Total pages in book: 188
Estimated words: 182255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 911(@200wpm)___ 729(@250wpm)___ 608(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 182255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 911(@200wpm)___ 729(@250wpm)___ 608(@300wpm)
To her, that was perfect.
Last night’s “bachelorette party” had been nothing like Gloria’s Vegas penthouse boozefest with penis-shaped straws and hot male strippers. No, hers had been in her new living room with Grace, Gloria, Raine, and Maggie, watching schmaltzy movies, nibbling saltines and sipping ginger ale, and swapping pregnancy stories.
As gatherings went, it had been small. Full of laughter. Overflowing with sisterhood—all shared with the unlikely circle of women who had become her family. Not the one she’d been born into, but the one she’d found. The one that mattered.
And today, bless them, they would hold her hands and help her take the biggest step of her life.
She would marry Kenneth Beckman and Seth Cooper—the men she loved more than anything.
Her ending might not be a typical fairy tale, but it was absolutely her dream come true.
“Knock, knock!” Gloria called, rapping on the door as she pushed it open. She emerged into the room, her sassy red hair freshly coiffed and wearing a lacy sage green dress that almost made her look like a typical suburban wife. But the big, brash smile that was pure Gloria was her madame-coded bling. “Am I interrupting something? Ken come to give you a quickie before the ceremony?”
Heavenly had to laugh. “Nothing that exciting, I’m afraid.”
“Not for lack of trying,” Raine snorted, wearing flawless makeup, a gorgeous mauve chiffon dress, and bare feet. She carried in her giant case, full of implements to make Heavenly look more like a bride. “He and Seth were planning an offensive on your bedroom last night, but I made Hammer and Liam cockblock them. You’re welcome.”
That made Heavenly giggle. “Thank you.”
She wouldn’t have minded spending her last night as a single woman wrapped in the arms of her men. But that would come tonight, after they’d pledged their lives to one another in front of their loved ones.
Even the thought was going to make her cry.
When she sniffled, Grace bustled in, looking polished in a sedate gray dress. With a concerned expression, she hooked Heavenly’s wedding dress on the back of the door, the lace and delicate beading catching the morning light, before reaching for Heavenly’s hand. “Oh, sweetheart. Is everything okay? I was nervous on my wedding day. Both of them. It’s going to be all right. We’re here, and you’re beautiful.”
She hugged her mother-in-law-to-be, so grateful their relationship had come so far in the past few short months. “I’m happy. I promise these aren’t nervous tears.”
Maggie, her soon-to-be-sister-in-law, followed Grace into the bedroom, looking lovely in blue, despite the somewhat green tint to her skin. She smoothed a hand down her still-flat belly. “They’re pregnancy tears. I should know. It’s not even my wedding, and I woke up crying.”
Heavenly grinned as she pressed a hand to the slight curve of her stomach and bit her lip. Three months along, and the baby was starting to make its presence known. Not obviously yet, but enough to know the hormones were real. Enough that she’d tried on her dress twice this week to make sure it still fit.
Raine sniffled as she settled Heavenly onto a stool and opened her case of hair implements and war paint. “That makes two of us. Damn hormones.” Then she tipped Heavenly’s chin in her direction and studied her bare face. “You look way calmer than the rest of us.”
Heavenly’s smile widened. “Only because I know in my heart I’m making the right choice.”
Raine nodded. “You totally are. So glad my brother didn’t jump on you when you offered him your V-card.”
“Me, too.” Heat rushed to Heavenly’s cheeks as she slanted a wary glance at Grace and Maggie. “Long story.”
Grace squeezed her hand. “Seth told me about your horrible landlord. Oh, sweetheart, I can’t imagine how scared you were… And I’m so proud of those men for coming to your rescue. I know it wasn’t funny then, but—”
“But it’s hysterical now,” Gloria piped in. “Ken isn’t usually homicidal, but Raine, honey, you wouldn’t have a brother left if he’d hustled Heavenly to bed.”
“You really wouldn’t,” Maggie put in, carrying a sleeve of saltines and a ginger ale. “If Beck hadn’t ended him, Seth totally would have. I really had no idea what a badass he is.”
Heavenly had known almost from the beginning. At first, he’d scared her more than a little. But now she wouldn’t want him any other way. His protective ferocity—the one he displayed every day for the people he loved—made her feel so safe.
“And thank god. I’m grateful Seth was there when it mattered,” Maggie said softly. “That he saved all of you that horrible day.”
Heavenly’s throat tightened. Seth’s decisive action. Beck’s blood. The terror on everyone’s faces. But today wasn’t about dwelling on darkness. It was about celebrating the light they’d found together.
“We all are,” she managed, her voice thick.