeVille - is that what you call her?” I laugh.

Lisa smiles and nods
, then holds her finger to her lips in a shushing motion. “Don’t tell anyone though. I even have the theme song as her ringtone,” she tells me with a wink.

“Bullshit,” I laugh. “What are you going to do if she hears it?”

“She won’t hear it. You don’t call people when you’re in the same room as them.” She shrugs, reaching out to touch one of the purple applique flowers on my dress. “This dress is absolutely stunning by the way,” she says.

I reach out and hug her
suddenly, causing her to freeze a little in surprise before relaxing in my arms. “Thank you for all of this. It really means a lot to me.”

When we pull away, she’s wiping at her eye and waving me off like it’s no big deal. “It’s nothing. Just go and get out of that dress
. We have a meeting with the wedding planner after this.”

Pressing my lips together, I smile at her and nod before turning to Stephanie and taking my phone from her so I can say goodbye to my mother before I get changed.

“I can’t wait to get home. You’re father is really looking forward to walking his little girl down the aisle,” she tells me before we say our goodbyes, and I return to the change room to get dressed again before heading to the wedding planner with Lisa for what is supposed to be a very exciting afternoon…

“I’m sorry.
Even with the list of locations you gave me, we just can’t organise it that soon,” Gail Warner, the wedding planner Marcus has hired for us says.

“What do you mean you can’t do it?” Lisa demands. “You were told that this was
to be held within a month when you were hired.”

“
I understand that. But, looking over this guest list, there isn’t a single venue in Sydney that can cater to a wedding this size at such short notice.”

“Then pick a venue interstate,” I blurt out, getting caught up in the urgency of it all. “We have all the legalities taken care of. We just need a venue.”

“So we’re talking ‘destination wedding’ now?” Gail asks as she taps at the keyboard of her laptop furiously. Her head shakes slowly from side to side as she purses her red lips and flicks her finger over the scrolling wheel of her mouse. “There!” she says suddenly. “There’s one place in Queensland. But it’s hurricane season up there. You could end up having the whole wedding evacuated.”

Lisa immediately pulls out her iPhone and starts going through the extended weather forecasts for
tropical Queensland. “This site lists the forecast for a month in advance. There’s just stinking hot weather up there at the moment,” she states.

“Weather forecasts are hardly accurate. But if you’re willing to
take the risk then I’ll book it now.”

Lisa and I exchange glances and at the same time
, we say, “Book it.”

“Ok,” Gail smiles. “I’ll book it today and get all of these invitations printed and mailed express by tomorrow.
I’ll also work through this list you’ve given me and see what we can and can’t do in time. You may have to make a few concessions. But I think, if we can get on this ASAP then we can definitely get this done in time.”

We spend a bit more time working over the details of a destination wedding and leave with a list of things that we’ll need to give Gail by th
e end of the week, such as music choices, food choices and our chosen cake flavour (the cake is a no brainer – I want chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate).

By the time I get home, I’m exhausted
, and I still have to find the energy to practice our set list with the band. When I get home, I drag my way through the door to our garage studio and collapse onto the barstool that sits near my practice amp.

“Hey,” Jack says from next to the drum kit where he’s talking to our drummer, Rob. He waves ‘hi’ too. I half smile and wave back.

“How’s it
goin’ Nomes,” Lachlan asks, looking up briefly as he plucks at his bass.

“Alright,” I reply. “This wedding stuff is exhausting though. Did you guys sort out your tux
es today?” I ask as I open my violin case and pull out my fiddle.

“Yep. Theo just had to stop off at some jeweller about your rings. He said to start without him if he wasn’t back by the time you got here.”

I raise my hand to stifle a yawn as I nod, knowing he wasn’t back yet from the text he’d sent me earlier. “I’ll cue up the backing track,” I tell them. “So what kind of suits did you get?”

“
No way,” Jack says with a shake of his head and a crossing motion of his arms. “I don’t even know what the fucking protocol is, but I’m not going to be the one who causes you bad luck by blabbing about shit like that.”

I grin. “
Not that I believe in that stuff, but it’s supposedly bad luck for the groom to see the dress. Not for the bride to see the tuxedos or suits or whatever.”

Lachlan presses his lips together. “
Hmmmm. I’m not sure about that. But just know that he chose something that will make you happy.”

