Love After All
Page 16
As they expected, everyone inside was already gathered in the back of the shop. It wasn’t every day that a bridal salon received a movie star like Desiree Jenkins. Until last year, none of them had even known Des. Chelsea couldn’t believe this was happening already. They’d been so lucky to meet Des when she’d filmed a movie on Logan McCormack’s ranch. And even more fortunate to witness Des and Logan falling in love. Getting to know Des had been so much more than getting to know a movie star. She was down-to-earth, fun, and just like the rest of them—a real person.
They all loved her like she’d lived there forever.
And now Des and Logan were getting married. Fun stuff.
And while Des hadn’t bought her dress at the bridal salon, she was getting her final alterations at their shop, something the salon had readily agreed to. Plus, the bridesmaids were doing their final fittings at the shop as well.
It was a week before the wedding, and Chelsea couldn’t wait.
She loved weddings. She hoped to have her own someday.
Of course, that meant finding the right man—something she had yet to do.
Her list was a good first step.
Des walked out of the back room. She wore jeans, a long-sleeved flannel shirt, and high-top tennis shoes, and her hair was tucked under a ball cap.
In other words, she looked nothing like a glamorous movie star.
“You look like a truck driver, Des,” Emma said.
Des laughed and pulled the ball cap off, her long raven hair spilling out from under it. “I’m traveling incognito today.”
“Hiding from the paparazzi again?” Chelsea asked as they handed off their dresses to one of the salon assistants and made their way toward Des.
“Yes.”
“Do you really think you’re going to be able to pull off this wedding without the press knowing about it?”
Des took a seat in one of the chairs. “Currently, Amelia, my stand-in, who looks uncannily like me, is having the vacation of her life at a private villa in Tuscany—with my compliments and on my dime. And she just happens to be there with her boyfriend, Max, a stuntman who resembles Logan. Plus, a very prominent member of the press who’s a good friend might be leaking details that Logan and I were spotted at a private villa in Tuscany. In return he’ll attend our wedding, and he’ll get an exclusive interview and photos of the real thing. Anyway, the fake story should put the press hounds on the Italian wedding scent.”
Emma laughed. “You’ve thought of everything, haven’t you?”
Des beamed an angelic smile. “I’ve tried to. At the very least, I don’t think anyone’s going to be looking for Logan and me to be getting married on the ranch next weekend.”
“I don’t think so, either. I think they’d expect something splashier,” Chelsea said.
“Yes. Like a villa in Tuscany. Plus, we’re keeping the wedding low-key. A few of my Hollywood friends are invited, plus our friends here, and my parents and brother and sister are flying in. Otherwise, not a big deal. At least not by Hollywood standards.”
“But by Hope standards?” Jane said. “This is going to be a major spring event.”
Des took in a deep breath. “I’m so excited. And this has been such a whirlwind. I can’t believe it’s already here.” She grasped Chelsea’s hand. “And that you’re all here to help me. Thank you for this.”
Chelsea squeezed her hand. “We’re your friends, Des. We’re practically family now.”
And when Des came to them last year around the holidays and told them she wanted to plan a spring wedding, they were all excited for her. Even if it didn’t give them a lot of time for planning. But that’s what wedding coordinators were for.
Des had a big film coming up that would require four months of filming out of the country, and she’d told them she and Logan didn’t want to wait any longer. She wanted to marry him, and she wanted to marry him this spring.
So they knuckled down and did wedding planning as a team, and with the help of Martha, who was Logan’s ranch manager/pseudo mother, they had managed to divide up everything that needed to be done. Des had pulled in a wedding planner to deal with all the bigger details, and she’d been a lifesaver.
Des had been finishing up a movie in Paris, and had also somehow managed to sneak into one of the designer shops and buy one hell of a gorgeous wedding dress. And while in Paris, she had also chosen the most amazing dresses for all the bridesmaids to wear.
Des might be getting married on the McCormack ranch, but this wedding was still going to be haute couture.
Chelsea, who had never met a designer dress or shoes she didn’t love, couldn’t wait.
If she was lucky, some fancy millionaire or movie star would show up at the wedding, and he’d be her Mr. Perfect.
Because so far, she hadn’t met him in the small town of Hope, Oklahoma. And it felt like she’d dated almost every available man who lived in the town. She was nearly certain there wasn’t a match for her there.
So maybe perfect guy was on the guest list for Des and Logan’s wedding.
Things might just be looking up for her.
Bash met up with his best friend, Logan McCormack, at the ranch where Logan had made his living all his life.
