Daughters Of The Bride(110)

Courtney nodded. “Once he lost you and Josh, he was able to see how much you meant to him. Rachel, you have to do what’s right for you. I’m only pointing out that no one is going to judge you if you want to give things another try.”

“Greg’s not interested in that.”

“How can you be sure? Have you talked about it?”

Rachel shifted from foot to foot. “No, but he hasn’t said anything about us getting back together.”

“Someone has to take the first step,” Sienna reminded her. “Maybe it could be you.”

Rachel grabbed the dresses and shoved them at Courtney. “You need to try these on so we can go meet Neil. Now hurry.”

“That wasn’t even subtle,” Courtney pointed out as the three of them walked back to the dressing rooms.

They did have to keep an eye on the clock. Their mother’s fiancé had asked to meet them for coffee.

Courtney tried on the five dresses Sienna had picked out. Two weren’t for her, but the other three had possibilities. One was a slim-fitting sheath in a red-and-white swirl pattern.

“Hold on,” Sienna told her and raced off. A minute later she was back with a skinny white belt. “Try this on.”

The belt was perfect.

“Wear your hair up,” Rachel told her. “And you need really great sandals. Not white. Maybe nude and with a heel.”

“Nude pumps would totally work,” Sienna added.

There was a light blue sundress they all decided would be perfect for the drive down, and a casual open-weave number that would work for a beach cover-up.

Courtney bought the three dresses for a total of thirty-seven dollars, then the three of them headed for Rachel’s SUV. They were meeting Neil at Polly’s Pie Parlor. Yes, they would have gone anywhere to join him for coffee, but the added incentive of a slice of pie didn’t hurt.

“Do you know about the kazoos?” Rachel asked as she drove through town.

Courtney was glad she was in the backseat. There was less to bang her head on. “He mentioned them before. I hoped he was kidding.”

“He wasn’t. When he called to ask me to meet him, he played one for me. It’s gonna be loud.”

Sienna turned in her seat and grinned. “Be grateful there aren’t going to be swans. They might think the kazoos are a mating call and start attacking guests.”

“Aren’t you the funny one.” She would have to look at her timeline to figure out where they would be—event-wise—when the kazoos came out. If it was after ten, they would be violating the noise policy, not to mention disturbing the other guests.

“I wish we could stop with the surprises,” Courtney said. “And buying things for the wedding. Mom ordered custom chair covers. They’re embroidered with her and Neil’s initials. They’re lovely and there are three hundred of them. Whatever will they do with them afterward?”

“Probably let us take them home as souvenirs,” Rachel offered cheerfully. “Let it go, Courtney. This wedding is bigger than all of us. You simply need to surrender to the inevitable. At least Mom’s happy.”

Courtney leaned against the door. “You’re right. I’ll focus on that. And the meal will be great. We have excellent wine, and the rest of it will take care of itself.”

There were a couple of minutes of silence, then Sienna said, “I don’t remember Dad much. Do you, Rach?”

Courtney looked at her older sister. Rachel stared out the front window. “Some. I have images of him. Snippets, really. The sound of his laugh. How it felt when he hugged me and told me I would always be his princess. But not much more than that.”

“I don’t remember anything,” Courtney admitted.

“You were a lot younger,” Rachel said. “I should have more memories.”

“It’s been a long time,” Sienna said. “We should be happy Neil came along.”

Courtney was glad her mother had someone in her life, but she had no sense of Neil as a father. She’d seen other women with their fathers. Friends and coworkers. There were plenty of fathers and daughters at the hotel. But all that was outside her. She couldn’t relate to it. As for missing her father—she found it hard to miss what she’d never had.

They pulled up in front of the restaurant and got out of the car.

“No talk about Dad,” Rachel said as they walked inside.

“I don’t mind if you talk about your father.”

They all jumped and turned to find Neil had come in right behind them. He smiled at them.

“Phil was an important part of your mother’s life, and yours, as well.” He pointed to an open table. “Shall we?”