The Truth About Ever After

Copyright 2012 Rachel
Schurig

Kindle Edition

All rights reserved.

No part of this book
may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without express written permission of the author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and
incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used
fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental
and not intended by the author.

For Greta, Petra, and Charlotte.

The most beautiful, smart, and funny

little
girls in all the wide world.

Aunt Ray loves you!

Acknowledgments

Thanks, as ever, to my wonderful parents,
siblings, family, and friends for all of your help and encouragement,
particularly as I embark on this next phase of my writing career.

Thank you to my editor, Nicolas J.
Ambrose, for all your help.

Book cover design by Scarlett
Rugers
Design 2012

www.scarlettrugers.com

At its heart, this book is about relationships
amongst girls. I am so lucky to have had the friendship of so many wonderful
girlfriends over the years. Special thank you to Andrea, Kim, Madeline, and
Michelle, some of the very best girls I know!

And to Norah and Natalie: I hope you’re
as blessed as I’ve been to
have had
friends like your
mommies!

Chapter One

This
was bad.

Seriously.
This was like, really, really bad.

The
wedding was set to start in half an hour, and I had no idea where the groom
was. How could there be a wedding without the groom?

“Jen
is going to kill me,” I muttered, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. The
sun was beating down on me, reflecting off the pristine white sand beach, and I
could feel a drop of sweat pooling at the base of my neck. “Crap!”

It
was just my luck, to mess up something this important. Particularly given the
fact that this was the first time my business partner, Jen, had agreed to let
me run an entire wedding myself, from top to bottom. Since we had started our
little event-planning firm three years ago, Jen had ruled the wedding segment
with an iron fist. I had thrown plenty of parties and restaurant openings on my
own, but weddings were totally Jen’s domain.

Today
was supposed to be my chance to show her that I’d be fine sharing a bit more of
the responsibility. But now I was ruining everything.

“Kiki!”

I
spun around at the sound of my name and saw Laura, the resort’s concierge,
rushing toward me across the sand, her brown hair whipping out behind her in
the breeze from the ocean. “I found him,” she gasped when she had reached my
side. She bent over slightly, clutching my arm for support as she struggled to
catch her breath. “Sorry,” she said. “I ran all the way over. I knew you were
freaking out.”

“Where
is he?” I asked
,
terrified for a moment that she was
going to tell me that the groom had taken off. How on earth would I explain
that?

“Sitting
at the bar,” she said. “All of them. The groomsmen, the bride’s father
,
the best man. Just sitting
there
,
drinking like they don’t have a care in the world.”

I
closed my eyes briefly, relief washing over me. Okay, so maybe Jen wasn’t going
to murder me. Then Laura’s words registered.

“The
bride’s father? At the bar?”

Laura
nodded and I swore under my breath. “The bride’s father is not supposed to be
drinking,” I said, grasping her shoulders and pulling her up right. “Please go
back in there and make sure he’s sticking to Coke or water, okay?” I could tell
from her expression that she wasn’t exactly looking forward to the idea of
rushing back to the other side of the resort, so I gave her my biggest smile.
“I would be so, so grateful, Laura,” I told her, squeezing her shoulder in a
way that I hoped conveyed a “we’re in this together” kind of feeling. Laura
still didn’t seem thrilled, but she did set off across the sand.

Breathing
a sigh of relief, I turned around and directed my attention back to the set-up
that was occurring down the beach. The hotel staff had been working for the
last few hours, getting the ceremony area ready, and it was really coming
together, just the way I had planned months ago. Beyond the ceremony site, the
turquoise blue of the ocean was
only steps
away. I
felt a little shiver of happiness. This was going to be a beautiful wedding.

Feeling
confident the ceremony site was in good shape, I decided to go check out the
patio, where the reception would be held. The tables were already laid out,
everything set and waiting for the party to start. I grinned at one of the
hotel staff as he hurried past me with an overflowing vase of orange hibiscuses.
The smell of the flowers remained in the air as he disappeared around the low
patio wall that encased the reception area.

Across
the patio, I saw Laura peek her head out of the French doors leading into the
bar. She gave me
a thumbs
up, and smiled. The father
of the bride was under control, the groom had been found, and the preparations
were going perfectly. I decided it was time I went to check on my bride.

***

I
entered the resort through a second set of French doors opposite those I had
spotted Laura through. The air-conditioned hallway felt amazing against my
sun-heated skin. I was glad we had decided on a sunset ceremony; it was
hot
as Hades out there and I didn’t want the bride’s hair
wilting in the sun. Hopefully some of the heat would have abated by the time
the ceremony started. Come to think of it… I peered at myself in one of the
hall mirrors as I passed it, and grimaced. My sunburn from the day before had
not faded in the slightest, and my hair had already fallen flat. “Not your
best,
Kiks
,” I muttered to myself, turning away from
the mirror. As I neared the bridal suite, a door opened on my left, a tiny
little body crashing right into my legs.

