Southern Belles, a Novel About Love, Purpose & Second Chances (9781310340970) (45 page)

It was a beautiful warm morning with the sun
still making subtle appearances between the passing clouds. The
chairs and tables for the reception were already set up on the
front lawn, facing the river. There were people everywhere setting
up all the personal touches CeCe designed. I looked around for CeCe
or Skylar as I made my way to the Inn. Nothing—just like my
dream.

I entered the Inn and was quickly greeted
and escorted by Jillian, the wedding planner, a younger more
restrained version of Bev. I tried explaining that I needed to meet
with CeCe by ten AM but she did not seem worried. I wasn’t sure how
to react by her hastiness. She hurried me down the long corridor
and swung open a pair of doors. I looked at my watch. It was 10:15
AM.

“Your dress is in here. You have two minutes
to get it on. We need to get you down to the bride for pictures. As
soon as you’re done, I’ll take you down there. I will be standing
right outside your door.”

“Okay, I’ll be right out.” I shook my head.
Skylar must not have talked with CeCe yet. Or maybe he had and she
persuaded him to continue with the wedding. My heart felt the
weight of the last four years press down.

“You have one minute.” Jillian shouted.

“Almost done,” I said feeling shaky
again.

I zipped up the back of my dress and placed
my clothes in my bag. I dabbed on some pink lip gloss wondering if
Skylar would be there with CeCe.

“Time’s up.” The door swung open to my
surprise. “Follow me.” She turned in the opposite direction.

I followed her back down the long corridor
and stopped at the very end where she pushed open another set of
doors. This time, I saw the back of CeCe. She was alone in the room
and standing at the window, looking out. Her hair was perfectly
curled with blonde extensions, brushed up into a fancy side
pony-tail. Her dress, strapless, covered in champagne lace, with an
ornate rhinestone belt and fitted to just above the knee before it
billowed out, was breathtaking. From her profile I could see that
her left arm was crossed over her abdomen while her right elbow
rested on her left hand and her right hand covered her mouth. She
was silent and I could hear a needle drop. Jillian opened a cabinet
for my items to be placed before she walked back out of the room
closing the doors tightly shut.

“So, do you think I should I go through with
this?” I heard CeCe ask, without turning to see who was in the room
with her.

Nervously, I answered, “Do you think you
should go through with this?”

“I love him but what if there was someone
else out there?” She asked, unflinching in her question as she
remained interested in the activities outside.

“What do you mean CeCe?” I was shaking
again, wondering if she had spoken with Skylar or if she was just
testing me.

“What if I was just marrying Christian
because he’s the first good man to come along?”

“Do you love him?” I asked, feeling ill.

The door swung open again. I turned to see
who it was. Jillian was standing there with Bev.

“Charlotte dear, we need to take pictures
now.” Bev instructed.

“I’m not ready yet mother. Come back in a
few minutes please.” She said without turning around.

“Okay. We will be back in five minutes.”

“Make it ten.” CeCe demanded.

“Back in ten,” Bev said before closing the
doors.

“CeCe, why are you asking this?”

Finally, she turned around looking down
while she twisted her fingers into the curls of her pony-tail. “I
need a friend right now—no judgment please.” She started.

“Yeah, sure CeCe,” I waited for what came
next.

“Last night after you left I started talking
with Eric.” She paused glancing over my face. “It turns out that
there may just be something there—something unfinished.”

“CeCe…”

“Char, just listen.”

“Okay.” I said, sitting down.

“I know that you said Eric wasn’t the one
but I wasn’t convinced after I saw him kiss you last night. So, I
pulled up a chair and we talked for the next four and a half
hours.” She said with no identifiable expression on her face.

“And what did you find out?”

“I found out all kinds of things.” She said
turning back around towards the window.

“Like what?”

“Like he broke up with you because he said
he never truly got over me since the fifth grade.” She said with a
slight smile on her cherry red lips.

“What?”

“I’m sorry Char. I know it’s not what you
wanted to hear this morning on my wedding day.” She said, turning
back around. “I was trying to see if I could work things out
between you two. However, the more we talked I remembered what
fascinated me about him in the first place. He’s funny and sweet
and smart and shy with a dash of courage.”