“Yeah,” Jack adds. “And also know, that it doesn’t make me happy at all.”

“It’s not that bad. I like them,” Lachlan retorts.

“They’re
suits
, Lach,” Jack points out, and I can’t help but smile. I’ve never seen Jack in anything other than jeans and a t-shirt since I’ve known him. “But for you Nomes, I’m willing to look like an uptight twat.”

“
Awwww, Jack!” I grin, walking over to him and wrapping my arms as far around his neck as I can reach on my tiptoes.

“Hey you two
– no canoodling while I’m not around,” Theo says from the doorway as he walks in with Marcus right behind him.

“Hey guys,” Marcus says.

“So, how was your day?” I ask Theo eagerly.

He grins. “Good. We sorted out our suits
and
I found these awesome rings for us.”

“You chose the rings without me?” I ask, suddenly feeling a little nervous.

He notices and laughs. “Hey, trust me. You’ll love them,” he assures me with a wink.

Marcus nods in agreement. “You will. They’re awesome.”

With that, Marcus says a quick goodbye and leaves us to our practice. The band works on the set list for our upcoming tour until it’s almost midnight, stopping only for a quick meal before getting right back to work.

When we finally crawl into bed, we’re both
beat. “This wedding and tour business is really wreaking havoc with our sex life,” I say, cuddling into Theo’s side as I lightly trace the details of the tattoo that covers his ribs. It features the music of the first song we wrote together. The song used to be unfinished and the tattoo ended in flames. But after we wrote the rest of the song, he’s had the tattoo altered with the rest of the music, and the lyrics to the song. And now the flames are covered with a guitar, a violin, and piano keys.

He runs his fingers up and down my back gently. “I’m happy to lay here and get hard if you
have the energy to ride,” he jokes, turning his head to press a kiss against my forehead.

“No,” I murmur, my body feeling heavy as I lay against him. “I’m happy right here.”

“Me too,” he whispers. “Sweet dreams, babe.”

“Sweet dreams,” I
think I reply. Although, I’m not so sure because before I know it, I’ve drifted off to sleep, dreaming about a wedding I can’t seem to get to.

When I open my eyes the next morning, it’s to a room filled with light and an empty bed. Slowly, I sit up, taking note of the time on the retro clock beside the bed.
I watch as one of the black and white numbers flips over to count a new minute – 8:23.

Swinging my legs out
from under the sheet, I run my hands over my face and through my hair. The house is already feeling slightly warm. The heat of summer is definitely upon us.

After visiting the bathroom and washing up
, I walk through the house, enjoying the coolness of the floorboards beneath my feet. The faint smell of coffee floats past my nose so I know that Theo can’t have been up for too long. He’s most likely in the studio at the piano or on his guitar.

I head over to the door that joins the house to the studio and turn the knob. Locked. My brow furrows. This door is never locked
.

Raising my hand, I knock. “Theo,” I call out, pressing my mouth close to the door jam so he can hear me. The studio is mostly sound proofed, but
we never soundproofed this door so we could hear knocking.

I only have to wait for a moment
before Theo appears at the door and slides out of there, without letting me see inside.

He grins at me
, looking very pleased with himself as he blocks the door with his body, obviously hiding something.

“What’s going on
?” I ask slowly, narrowing my eyes at him as he tries to look nonchalant.

“Nothing,” he replies immediately
. Although he’s smiling, so I don’t believe him at all.

I step back and place my hands on my hips. “Were you wanking in there?”

A laugh erupts out of his chest. “No babe, I was not in there jacking off. I was in there working on something for you. Something I don’t want you to see yet.”

I clap my hands together and bounce on my toes. “A surprise! I love surprises! Ok. Don’t tell me. I won’t ask a thing,” I say, passing my hand over my lips and twisting my fingers like I’m locking it with a key
, before I wrap my arms around his chest and lean up to kiss his chin (which is the only part of him I can reach when I have no shoes on).

“
Alright, now piss off. I’ve got shit to do in here,” he jokes, giving me a light pat on the arse as I turn around to head into the kitchen to get something to eat.

“You want
a coffee with me before you go back in there, or are you too in the moment?”

“I’m in the moment. But I’ll be out soon. I promise you’ll love it babe.”

“I don’t have a doubt in my mind.”

***