Wedding Haters (Event to Remember Series-Book 2) Read online

  “You did this,” I yell, pointing my finger at my cousins. Everyone starts laughing; I look around me and see all my wedding guests watching us. Cole will fix this; where is he? He has to be here; it’s our wedding day.

  “Whoa, look at that bride. What happened to her dress? Did she roll around in the kitchen at Olive Garden?” I look up to see Cole doing a comedy routine at the altar.

  “Cole, what are you doing?”

  “Relax, babe. I just have to finish this routine, then we can get married.” He keeps telling jokes about my dress.

  “Stop!” I scream and jump out of my bed. I look around in a panic. I’m still in my bedroom; my heart is racing and I’m sweating. Calm down, Madison, it was just a bad dream, I tell myself.

  It’s 4:30 a.m. I lay back down but can’t fall asleep. I know I said I was just going to move on from this, but I keep replaying what Sienna said, and she was serious too. She doesn’t think Ellie was behind this, but then the question is who was? Or maybe it was just an honest mistake on Sienna’s part. I need to accept the fact that I may never know what really happened. I wonder what Stephy thinks about all of this. I guess it’s not really fair that I always include her with Ellie. Don’t get me wrong, I think she’s far from innocent, but I don’t think she’s that bad. I roll over and try to put it all out of my mind.

  I get to work early the next day despite only sleeping about four hours last night. Surprisingly, I’m feeling pretty good other than the dreaded phone call I have to make to my grandmother. I’m becoming a master at avoiding her calls. Who knows, maybe I will manage to get away with this for a while.

  I decide to tell my co-workers about the change of venue. You would have thought it’s the end of the world by their responses.

  “This is horrible news. I told all of my friends I was going to an event at the Four Seasons,” Lauren whines. “How could this happen?”

  “What are you talking about?” Caycee exclaims. “Your wedding is like . . . next week.”

  I give them the condensed version of the story. There’s really no reason for them to know every detail, and I explain that they will be getting the information for the new location. As I’m talking about the beach resort, I start to feel a little anxious. What if something else goes wrong? What if this was all a sign that my marriage is doomed?

  I try to get to work, but I really didn’t expect that I would have to spend the next fifteen minutes consoling Caycee. You would have thought it was her wedding that was canceled.

  I’m working until close, and as I finish my last client, Lauren informs me that I have a visitor. When I get to the front, I find Grandmother waiting for me. I’m not really sure what to say. I don’t think Grandmother has ever stepped foot in my salon. Suddenly, I feel like a kid who has just gotten into massive trouble and has been sent to the principal’s office.

  “Grandmother . . . what a nice surprise,” I say nervously. She doesn’t show any emotion. My time of dodging her has come to an end. Oh well, it was a good run while it lasted. I can already tell that this is going to be a lot of fun.

  “Madison, because you haven’t returned any of my calls, I had no choice but to come here.” She takes a good look around. Well, it’s nice to see you too, I think but refrain from saying it out loud.

  “OK . . . if you give me a few minutes to finish up, we can walk to the café next door and talk.” I don’t give her a chance to respond as I quickly go to my station and clean up.

  A little while later, we walk silently to the Caffeine Café next door. I love this place; it’s warm and cozy, and the coffee aromas are amazing. Not to mention all of the delicious treats. I remind myself that I have given up sugar forever after my cookie binge from the other night.

  We sit down at a corner table, neither of us saying a word. I really hate the silence; it’s so uncomfortable not knowing who should speak first. Luckily, Grandmother has no problem starting this conversation.

  “Madison, I have tried to understand what has happened over these last few days. I’ve considered that you’ve had some sort of stress-induced breakdown. Perhaps the stress of the wedding, your work, or maybe just getting married in general.” She starts fidgeting around in her seat. I don’t believe this; she honestly thinks I’ve had a nervous breakdown. The next thing I know she will try to have me committed.

  “Grandmother, I . . .” She holds her hand up to stop me.