I felt a strange feeling hurl up in my
belly. “What happened CeCe? What did you talk about that took you
four and a half hours?”

“Don’t get mad, Okay? Promise?”

“Okay CeCe, I promise. What happened?”

“We went down to the landing. We talked so
much that I don’t know what came over him or me but we just ended
up kissing.” She said covering her mouth.

“You kissed Eric?”

“You promised to not get mad!”

“What about Skylar?” I asked, angry that I
was walking on eggshells while she had made out with my
ex-boyfriend on the eve before her wedding day.

“That’s why I need a friend. I love him but
what if I’m rushing things just because he’s so good to me?”

“Rushing things—you think?”

“Wait—what did you say?” CeCe looked at me,
suddenly confused.

“Don’t you think you’re rushing things?”

She moved away from the window and towards
me. “No, not that—you said Skylar.”

“Don’t you think you’re rushing things with
Christian?” I said, trying to ignore that I said Skylar.

“How did you know his middle name?” She
asked in an accusatory way walking very close.

“CeCe, I tried calling you several times
last night. I needed to talk to you and I couldn’t get a hold of
you. Why wouldn’t you answer my phone calls?”

“Why are you changing the subject? How did
you know Christian’s middle name?” She asked coming within a few
feet of me.

“CeCe you are doing the typical CeCe thing
and talking just about what you want to talk about.” I answered
backing up.

“Answer me.” She said in a louder tone.

“I know lots of things CeCe.” I raised my
voice.

“Yeah, like what?”

“I know lots of things about your
fiancé.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Why do I feel like I’m
missing something here?” She asked with a quality of resentment in
her voice.

“Maybe if you answered your phone you’d know
why.”

“Really, what kinds of things do you know
about
my
fiancé?” She followed me.
“You really want to know?”

“Tell me Char!” She shouted.

“Well first of all your flower girl is his
daughter.” I said, stopping in my tracks.

“What craziness are you talking about?”

“You heard me CeCe. And now I wonder if you
didn’t know all along and was just too jealous of me and Eric to
tell me the truth about who your fiancé was.” I raised my voice
louder.

A knock at the door interrupted us before
the door swung open again. “CeCe, we need to take pictures now.”
Her mother said standing there with Jillian, a server with a
beverage tray, and five of her bridesmaids.

“Go away. We are talking right now.” CeCe
yelled, scaring all but her mother away before she went over and
closed the door on them.

“I’m not jealous of anyone.” CeCe hovered by
me.

“Really, you mean you never thought that
Christian who has a middle name of Skylar with a last name of La
Fleur which when translated to English means Flower and who has a
house in this part of the country could have been my Skylar—my Sky
Flower? You never even considered it?” I asked feeling flames
coming from every word.

“Really Char. I’m too busy to put every
single detail that you’ve ever told me into a study guide.” She
said, just inches from my face.

“Hmm, that’s very convenient for you.”

“No, I didn’t know besides he picked—he’s
marrying me.” She said, waving her finger in my face.

“That’s funny. Last night when he kissed me
and said he still loved me, he said he couldn’t marry you today.” I
said, pushing the doors back open and knocking a few handfuls of
people, behind the door, over.

CeCe’s face turned fire-engine red, “Come
back here Char!”

“I’m finding Skylar and we will sort this
out.” I said, picking up my dress and running down the hallway.

“I was not done talking. Get back here!”
CeCe yelled chasing after me as fast she could in her dress.

“Catch me if you can.” I yelled, slipping
out the back entry doorway.

“That’s not a problem I’ve always been
faster than you.”

I ran across the back lawn, passed the
ceremony chairs and massive floral arrangements, looking for
Skylar. “You have to be good at something.”

“You’ve always been jealous of me and you
know it.” CeCe ran after me catching up quickly.

I scanned the grounds and saw no sign of
Skylar. I looked back over at the Inn and saw about twenty people
peering through the windows at CeCe and I. “I am not jealous of you
CeCe.”

