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Chapter Seven

The next morning, I packed my carry-on bag and stood in the kitchen giving Nick a list of instructions.

“Milk for Brooke’s in the refrigerator. Don’t drink it,” I warned. He rolled his eyes.

“If you need anything, call my mom and she’ll come over and give you a hand.”

“I know,” Nick said. He stepped closer to me, wrapping his arms around my waist. I tilted my head slightly to meet his eyes.

“Now, I have some instructions for you,” he teased. His lips brushed mine gently. I smiled; so far I liked his instructions.

“Don’t stress out,” he warned. It was my turn to roll my eyes.

“Everything’s going to work out and whatever doesn’t will still be fine.”

I smiled and kissed him again.

“I’ll try to remember that.”

I glanced at the clock.

“I’ve got to get going,” I said. I picked up my car keys. Nick followed me to the front door.

“I still wish you would let me drive you.”

I shook my head. “It’s too much hassle to get Brooklyn in and out of the car just to watch me take off.”

Nick sighed. “Well, if anyplace has security, it’s the airport. Call me if you have any trouble.”

I kissed him again. “I will. Love you.”

“Love you too, babe.”

With a backwards step and a wave, I headed to my car. I threw my duffel bag into the passenger seat and climbed in.

A productive day in Atlanta was on the horizon.

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I got to the airport with plenty of time to spare. I spent a few minutes at the newsstand flipping through magazines. I became so engrossed in an issue of People that I didn’t notice someone step up next to me so close that they completely crossed the line for personal space.

“So where are you going?”

I looked over surprised and instinctively grabbed for my purse. Hunter got to it before I did.

“Give me my purse back,” I hissed.

“So you can tase me again?” he said. He shook his head. “No way, uh-uh.”

He opened my purse and began to rifle through the contents. I didn’t want to make a scene in the airport; but if he pulled out the taser I was going to yell my lungs out. As he pushed his way to the bottom of my “Mary Poppins” purse, a few items fell out. I took a step forward and kneeled down to get them, all the while keeping my eye on Hunter. My foot contacted with something soft and squishy.

“MOTHER FUCKER!”

He dropped my purse and grabbed his knee. A few people stopped and stared; I decided to treat it as an opportunity. I scooped up hairclips and burp rags and put them back in my purse. I slung it back over my shoulder and began to back away. Hunter’s cries of pain seemed to stop immediately. When I looked down I realized that I had been stepping on the leg of the voodoo doll Nick had bought for me at the circus.

The one that Nick had proudly declared was ‘Hunter.’

I scooped it up while Hunter rubbed his knee in utter confusion and shoved it into my purse. Not wasting a second, I took off through the throngs of people towards the gate. I didn’t seem to breathe until I was safely strapped in my seat and we were cleared for takeoff.

Of all the places to see Hunter, I hadn’t expected to see him at the airport. I could only hope that he was taking a plane back to Wisconsin. As the city began to shrink and the clouds began to grow, I couldn’t help but take the doll out from my purse. A few strands of red wiry hair poked from the top of the otherwise plain doll.

It had to have been a strange coincidence, right? I mean, if I really thought about it, I had never considered myself superstitious before. I think the reason that I panicked about the wedding was because the old gypsy lady had found my vulnerability. No matter what, I didn’t want my wedding to Nick to be anything like my wedding to Hunter.

As a young twenty-something I thought of a wedding as a fairytale. I dreamed of a lush, bright outdoor gazebo wedding with yellow flowers everywhere and a huge wedding party. In reality I had gotten a Catholic Church wedding in dark gray and white, red roses, a maid of honor and one bridesmaid.

I refused to be bullied over this time around. At the slightest mention of a problem, I wanted to avoid it. I wasn’t getting married again. This was my chance to have a wedding that I could look back on with happy tears in my eyes. This was the wedding I could gush about to Brooke. I had been pressured to give my first wedding dress to Hunter’s sister. I had hated it anyhow, but it was just another instant of me giving in. This time I wanted to be able to pull out my wedding dress and offer it to Brooke for when she walked down the aisle someday. Hopefully a long someday away, but still…someday.

With a sigh, I stuffed to doll back into my purse. I had a sinking feeling that one of the ‘dark forces’ the gypsy had talked about was Hunter. I couldn’t fathom was he could do to our wedding, but I would try anything to stop him.

As soon as we received the all clear to use electronic devices, I checked my cell phone messages. My heart gave a little leap as I saw a voicemail from Valeria. I held my breath and listened to the message.

“O-livia. This is Valeria. I have good news and bad news. Bad news is that we can’t do Key West on July 2. Good news is I found a beautiful beach for July 2 in Tampa. I’ve also found a reception hall close by. Please call when you get this message.”

She didn’t have to tell me twice. I impatiently listened to the ringing of the phone.

“Weddings by Design. Valeria speaking.”

“Val, this is Olivia.”

“O-livia. You got my message?”

“I did. We’ll take it.”

“Really?” She sounded relieved.

“Yes. Now what’s the name of the reception hall?” I powered on my laptop as I spoke. I was ready to Google my heart out.