  “First, let me finish,” she says firmly. I close my mouth and stop talking. “Maybe you aren’t ready to get married and that’s alright, but regardless of your reasons, your behavior is . . .” She stops talking and shakes her head. I wait to see if she is finished, interrupting her again definitely won’t help my case. She doesn’t say anything, so I start talking, and I don’t stop. She doesn’t show much emotion until my tears starting falling.

  “You have never once considered my feelings,” I say in between my tears. “I’m grown-up now, so it shouldn’t matter, but you sat back and let me be bullied by my own family. You made excuses for them, there were never any consequences for how they treated me, and at times you too were a part of it.” The tears have slowed and I start to feel stronger than I have ever felt. Something comes over me, and I’m not afraid to admit my feelings. I could totally stand up on my chair and yell, “I am woman, hear me roar.” Not that I would because I could never show my face in here again, and I love the lemon pound cake way too much.

  “How many times have you insulted my career?” I ask, and then suddenly I have the urge to take a miserable trip down memory lane. “Do you remember when Ellie, Stephy, and I decided to put on the Christmas parade in the front yard? Do you remember what happened?” I stop to give her a chance to say something, but she just sits there, silent. Sadly, I’m not surprised. It may seem silly now, but my cousins made me play a donkey in that parade while they and all the other kids played the Christmas princesses and princes. I cried the whole time, and Grandmother told me that I needed to stop and that I needed to accept that I wouldn’t always get my way.

  I decide to continue the dreaded trip down memory lane, so I remind her about the tomato sauce incident as well as the fallout of when I repeated a grade and she told Aunt Kate and my cousins. Not shockingly, Stephy had no problem announcing that at my bridal shower.

  When I have finally concluded my throw up of the mouth, I look at her and wait. When she does finally speak, she surprises me.

  “Do you know how lucky you were to have both of your parents doting on you? A parent’s love and devotion is something special and you don’t appreciate it until you realize it’s gone.” She clears her throat and continues. “When their father left, the three of them were devastated. Understandably so, and I vowed from that day that I would always be there for those girls. I know the feeling, the feeling of . . .” she hesitates, “the feeling of a parent leaving, and I would never wish that on anyone.” At first I have no clue what she is talking about, but then I remember my mother telling me that her grandfather left when Grandmother was young and she never really got over it.

  “I’m sorry that happened to them,” I say sympathetically. “But how is that my fault?”

  Grandmother is clearly very uncomfortable, and I think she is finally getting what I’m saying.

  “It’s not.”

  She looks down and her face softens. “I suppose I went out of my way to try to make things easier for them, at your expense. That was wrong of me; I can see that now.”

  I’m expecting a “but” about now, so I wait for it. She doesn’t make any more excuses, but she doesn’t exactly apologize either. Oh well, baby steps I guess. Luckily, I’m mentally prepared for what’s about to come.

  “Anyway, regarding the subject at hand. Ellenor says that you accused her of canceling the wedding. Please tell me what on earth is going on.”

  I scrunch up my face and relive every detail since Sienna delivered the bad news. When I finish explaining, Grandmother looks shocked and basically horrified. I’m
not exactly sure if she is upset about the things I said to Ellie or the fact that my big fancy Four Seasons wedding is a thing of the past. It’s probably a little of both.

  “Madison, no matter what trouble you and Ellenor are having she would never do something like this. Are you sure your friend didn’t make the mistake?” Grandmother has always liked Sienna, so I know she isn’t just saying that to redeem Ellie. “Things do happen and I know she recently started a new company. Or perhaps one of her staff made the mistake.”

  “It really doesn’t matter anyway. We have a new location, and it will be a wonderful day.” I decide to just move on from the subject because I’m emotionally drained and I’d rather not go back and forth about Ellie anymore.

  “No, you need to go there and demand that you have your wedding as planned. I’m calling my lawyer.” She pulls out her phone and starts scrolling.

  I stop her because, frankly, I don’t care anymore. I once said I would marry Cole in a parking lot if I had to, and now after everything that has happened I mean it.

