Chapter 21
The eagerly awaited wedding was to take place at Memphis' Botanic Gardens, a place Josie knew well. Her dad said it was the place he irreplaceably lost his heart to Hannah, but he'd been too stupid to realize it at the time. The many times her family came to Memphis over the years, they always made a point to visit the gardens, just so Hannah and Justin could dance among the roses like they had that first time.
Josie had her own fond memories of the place...watching her young siblings run up and down the paths and among the trees, loving the gaiety of Jak and the twins as they scampered along the Big Backyard. It had been a while since she came back, and upon arriving early for the wedding and being the first of the bridesmaids to have her make-up and hair fixed, she took a few moments to walk through some of the nearby gardens before getting into her dress. Her favorite place was the wooded hosta paths. She loved the shadows dancing among the flowers and plants, and she could sit at one of the benches for hours, just breathing in the sweet, fresh air.
That’s where Travis found her, him strolling along in his tuxedo, his jacket hooked with a finger over his shoulder. “Hey,” he said, stopping as he spotted her. He smiled and walked over. “Shouldn’t you be getting ready?”
“I have some time,” Josie said. “Arielle’s stylist is working on her, and from the picture I saw of the hairdo...she might be late for her own wedding.”
Travis nodded. “I’ve seen the picture, too...it’ll take three stylists to get Arielle’s hair to do that.”
Josie laughed. “But she’ll be beautiful.”
“She always is,” Travis said, and Josie preferred not to comment on that. She knew he loved Arielle, and they were the best of friends, but Josie couldn’t help wondering sometimes if he thought…
She swallowed those thoughts away and asked, “How was the bachelor party?”
He shrugged and joined her on the bench. “Oh, pretty much like any bachelor party, I guess. We played poker using potato chips, and Sam kept eating his, so he lost all his currency before an hour was up. There was a lot of beer, a lot of pizza, one stripper with an attitude and a man duct-taped to my kitchen floor.”
“What?” Josie asked, laughing again.
He grinned, pulled out his cell phone and scanned around for a photo, showing it to her. “David...he committed the ultimate party foul. Never be the first to pass out.”
She shook her head with amusement. And pulled out her own cell phone. “We went shopping for a menstrual cup, emptied six bottles of wine, dressed Arielle up like a demented Playboy Bunny, and got a little too close and personal during a demonstration of Tantra yoga positions.” She showed him the photo of her and Arielle.
Travis chuckled. “I’ve seen it.”
She grinned. “You weren’t supposed to.”
“Don’t tell Arielle...or Sam will haul me up a flagpole. What’s a menstrual cup?”
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Compromise Me (Book Two of the Kirkland Family)
Romanzi rosa / ChickLitJosie Kirkland loves music. She loves her family. And she loves her new job... Travis Fischer loves music. He loves his band. And he loves his son... She wants him, and he always thought of her as that pesky little girl who liked to tease him re...
