Here Comes the Bride Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Acknowledgements

  Part One - Everyone’s Gone Mad

  • 1 • - Y-E-S

  • 2 • - It Came Crawling Back

  • 3 • - The Wedding Bug

  • 4 • - Bitten by Something

  • 5 • - The Invasion

  • 6 • - Now You See It, Now You Don’t

  • 7 • - Spreading the Word

  • 8 • - Choices vs. Obligations

  • 9 • - Dream Dress ... or Not

  • 10 • - A Cottage for Two

  • 11 • - Approved but Not Settled

  • 12 • - A New Minister

  • 13 • - Hallelujah

  • 14 • - Advice from the Wedding Wise

  • 15 • - What a Dip

  • 16 • - Stuck in the Middle

  • 17 • - It Has a Nice Ring

  • 18 • - A Taste Of Dirt

  • 19 • - In the Zone

  Part Two - Goin’ to the Chapel

  • 20 • - Up in Flames

  • 21 • - Parents for the First Time

  • 22 • - A Monster Is Born

  • 23 • - Back to School

  • 24 • - Grandma, the Great

  • 25 • - Dancing Away

  • 26 • - Camp Get US the Hell Out Of Here

  • 27 • - In the Dark

  • 28 • - A New Leader

  • 29 • - Let GO Already

  • 30 • - Caught Red-Handed

  • 31 • - Cold Feet

  • 32 • - One Last Fling

  • 33 • - Rehearsal Casualties

  • 34 • - Here Comes the Bride

  Praise for the Always the Bridesmaid

  “A charming, rollicking commentary on weddings in the twenty-first century. I loved the Jane Austen-ish heroine, Cate Padgett, for her untiring fidelity to the whims of her bride-brained buddies.”

  —New York Times bestselling author Jeanne Ray

  “[Lyles’s] eye for the delightful details . . . makes this the ultimate bridesmaid gift.” —Publishers Weekly

  “The outlandish wedding mishaps and twentysomething angst will appeal to fans of the plucky-single-girl genre.” —Booklist

  “Talented newcomer Lyles has written a compulsively readable novel. Her descriptive gifts transport readers to the single girl’s San Diego, with its beaches, bars, and bistros. In fact, reading this book feels deliciously like having a good gossip over lunch with your own best friend.” —Romantic Times

  “This gal has one hilarious fling after the other.” —Cosmopolitan

  “Phenomenally entertaining. The pace of the story is perfect.”

  —The Romance Reader’s Connection

  “Quite entertaining . . . [an] amusing charmer.”

  —Midwest Book Review

  “Written in savvy style . . . displays clever wit and a handful of priceless scenes.”—FictionFactor.com

  Books by Whitney Lyles

  HERE COMES THE BRIDE

  ALWAYS THE BRIDESMAID

  ROOMMATES

  Anthology CATCH OF THE DAY (with Beverly Brandt, Cathie Linz, and Pamela Clare)

  THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

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  South Africa

  Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  Copyright © 2006 by Whitney Lyles.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form

  without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in

  violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  BERKLEY is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  The “B” design is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  eISBN : 978-0-425-21130-4

  1. Brides—Fiction. 2. Weddings—Fiction. I. Title.

  PS3612.Y45H47 2006

  813’.6—dc22

  2006040737

  http://us.penguingroup.com

  For my grandparents, Annie and Sugar, who celebrated sixty-one beautiful years of love in marriage

  Acknowledgments

  I am forever grateful to Leona Nevler for all her wisdom and guidance in shaping this novel. I feel very blessed to have worked with her to completion on this book as well as my first two books. I always felt that Leona was looking out for me, and I’m sure she continues to do the same for many of us now. She will be greatly missed as an editor and a friend.

  Thanks to Tova Sacks for picking up the reins and guiding the book forward. It’s been a comfort and strength to work with her.

  Many thanks to my agent, Sandy Dijkstra, whom I believe was the first person to suggest writing a sequel way back around the birth of Always the Bridesmaid. My appreciation for Sandy runs deep, as does my gratitude to the SDLA team, especially Elise Capron and Taryn Fagerness for all their hard work.

  Thanks to my parents, grandparents, family, and friends for all their continuous support.

  Endless thanks to my husband, Rob Dodds, for pulling through with many late-night readings and suggestions.

  Author’s Note

  I felt compelled to include this note because of all the questions I always get about my novels. I am continuously surprised when someone laughs and says something to the effect of, “I can’t believe what happened to you in chapter fifteen! Did that really happen to you?” Me? Honestly, no.

  While I often rely on places and landmarks that I’m familiar with for research, my characters are a product of my wild imagination. Truth be known, my heroines lead much more interesting lives than my own.

