I laugh and down the rest of my coffee before hopping out of bed. This is going to be the best day of our lives.
*****
“This is a disaster.” I’m trying not to freak out, but I can’t imagine anything worse than showing up to the venue on the day of our wedding only to be told that there was a scheduling error and that they accidentally double booked the space. They offered to let us come back in two weeks with no charge for the open bar as an apology, but a lot of fucking good that does while we’re standing here in our tuxes right now.
“It’s not great,” Dare agrees.
“You’re supposed to reassure me that we’re going to figure this out,” I groan.
“Of course, we’re going to figure it out,” Cole jumps in before Dare has the chance to.
My best friend pats me on the shoulder, his brother Ollie, already making phone calls to try to find us an alternative place to fit a hundred guests. Everett and West are keeping the dogs and Livi, Ev’s daughter, entertained a few feet away on the lawn. Ren, Daniel, and Watson said something about mimosas to calm everyone’s nerves and then disappeared, so fuck knows where they ended up. Right now, that’s the least of my concerns.
“Guests are going to start showing up in half an hour.” I tug on the collar of my dress shirt. “We need somewhere to put them all. Not to mention, we are now without food and alcohol. We do have a cake, so I guess that’s a win. But, again, nowhere to put the damn cake when it gets delivered any minute now. What an absolute clobberfuck.”
“What’s a clobberfuck?” Livi, Ev’s daughter asks.
“It’s when you’ve been clobbered over the head with fuck,” I answer, ignoring the look Ev gives me. Kids don’t need to be sheltered from the harsh realities of life. Sometimes you get clobbered by fucks and she’s going to have to learn that sooner or later.
“It’s going to be fine.” Dare is the one to assure me this time, rubbing the back of my neck with his strong, callused hand. I lean into him and let out a sigh.
“We’re getting married today,” I say firmly.
“We’re getting married today,” he agrees. “We just need a place to redirect everyone when they show up and someone who’s ordained who can do the ceremony. The catering, the open bar, none of that matters right now. We can come back and have a proper reception in a few weeks.”
I nod. “Yeah, okay, priorities.”
“I’ve officially called every event venue in a twenty mile radius and they’re all booked,” Ollie informs us.
“Allof them? Even the ones that are review bombed and filled with rats?” I ask desperately.
“All of them,” he confirms. “To be fair, there are only like five, so our odds weren’t great.”
“Fuck,” I mutter. “So, what are the other options?”
The weight of Dare’s hand on the back of my neck keeps me grounded and staves off the worst of the panic while we all fall silent and consider the alternatives. A truck towing a large trailer pulls up to the curb in front of the venue and I suddenly remember the surprise I planned.
Dare’s hand tightens on the back of my neck. He’s standing close enough to me that I can feel his entire body tense.
“What the fuck is that?” he asks, sounding equal parts annoyed and resigned.
“Surprise?” I say, shooting him a nervous smile as a man hops out of the driver side of the truck and approaches us with a clipboard.
“Mr…” he looks at the papers and then cocks his head. “It just says Stone. That you?”
“It’s me,” I answer, jerking out of Dare’s tightening grasp and striding over to him with my hand outstretched. “There’s a small change of plans though. There was a mixup with the venue, so we’re trying to find an alternate location.”
“Mm,” he grunts. “Not really my problem. I have to drop these birds off to you and then I’ve got three other stops to make. So, do you want them or not? Keep in mind, the rental fee is non-refundable whether you take them for the day or not.”
“Birds?” Ev asks, everyone looking over towards the trailer at the same time.
Rudy and Nards are sniffing the air and wagging their tails. At leastthey’reexcited about my surprise.
“It’s not that weird to release birds at a wedding,” I point out, taking the clipboard from him and signing on the dotted line.
“So, you rented some doves?” Cole sounds just as worried as everyone else looks. Geez, you’d think no one else around here trusts me with how nervous they all are.
I snort. “Doves? This is my wedding we’re talking about. I went with something a hell of a lot more exciting thandoves.”
