Backstage Romance: An Austen-Inspired Romantic Comedy Box Set by Gigi Blume (ebook reader with highlighter txt) 📕

22

Georgia

I hugged my brother long and hard. A death grip, really. Which only set off alarm bells in his overactive imagination.

“What’s going on, George? Is it the guy? What did he do to you?”

“Sheesh! Can’t a girl hug her brother on his wedding day? These are tears of joy.”

He wasn’t buying it. He gave me a long hard look.

“It’s fine, really,” I said. “He decided to stay with his family for Christmas, that’s all.”

“And you miss him?”

I spat though my lips. “Ha! Of course not. I don’t even know the guy.” I forced a fake, maniacal laugh. He arched a brow. There was a reason he was the actor in the family and not me.

“Then why is your face all blotchy?”

“Gee, thanks.”

He scowled. “We could teach him a lesson. I know a guy.”

“Whaaat? No. Besides, you don’t know a guy. Big fat liar.”

“Seth. He’d do it.” He paced, rubbing his chin. Was he a crime boss all of a sudden? I go away for a few months!

“Seth? The guy who played Large Larry in that one movie? He’s a big teddy bear.”

“It’s called acting. If he’s convincing enough, Ice Boy will wet his pants and run for the hills. Seth is definitely our guy.”

Will took to calling Wyatt Ice Boy after the rental car incident. I didn’t bother correcting him.

“Um...aaaanyway. No need to send your actor friends on my behalf. There’s nothing going on. You just concentrate on getting married.” I rocked my fists in the air. “Yay!”

I checked in on Beth next because —obvs—she wasn’t allowed in the same room as Will. Bad luck and all that. Her bestie Jane was with her. They were getting the spa treatment and couldn’t move from their lounging chairs without dripping whatever goop was on their faces.

“Come join us,” chirped Beth. “We reserved a place for you.”

“No thanks.” I thumbed over my shoulder. “Gotta go wrap all my Amazon deliveries. Boy, did they pile up.”

Jane took a hold of my hand and craned her eyes to see me. “Please stay. It won’t be the same without you.”

That was the thing about Jane. Too sweet for words and who could resist?

“Okay.”

The truth was, I probably needed it after the workout my puffy eyes had gone through. Beth called in the professional beautician they’d contracted for the day. Will’s idea, not hers. Then the lady spread a green paste all over my face and left me there to sprout. It was equal parts creepy crawly and soothing.

Beth and Jane asked me all sorts of questions. Mostly about Wyatt. No doubt she’d been talking to Will.

“We were worried about you when you left that message you’d been robbed,” she said.

I apologized for causing them alarm.

Then she said, “We almost postponed the wedding.”

That would have been like a sad sit com. Little Georgia Ruins Things take two. Cue the laugh track.

“Well, I’m glad you didn’t. The show must go on.”

Beth and Jane laughed at my lame attempt at a joke. They were both theatre people so they appreciated showbiz humor. Actually, lots of Beth’s theatre friends were coming to the wedding. Her old roommate, Lydia, who I’d heard so much about. I was looking forward to meeting her. There were also some other girls from when Beth and Will performed Pirates of Penzance together. Then of course there was Stella. She claimed she was responsible for the wedding with her mad matchmaking skills. Nobody argued with her because she was knighted by the Queen and all.

When I was done growing a small garden on my face I took to my room to have some alone time. Big mistake. All I did was pine over Wyatt. No pun intended. I lost track of time after my shower—just sitting on my bed wrapped in a towel. Staring at the Charlie Brown tree.

Stella came in looking all regal and proper. All she needed was a fascinator to complete the ensemble. She sat next to me on the bed and talked about everything except my wacky road trip. That was a relief.

Then she did what Stella does best—dole out cryptic words of wisdom.

“Do you know what I find fascinating?” she said.

“The tiny legs on Yorkies?”

“How Beth was ready to see the worst in your brother based on half-truths. Imagine if she never listened to his side of the story. If she would have continued to misjudge him we wouldn’t be celebrating a wedding here today. Imagine that.”

“Yeah. Imagine that.”

She voiced a sigh like a deflated siren. “I think about these things from time to time. Don’t you?”

“No. Not really.”

She held out her hand for the tree I was twiddling. “May I?”

“Sure.” I handed it over.

“Ah. I really like this movie.” She examined it closely, turning it over in her hand. “Those children judged that poor little tree. But in the end all it needed was some love from a boy and his dog.”

She gave it back and I marveled at it like she’d performed some kind of magic. But it was just the same old bric-a-brac.

“Well poppet, I best be going before I miss the whole wedding. And you might want to put on some clothes so you can perform your bridesmaid duties. Your future sister-in-law is waiting for you.”

Then she took off, leaving me with that little nugget. A boy and his dog indeed.

It doesn’t get much better than a sunset wedding. Especially on Christmas. The guest list was relatively small so there was plenty of room for the ceremony on the terrace overlooking the lawns of Pemberley. I’d always enjoyed the view from this part of the house where I could look down on the neighborhood like a queen on a hill. On a clear day you could see the Hollywood sign.

A dozen or so Christmas trees served as decorations along the rows of chairs and a canopy of white lights was strung above our heads. It was like a fairy tale.

We lined up to go out by the glass doors. Beth held on to