  Due to the convenience of research, I included a few venues from my own wedding in this novel. However, the characters and all the events surrounding Cate Padgett’s wedding are a work of pure fiction. I am lucky to be blessed with a wonderful family, great in-laws, and loyal friends.

  Part One

  Everyone’s Gone Mad

  • 1 •

  Y-E-S

  Cate lifted the top of the small box. Never would she have expected to get engaged in Joe’s Crab Shack. She could not recall a happier moment of her life as she looked down at Ethan on one knee. She loved him so much. Before she looked at her engagement
ring she scanned the sea of faces that watched them, sharing in their once-in-a-lifetime moment. A tear heavy with mascara trickled down an old woman’s cheek.

  Inside the box she found a silver ring, one that would probably turn her finger green and looked as if it had been constructed with cheap aluminum and a blowtorch in a parking garage. Cloudy with burn marks, it rested on a bed of cotton.

  “So will you?” he asked, as he slipped the ring on her finger. It was a little tight, and she made a mental note not to get it wet, so it wouldn’t rust. She looked down at Ethan’s face while he waited anxiously for her answer.

  Oh my God, we’re getting married. He was finally asking. It was really happening. The ring was so . . . ? Different from what she would’ve picked. But the flamboyantly gay waiter at the restaurant loved it.

  “What a beautiful ring!” he said, as he walked past, water slopping over the top of his pitcher.

  “Just gorgeous!” The old woman added, sobbing now. When the lady reached for a napkin, Cate noticed that her hands were covered in rings, every single finger decorated with turquoise and onyx.

  Cate glanced at the engagement ring again. There was no stone, but the letters Y-E-S had been etched into the metal with something sharp, perhaps the tip of a safety pin. The writing was jagged and rough, like a child’s. She pulled the ring to her chest and felt instantly sentimental. “Yes! Y-E-S! Of course I’ll marry you!”

  The restaurant applauded, and when she looked down at her ring finger, it was green. She tried to lift her arm to show it to her audience, but she realized the sling she had over her shoulder wouldn’t allow her to move. Her arm was broken. How did that happen?

  She tried hard to lift it again, but ended up opening her eyes instead. Her cat, Grease, slept on her shoulder, curled in a warm, soft ball over her arm. He was becoming more affectionate in adulthood. A year ago he would’ve never slept anywhere near her.

  Though she was still groggy, she laughed out loud at her dream. It was the first one she’d had since she’d found a Ben Bridge Jeweler catalogue wedged in between an Egg McMuffin wrapper and a Styrofoam coffee cup in Ethan’s Ford Explorer two weeks earlier. Ethan proposing at Joe’s Crab Shack? She’d never even been to Joe’s Crab Shack, and getting engaged in public didn’t really seem like him. Then she remembered that the restaurant was located in the same shopping center as a bridal boutique. Funny how the subconscious works.

  She glanced at the clock and realized her alarm would beep in a couple of minutes. It was the first official day of summer vacation, her first morning away from being a kindergarten teacher, but she couldn’t afford the luxury of sleeping in. She was heading to Mexico for the weekend with Ethan. Their flight from San Diego left at a disturbing six fifty a.m. Since they were going to Playa del Carmen for only a few days they wanted to get there as early as possible on Friday and leave as late as they could on Monday.

  Ironically, they were going for someone else’s wedding. A couple of Ethan’s friends were getting married. This weekend was one of the only weekends that Ethan didn’t have a wedding booked for his catering business for the rest of the summer, so they’d use the time for their own little vacation.

  Grease’s purr was loud when she petted his white fur. She lay next to him for a moment, thinking about her dream. Even awake, she felt a strange sentimental attachment to the ring. It was like when she’d made out with a random and obscure guy in her dreams, then felt strangely attracted to him the next morning. She felt a similar attachment to her ring and Joe’s Crab Shack, and she knew it was the kind of dream that would stick with her all day.

  Ever since she’d seen the brochure of engagement rings in his car she’d been fantasizing about proposals. However, she tried not to get her hopes up. There was always the possibility that he’d simply been walking through the mall and had politely taken it from some underpaid and totally bored Ben Bridge employee who’d been passing them out. Ethan was so nice he’d never say no. As much as she racked her brain, she couldn’t recall him mentioning a trip to the mall. If he’d gone, it was a secret.

  She got out of bed and opened the blinds. It was still dark outside, and she could feel crust in her eyes. The temptation to crawl back into bed was overwhelming, but she still had a few things she needed to pack, and Jill would be stopping by before her early morning jog to pick up the key to her apartment.

