FG 3 - The Wedding Blitz Read online

  “You think I don’t know that,” he laughed with another glance over my shoulder.

  “I got to see this,” I put the laptop down to the side so I could get up.

  “I thought you might,” he snickered as we opened the glass door and walked out onto the balcony.

  “Lizzie what are you thinking?” I laughed as she proceeded to strip off her top revealing a pink lace bra.

  “That I want to have a little fun for once!”

  “What if Hawkins’ mom sees you? I’m sure she’s got some kind of state of the art binoculars. Some Navy Seal type shit, for sure.”

  “Then she’ll know what both of us look like naked!” Lizzie shot back as she stripped off her bra and I jokingly lifted my hand to cover Hawkins’ eyes.

  “She does have a valid point, you know,” Hawkins smiled, making my face blush with the memory of being thrown over his shoulder in the buff as he playfully slapped my hand down but I quickly lifted it back up.

  “Shut up, you’re not helping.”

  The last thing I saw was Lizzie’s butt crack as she jumped off the dock into the water. I could hear Warren and Riley laughing from below when she finally came back up for air howling in utter shock and horror. Now this part I let Hawkins watch as Lizzie quickly flailed her arms around in the water in an attempt to swim back toward land again.

  “Holy shit! It’s freaking cold!” I could almost hear Lizzie’s teeth chattering.

  “I tried to tell you,” Warren moved in to help her out of the water.

  “Well I never!” I heard a familiar voice exclaim from behind us on the balcony; instantly making my stomach cramp like I had been the one tossed into the cold water instead.

  “Well I have, frequently,” Lizzie shot back loud enough for her to hear as she pushed away Warren’s attempt to cover her up and continued to walk across the yard in her birthday suit.

  “What if the neighbors see her, Joshua?” Hawkins’ mom turned at him.

  “From fifty acres away, mom?”

  Humph.

  Hawkins’ mom must have given up because she turned around and stared into the family room. “Now could someone please tell me what happened to the house?”

  “What do you mean?” Hawkins led the way back inside. “It looks great compared to when we first arrived. We even removed what was left of a dilapidated wall that used to be here,” he pointed to the place where the floor boards were missing.

  “Did you take down a chunk of the ceiling too while you were at it?” she looked up at the gaping hole in the roof.

  “No a huge branch did that,” he explained. “We’ve already chopped it up.”

  “Well this is unfortunate,” her voice softened as she placed her hands on her hips. “Why haven’t you hired a contractor to fix it yet?”

  “It’s my first house,” he shrugged. “And the work seemed doable.”

  “Most of your friends are in no condition to work,” she emphasized. “Which only leaves you to fix that eyesore,” she hiked her thumb up in the direction of the roof. “And you have another thing coming if you think I’m going to just sit back and allow you to do it. You could fall and break your neck.”

  “Well thanks for your input mom. So why else did you stop by?”

  “I picked up some groceries from Sam’s Club to help get you started at the house.”

  “Thank you, now that’s actually helpful,” he sighed as we headed in the direction of the front door to retrieve the bags. “How’s dad doing?”

  “Sarcastic as ever,” she rolled her eyes as she opened the back of her red Explorer which was piled high with groceries bought in bulk and house supplies like toilet paper and paper towels. “So naturally he’s feeling better.”

  We brought in a load of groceries with the help of Harlow and Riley but when Hawkins’ mom opened the refrigerator and realized that it wasn’t working, she scoffed, “You don’t even have the electricity on in this place?”

  “I tried to tell them,” Lizzie added as she came through the door completely dressed this time in a pair of faded jeans and an off the shoulder cream sweater. Hawkins’ mom cut her eyes at Lizzie to indicate that she hadn’t asked her for her opinion.

  “We’ve been staying on the tour bus,” Hawkins explained when even he didn’t look like he could continue to defend his decision to work on the house alone.

  “Do you plan to raise the baby on the tour bus too?”