“Oh, it’s wonderful. It actually seats more than the one we found in Key West. It’s called the Plantation House. It’s fifteen minutes from the ceremony site. Dining would be held outside while they have outside dancing overlooking the ocean. I already spoke to our caterer and they can do July 2 in Tampa. It will cost a little more for such a last minute switch, but…”

“That’s fine. Absolutely fine,” I said. I found the website for the Plantation House. The moment I opened it up I fell in love. Our reception location in Key West had been the one thing that I had conceded on. It would have been a tight squeeze to fit all of our guests; this looked absolutely perfect.”

“Please go ahead and book both places,” I added. “How soon can we get our invitations out?”

“If I get these booked I can get them to the printers this afternoon. They can go out in about a week.”

“Wonderful. Thank you so much Val.”

“Oh, it was no problem,” she said calmly. I was wondering if she had a bald spot from tearing out her hair yet. “Happy brides equal happy weddings.”

We spoke for a few more minutes and then I hung up feeling much better. August 6 was now just a mere memory. July seemed to be a good karma month. I needed all the positive karma I could get.

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My plane landed in Atlanta right on time. I had my purse and my carryon and I was ready to go. I smiled when I saw Brian. He gave me a hug.

“Hey, Liv. How you doing?”

“Great. Where’s Leigh?”

“She’s at home with Baylee. I didn’t want her to mess around with all these crowds and everything.”

“How’s she doing?”

“Not bad.”

We walked out of the airport and I followed him to his car. Once we were driving along the Interstate, Brian glanced over at me.

“What are you going to do if Leigh delivers early?” he asked. I took a deep breath. It was something I didn’t want to think about, but I had.

“I’m going to have Angel be my stand in.”

“Well, Leighanne and I want to be there. But I mean there’s always that possibility. Babies have a mind of their own.”

I grinned. “Tell me about it.”

“I’m also going to warn you,” Brian said with a smile. “She’s extremely emotional. If she starts freaking out while you’re shopping your best bet is to suggest stopping for lunch. Preferably Chinese. I swear our daughter is going to come out holding a pair of chopsticks in her hand.”

I laughed just picturing it. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Twenty minutes later we pulled up to their house. I got out, thinking about the last time I had been there. It had definitely been under uncomfortable circumstances. I was hoping today would be much more enjoyable.

Leigh was sitting at the kitchen table with Baylee. He seemed to be in the middle of a worksheet of math problems. He was chewing on his lip in utter concentration.

“Anyone home?” I called out, peeking around the doorway.

“LIV!” Baylee said happily. He threw down his pencil and raced over to me for a hug. I squeezed him tightly. He had grown like a weed…

And his hair was short.

“Look at you!” I said in surprise. “You look so grown up.”

He smiled. “I cutted it myself.” I looked over at Leighanne. She looked sad.

“He decided to play barber one day when I went to take a nap. All that beautiful curly blonde hair…” she sighed.

While she sighed, I was having flashbacks to all the ‘Before they were Stars’ pictures I had seen of Brian. It looked like he had been cloned. I dug in my carryon bag.

“You probably don’t want this,” I teased. I held up an art set. Baylee’s eyes lit up.

“For me?!”

I laughed. “For you.”

“Thank you!”

Baylee ran back over to his seat and threw the lid open on the set. Leighanne calmly handed him his pencil.

“Math first. Then play.”

Baylee folded his arms across his chest and slumped down in his seat. Brian walked past me and took the pencil from Leighanne’s hand.

“C’mon Bay, math’s not that bad. That was my favorite subject in school. Let’s have a times table race.”

Baylee looked at him, I could see a pout forming.

“You’re going to beat me.”

“That’s not true. C’mon.”

Leighanne stood up and grabbed her purse.

“We’re going to head out.”

Brian paused to give her a kiss. Leighanne kissed the top of Baylee’s head.

“Do you math, sweetie. The sooner you finish the sooner you can play with the art set. Love you.”

Brian took a seat next to Baylee and they began to work on the sheet together. I followed Leighanne out the door.

“I wish I could turn back time and make him three again,” she said with a sigh. “He’s the moodiest eight year old I’ve seen.”

“Is he still having baby issues?” I asked. She nodded.

“I think it’ll be better after she gets here. Wait, scratch that. I hope it’ll get better after she gets here.”

As we buckled into the car, I glanced over at her. It hadn’t been long ago that I was eight months pregnant, but in contrast to me, Leighanne still looked great. Gravity was her best friend. She had a perfectly round tummy. Mine had scattered out like a swollen misshapen pancake.

“You look great Leigh,” I said. She sighed.

“I hate the last two months. I’m tired, I’m grouchy, and I’m impatient.”

I smiled. That pretty much summed it up.

We stopped at a boutique right in the heart of downtown Atlanta. Before we got out, she turned and looked at me.

“Have you gotten your dress yet?”

I shook my head.

“Well, I saw one when I tried on a couple dresses a few weeks ago. It might have been a Vera Wang. I think it would look great on you.”

There was no doubt in my mind that she had impeccable taste; I smiled.

“Let’s go take a look, shall we?”

As we walked into the boutique I couldn’t help but wonder if today was the day I’d find my princess dress. Every little girl dreams of the day when they can feel like royalty.

I hadn’t felt it the first time around, but then again I hadn’t found my prince.

Little did I know that my true prince was a blonde haired Florida boy with an amazing voice…

And an amazing heart.