Down To You (The Love On Edge Series) (12 page)

“You didn’t answer your phone the past couple of days. I was worried,” Chris said in a quiet, sweet voice. Holly gave him a look of disbelief.

“You’re full of shit! I know you talked to Brant.”

Chris dropped the façade, as a scowl crossed his face.

“You’re a game player, girl…”

“What games, Chris?!”

“We had something going the other night, and turns out my friend is back at home.”

“Your friend…? Your friend that wants to beat your ass?! And it was a dance. Nothing more.”

“Fucking whore.”

Before Holly could reply Brant was rushing out of the house bare chested and on the war path. He brushed right past Holly and gripped Chris by his shirt collar, slamming him into the side of his truck.

“What the hell, man!”

“Did I fucking stutter?! Stay the hell away from my wife and my house!”

“Get off of me!”

“I warned you. Come near my wife or my house again and I’m going to hand you your ass.”

Brant let go of his shirt with attitude and
anger clear in his movements. He stared at Chris as he backed off with a threatening scowl on his face.  That’s when Chris upped the ante.

“Aren’t you two quite the couple…? You’ve got a wife who’s a tease, and a husband who backs out at the slightest sign of trouble! You’re really going back to that Holly! He’s just going to flake out on you again! You could’ve had a
real
man. Like me!”

Both Holly and Brant saw red. This time it wasn’t Brant who was storming at Chris. Holly ran from the porch, much quicker than Brant’s own fast gait.  Though she was half a foot shorter than Chris, he stared at her with fear in his eyes. In a moment of rage, she poured all her strength into a sucker punch that collided with Chris Beckman’s right eye.

“Bastard! You aren’t half the man that Brant is! Screw off!” screamed Holly as she shook her fist in pain. Brant stood by, shocked but amused.

“Damn, girl! That’s one crack shot!” said Brant, proud of Holly. Not only had she knocked Chris Beckman on the ground, she stood up for Brant when Chris had talked down about him.

“I told you. I need someone to fight alongside of me. Not protect me,” Holly said as she winked at Brant.

Brant laughed, “I see that now!”

“Crazy bitch!” Chris yelled as he cowered down the street defeated. For now.

Chapter Fourteen

Delegations
and Preparations…

December 27, 2013

Edgemont Residence

Sloane slammed a thick white three-ring binder onto the breakfast bar in Holly and Brant’s kitchen with a bang.
She gave Holly’s hand a dirty look, which was now wrapped in a bandage. It was bruised and swollen.

“What the hell did you do to yourself?”

“I knocked out Chris Beckman.”

Immediately a big grin grew on Brant’s and Luke’s faces.

“Oh, good girl!” Sloane said with a wink.

Sloane continued to rifle through her book.

“Okay, people. We have work to do,” she said in a business-like tone. She had gathered all of the members of the wedding party and was ready to get down to business. Sloane had nominated herself as the wedding planner, and Holly and Brant were glad to grant her with the task. She told them that the only thing they had to do was pick a wedding party and show up.

It hadn’t taken much thought to decide who would be in the wedding. Brant immediately asked Marv to be his best man. He couldn’t think of anyone who was better suited for the task. Not only was he instrumental in arranging their first date, he was pivotal in getting them back together, too. Then for his groomsmen, he chose Greg and Luke, who were in Brant and Holly’s first wedding, and of course, he couldn’t forget Randy. The only guy that Brant didn’t include from his original wedding party was Chris, for obvious reasons.

Holly had a pretty easy time determining who her maid of honor would be. After arranging a Christmas party, essentially paying for their second wedding, and just all in all, being the best friend a girl could ask for, Holly had no problem tasking Sloane with the job of her maid of honor. Holly’s bridesmaids include her mother Gloria, and her daughters Tressa and Belle. Belle was initially asked to be a flower girl, but outright refused insisting that she is a big girl, and she wants a big girl dress.

Sloane continued, “Okay, we have a lot on the agenda today”

Holly, Brant, Marv, Gloria, Luke and Greg all gave Sloane their full attention.

“First up. Invitations go out tomorrow. I am going to need Marv, Luke and Greg to assist. We don’t have enough time to mail them, so we are doing drive-by delivery. Marv, you and I will be taking Center City and South Philly. Luke, you can take the Northeast and Bensalem. Greg, can you handle South Jersey?”

They all nodded in agreement.

“Okay, that was easy. The guest list is 250 long.”

Holly’s eyes went wide.

“Come again?”

“250 guests. That is the bare minimum for the venue.”

“Are we going to be able to fill it up?”

“This is a Sloane Markowitz production. Of course we will. Hmm…. Ah, attire.”

Sloane began flipping through her binder.