  “Mom, you know that we don’t.”

  “I’m sorry, I don’t blame you, Joshua,” she suddenly softened with the confession. “I should have taken the time to look at the property before handing over the papers for you to sign. The location was just too perfect to pass up,” she sighed with another glance around the house.

  “It has potential, mom.”

  “I can see that does,” she nodded. “But like hell am I going to stand by and let you or anyone else risk their lives by climbing that steep roof.”

  X X X

  I knew Hawkins’ mom had made good on her promise because I woke up the next day to the sound of pounding hammers and the gruff noise of men talking. I took a quick look out of the bus window and was astonished by the number of men dressed in construction hats and tool belts around the house and on top of the roof like a pack of army ants completely engulfing their pray.

  I could tell that they planned to completely reconstruct the roof because as they explained to Hawkins, it was dry rotted and a hazard. Jeff, the contractor running the operation, was just glad that the roof hadn’t collapsed in on us while we had been working there. Hawkins actually took Lizzie’s advice by agreeing that a tin roof would add personality to the house. I was excited because I knew I’d love the sound the rain would make on it.

  As the weeks went by, the house was completely taken over by the workmen. Plastic drop clothes covered every inch of the new cherry hardwood floors. The old flooring was warped and waterlogged and had to be ripped out after being exposed to weather elements for too long. They also gutted and replaced the walls so that they could properly insulate them. I spent most of my time on the bus for the two days that it took them to paint all of the new drywall in the house with a color scheme of a cactus flower orange, a pear green, a cappuccino taupe, a fallen timber brown, and a silver mine blue that Hawkins and I had picked out together from Lowes’ painting department.

  I was just glad that I had picked a Honduran Mahogany wood color, which complimented the red in the cherry wood flooring, for all of the furniture I had purchased on line. Thankfully they were done with roofing and painting the walls when my purchases started to be delivered to the house.

  The main level was painted in the cactus flower orange color and really added to the rustic theme and cabin feel of the house. The leather couch faced the fireplace and the matching love seat was positioned catty-cornered next to it; blocking in the family room space. The flat screen was tilted toward the couches and to the right of the fireplace. The carved console table was placed behind the loveseat and served as a table for odds and ends, like the mail and our keys.

  The dining room was anchored by a large square mahogany table and four high back slipper chairs with dark plush cushions. The dining room opened to the family room which opened to the kitchen.

  In the kitchen area, the original square island was uprooted for a more conducive triangular island that sat four tall bar chairs underneath the counter facing the family and dining room areas. The large stainless steel refrigerator, the tall wall oven, and light fixtures overtop of the island added an industrial touch.

  It was amazing to see how all the colors on the walls, in the flooring, the furniture and leather couches complimented each other with the new lighting fixtures and working fireplace brightening the rooms—once the electricity was finally working. The floor to ceiling windows really complemented the interior design and added a wow factor by making the lake and wooded areas outside a focal point for the entire house.

  Hawkins finally showed me his surp
rise project which was the baby’s room. It was beautifully painted in a coral pink color with white trim. My eye was immediately pulled to the carved white wooden letters of Abigail’s name that popped next to the coral color of the wall. Below her name was a baby’s crib, oval shaped and surrounded by beveled posts of mahogany wood. Inside the crib was a thick mattress with soft pink sheets. Across the room and catty corner from the crib was a changing table made out of the same mahogany wood with a pink mat on top that matched the crib linens. Underneath the changing table was a matching dresser. A tall white Armoire with a door on one side and dresser drawers on the other for storing clothes and other baby supplies was along the adjoining wall. A recessed window overlooked the side of the house where I could imagine reading to Abigail in the white rocking chair placed nearby.

  “It’s perfect,” I had told him which seemed to have really made his day.

  “Now for my surprise,” I had opened the door to our bedroom, which had been my secret project, and had said, “I hope it’s not too girly for you.”

