Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 78340 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78340 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
“Great. And…why?”
“To ward off any more bad luck, obviously.”
He chuckled and pointed out, “I’m pretty sure that ritual doesn’t usually involve a jar of seasoning.”
“Yeah, but we’re a resourceful bunch around here.”
He kissed me, and then he grinned as he said, “I’m so glad I came over early.”
It kept raining all afternoon. Meanwhile, the power company’s estimate for when the electricity would come back was eleven o’clock that night. It didn’t make a difference though, because this wedding was going to be beautiful no matter what.
Lark and Dylan returned with armloads of umbrellas in bright colors, along with a bunch of decorative lanterns and every strand of battery-operated twinkle lights they could find. “Even though we’re not team light it up, we figured more is more,” Lark said, as he and his boyfriend began unpacking their purchases.
Kel and Eliot came home soon after with Kel’s boyfriend Hudson, as well as Kel’s friend and business partner Noah. Their team was hauling more lanterns and big boxes of flameless candles.
We all went to work lighting everything up and making pretty displays around the living room, kitchen, and backyard. Then Lark set up a table just inside the back door and stacked it with the umbrellas, so guests could take one as they headed outside for the ceremony.
He’d taped slim, super bright mini flashlights to the shaft of each umbrella, pointing up toward the spokes. “I don’t quite understand the flashlights,” I said. “I know it’s really gray and overcast, but it’s not actually going to be dark out during the ceremony.”
Lark grinned and told me, “Just wait. My genius idea will soon be revealed.”
Meanwhile, a little troubleshooting had to be done with the dinner buffet. Fortunately, the reception was being catered by River and Cole, and they were brilliant. They found ways to work around the lack of electricity, and Dylan helped them make a few last-minute changes to the menu. It all looked like it was coming together beautifully.
The one thing that wasn’t looking so great were the swags of red roses. They’d been really expensive and were draped over the white, wooden arch Dylan had built to serve as the backdrop for the wedding ceremony. But the constant onslaught of rain kept beating them down and making them look sad and droopy, and that wouldn’t do.
After consulting with JoJo, who was getting her makeup done by our resident drag queen Eliot in her bedroom, Lark said, “Kel, take your men and figure out a pretty way to display the roses on the front porch. Oh, and stick some lanterns out there too, but make it fabulous. Think boho chic floral fantasy meets gilded age realness.”
“I have no idea what that means, but we’ll make this shit look good,” Kel said, before going to collect the flowers with his men in tow. We all believed there was an unspoken and never acted-on love triangle between Kel, Hudson, and Noah, so it was interesting to see the three of them working together. I secretly hoped they’d end up as a throuple, but they had a long way to go before anything like that could happen.
I carried Owen upstairs, and since he was getting cranky, I tried putting him down for a late nap. Surprisingly, he dozed off almost immediately. Meanwhile, Lark searched his storage boxes in the attic and found a thick bolt of rainbow tulle. “I knew when I impulse-bought this that it would come in handy someday,” he said. “Tell me it isn’t the perfect thing for the arch.” Lucky and I agreed that it was. Then we helped him strip the strands of battery-operated lights from the shelves in his room, because, according to my brother, “There’s no such thing as too many twinkle lights.”
Between the three of us and those supplies, we managed to work some magic in the backyard. We also got pretty soaked in the process, because the rain hadn’t let up. Once we went back inside, my brother loaned Lucky one of Dylan’s shirts, since they were close to the same size. Then he said, “It’s getting to be about that time, so I’m going to go get changed. See you guys in a few minutes.”
I grabbed a towel on the way to my room and closed the door behind us. Then I took a look at Owen as I returned the baby monitor to the dresser. He was really out—not surprisingly, since it had been a busy afternoon.
After I peeled off my wet T-shirt and dried off with the towel, Lucky came up behind me and kissed his way across my shoulders. As he slipped his hands around my waist, he asked, “Is there anything else I can do to help?”
I turned to face him, and he planted a big kiss on me. “That’s very helpful,” I said with a smile.