Wedding Haters (Event to Remember Series-Book 2) (22 page)

Ace is inviting everyone
to Venice tonight. Let me know if you can come, 7pm.

I send her a text her back that we will be
there for sure. I really should be packing for Hawaii, but I love
Venice and we always get the best service when we go with Ace
because one of his family members is the head chef. I call Cole and
tell him about our plans.

A few hours later, we are all at Venice. The
band is playing, and we are passing around baby Ace. I’m happily
playing with him when Abby tells Cole and I that we are up next to
have a baby. I’m not surprised she has already started in with
this. Abby got pregnant with baby Ace shortly after they were
married, and I’m expecting a call any day that she is pregnant with
Ace’s little brother or sister.

“Seriously, Abby, we’ve only been married for
three days; there will be no babies any time soon,” I say
firmly.

“Amen to that!” Cole agrees.

We’re having such a fun time. I look around
the table at my wonderful friends, and I remind myself that
families aren’t always biological. Thank goodness.

I go with Abby to the restroom to change the
baby. The restroom is huge and the counter is full of makeup,
lotions, and even disposable toothbrushes. This place is as much
fun as the restaurant.

While we are in the restroom, another
familiar face joins us. It’s Elizabeth, one of the owners from my
wedding venue and Carrie’s friend. At first, she pretends that she
doesn’t recognize me.

“Don’t I know you?” she asks even though she
knows exactly who I am.

“Yes, you do. My wedding was just at your
hotel a few nights ago.” I roll my eyes. Abby is busy with the
baby, but she is obviously listening to our conversation.

“Oh, that’s right. I kicked you out of my
home a few years ago,” she says with the same smug expression she
had the other night. “Everything went well with the wedding, I’m
assuming?”

“It sure did thanks to my awesome wedding
planner.” She doesn’t respond to me complimenting Sienna. I start
to smell some of the designer perfumes they have on display, and
Elizabeth is doing the same thing.

“I’m glad to hear it. I guess it was a good
thing those documents got lost so you had to change venues.”

I stop smelling perfumes and look at her.
“How do you know that’s what happened?” I ask. Abby gets the baby
changed and joins me.

Elizabeth starts to look very
uncomfortable.

“My party is waiting for me, so if you will
excuse me.” She starts to walk away when I grab her arm.

“Wait. How did you know that happened?” I
repeat. She starts to squirm, and I can tell she’s trying to think
of an excuse.

“Sienna told us when she called to book your
event, and I suggest you let go of my arm or I will call security,”
she says quickly and pulls her arm away.

Abby and I look at each other. I can’t
believe it; this was all Carrie. She was behind the whole thing.
This whole thing was about ruining Sienna’s credibility and not
about me at all.

“So, Carrie was behind all of it after all?
Don’t try to lie your way out of it.”

“You think Carrie really cares about your
silly little wedding?” she gives a smirk. “This is business. The
three of us bought this resort, and we will make it a huge success
no matter what it takes.”

“Three of you?” Abby asks.

Elizabeth gives a wicked smile. “Yes. Me,
Carrie, and our new partner, Stephanie Smith of AMC
Architects.”

What?

She doesn’t say another word and leaves. Abby
and I stand there, speechless. The only sound is baby Ace,
cooing.

“Madie.”

“I know.” I shake my head. This must be what
going into shock feels like.

So the whole time I thought everything was
Ellie’s fault, it was Stephy. But how? What are the chances that
Stephy knows Carrie? I’m trying to wrap my brain around this new
information.

“You OK?” Abby asks.

“Yes, I am. I mean I’m married now, and it
all worked out in the end. Wow, let’s go break the news to Sienna.”
We head back to our table. At least now, I can reassure Sienna that
none of this was her fault. She didn’t make any mistakes.

“We thought you guys fell in,” Cole says when
we return.

Abby and I explain what happened with
Elizabeth to Sienna and the guys. Sienna’s eyes get huge, but then
she admits she’s not that surprised.

“I should have known, especially with how
Carrie was acting at the wedding.” She shakes her head. “Madie,
Cole, I’m so sorry; this was because of me all along.”

