Paris looked particularly impressed with Lisette's story, something that didn't escape Angelique's notice.
"I see those wheels turning over there," Angelique said. "I hope you're taking notes. You're going to be back in Atlanta full time pretty soon and you won't have an excuse for not getting your man. Titus Argonne's agency is based in Atlanta, and from what I could see at the exhibit, he's quite interested in you, too. So when are you gonna bust a move?"
"I hate it when you talk slang, you do it so poorly," Paris said haughtily. Then she sighed deeply. "I have no idea what makes me so tongue-tied in front of that man. Although this time it was much, much worse. He asked my about my work with Cochran Communications and I started babbling like Bubba from Forrest Gump. ‘We got big radio stations and little radio stations and we got medium-sized radio stations and we got stations in Michigan and we got stations in Chicago....' It was horrible. And the worst part was I couldn't stop," she moaned.
Angelique's eyes twinkled in sympathy. "Tell Lisette what happened next," she suggested. Paris took the last slice of peach out of the bowl with her fingers and ate it moodily. She mumbled something Lisette had to ask her to repeat.
"I was babbling like a maniac and he was standing there looking at me with this really nice expression on his face and all of a sudden he leaned over and kissed me. Not a big juicy kiss, just a nice little peck. And then I could talk like a normal person," she said in wonder.
"Well, it seems as though he knows what he's doing," Lisette said with a laugh. She rose to clear the table of the empty fruit bowl. "What is it about this man that perplexes you so? Is he very handsome?"
Paris groaned and clutched her heart, raising her other hand in mute testimony. "Girl, girl, girl. He's about six-five and his skin is a little bit lighter than Angel's. He has these high cheekbones, and his eyes are a funny color. Sometimes they look blue, sometimes gray. His hair is somewhere between light brown and dark gold, he's clean-shaven, broad shoulders, really good butt... Yeah, he's pretty handsome," she sighed.
Lisette cleared her throat and waved her left hand with its sparkling bounty under Paris's nose. "Being shy gets you nowhere, my dear. Being bold, now that's another story. Do what you have to do, but get it done. I have spoken!" All three women burst out laughing.
***
Paris and Angelique watched carefully as Lisette's dress was lowered over her head. She had chosen a simple, elegant confection of white silk georgette, off the shoulder with elegant re-embroidered Belgian lace around the deep neckline and the cap sleeves. She was going to wear a delicate wreath of gardenias in her hair in lieu of a veil and she was far and away the most collected person in the room. Her mother, Amyanah, was shedding happy tears as she attempted to put the wreath on her daughter's head and Miriam was fussing over the bridesmaids.
Warren's mother, Pauline, was also teary-eyed from sheer happiness. She was so relieved that her son hadn't married the harlot Tracy, and so pleased with Lisette as a daughter-in-law, that she couldn't contain herself. Janice Bowden, a friend of Lisette's and her final bridesmaid, also worked at the design salon with Lisette and was a raving beauty. It was hard to believe she bad four children. After Paris and Angelique exclaimed over how well she'd kept her figure, Janice smiled and confessed that while she had four children, she'd only given birth to one.
"I adopted my three oldest long before I met my husband Curt," she explained "And before I had my baby I was as skinny as a rail. Thank goodness I have a little meat on my bones now. I can't wait to have another."
All five attendants were wearing soft, pale green, tea-length dresses in silk chiffon. The lone flower girl was Justine, Valorie's adorable three-year-old daughter. She was wearing a beautiful green frock with a white lace bodice and puffy organza sleeves and was being very well-behaved Miriam's current woe was that Angelique was showing a lot more cleavage than she had at the last fitting. Angelique shrugged as she looked at herself in the ballet-style gown with the thin spaghetti straps.
"Sorry about that, Miriam, but this is the baby's doing," she said cheerfully. "Remember, we'll have those chiffon stoles on in the church, that'll help cover me. And nobody's going to be looking at me anyway. This is Lisette's day and all eyes will be on her."
Lisette did indeed look like a vision in her gown with the flowers in her hair. The gown set off her petite figure perfectly and her expression of loving serenity made her even more beautiful. Angelique was busy snapping pictures of all the preparations for the ceremony, even though Lisette insisted on her being in the wedding party; she didn't want her friend acting as photographer, A.J. agreed to do that for the couple, just because they were Angelique's friends.
The women were almost ready to form their processional. Amyanah gathered all the women together for a final prayer before the ceremony began. Every eye had a tear when it was finished except for Warren's irrepressible sister, Valorie.
"For the love of Mike, this is a wedding, people. This is a happy occasion so get with the program. Waterproof mascara is only going to take us so for," she said with loving exasperation. "We all look fabulous. Lisette, you look like a dream, and mamas, y'all need to get to steppin' because it's almost time to begin."
In a few moments the women had lined up for the processional. Armand, Lisette's tall, handsome father, was ready to escort his daughter down the aisle to the man who had waited a lifetime for her. The church was fragrant with the scent of gardenias, freesia, and roses, as well as the earthy smell of the ferns used abundantly in the decorations. Angelique had to fight for control; she wanted to weep as she entered the church and was escorted down the aisle by Adam Cochran. Donnie was already at the altar, as he was Warren's best man. When all the bridesmaids were assembled, the doors to the church closed as the processional for the bride began. The doors opened suddenly and Lisette floated in on the arm of her father, looking so luminous with love for Warren that she almost didn't look real.
Donnie completely missed the part where Lisette entered the church-he was totally focused on his wife and couldn't see anything else. She looked incredible with the afternoon sun slanting through the stained-glass windows, bathing her in an opalescent sheen. The sheer chiffon scarf draped over the front of her gown and loosely held in the back with a gardenia was identical to the other bridesmaids', but it looked very sexy on her. Her incipient motherhood made her more than lovely to Donnie; she was the personification of all that was woman. With a sudden spark of recognition, he remembered the night he and Angelique had taken their vows in a gaudy little wedding chapel. He remembered everything, as if something had just knocked him into another sensibility and all the memory came flooding back. They deserved, no, she deserved to have a beautiful wedding with all their family and friends in attendance. Right then and there he decided that no matter what it took, he and his Angel were going to have a real ceremony, and soon.
Chapter Nineteen
Lisette and Warren entered the elevator and rode up to the bridal suite in complete silence, due mostly to the fact that they were kissing madly the whole time. They were spending their wedding night at the Athenaeum, the ultra-posh hotel in Greektown. They would be taking a flight to Aruba the next morning where they would have a long and leisurely honeymoon. When they reached their floor, Warren swept Lisette into his arms without breaking the kiss. He carried her to the door of their suite and they crossed the threshold into their married life. Warren gently set Lisette on her feet and took both her hands in his.
"Hello, Mrs. Alexander," he murmured
"Hello to you, Mr. Alexander," she returned. "Have I told you how happy I am that you married me?"
"It was my pleasure entirely, Lisette. I love you more than I thought it was possible to love anyone," he said softly.
Lisette stood on her tiptoes to receive his kiss and smiled with tender love after it was over. "Then show me, my love. Show me how much you love me. I'll be back in a very few minutes." She pulled out of his embrace and blew him a kiss before going into the suite's master bathroom where her things had been placed earlier. Before Warren could go into the other bathroom, she was back with a sheepish smile.