The next morning after Addie met Nickole and Ann at Nickole's house Austin and Don picked them up, and the five of them went to meet with the wedding planner at the church. While Nickole and Don were discussing the final arrangements in the front seat, silence filled the back seat of the newly cleaned truck. Ann was seated uncomfortably between Addie and Austin, this being the reason for Addie's unusual silence. Ann finally spoke up, "I'm still finding pasta back here." She commented picking up a hard penne noodle off of the cab floor.
"Don't complain to me." Don said as he turned onto 2nd Street and drove toward the church where they were meeting the wedding planner. "I'm gonna get Michael, Allen and Chris to come take care of it."
At the mention of his name Ann turned to look at Addie, who was conveniently looking out the window. Ann had her suspicions about how Chris felt about Addie, but had yet to determine how Addie felt about Chris. When they pulled into the 2nd Street Baptist Church parking lot, Addie was the first one out. Once they were all out of the truck, Addie leaned over to Ann and whispered, "Next time let me ride in the middle."
Ann stopped for a second then looked at Addie. "Are you serious? We are not in junior high; we have just completed out freshman year of college; Nickole and Don are getting married, and all you can think about is whether or not you get to sit by Austin!"
"In short, YES!"
"Why, because you think he'll pay more attention to you if you sit next to him? He's not worth your time. When are you gonna see that?"
"You just don't know him like I do. He talks to me when it's just the two of us, or on the phone."
"Okay, sure." Ann gave in, and then looking around she said, "Come on everyone else is already inside."
Ann and Addie followed the others inside to meet the wedding planner. Nickole was already deep in discussion with the wedding planner about the decorations for the sanctuary. Don and Austin stood of to the side, silently watching and listening. Addie and Ann walked over to Nickole, "There y'all are!" Nickole said turning to them, "I want you to meet Ashley, the wedding planner." Then turning back to the tall blonde girl she said, "Ashley, this is Ann, my maid of honor, and Addie, one of my bride's maids."
Ashley held out her hand, "It's nice to meet you." She said shaking hands with Ann and Addie, "I'm looking forward to working with all of you." After deciding where to place the flowers, and who would escort whom, the five left the church, and drove over to the bridal shop with Addie seated comfortably in the middle. When they arrived, Ann and Addie tried on their light blue dresses for the final fitting, while the guys tried on their tuxes.
"Are the straps gonna work for you?" Nickole asked Ann as she came out of the dressing room.
"Yeah, they should." Ann replied turning in front of the mirror, "I really like how they make it look like a halter, but it's not." She said looking at the back. Just then Addie came out in her dress. "Wow," Ann said looking over at her, "light blue lookes great with your hair."
"You mean in makes it stick out like a stop sign." Addie stated disgruntled.
"Oh, you look fine." Nickole said reassuringly, "The red roses will help balance out the red in our hair."
"Yes, but your wearing white," Addie retaliated.
"You think that's better than blue?" Nickole argued jokingly.
"Speaking of white," Ann cut in, "you should try on your dress before the guys come back."
Nickole's dress was the traditional white dress with a full skirt, and long train. Its top was similar to the top of the bride's maids' dresses. The straps were wide and angled like a halter, but instead of coming together they crossed in the back. Beading flowed from the top of the dress and thinned as it got closer to the middle, but picked back up and finished at the bottom of the dress in a sea of beads. Nickole tried it on, and showed Ann and Addie.
"Amazing!" Ann commented,
"Yeah," Addie agreed, "and you look good in white."
Don's voice came from just outside the dressing room door, "Are you guys ready to go yet?" he asked as he started to enter the dressing room.
"NOOOOOO!!!" the three girls yelled. Addie ran over and shoved the door shut in Don's face.
"What the..." Don exclaimed,
"Its bad luck for the groom to see the bride in her dress before the wedding." Ann yelled back at him from the other side of the door, "You and Austin wait out in the truck; we'll be out in a minute." She suggested.
"Okay," Don replied, "Don't have a cow!"
"That was close." Nickole said as Addie and Ann turned away from the door.
Once the tailor had made the final adjustments to Nickole's dress the five of them drove back to Nickole's house for dinner. When they arrived, Mrs. Dennis had dinner on the table ready to be eaten. Addie left soon after, and Austin followed. This left Don, Nickole, and Ann sitting in the living room talking about the plans for the last few weeks before the wedding. "Austin finally confirmed the airline tickets." Don told Nickole.
"It took him long enough."
"You're gonna have so much fun in Paris." Ann commented, "I loved it when I went last summer."
"Yeah, we're looking forward to it." Don said putting his arm around Nickole. Ann raised an eyebrow; Nickole laughed. Inside his pocket Don's phone began to vibrate. He stood up to leave the room, "I'll be right back." He walked into the hall, where he answered his phone. "Hello,"
"Hey, you!" a girl's voice replied
"Tiffany?"
"Yep!"
"Why are you calling me?"
"Because, I'm back in town,"
"You are?"
"Yes, silly, that's what I just said."
"Why?"
"I wanted to see you."
"Umm… can I call you back later?"
"Okay…"
Don hung up the phone. He felt completely unnerved. He hadn't spoken to Tiffany in three years. They dated back in their junior year of high school. Don put the phone back into his pocket and returned to the living room. "Who was that?" Nickole asked as Don sat back down next to her.
"No one," Don lied.
"Really?" Ann asked suspiciously.
"Yes," Don lied again, "I better go; it's late." He stood and walked over toward the door. Nickole followed, and as Ann walked up stairs, he kissed her goodnight. Ten minutes later, Don was driving home when his phone rang again. When he looked at it, he recognized Tiffany's number and turned the phone off.