They’d often had parties on the ranch and had celebrated a lot here. Though Bash found it hard to believe that lone-wolf, stubborn-as-hell, quiet Logan was going to get married next weekend. And to a fiery, outspoken, wild-to-the-core movie star like Desiree Jenkins, no less. Never in his craziest imaginings would he ever have put those two together.
They all loved her like she’d lived there forever.
And now Des and Logan were getting married. Fun stuff.
And while Des hadn’t bought her dress at the bridal salon, she was getting her final alterations at their shop, something the salon had readily agreed to. Plus, the bridesmaids were doing their final fittings at the shop as well.
It was a week before the wedding, and Chelsea couldn’t wait.
She loved weddings. She hoped to have her own someday.
Of course, that meant finding the right man—something she had yet to do.
Her list was a good first step.
Des walked out of the back room. She wore jeans, a long-sleeved flannel shirt, and high-top tennis shoes, and her hair was tucked under a ball cap.
In other words, she looked nothing like a glamorous movie star.
“You look like a truck driver, Des,” Emma said.
Des laughed and pulled the ball cap off, her long raven hair spilling out from under it. “I’m traveling incognito today.”
“Hiding from the paparazzi again?” Chelsea asked as they handed off their dresses to one of the salon assistants and made their way toward Des.
“Yes.”
“Do you really think you’re going to be able to pull off this wedding without the press knowing about it?”
Des took a seat in one of the chairs. “Currently, Amelia, my stand-in, who looks uncannily like me, is having the vacation of her life at a private villa in Tuscany—with my compliments and on my dime. And she just happens to be there with her boyfriend, Max, a stuntman who resembles Logan. Plus, a very prominent member of the press who’s a good friend might be leaking details that Logan and I were spotted at a private villa in Tuscany. In return he’ll attend our wedding, and he’ll get an exclusive interview and photos of the real thing. Anyway, the fake story should put the press hounds on the Italian wedding scent.”
Emma laughed. “You’ve thought of everything, haven’t you?”
Des beamed an angelic smile. “I’ve tried to. At the very least, I don’t think anyone’s going to be looking for Logan and me to be getting married on the ranch next weekend.”
“I don’t think so, either. I think they’d expect something splashier,” Chelsea said.
“Yes. Like a villa in Tuscany. Plus, we’re keeping the wedding low-key. A few of my Hollywood friends are invited, plus our friends here, and my parents and brother and sister are flying in. Otherwise, not a big deal. At least not by Hollywood standards.”
“But by Hope standards?” Jane said. “This is going to be a major spring event.”
Des took in a deep breath. “I’m so excited. And this has been such a whirlwind. I can’t believe it’s already here.” She grasped Chelsea’s hand. “And that you’re all here to help me. Thank you for this.”
Chelsea squeezed her hand. “We’re your friends, Des. We’re practically family now.”
And when Des came to them last year around the holidays and told them she wanted to plan a spring wedding, they were all excited for her. Even if it didn’t give them a lot of time for planning. But that’s what wedding coordinators were for.
Des had a big film coming up that would require four months of filming out of the country, and she’d told them she and Logan didn’t want to wait any longer. She wanted to marry him, and she wanted to marry him this spring.
So they knuckled down and did wedding planning as a team, and with the help of Martha, who was Logan’s ranch manager/pseudo mother, they had managed to divide up everything that needed to be done. Des had pulled in a wedding planner to deal with all the bigger details, and she’d been a lifesaver.
Des had been finishing up a movie in Paris, and had also somehow managed to sneak into one of the designer shops and buy one hell of a gorgeous wedding dress. And while in Paris, she had also chosen the most amazing dresses for all the bridesmaids to wear.
Des might be getting married on the McCormack ranch, but this wedding was still going to be haute couture.
Chelsea, who had never met a designer dress or shoes she didn’t love, couldn’t wait.
If she was lucky, some fancy millionaire or movie star would show up at the wedding, and he’d be her Mr. Perfect.
Because so far, she hadn’t met him in the small town of Hope, Oklahoma. And it felt like she’d dated almost every available man who lived in the town. She was nearly certain there wasn’t a match for her there.
So maybe perfect guy was on the guest list for Des and Logan’s wedding.
Things might just be looking up for her.
Bash met up with his best friend, Logan McCormack, at the ranch where Logan had made his living all his life.
They’d often had parties on the ranch and had celebrated a lot here. Though Bash found it hard to believe that lone-wolf, stubborn-as-hell, quiet Logan was going to get married next weekend. And to a fiery, outspoken, wild-to-the-core movie star like Desiree Jenkins, no less. Never in his craziest imaginings would he ever have put those two together.