“I’ve always had the cars, the friends, and
the boyfriends you’ve wanted.” She said, closing in.

I doubled back around passing in front of
the pond still scanning for Skylar anywhere. “You’re ridiculous and
so narcissistic CeCe! I don’t want your life.”

“Just my men.” She said in arm’s reach.

“How many men do you have to have?” I asked,
before feeling my head jerk back quickly stopping the momentum of
my forward motion just steps from the pond.

“They choose me.” She said, grabbing my
hair.

“Ouch CeCe! Let go of my hair!” I said,
whirling around.

“Take back what you said first! This is my
wedding day and you’ve ruined it.”

“You ruined it all by yourself!” I said,
pushing her forward while trying to release her hand from my
hair.

“You…” She pushed back as I grabbed her hand
to keep from falling backwards in the pond.

“I’m falling!” I said, feeling my body
tumbling back with CeCe falling on top of me before we landed in
the muddy pond.

“You! You ruined my wedding day!” CeCe cried
as she found her bearings and stood up covered in mud and
algae.

“You kissed another man the night before
your wedding.” I screamed just as Skylar and Eric approached
us.

Skylar looked at Eric with a slight frown.
Eric bobbed his head to the side.

“You kissed my fiancé!” She retorted.

Eric looked at Skylar with the same
questionable look and grinned.

I looked at Eric and found the courage to
smile back before I glanced over at Skylar.

“What are you girls doing?” Skylar asked,
eyeing CeCe and I.

I stood up quickly, slipping on more mud
before falling back down into the pond as CeCe cackled.

“Oh you think that’s funny?” I said, pulling
on the back of her dress causing her to become a leaning tower of
mud, sliding back down into the pond beside me.

“Charlotte!” She hollered.

I picked up a handful of mud and threw it at
her pretty face. The guys backed away from the pond. Stunned and
angry, CeCe picked up two handfuls of mud and threw them like a
fast-pitched baseball at my head.

“You’re like a pig in the mud.” CeCe
screeched.

“Ouch!” I screamed picking up more mud to
chuck at her. “Maybe the mud will help cover up your blemishes, you
definitely don’t look like a southern belle.

“You are crazy!” CeCe yelled as she rushed
at me.

Realizing that a woman scorned, a southern
woman no less, on her wedding day was one of the most powerful
machines known to human kind, I backed up as fast as I could but it
was no use. She caught my leg and dragged it upwards causing me to
get mouthfuls of algae scum and mud in my eyes, ears, and nose. I
found a footing and gained my stature back—grabbing her waist—like
one of the wrestling moves my brother Edward showed me years ago. I
leaned all my weight into her, knocking her down. We wrestled
another few minutes while Eric and Skylar took a seat on the grass
nearby. They were smart enough to not get pulled into the murky
mess. CeCe and I were locked up neck and neck covered in grime from
head to toe. I squeezed tightly around CeCe’s neck.

“Okay, you win.” CeCe pleaded. “Get your
monkey arms off me.”

“Say it one more time.”

“You win.” CeCe said louder. “Now let me
go.”

“Okay.” I said, letting go of her before she
reached around and pulled me under the water as she quickly moved
out of my way.

I came up out of the water to see her break
into laughter. I looked at her and laughed too. We stood there for
a minute, filthy, and water-logged. Her face softened. I began to
feel the tears rush back.

“You’re a mess.” I laughed.

“You ruined my wedding day.” CeCe stopped
smiling.

“I’m kind of sorry I ruined your day.”

“It’s about time you apologized.” She said
seriously before, her lips curled into a sideways smile. “I’m sorry
too—I really didn’t know that he was your Skylar.”

“When I didn’t hear from you for five months
last year, my heart broke. I know what it’s like to not have you in
my life and I don’t want to live without you ever again and I don’t
want to live without Skylar.” I said, walking over to CeCe.

“I love you Char.”

“I love you Cecilia Kathryn Crawford.”

We met in the mud and stood motionless for a
moment. I reached for her and she threw her arms around me.

“What are we going to do?”

“We are going to stop making the mistakes
that we can avoid.” She said with her head bent around my neck.