  As Grandmother and I are leaving, she gives me a hug, a different kind of hug than usual. It wasn’t rushed or cold. “I hope you girls can work things out. It may seem like they don’t care about you. But they do.”

  There are so many things I could say to this comment, but it’s probably best to keep my big mouth shut. I’ve said more than enough for one night (or for one lifetime).

  Chapter 11

  A few days later, Sienna, Abby, Craig, and I are on our way to Palm Springs for a spa day/night. Craig totally crashed our trip, but I didn’t have the heart to tell him no. Since my conversation with my grandmother, I feel like a different person. I feel like me again, well, like me from before my wedding planning. The other day I asked Sienna and Craig if they thought I had become a bridezilla. They looked at each other and busted out laughing. Clearly, they thought that was funny. When I told them I hated them, they laughed even harder.

  I can’t believe this is it, my last weekend as a single woman. Well, technically I haven’t been single for a few years, so that’s probably not accurate. That really doesn’t make sense when people say that because, obviously, if they’ve been engaged they aren’t single but whatever.

  We are on the road to Palm Springs, and Sienna and Craig are eating some of my cookies that I brought for the trip. (Not me, of course.)

  “Hey, Madie, do you remember our last road trip to Palm Springs?” Craig says before he takes a bite of his twentieth cookie. (I would like to say I’m exaggerating, but I don’t think I am.)

  “Really, Craig?” I punch his arm. Our last trip was pretty eventful, at least for Sienna that is. That trip was the beginning of the end for her and Luke. We saw him there when he was supposedly out of town working.

  “Madie, don’t worry about it,” she says from the driver’s seat. “It was the best thing that could have happened. Who knows where I would be right now.”

  “Yeah, we could still be working for Carrie right now, and you could still be with Luke.” He makes a face.

  Sienna doesn’t say anything. She just keeps a steady gaze on the road. Abby is busy texting Matt because this is her first time away from baby Ace, and she’s obsessing over it.

  “Aw, look at this picture of baby Ace.” Matt must have just texted her. “I miss my baby so much.” She looks like she could burst into tears at any second. I hope she snaps out of it, at least for today.

  “OMG! I totally forgot to tell you that I saw Carrie at The Ivy last weekend. She pretended she didn’t see me, but I know she did,” Craig says as he folds his arms. “She’s had more work done.”

  That’s crazy because that woman has had so much plastic surgery that nothing on her is real anymore. She could totally go on Jerry Springer or Dr. Phil or whatever trashy talk show people are watching these days.

  “Who was she with?” Sienna asks. I know what she meant, as in, was she with Luke? Although, the rumor is that she dumped him a while ago.

  “It doesn’t matter,” she adds. “I actually heard she’s trying to invest in some other business, but she’s having a hard time since the company went under.”

  “Don’t you mean since you left her and it went under. Technically, it’s your fault,” Craig says.

  It’s not really Sienna’s fault. Carrie was never there, so Sienna was pretty much running the company. She was going to leave even before she found out about Carrie and Luke.

  “Enough about this, we’re here for Madie,” Sienna says firmly. She’s a master at changing the subject. I don’t blame her at all this time.

  I look at my phone. Cole and I have been sending sexy messages back and forth all day. He has been doing a small tour for the past week, trying to get all of his shows in before the wedding. Ever since he told me that all he cared about was marrying me, I feel like we are back when we first started dating. It feels new, exciting, and exhilarating. I can’t wait for him to come home so we can make up for all of his traveling.

  “What’s going on over there?” Craig asks with a singsong tone in his voice. “You seem a little flushed again. Can I see your phone?” he asks as he reaches for it.

  “No,” I yell, turning away from him.

  “Madie is sexting her boyfriend,” he announces. I expect him to follow it up with nah, nah, boo, boo. I really wish I didn’t let him come with us because he can be really obnoxious, like the little brother I never wanted.

  “So what,” Abby says nonchalantly. “It’s not a big deal. Matt and I send those kind of messages all the time, several times a day.

