Grounded (Up in the Air #3)(107)

It was several days before Stephan was moved from the ICU, and we were both awake to see each other. We had a teary-eyed reunion, clutching hands and sobbing like babies.

“I was so afraid that you wouldn’t recover,” I gasped.

He gave a strangled half-laugh, half-sob. “You were afraid? I watched him shoot you in the head. I don’t think I’ll ever fully recover from the sight.”

I winced at the visual. “But you saved me.”

“Always, Buttercup,” he said, squeezing my hand hard. “Always.”

He continued, quickly switching to a lighter topic. “Would it be tacky for me to get engaged just over a week after you did?”

I looked around for Javier, taken aback at the question. We were completely alone, even James giving us a moment of privacy.

“You’re engaged?” I questioned.

He shook his head, wearing his most boyish grin. “No, but I want to propose. I wanted to get your blessing first.”

I gave him an exasperated look, then laughed. “Yes. If you want to be silly and ask for my blessing, then you have it. Always. Nothing would make me happier.”

“It’s going to be smooth sailing from here on out, Bee. We’ve earned it.”

I returned his carefree smile, hoping that he might be right.

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

Epilogue

NEARLY ONE YEAR LATER

I took deep breaths. I counted. I made my whole body relax. I was nervous—very nervous, and skittish, but much less so, than I’d thought I would be for this day.

“Deep breaths, Buttercup,” Stephan said gently. I couldn’t look at him today. He, more than anyone, made me emotional today. There was just so much joy in his eyes, so much barely suppressed excitement. It made me want to bawl like a baby and I had just sat through a painstakingly elaborate makeup process. Not to mention that my goal for the day was not to lose it in front of four hundred wedding guests.

“If you make her mess up her make-up right now, I will kick you,” Lana told him, but her tone was pure affection. Stephan and Lana had taken to each other like, well—like Stephan and I. She threatened to steal him from me nearly every time the three of us got together.

Lana looked stunning, of course, in a lavender dress that made those astonishing purple eyes stand out even more. She’d picked the color. As was her custom, she’d taken over that entire part of the process. I hadn’t balked. On the contrary, I’d only been relieved. This sort of event was well out of my area of expertise. I had never been the girl who dreamed of this, let alone ever thought of planning one of the things. I had gratefully taken all of the help I could get.

“Bianca, you should know that I’ve been put on guard duty by your determined bridegroom. He said that if you tried to run, I would get to tackle you.”

That made me laugh, and relieved some of the tension, as it was meant to.

“I don’t know if anyone’s told you this,” she continued. “But I have quite the reputation as a kick-ass fighter in Maui, so I wouldn’t test me if I were you.”

Not only had someone told me that story, everyone had. Lana’s Tutu, and her auntie, and even Akira loved to tell that story in great detail, and often. One girl fight and they thought she was the lightweight champ…

Lana wasn’t finished, but she’d moved on from Stephan and me. She had an elegant finger pointed at the two mischievous pixies who wore gowns that matched her own. “And you. The Debauched Duo. You had better stay away from my brother at the reception. I saw the way you were eyeing him. Don’t even think about it. I have plans for him that involve him finally settling down, and the two of you wouldn’t know settled if it invited you to a threesome!”

They just giggled, completely unfazed.

“We already bagged that one,” Marnie gasped.

“Double teamed him after the rehearsal dinner!” Judith said.

“He was awesome,” Marnie added.

Lana rubbed her temples. “Oh, God! I don’t know who’s more hopeless. Him or you two?”

“Them,” Jessa added from where she was getting her hair finished up. “I’ve known them for years. Definitely them.”

“They told me a story about seducing a priest one time,” Danika told Lana, giving her a sympathetic look. “Your brother is easy, but these two are nymphos. So if we’re talking hopeless, I vote them.”

“I swear I saw them eyeing up the minister that’s performing the nuptials,” Sophia added helpfully, adjusting the sleeve of her own lavender gown.

“I’m almost positive they were trying to hit on my dad last night, before they disappeared with Lana’s brother,” Jackie added from where she was working on my hem. I glanced down at her as she continued. “My poor father’s been a widower for five years, and he’s approaching sixty. They could have given him a heart attack.”

Marnie and Judith just giggled, enjoying the banter.

It all helped. I needed distraction. It wasn’t that I had doubts about James. I was sure of him, sure that I needed him, and that he was good for me. It was just the actual marriage part that got me scared. And the over the top wedding, which had started out so small, wasn’t helping. It had just sort of built into this thing that I couldn’t control anymore, though I wasn’t sure I ever could have. We should have eloped…