  She walked to the bathroom and nearly tripped over something next to her dresser. She flicked on the light, then looked down at the headless body of the Parisian doll that had been sitting on her dresser for over a decade. The doll had been a gift from her parents after they’d returned from Paris when she was ten. A little old Parisian woman dressed in a long French country skirt and a bonnet. A wise smile had been painted to her face, and she had held a baguette in one hand and a basket of fruit in the other. Cate picked her up. The baguette had been mercilessly ripped from the doll’s fingers and lay near the foot of her bed.

  “Grease,” she mumbled. “You bad cat.” He watched her pick up the baguette and flicked his tail.

  She went to the kitchen and found the woman’s head resting in a watery grave in Grease’s water dish. She fished the head out of the bowl and left it to dry on a paper towel while she showered and finished packing. She took a hot shower and dried her hair. She was just shoving her third pair of sandals into her already stuffed suitcase when the doorbell rang.

  Jill wore a pink velour jogging suit with black stripes up the side and tennis shoes that had three-inch soles. Her short purple hair stood on end, and she didn’t appear tired, considering the time.

  “Thanks for taking care of Grease this weekend,” Cate said when she greeted her. “I left the hotel phone number in case anything happens. And twenty dollars if you need to buy him more food.” It was impossible not to worry about Grease whenever she left town.

  He wasn’t the type of cat who lounged around in the sun licking his paws and purring when rubbed behind the ears. She suspected that deep down Grease believed he was really a lion trapped inside Cate’s cramped little Pacific Beach apartment.

  “No worries at all. I’ll check on him twice a day, and I’ll grab your mail, too.”

  Cate led her into her tiny kitchen. “So how was your date last night?”

  “Oh my gosh. This guy had the worst breath I have ever smelled in my life, and then he made me pay for dinner.”

  “A real keeper.”

  “Never again.”

  “I love the hair,” Cate said.

  “Do you?” She touched the top of her spiky purple haircut. A hairdresser, Jill spent more time playing with her own hair than she did with clients’. Every other week she had a different hair color. “I think I might dye it back to black. You know, since there might be a wedding coming up . . .” She winked at Cate.

  “I don’t know about that.” She poured them both glasses of orange juice.

  “You don’t think he’ll propose this weekend?”

  She’d wondered the same thing a million times since they’d planned the trip, but didn’t want to admit it. “We’re going to someone else’s wedding, and I don’t think he would do it with all his friends there. Ethan’s pretty private and sentimental.”

  “Are you kidding? I think it’s the perfect setting. My sister just got engaged in Mexico last year. And just think of how romantic weddings are. It’s like everyone gets bitten by a wedding bug when they go to one. You can’t help but feel the love in the air.”

  She had a point. Cate could think of a couple of people she knew who’d gotten engaged right after attending a wedding. While they chatted about the weekend Cate looked through the junk drawer in her kitchen for superglue. She found a tube, and Jill helped hold the French-woman’s head in place while Cate added some extra glue to the nape of her neck.

  “She’s scarred for life,” Jill said as they looked at the teeth marks on her small forehead.

  She now looked crusty and a little banged up. “She looks like a French home
less woman.” Cate held the doll in front of them.

  “Her basket of fruit is probably in Grease’s appendix,” Jill said.

  “Or maybe she squandered it on alcohol.”

  She put the doll on top of her refrigerator so Grease couldn’t attack her again.

  “Well, I guess you won’t be able to call me if you get engaged down there.”

  “I’m just relieved that I finally get to go to a wedding as a guest. Just a plain old guest. I don’t have to do one thing except sit in the audience and watch. My bridesmaid days are over!”

  Their glasses clinked together as they toasted. “I’ll drink to that.”

  It was only two years ago that Cate had been a bridesmaid four times in one summer. Since then, she’d stood up for a coworker whom she hardly knew and a distant cousin in Alabama who was already five months pregnant.

  “Well, don’t get too comfortable because I think you’ll be heading down the aisle again soon.”

  “Why? Are you getting married?”

  Jill rolled her eyes. “No. You are. Dummy.”

  “I’m just kidding.” She leaned against the countertop, and Grease rubbed his face against the side of her elbow. He always became overly affectionate whenever she was close to his stash of kitty treats. If she’d been standing anywhere else in the house, he probably would’ve ignored her. “Just don’t hold your breath for me. I know Ethan and I will get married someday, but one little brochure doesn’t mean anything.”

  “Oh yes it does. I have a feeling it’s coming soon. Very soon.” She took the last sip of her juice. “I should get to my jog. But don’t forget to say yes! Y-E-S!”

  Cate nearly choked on her OJ. It was just like her dream. She debated telling Jill about the ring with Y-E-S etched into it, but figured this would only add more fuel to the wedding fantasy fire already blazing out of control. Jill’s comment was pure coincidence.