  The bedroom walls were painted in a silver mine blue, the most central piece was the king sized bed with the grey tufted headboard that was made in the shape of a maple leaf with the borders curving up and out until rounding at the very top. The material along the headboard was puckered with small fasteners randomly placed across it. The plush pillow top bed was covered in eight hundred thread count white sheets, a pale blue throw tucked underneath a pale blue comforter with a silver floral design on top. The comforter was folded back away from the headboard to make room for two extra-long pillows. On top of these were four regular sized pillows in white cases. Three decorative pale blue circular pillows with fringe on the ends laid at the base. A crystal chandelier hung over top of the bed and complimented the silvery blue color of the walls. A flat screen T.V. on the wall across from the bed was probably the manliest thing in the entire room. A long white table which also served as a vanity mirror and desk was to the right of the door. Two large white chests with four drawers in each were placed on either side of the recessed window on the opposite wall.

  “It looks like a room for a king,” Hawkins said nodding as he gazed around the room. “And I can TiVo anything I want on that flat screen right?”

  “Yep.”

  “Then I’m good.”

  What had started out as a group project between a couple of friends, who really had no clue how much work the house needed, ended with a crew over sixty men and women who had a part in making the house look truly spectacular.

  By the time the blue colored paint tape and plastic covering the floors were ready to be removed and the construction workers job was finally done, the wedding was only a few short days away.

  Riley was busy running around like a chicken with its head cut off. There was so much to do. To the side of the house but in view of the lake, Riley created a large white tent made from draped and billowing streamers of material that provided both a sense of cover and openness that in the evening allowed guests to see the night sky. The tent was placed over temporary flooring made to look like tiled mirrors that reflected beautifully by day and by night. I watched a dozen or so round tables and high back chairs go by in the short time it took me to sign for a black and white Crate & Barrel box that, Sam, our UPS driver, who I was becoming fast friends with, delivered to the house that day.

  An entire crew came with the Chihuly stained glass that they and they alone reconstructed piece by piece like the flower sculptures among the wild flowers, in the marsh land by the lake, and centerpieces on the tops of the guests’ tables. They also carefully placed different sized blown stained glass balls, which reminded me of large colorful marbles, on either end of the row boat that I would be coming across the lake in.

  The night before the wedding we did a walk through, now that mostly everything was completed. Riley had placed wooden folding chairs to create the sense of church pews down near the lake. There were banks of chairs on either side of a central aisle. During the walk through I didn’t know if Riley got a little choked up because he was finally walking me down the aisle or if it was because he was so exhausted.

  I smiled over at Hawkins as I came to stand beside him underneath an arbor laden with white Vanda Orchids and silver colored crystal spirals of Chihuly glass that sparkled throughout. Hawkins and I giggled through most of the parts where the main focus was on us.

  “I plan to cherish you.”

  “I plan to have your baby,” I said jokingly causing us to snicker uncontrollably again.

  “Guys,” Riley groaned. “Please try to take this a little bit more seriously.”

  “How’s this for serious,” Hawkins murmured as he pulled me in for a simmering kiss at the end.

  We may have been a bit giddy throughout the rehearsal but when I woke up early the next morning beside Hawkins, I felt like the luckiest girl in the world. I don’t think either of us had gotten much sleep. When he heard me sigh he reached out for my hand and we turned to look into each other’s eyes where there was only joy and no regrets for either of us. I could have stayed there with him for the rest of the day if the moment hadn’t been interrupted by Riley’s personal wake-up call—a call that was to remind me yet again, that I needed to get over to Hawkins’ parents’ house where I was supposed to get ready for my big day. But Hawkins had a much better idea that was better for the environment and for us as it meant we would begin our day by sharing a shower.

  He quickly helped me strip out of my sweats while I helped him out of his boxers before he turned on the steaming hot water. Once inside the shower, he ran a sponge along the top of my back and down to the small of my waist as he kissed each of my shoulders. I took the sponge from where he had it at my waist and turned around in the tight space to press myself up against him so I could run the sponge up and down his back in long slow strokes. I continued down the small of his back to the top of his firm buttocks moving around and around with the same tight pressure.