“Hey,”
I cried, looking down into a gorgeous little face. The ring bearer, not yet
dressed in his wedding finery, gazed back. “What’s the hurry there, buddy?”

“Sorry,
Kiki,” he said, giving me a little smirk that I was sure he had learned from
his dad. “I was going to find Mama.”

“Mama’s
busy, little man,” I said, turning him back toward the door he had burst out
of. “Isn’t Daddy watching you?”

“Daddy
fell asleep holding the baby.” He scowled a little, and I stifled a laugh. He
was still not yet a fan of his ten-month-old baby sister.

“Well,
let’s go wake him up,” I said, taking his hand.

“Please,
Kiki, can’t I come with you?” He looked up at me, his dark eyes big and
innocent. Man, this kid knew exactly what he was doing. “I promise I’ll be
good. I want to see Auntie Jen in her wedding dress.”

I
sighed, and nodded down at him. “Fine, Danny,” I said. “But you have to be a
good little boy and don’t climb up on your momma or your aunts. They’re getting
ready for the big party.”

“Okay,”
he said happily, swinging my arm as we walked down the hallway. “I promise.”

When
we reached the bridal suite, I knocked on the door. “Jen?” I called. “It’s me,
Kiki. And I have a very handsome young man with me.”

The
door swung open and I found myself face to face with Annie, one of Jen’s best
friends. “He sweet talked you into bringing him, huh?” she asked, raising an
eyebrow at Danny. He merely grinned at her and you could see her melt, too.
Danny had a reputation of wrapping all the adults in his life around his little
finger. And he knew it.

“He
promised to be good,” I told her.

Annie
opened the door wide and Danny and I entered the foyer. “Ginny,” she called
out. “Your husband is apparently incapable of watching your kids for an
afternoon.”

Danny
and I followed her into the living room. The suite (which had been my

personal
wedding gift to Jen) was gorgeous, all
done up in crisp linens and dark mahogany wood. The girls had thrown the French
doors open out onto a small patio, and the smell of some unknown tropical
flower was drifting in with the breeze. Through a gap in the palm trees, you
could see a stretch of ocean, only a stone’s throw away.

“Nice
digs,” Annie told me, sinking into the cushion of a dark wicker chair and pulling
Danny up onto her lap. “Jen loves it. You done good.”

I
beamed at her. Annie could be a little caustic sometimes, so I appreciated the
compliment. “Where is Jen?” I asked, looking around the room.

“We’re
back here,” Jen called out from what I assumed was the bedroom. “Be right out.”

“Ginny
is finishing up her hair,” Annie told me, reaching to the side table for a
champagne glass. “Mimosa?”

“No,
thanks,” I said. “I’m working, remember?”

“How’s
it all going?” she asked, brushing Danny’s hand aside as he reached for her
glass.

“Everything
is looking really, really good,” I told her. “I think she’ll love it.”

“I’m
sure she will.” Annie gave me a wicked little grin. “No reason to feel pressure
just because you’re planning a wedding for the best wedding planner in
Detroit.”

I
knew Annie was joking, but I felt a little shiver of fear all the same. She was
totally right—Jen was the best. And it didn’t help my stress level that
she had, in fact, planned my own wedding three years ago—and done an
absolutely amazing job on

it
, of course.

“Leave
her alone,” Jen said, entering the room. “She’s doing wonderfully. Stop
teasing.”

I
looked up at Jen, framed in the doorway to the bedroom, and all thoughts of
pressure and stress left me immediately.

“Oh,
Jen,” I whispered, gazing up at her. “You’re beautiful.”

Jen
was always pretty, but I had never seen her look this gorgeous. Her wedding
gown was simple: a lace bodice extended only as far as the empire waist before
the skirt fell away from her body in a soft swirl of chiffon. Her dark hair was
braided and gathered in a loose chignon, several wispy waves breaking away to
frame her face. In lieu of a veil she wore a single orange hibiscus flower in
her hair. She looked simply breathtaking.

“Oh,
my God,” I gushed, feeling myself start to tear up. “I can’t believe this is
actually happening.”

“Kiki,”
Jen said, holding up her hands toward me, a warning note in her voice. “Keep it
together.”

I
had promised Jen only that morning that I wouldn’t get too emotional—but
I just couldn’t help it. Jen had been such a good friend to me over the past
few years, and the best business partner anyone could hope for. And now here we
were, in this gorgeous resort in the Bahamas, and Jen was about to marry my
brother-in-law.

“I’m
just so excited,” I told her, grabbing a tissue from the side table. “This day
is going to be so perfect. You look gorgeous. And you and Matt…”

I
completely lost it, burying my face in the tissue and sobbing.

“Momma,”
Danny said, his voice low. “What’s wrong with her?”

Annie
and Jen laughed. “Nothing, sweetie,” I heard Ginny say. “She’s just happy.”