“You don’t need to apologize. We really don’t
know the full story. We don’t know if this is all because of Carrie
or Stephy. In the end, it all worked out fine, and our wedding was
wonderful.” I wrap my arm around her.

I wonder if Ellie knew about this all along.
She really had me convinced that she was sincerely trying. I feel
like a complete idiot, and now I don’t know what to believe.

The rest of the night is really fun despite
the turn of events in the restroom. On a positive note, I really
think that things are finally progressing for Sienna and Ace. He
got up to take a work phone call, and she grabbed his hand before
he walked away. Abby looks at me with exhilaration in her eyes.

When Cole and I get home, we light a fire in
our new fireplace and curl up on the couch. I’m still preoccupied
with the Carrie-Stephy-wedding thing. I have this nagging feeling
that I have to make a few phone calls tomorrow. I tell Cole how I’m
feeling.

“Don’t you think it would be better to just
move forward?” he asks. “Maybe it’s better not to bring up old
stuff.”

“It’s not old stuff; it all just happened.”
Ugh, men!

“Fine. But can we just forget about it? At
least for tonight?” He starts rubbing my back underneath my shirt.
I hit him.

He’s right. I will deal with it tomorrow.

The next day I’m bouncing off the wall with
excitement. The countdown is on, and we leave in eight hours for
Hawaii. I spend most of the morning unpacking boxes and packing
suitcases. Cole and his dad have been hanging pictures and
organizing the garage while Susan has unpacked my kitchen and made
it “user-friendly.” I didn’t know a kitchen could be user-friendly,
but I guess it can. Pots and pans near the oven and dishes near the
sink. I never thought about any of this before. I also send Marie
Peterson an email letting her know that I would be very interested
in having my cookies featured in her bakery.

I tell Susan about what happened at Venice
and how we found out that Carrie and Stephy were the ones behind
the Four Season’s cancellation. I tell her how confused I feel
about my cousins and how I don’t know what to believe.

“Goodness. You were right all along?”

“Maybe? I mean, I accused Ellie and she swore
up and down that she was innocent. She never mentioned Stephy.” I
leave my mother-in-law to continue to unpack my stuff (How lucky am
I?) and go to make my phone call.

“”Ellenor Smith.”

“Hi, Ellie. It’s Madie. Sorry to bother you
at work.”

“It’s fine. Did you talk to Sienna about my
wedding?” she asks eagerly.

Crap! I forgot that she might ask me about
that.

“I did. She says she will have to check her
schedule; she’s pretty busy right now. But that’s not why I’m
calling. I, um, I want to ask you something.” I decide to go about
this in a different manner than I did the first time around.

She’s completely silent, so I cut to the
chase.

“Did you know that Stephy has a new business
endeavor?” I ask.

She doesn’t say anything.

“And did you know that she also happens to be
new partners with Carrie Anderstone and Elizabeth, um . . .” Crap,
I can’t remember her last name.

She still doesn’t say anything.

“And did you know that they also happened to
be behind my Four Seasons wedding falling through?”

Silence.

“Ellie, are you still there?”

“Yes, I’m here,” she answers. “Madie, I told
you the truth when I said I didn’t have anything to do with
that.”

“OK, but what about Stephy?”

She doesn’t say anything at first. “I knew
she was partnering up with Elizabeth. They have known each other
for a while, but I had no idea about Carrie and that connection
until recently.” She pauses. “Believe me, I’m not happy about this
either, especially with Luke and Carrie’s history.”

Oh yeah. Totally forgot about that.

“Stephy has changed a lot over the past year
or so. Everyone thinks she’s so nice and innocent. She has everyone
fooled, even I feel like I don’t know her anymore.”

What’s this? Tension between these two?

“So, did Stephy do all of this on purpose?” I
ask.

“Honestly, I don’t know. I asked her, but she
denies it. I really think it was both of them, meaning Carrie and
Stephy.”

“Hmm.” That makes sense.

“I wanted to tell you the other day, but . .
. well, things have been getting better, and I didn’t know how to
do it.”