  “What!” Craig, Sienna, and I all shout at the same time. This is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard. I think we are all completely shocked by this secret side of Abby. We always thought of her as more of a Susie-Homemaker/kindergarten teacher/nun type of wife. That just proves that you never truly know people. I can’t believe Abby is a closet tramp.

  “OK, I need to hear more about this!” Craig exclaims. Oh well, at least the attention is off of me.

  “What do you want to know?” Abby asks innocently. “Matt is my husband; there’s nothing wrong with sending him sexy pictures.” I’m completely shell-shocked; I still haven’t said a word.

  “Of course there is nothing wrong with it, but this is you we’re talking about.” Craig gives a smirk. “You don’t do that stuff. I picture you wearing a long-sleeve flowered nightgown reading a book in bed with Matt. Just like Carol Brady from the Brady Bunch.”

  Wow, that really is a pretty good description now that I think about it.

  “No way,” Sienna says. “They weren’t exactly innocent; everyone on the Brady Bunch slept with each other. I saw it on one of those True Hollywood stories.

  The discussion changes to all of the old sitcoms and all of the actors who have since had messed up lives. I lean my head back and look out the window. I can’t believe this day has finally come. My wedding is planned, everything has fallen into place, and the wicked stepsisters are no longer a part of it. The voice mails have finally tapered off as well. Both of them have left several messages, but I haven’t called them back yet. I know Grandmother asked me to, but I need more time.

  Chapter 12

  I’ve always thought that every family needs a doctor, a lawyer, and a mechanic. I think I may have to add a massage therapist to that list, too. I feel like I’m floating on a cloud right now, and considering all of the stress from these past few weeks, I needed this. After we are done with our treatments, we sit in the outside relaxation area.

  “This is so fun,” Craig says loudly. He has obviously embraced this experience. He’s wearing his fleece robe, his feet are propped up on the ottoman, and he’s sipping on cucumber-infused water. Yep—he’s become one with the spa life, but really, who doesn’t?

  Just as we’re getting comfortable, two women join us in the relaxation room. Nothing like a blast from the past to ruin my bachelorette weekend, and I thought things couldn’t get any worse. Wow, was I wrong. The two women
just happen to be Carrie Anderstone, Sienna’s former boss, and one of her best friends whose name I can’t remember. Sienna and Craig are both obviously uncomfortable, which makes it even more awkward for Abby and me. Neither of us says a word; we just sit back and watch. Carrie has clearly had more plastic surgery than the last time I saw her. I’m not really sure how that’s possible considering there isn’t one inch on her that hasn’t been nipped, tucked, or lasered.

  “Sienna, love, it’s been tooo looong,” Carrie says while slurring her words. Carrie is also a raging alcoholic, so no doubt she has been drinking mimosas since the sun came up. “What brings you here? This really isn’t your scene.” Sienna gives her a short hello and explains that we are all here for my bachelorette party. Carrie completely ignores the rest of us, including Craig, who also worked for her for a few years.

  “Well, it’s fabulous seeing you,” she says unconvincingly. “We really should do lunch sometime.” This woman can’t be for real. Sienna just smiles and nods her head; I’m always so impressed by how she handles situations like this.

  A few minutes later, Carrie and her silent but drunk friend are called for their next service. She’s barely out of the room when Craig starts in about all her surgery.

  “Are we even sure that was Carrie?” he says with a snort. “It won’t be long before she’s completely unrecognizable.”

  Sienna groans. “Ughhh, I should’ve known there could be a chance of running into her. I think she may live here.” Carrie’s a regular on the spa scene. She’s either traveling the world to different spas or having surgical procedures done.

  While we’re discussing the Carrie excitement, Abby excuses herself again. I think she’s having a really hard time being away from her baby because she’s not enjoying the spa as much as the rest of us. So despite the awkwardness of the encounter with Carrie, it was still some good entertainment for the day, and luckily, there were no fireworks.