For your something old—your grandmother’s lace handkerchief. Your mother was gracious enough to pass this down to you, with the intention that we will one day pass it on to Maddie on her wedding day.”
Leah handed me the lace handkerchief I’d always seen laying in my mother’s cedar chest when I was growing up. I’d never been allowed to touch it, knowing it was delicate and old. I tried to hold back the tears as I felt it in my grasp for the first time. I glanced up and found my mom. She had the same teary eyed expression on her face, and I met her halfway, jumping from the chair to fall into her arms.
“I love you, sweetheart.”
“I love you, too, Mama.”
“Love that man with everything you have, for as long as you have, baby girl.”
“I will, Mama.”
With my handkerchief clutched between my fingers, I settled back into my chair and braced for whatever else Logan had in store for me.
“Are you ready?” Leah asked, and I just nodded.
“For your something new, I didn’t need any assistance at all. I had everything I needed, because your something new is me! So, you’ll have to wait until later to put me on. Our love is still young and new, and I will spend every day of my life making sure the love we feel for each other when we take our vows not only is the same but only grows stronger and deeper.”
I laughed, and shook my head.
“Goofball,” Leah said as we all laughed.
“Sweet goofball.”
“For your something borrowed, I asked my mother to help out. As you know, my mother used to be quite the hoarder of labels and anything designer. But, when she met Richard, she gave it all up, keeping only a few things that had sentimental value to her. The pearl earrings she is lending you today is one of those pieces.”
Cece came forward then and handed me a box.
“These were handed down to me by my mother, and were always very special to me. It would be an honor if you wore them on the day you married my son.”
I simply nodded, the lump in my throat now reaching epic proportions. I wasn’t going to survive the day. I really hoped whatever makeup Leah put on me was hurricane proof because I saw a lot of tears in my future.
She opened the box and enclosed where a beautiful set of pearl earring that matched my gown beautifully.
“Thank you, Cece,” I said.
“From today on, you call me Mom.”
We came together in a hug and silently thanked the man who had tamed the untamable woman and given Logan his mother back.
“Okay, Leah…how much more? I don’t know if my makeup can handle more.”
“Your makeup is just fine, and I will be there to touch it up if needed, so calm down. There’s just one more thing and I think you’re going to like it,” she said with a wicked grin.
“For your something blue, I considered doing the blue garter thing, which is both traditional and sexy, but then I decided to take it one step further. So, I went shopping, and forgive me….my one step further went a little crazy. But picturing you in blue on our wedding night kind of drove me insane. Enjoy, and I’ll see you soon. I love you, Logan.”
I gave Leah a look, and asked, “Do I need to send my mother out of the room?”
“Oh please, Sweetheart. Like I didn’t know why you two were late last night,” my mother said with a flick of the wrist.
“Oh my God, I’m going to go in the corner and die now,” I said, as Leah muffled a laugh.
“Oh, come on. It’s only lingerie. It’s not like your mom hasn’t owned a thong or two,” Leah said.
I gave her a hard look and motioned over to Maddie who was busy reading a book on the floor, completely oblivious to our conversation. Thank God.
“First of all—Maddie is right there. Second of all—gross.”
“You know, you always use Maddie as an excuse, but ninety percent of the time, she’s never paying attention when I’m talking, so it’s a really lame excuse.”
I opened my mouth to offer a rebuttal, but she was actually right. How did that happen? I wonder if Leah was more observant than I thought. Nah.
“So, let’s see this lingerie!” Cece exclaimed and I tried not to think about the fact my mother and soon-to-be mother in law were getting excited over my wedding night lingerie.
Leah pulled out an elegantly wrapped package and waited and watched as I unwrapped it.
“Oh, hurry the hell up, Clare!” she huffed as I carefully opened the gift.
“The wrapping paper is pretty!”
“And you’re going to take it home with you?” she asked.
“Well, no…”
“So, then…hurry! Otherwise, you’re going to be late for your own wedding!”
“Okay, okay!”
I hurried up and had the box opened and was face to face with the most gorgeous undergarments I’d ever seen.
“These did not come from Victoria’s Secret,” I said.
“No. No, they did not,” was all Leah could manage. I think I heard Ella say holy shit under her breath at the same time.
There must have been thousands of dollars of lingerie in there. A beautiful dark blue satin and lace corset with a matching blue thong lay amongst layers of tissue paper. White stockings with little blue bows and, of course, a blue garter was also in there.
“You know what this means?” Leah said.
“My fiancé has a shopping problem?”
“Nope, we’ve got to strip you down again and get you all sexified.”
Awesome…putting on the lingerie I will wear on my wedding night…with my mom and new mother-in-law.
Great way to bond.
Chapter Nine
~Logan~
I was quickly discovering that being the groom on the day of a wedding was vastly different than being the bride. As Clare was being primped and pampered, going from appointment to appointment doing whatever it was that women did for these types of things, I was sitting in the bar with the guys.
“We really should have planned this day out a bit better,” Colin said, taking a swig from his half empty beer.
“When I woke up this morning and realized I had an entire day with nothing to do, I thought we had it made. But dude, this is f**king boring. I’d rather be golfing.”
I hated golfing. It was what rich people did to appear outdoorsy, and I’d been around it my entire life. My father was a huge golfer, and I had spent many summers caged up in a golf cart following him around while he tried to explain the virtues of the game.