He regarded her for a long moment. “I’d marry you right now with your hair all mussed up, and your jeans covered in dirt.”
“I know, which is why I didn’t want to worry you about the dress.” She bit her lip. “It was stupid. I just wanted to look . . . nice for one day in my life.”
HW let out his breath. “What time is it?”
“I don’t know, why?” Sam asked.
HW took out his phone. “It’s eleven o’clock. One hour before we get hitched.” He took Sam’s hand. “Do you think you can stay out of trouble for that long?”
* * *
By the time they got back to the barn, it was ten minutes after eleven. One of the ranch hands shooed them both away to get changed and handled the horses. At the top of the stairs of the ranch house, Sam gave HW one last kiss and walked along the hallway to January and Chase’s suite.
The moment she opened the door, everyone started shrieking at her. Sam gave up the effort to answer them all individually and allowed herself to be thrown in the shower. She then sat in front of a mirror where the extremely unhappy makeup and hair people promised to make her look as pretty as possible in forty-five minutes.
She let the ebb and flow of chatter roll over her as she considered what had happened so far that day. Her attendants were already dressed and made up, and Avery was distributing the fragrant posies and corsages Daisy had created for everyone. The smell of spring flowers fought the various perfumes making a heady brew Sam happily breathed in.
“Drink this.”
Sam blinked as Nancy handed her a glass of wine.
“Thanks, I need it.” Sam took a huge gulp. “What a day.”
Nancy grinned at her. She wore a silky dress in her favorite teal and had blue flowers entwined in her silver pigtails. “And they say I’m the troublemaker in Morgantown. I’ve got nothing on you, girl.”
“I’m retiring from troublemaking and intend to become a very well-behaved, happily married woman,” Sam said piously.
“Right,” Nancy snorted. “Good luck with that.”
“Has Yvonne turned up yet?” Sam suddenly thought to ask.
“Apparently, she’s on her way,” January chimed in from the window seat where she was nursing Chase William. “She’s got Rio with her.”
“Where did she find him?” Sam wrinkled her nose making the makeup artist sigh. “I thought he was in Vegas.”
“Yvonne said something about Rio’s father’s company plane, so maybe he picked her up from wherever she went and is bringing her home.”
Sam sighed. “It must be nice to have a fiancée with a billionaire for a father.”
“I guess.” January chuckled. “But I can’t complain myself really, can I?”
The door opened behind Sam, but she couldn’t look round because the hairdresser was directly behind her, and currently had a handful of Sam’s hair.
“Bonjour!” Yvonne called out. “I made it! How’s everything going?”
Sam was fairly certain everyone in the room would be more than happy to enliven Yvonne’s day with their various accounts of how Sam had accidentally almost ruined her own wedding day and sent her fiancé into flat despair. She couldn’t quite believe she’d managed it herself, but now all she had to do was hang in there for another half an hour or so, and it would all be over. . . .
So much for a stress-free small wedding. If she’d eloped to Vegas with HW, what damage might she have done there? She might have taken out the whole city. It didn’t bear thinking about.
“Close your eyes, please.”
Sam did as she was asked and let the professionals do their work. She was surprisingly sleepy and incredibly calm. The emotions of the morning had driven out all her worries about the actual wedding. Her fear of not making the ceremony had made her realize how devastated she would’ve been if she’d not got back in time. Everything else—all the fuss about the dress, and her family, and the occasion meant nothing compared to how much she loved HW. She was looking forward to getting married to her beautiful blond cowboy.
“Okay, I think we’re almost done.”
Sam opened her eyes and viewed herself in the mirror. She still looked like herself—but like the best polished, prettiest version of herself there had ever been.
“Wow. Thank you.” Sam smiled at both the ladies. “Thank you so much!”
Avery appeared by Sam’s side. “Come and get dressed, and don’t worry about the time. It’s traditional for the bride to be late.”
“But I don’t want poor old HW getting all nervous again,” Sam objected. “He’ll probably pass out. How long have we got?”
“About fifteen minutes,” January called out as she dressed the baby in a sailor suit. “You’ll be fine.”
Sam went into the bathroom to pee and put on the important basics before she got into the wedding dress. She took off her bathrobe and changed her woolen socks for a pair of long white knee-high ones Ruth had knitted specially for her. She needed something between her prosthetic foot and the leather of the boot, and nylon wouldn’t hack it. Her white cowboy boots with silver embroidery were beautiful. She didn’t really look sexy, but HW wouldn’t care.
She added a new bra and the under petticoat January had obviously ironed for her and went back into the bedroom. Some of her friends had gone down to the wedding venue leaving just her main attendants all wearing dresses in their favorite colors and carrying coordinating posies.
“Ah, there you are,” Yvonne said. “Come over here by the mirror and close your eyes so I don’t damage your makeup when I put the dress over your head.”
“Okay,” Sam obliged, shivering as the cold fabric of the dress slipped over her skin. She opened her eyes and blinked hard. “Hey! This isn’t January’s dress.”
“I know.” Yvonne was beaming at her. “I couldn’t bear to see you trying to be so brave about not having your own wedding dress, so I went and got you this one.”
Sam smoothed down the frothy skirts as she fought the strange urge to bawl like a baby. “This is the first dress I tried on. The one I loved.” She turned to Yvonne, her skirts swirling around her. “How on earth did you manage this? It’s even the right length.”
Yvonne made an airy gesture. “I just commandeered my father-in-law-to-be’s private jet, made a stop in Vegas at a shop that stocked the same dress, and got them to alter it immediately. Nothing much.”
Sam rushed over and gave Yvonne a hug. “Thank you,” she whispered. “That was the most awesome thing to do for me ever.”
Yvonne kissed her cheek. “You’re welcome. Now, let’s make sure it fits properly. Avery is standing by with her needle and thread if you need to make any last-minute alterations.”
“And I’m quite good at it,” Avery piped up. “I’ve literally sewn people into their wedding gowns.” She helped Yvonne fluff out Sam’s skirts, and took a slow walk around her. “I think this looks good to go.”
“How does it feel, Sam?” Yvonne asked.
Sam looked in the mirror. The boat neck of the dress sat nicely over her collarbones and the half-lace sleeves hid the scars left by the explosion on her upper arms. The bodice was fitted, but the skirts were wide with several layers of chiffon, lace, and silk panels cut like the petals of a flower. It was the most beautiful thing Sam had ever seen.