“This is amazing, Valerie.” Isabel stood in front of it, admiring it.
Sarah pulled away to look at it again. “I want it at the wedding tomorrow. It’s perfect. This brings back all the memories of when we first fell in love. Angel’s gonna love it, Val. Thank you so much.”
Valerie couldn’t help feel warmed by her sincere gratitude. But she hadn’t expected this. Here she’d been so nervous about showing anyone, and now the painting would be on display in front of hundreds of people. Her insides turned as the reality of it hit her. Everyone she knew would see her work now. She tried to think of a way out of it but Sarah looked so excited she didn’t have the heart. Damn.
CHAPTER 24
The Wedding
Alex watched Valerie get dressed after getting back from the salon where she’d done her hair, and he still couldn’t get over how amazing she looked in her bridesmaids gown.
The color scheme Sarah picked was chocolate brown and beige. With the exception of Valerie, the bridesmaids’ and even the mothers’ gowns were dark brown accentuated with some beige. Valerie’s long gown was a solid brown. Her big beautiful dark eyes looked even bigger and brighter.
The entire wedding party now stood just outside the back entrance of the church waiting for the signal to enter. Alex glanced at the limousine parked just out front. Sarah had yet to make an appearance. She hid behind darkly tinted windows. Alex wondered if Valerie would want all of this someday. She’s never mentioned what kind of wedding she’d want, even hypothetically. Maybe because he’d come across as so damn commitment-phobic for so long she was afraid any talk of weddings would completely scare him off.
The organ began to play inside the church. That was the signal. Alex took a quick inventory of his surroundings. The thought of that animal doing anything to disrupt the wedding made him clench his teeth.
Luna, Sarah’s mom, tapped his arm. “Are you nervous?”
Alex smiled down at her. “Not at all.” He held his arm for her, and she wrapped her hand around it. He’d be escorting her in since she was single. Sarah had never met her father. Her childhood best friend’s dad, the only father figure Sarah had ever known, would be giving her away. They’d driven in from Arizona just for the occasion.
The wedding party began walking in one couple at a time. Alex hadn’t really expected everyone on the guest list to show up. There were just too many, but from the looks of the packed church, they’d all made it.
By the time he made it to the front of the church, he could see the nerves had finally gotten to Angel. He stood with Romero and Eric on either side, stone faced. Alex was sure it had nothing to do with the fact that his brother was about to take the biggest plunge of his life. The amount of people packed in the church and the possibility of him screwing something up during the ceremony was likely the reason.
His parents, the last to enter before Sarah would make her entrance, reached the front. The organist started the intro to “Here Comes the Bride” quite dramatically. Everybody in the church stood and all eyes were on the back door.
And then, there she was. His mother mentioned that every bride looked beautiful on her wedding day. She’d hit it on the nail—Sarah was breathtaking. Alex glanced at his brother. Angel stood there with his eyes glued to her in complete awe. If Alex didn’t know any better, he’d think Angel might cry.
Alex brought his fist to his mouth, smiling. That sap never had a chance. From the moment he’d met Sarah way back in high school, he was a goner. If things had been any different, Alex might’ve talked him into waiting a little longer, live a little before getting married. But it was obvious that to Angel, his life couldn’t get any better than when he was with Sarah.
That made him wince. It wouldn’t be fun, but he had to eventually give Angel the heads up about Bruce mentioning Sarah by name. No matter how unpleasant that would be, he needed to make sure Angel was on alert.
When it came time for Sarah and Angel to read their vows, Alex glanced at Valerie. She watched them intently, obviously moved by their words. Someday, and the sooner the better, they’d be exchanging the same vows. It didn’t matter if it was in a packed church or a courtroom in front of a judge. All that mattered is that it be official. Maybe it was all this wedding business, but for some reason, making Valerie his wife had suddenly neared the top of his priority list, second only to getting the psycho locked up.
After the ceremony, the entire wedding party—minus the newly married couple—climbed into a limo and headed to the local state park, Mount Soledad. Hours later and a million photos taken by the annoyingly energetic photographers, they were finally free to get back in the limo and start the party.
They toasted with champagne and blasted the music. Sofia and Valerie even stuck their heads out the sunroof. They were back in within seconds, immediately realizing the damage the wind had caused their very expensive hairdos. They seemed upset at first, then burst into laughter. Alex was glad, since there was no way he was going to hold it in. He and the other guys were already laughing.
Back at the restaurant, it was another waiting game like the one outside the church. The host lined them up again just outside the upstairs banquet room. They would queue up the music and introduce the wedding party as they walked in. This was way too much formality for Alex’s taste. He’d give Valerie whatever she wanted, but he was keeping his fingers crossed this wasn’t it.
Abba’ s “I do, I do, I do,” started up and they began filing in as the host introduced them. Once the entire wedding party was at the head table, the lights dimmed and the music changed to Barry White’s, “My First, My Last, My Everything.”