“Gentlemen. You have an appointment at Heinrich’s Distinguished Men’s Formal Wear on Spruce Street tomorrow at 5 P.M. Don’t be late. This is a black tie affair, Brant. No sneakers or boots, please. Luke… No ironic t-shirts with a tuxedo design on them. Greg… No belching during the ceremony.”

“You take away all the fun!” complained Luke with a smile.

“Moving on. Flowers. It’s off season so there wasn’t as much to choose from. Since it’s a winter wedding, we could do red and white roses.”

“No,” replied Brant rather bluntly.

“Why?” asked Sloane, looking confused at Brant.

Of all things for him to comment on, he chooses flowers?

“Holly likes lilies. White Casablanca lilies.”

Sloane eyed Holly speculatively.

“Holly, care to comment?”

“He’s right. I prefer the white lilies. I was thinking white Casablanca lilies with heather and red winterberries.”

Sloane raised her eyebrow.

“That might actually work.”

Sloane scribbled in her notebook, crossing of her original idea, and writing down
Holly’s idea. It was stressful planning a wedding on such short notice, but Sloane really made it look easy.

“Ladies. Midnight Affair Bridal Couture. 5 P.M. tomorrow. Don’t be late. Is there anything I’m missing? Oh, right… Transportation.”

Brant cut Sloane off at the mention of it.

“I have it covered.”

“But-“

“I have it covered, we’ll discuss it later.”

Holly gave Brant a sideways glance and smiled happily.

He always has a surprise up his sleeve.

“Okay, then. We’ll meet up on December 30
th
at Rogue at 8 P.M. for one last hurrah before the big day!”

*****

Tuxedo shopping went off without a hitch. Brant selected a simple black tuxedo with a white shirt, silver vest, silver tie and classic patent leather shoes. They were in and out within an hour, and they all walked out with all of their wedding day apparel. The girls would not have quite so short of an appointment at the dress shop.

*****

“Ah! Good afternoon, ladies! My name is Janelle and I’ll be assisting you today!”

“Hi Janelle,” said Sloane, “We made an appointment. We are with the Edgemont wedding party.”

“Wonderful. We’ll take care of your bridesmaid gowns first.”

Janelle looked over the varying ages and body sizes of Holly’s unique group of bridesmaids, all ranging in age from four years old to fifty five years old.

“It’s a New Year’s Eve wedding, so I was thinking black bridesmaid gowns. I’d like an all black affair, except for my gown, of course.”

“Oh! We have many beautiful black evening gowns!” Janelle said in delight as she led the ladies off to the back of the store where the black evening gowns were located. She pulled a variety of dresses for Sloane to model. Each time she came out of the dressing room, Holly had something to say:

“Too matronly.”

“Too
goth.”

“Too funeral-y”

“Oh, my god, this is a wedding not a stripper club!”

“Too Miss America pageant.”

“That gown belongs on
Dynasty
. Seriously?”

“Okay, can we get serious with the dresses?”

Holly got up from her chair and started raiding through the black gowns. She didn’t like any of the ones that Janelle had picked out. So she went searching around the boutique for other gowns that Janelle didn’t select.

“Madam!”
Janelle said to Holly.

“Madam?! What are you doing?!”

Holly looked at Janelle like she had two heads.

“I’m looking for bridesmaid gowns that are more suited to my style.”

“Only I can handle the gowns!”

Holly had an impatient look on her face.

“Okay, then come over here and pull four of these for me. I notice you have this exact gown in children’s sizes. We need an adult size six, an adult size ten, a child’s size ten and a child’s size 4T.”

Janelle looked taken aback. She wasn’t expecting Holly to be so up front.

“Whatever you wish, madam!”

Sloane waited patiently to see what Holly was bringing back. Janelle handed each of the bridesmaids their gown as they went into their dressing room to try it on. Sloane was the first one out of her dressing room.

“Oh, yes! This is the one!” Sloane said as she came out of the dressing room.

She had on an elegant black evening gown with one-shoulder. The bodice was elegantly beaded and it had lovely taffeta overlay that stretched from the shoulder strap, across the breast and to the back, where it hung loosely down the back adding to the mystique of the gown.

“That is gorgeous! Look it even has a little train!” gushed Holly with excitement written all over her face.

Suddenly, Tressa, Gloria and Belle came out of their dressing rooms, and they all looked just as fabulous as Sloane did.

“That’s definitely the one…”

“Okay, now it’s your turn,” said Sloane as she pointed to the area of the store where the bridal gowns were kept. Holly gulped nervously.

*****

Five hours later, they had finally left the boutique. Holly had tried on just about every size ten dress in the store, and eventually opted for the very first dress she put on. Fortunately, since there were no time for alterations, the dress fit perfectly. The ladies left the boutique with their gowns in practical garment bags. They had purchased shoes, under garments, and wraps to protect them from the winter chill. Holly even found a tiara and veil that she liked. She couldn’t believe that the big day was just around the corner.