“See? No more excuses,” Roxanne said triumphantly. She had to smile but it was a sad smile. There was one more excuse and this one legitimately bothered her.
“But I don’t have…” She never got to finish because John started to cough at the end of the table. The entire table turned to him. When he spoke in his deep voice it was directed to Sadie alone.
“I am a father to five children. I dreamed of having children but never in all my dreams did I believe I would be blessed with the amazing five that God has gifted me and Darla. Although none of them share my blood, they share something far more precious. They share my heart.” He paused. “My heart has room for one more, Sadie. I would be honored if you allowed me to walk you down the aisle.” He held her watery stare as he placed his hand over his heart. “Truly honored, Sadie.”
She nodded with tears streaming down her face.
And so began the wedding planning. She did get to choose the setting. That was one thing that was all her. They would have the ceremony at St. Francis, the family’s church, and the reception would be held at John’s house. Everyone loved the idea, especially John. Sadie whispered to him, “I want Darla to be a very special presence on our day.” He hugged her close and kissed her head. He didn’t say a word, he didn’t have to.
In one short month, she would be Mrs. Trey Garrison Stone. Sadie Stone. Bogs constantly teased her about her future name. “Damn girl, that’s a hot porn star name.” He thought it was hysterical until Stone threatened to beat his ass if he ever referred to his fiancée and porn star in the same sentence again. Yeah, Stone kept his promise. He fought for her.
The car door opened and Stone hopped in. He looked calm as always. Without a word, they headed off to the restaurant. She didn’t ask about the call. They had their agreement but she did reach over and clasp his hand in hers. He squeezed her hand and continued driving.
As Stone pulled into the parking lot, she noticed everyone else had already arrived. Of course, they had, the party started thirty minutes ago. Once out of the car, he grabbed her hand and they headed into the restaurant. Shepard’s Bistro had been shut down for the night due to their special event. She wasn’t sure how Roxanne was able to get this place closed to the public on a Saturday night. She never ceased to amaze her. As they walked through the restaurant, she could see the silver and white banner above the patio doors.
“Sadie & Stone’s Bachelor/ette Party”
They opted to do a combination. When Stone overheard Emory talking about hiring a stripper for the bachelorette party, Stone insisted they do a combo.
“It’s about fucking time, man!” T walked up behind them. Sadie turned to see him dressed in jeans and a gray button down shirt. This was dressy for T. She was still trying to figure out how Roxanne was going to get him into a tuxedo. As Best Man, he had to wear a tux.
Sadie noticed at second glance that he was followed by a tiny little blonde. When they stopped at the doors, she was able to get a better look at her. She was really cute, short blonde pixie hair and huge blue eyes. She looked like a doll. But so tiny, maybe five foot. Sadie smiled over at her. She looked nervous and her big eyes kept darting around the empty room. She gave Sadie an awkward smile and immediately craned her neck up to T.
“You guys go in before Roxanne sends out a swat team for your asses. Oh, and Bogs has already planted in everyone’s mind that the reason you’re late is you pulled over to fuck!” T snorted. Pixie girl gasped in shock. Stone laughed while Sadie just rolled her eyes. Comments like this were nothing new to her but pixie girl looked appalled.
“Are you guys coming in?” Sadie asked T, looking between him and pixie. She wondered why he hadn’t introduced her to his friend yet. He usually did a “Sadie, this is…insert flavor of the night’s name.” She didn’t look like his usual flavor though and that was a compliment to pixie. She looked sweet not skanky.
“Later, you guys go, I’ll catch up.” He turned and grabbed the little pixie’s hand and dragged her back through the empty restaurant.
Sadie stared at the back of their heads when Stone grasped her hand. “Come on, baby.”
“Stone, who was that with T?” He stopped before opening the door.
“Business,” he stated while opening the door and they were bum rushed by everybody. Let the party begin!
The party was amazing. They laughed, drank, danced, they even did karaoke which Sadie was pretty sure was an epic fail. All their friends were there along with family. Many toasts were made in their honor. A few of the older folks gave some marital advice from their experiences. Roxanne made sure the night was perfect. Sadie was trying to convince her to get into event planning. She’d make a killing.
The party was a success with a few dramatic moments thrown in. Emory had “accidentally” spilled her sangria down the back of Nina’s white dress. Nina was livid and had a few words for Emory, all of which were nasty. Emory apologized. However, the smirk on her face took away from the sincerity. Sadie made sure to steer clear of that mess. But she was always “Team Emory.”
Drama seemed to follow Emory around the entire night. Ever since Thanksgiving, if Ethan was around, Emory wasn’t.