  I bent over to continue to soap his inner thigh down to his calves while he ran a bar of soap down the curve of my back. When he playfully slapped my tush, I exclaimed, “Mr. Hawkins!”

  “You’ve been a bad girl, Mrs. Hawkins. You may have fooled everyone else but you haven’t fooled me.”

  “Whatever do you mean?” I asked as I worked my way up his thigh to his tight abdomen and then back down again until the rhythmic motion made him moan.

  “You know exactly what I mean,” his lip curled with another moan until he couldn’t stand it any longer and pulled my body hard up against him. He staggered forward until my back was pressed against the shower wall before hiking me up until my legs wrapped around his muscular hips

  “I will never love anyone as much as I love you, Joie,” he vowed breathlessly. With every pleasurable thrust, I tightened the grip of my arms around his neck and with my fingers intertwined in his dark hair the intense pressure built and I knew I too would never get enough of him.

  Once we were finally done, I realized that I was still going to need that other shower. When Riley saw me come down the steps dressed in only a plush white robe and with wet hair, he glanced down at his wrist watch and said, “You’re supposed to get ready at Hawkins’ parents’ house.”

  “I’m going take another shower,” I said without thinking first.

  “Suspicious,” Lizzie licked the inside of her mouth and then smiled triumphantly.

  “You really couldn’t wait until after the wedding, just this once?” Riley asked.

  “Apparently not,” I nodded a bit sheepishly. “It seems to be how we got ourselves in this mess in the first place.”

  “Take her and get her ready,” Riley gently pushed me toward Lizzie who had a set of keys in her hands.

  “Love you too!” I called over my shoulder at him before exiting the house.

  Thankfully Hawkins’ parents’ house was empty when Lizzie and I arrived a few minutes later in the black Saab. They had left a note explaining that they wer
e going to be with Hawkins as he got ready back at our house and then join the guests for the ceremony.

  Lizzie let me take another shower without passing judgment and even offered to do my hair and makeup after I had gotten out. Armed with a round hair brush and a blow dryer, Lizzie gave me a ‘blowout’ that could have rivaled any salon. She then pulled my dark hair into a sleek ponytail then pulled my hair through the ponytail holder once more until the front part of my hair formed a round bun on the top of my head. She wrapped the remaining pieces of hair that were sticking straight out in the back toward the front tucking the remaining hair into the ponytail to complete the bun look in the back. I was impressed because the hairstyle looked like something out of a Pantene commercial. Finally she applied styling products to make my dark hair shine and stay in place.

  “How about a demure cat eye?” Lizzie asked as she sifted through her makeup bag.

  “Sounds fun,” I shrugged since I was up for anything today.

  “Do you think he’s really ready for this?” she asked as she got busy working on applying eyeliner to my eyelids.

  “Yeah, I do. This is just as much my dream wedding as it is his.”

  “Do you think he’ll get emotional?” she asked as began to apply blush to my cheekbones next.

  “Maybe, who knows,” I shrugged. “I know I probably will.”

  “Joie?” I heard a familiar voice call out from the lower level of the house.

  “Mom, we’re up here in the guest bedroom!”

  “Wow, you look amazing,” my mom gushed as she rounded the top step giving her a direct view into the guest bedroom. I turned to look at her and was stunned. She was dressed in a sleeveless black satin knee length dress that had a black bow in the front.

  “No mom, you’re the one who looks amazing!”

  “Wow, Mrs. Hall, I completely agree with Joie,” Lizzie chimed in. “You look great.”

  “What do you have in your hand?” I asked because it looked like a present.

  “I got you a wedding gift well…a baby gift really,” she handed the square package over to me that was wrapped in pink satin paper with a white bow. I ripped the paper off and looked down at what appeared to be a silver encased journal with Abigail’s name on the cover.