When I hang up the phone, I feel relieved
despite this new realization. Shockingly, that has to be one of the
best, if not the best, conversations I have ever had with Ellie. I
feel like we were real—no pretending or trying to force a
conversation. I don’t think we will be best friends any time soon,
but I think that in time our relationship will be better than it
has been. I know I need to confront Stephy and get to the bottom of
all of this, but maybe now is not the time, and it’s not going to
change anything. I’m so proud of how much I have grown up. I’m a
few hours away from my dream honeymoon with my husband. I will
focus on that after I make one more phone call.

“Hello, Grandmother. It’s Madison.”
Grandmother has always expected us to speak well and politely when
on the phone.

“Madison, I thought you were traveling to
Hawaii?”

“Yes, we are; we leave in a few hours.”

She spends the next several minutes reminding
me of airport safety and washing my hands after touching
everything. Sometimes I thinks she forgets that I’m not a little
girl anymore.

I interrupt Grandmother and tell her that I
just had a good conversation with Ellie, conveniently leaving out
the Stephy situation. (Really, what’s the point?)

“I just wanted you to know that I’m trying
and hopefully this will be a new beginning for us,” I say.

“Thank you, dear. That makes me happier than
you will ever know.” Her voice cracks.

“I also wanted to thank you again for the
gorgeous bracelet. I promise you that I will treasure and take very
special care of it.”

Before I get off the phone, I tell her I love
her.

“I love you, too, my dear, very much,” she
says before she hangs up the phone.

I don’t move for a few minutes. I look around
my new home, and I’m reminded of how blessed I am. No matter what
the future holds with my cousins, we are family and we always will
be. I’m no longer that little girl who feels left out. I’m a
married woman with two successful careers and wonderful
friends.

“Everything OK, babe?” Cole asks when he
joins me in the room.

“Yes, everything is good! Let’s go to
Hawaii!”

“That’s what I’ve been saying all along,” he
says, wrapping his arms around me.

Epilogue

Our honeymoon was everything we expected and
more. Cole even surprised me with a private little wedding ceremony
on the beach. So in the end, he did get his wish, and we even
danced alone on the white sand as we had envisioned.

When we arrived home from Hawaii, I was
surprised to receive a message from Bev who asked me to do a small
cookie display for her Christmas rush. I guess she heard that
Sugar*Sugar*Sugar had contacted me to do a feature, and apparently
Bev and Marie are frenemies. So with the holidays around the corner
Cookies by Madie is going to be very busy. I still haven’t come up
with that new cute and clever name for the business, so for now I
guess Cookies by Madie will have to do.

After several attempts, I finally did
confront Stephy. She insisted that it was all Carrie, and she
claims that she was not involved in anything having to do with my
wedding. I told her that I didn’t believe her, and she told me she
would never come back to my salon again. Not that I care. I haven’t
spoken with her since, and according to Ellie, she’s “devastated”
that I don’t believe her. I know Ellie doesn’t believe her either,
but she hasn’t come out and said it. I’ve come to accept that there
will always be haters in life (even in families), but it’s just
best to rise above them and be the better person.

Ellie and Luke decided to go with a different
event planner, and Sienna is relieved that she’s making another
planner miserable. Ellie is a horrible bridezilla, much worse than
I ever was. Much to my surprise, she asked me to be a bridesmaid,
to which I accepted. Of course, we are all wearing matching
dresses. Even after everything that happened with Stephy, she
actually dated Jeff for about five minutes but ditched him at
another event she attended. Poor Jeff says he refuses to date
anyone else related to me. Go figure, Cole wants me to set him up
with Caycee from my salon. I’m trying very hard to get out of that
one.

Sheer Happiness is still in business and
business is booming. The rumors that were circulating have come to
a sudden stop. Sienna is convinced that Carrie was behind that, and
after everything that has happened, I don’t disagree. Sienna and
her team are successfully planning the Grazian’s wedding, which
will end up being the social event of the year and is going to be
held at the Four Seasons. Craig is planning his own luau for his
thirtieth birthday and is planning on having the fire dancers for
the entertainment.

Sienna is busier than ever and happier than
ever. She and Ace have “officially” become a couple. Abby and I are
expecting an engagement announcement any day. Of course, we haven’t
told Sienna this yet, but we know she is expecting it also. To
Sienna’s delight, Allyson was moved back to the Scotland.
Apparently, Ace said she was too high maintenance and had her
transferred back. I’m pretty sure Sienna had something to do with
that.