Page 15 of The Sounds of Her
“Sounds good, man.”
One of Jenna’s author clients moved to Mystic in Connecticut last year, and part owns a fishing charter. Adam doesn’t want a big celebration, much to Jordan’s chagrin, but we respect his wishes. Even if I had to stop Jordan trying to organise stupid shit.
“Ben is taking us, so it’ll be quiet and by that I mean, it better be.”
I hold my hands up. “I’ve done all I can. You know I can’t control him.”
“I’ll kick his ass if he does anything crazy.”
“Fuck,” I laugh. “He loves Jenna more than he loves you. He’d never do anything he knows is going to piss her off.”
“Have you forgotten last Christmas? He turned Sandy’s house into the fucking North Pole.”
“You gotta hand it to him though, even though he goes over the top, he does it in style.”
Adam’s jaw clenches. He doesn’t trust our drummer.
“You wanna go lay down some music to these lyrics?” he gets up. “Devil for Eternity is a definite, but I wanna try out some stuff for Hope She’s Numb too.”
“Yeah, sure, let’s go.”
They’re just songs. Good songs if a little rough right now. Adam will rework and polish them until I forget the meaning behind them. At least, I hope he can. A part of me wonders if it’s a mistake using my pain in our music. I’m going to play it again and again.
On the other hand, it could make it more meaningless, less all-consuming. I hope.
Chapter Five
We stare at Jenna as she stands on the podium in front of three mirrors, wearing her wedding dress. Sandy is crying, which, of course, sets Elsa off. Beth, Adam’s mom, has her arm around Keira, a soft smile on her lips. Meg is hugging her glass of champagne to her chest, her eyes misty.
I think my best friend has lost the ability to breathe. I’ve known Jenna a very long time. This moment has been a goal of hers for as long as I can remember. That she is marrying the man of her dreams makes it so much sweeter.
Seeing as everyone has descended into a blubbering mess, I walk over to Jenna. Reaching up, I take her hand and she snaps out of her trance.
“You look beautiful.”
“You think so?” she whispers.
“Keira couldn’t have made a more perfect dress for you.”
Her dress is a lace bodice with a plunging V-neck and thin straps. The skirt is long and floaty and swishes around her legs with a thigh high split, which isn’t obvious until she walks. The back dips right down to her waist. It’s white with a delicate, understated lace overlay on the skirt. It’s perfect for a beach wedding. I’d expect nothing less than perfect for my best friend.
A couple of tears track down her cheeks and she wipes at them with a laugh, turning to face everyone as she holds her hands out to Keira. Adam’s sister hurries to Jenna as she steps off the podium.
“Don’t smoosh it,” Sandy says, watching them hug, but she is grinning and takes over when Keira steps back. “Adam is going to lose his shit when he sees you in this dress.”
Sandy uses both hands to smooth Jenna’s hair back, then holds her daughter’s cheeks, staring into her eyes.
“Do you think he’ll cry?” Jenna grins.
Keira laughs. “That’s what I was going for.”
“Carl tried so valiantly not to cry on our wedding day,” Beth adds about Adam’s dad.
“James let rip,” Sandy laughs, putting her arm around Jenna’s waist. “This huge, stoic firefighter blubbing like a baby. Made my day.”
“Dad cried?” Jenna asks. “You never told me that.”
Sandy nods. “Even though we were in front of everyone, it was all for me. If that makes sense.”