Always The Wedding Planner, Never The Bride Part 39

She didn't know quite what to say, so she simply squeezed her shoulder.

"Oh, it's not like it won't be a dream wedding," Brittany told her. "Just not my dream, or David's."

"No? So what would be different? I mean, your dream wedding. What would it be?"

"I don't want to sound pathetic here," she replied. "I love my dress, and you've done a beautiful job putting it all together, Sherilyn. Oh, and that cake!"

"Emma Rae outdid herself."

"She's amazing," Brittany exclaimed. "But I think David and I might have gone a lot less formal in some areas. Maybe not a whole sit-down spectacle for dinner, with charger plates and . . ." She contorted her face, very high-brow as she said, ". . . grilled salmon and lobster thermidor."

Lobster hadn't made the final menu, but Sherilyn didn't figure she needed to correct her.

"And that orchestral extravaganza she has playing at the reception! They don't even know our song. Can you imagine? We can't even have one dance to our special song!"

"What's your song?"

"You'll Accompany Me."

Sherilyn brightened and laughed. "Bob Seger!"

"Right. It was playing when we met, and David played it on his guitar and sang to me the night he proposed."

"It's a cla.s.sic!"

"I know! Right? But even if Beverly's symphony escapees did know the song, I imagine she might keel over if they played it."

She and Brittany cackled with laughter at the mere thought. Even the hair stylist began to snicker, and Sherilyn figured she must have already met Beverly Pendleton.

Brittany changed gears as she asked, "Oh, hey! Do you know who I saw in the restaurant this morning?"

"Who?"

"Russell Walker! Can you imagine?"

"I heard he checked in last night."

"He gave me an autograph, and he was just as charming as I knew he would be," she gushed. "He's one of my favorite actors on the planet. And you know, he didn't seem nearly as crazy as people say he is."

"No?"

"Sherilyn, he's so hot."

She giggled. "Do I have to remind you that you're about to be a married woman?"

"Married. Not comatose."

Sherilyn grinned at her. "Listen, I have dinner downstairs with my fiance. Afterward, I'll be back to check on you before the ceremony."

"Thank you."

"Anything you need, you call my cell, all right?"

Brittany nodded. "If I don't remember to tell you later, you did an exquisite job."

"And you are going to have a dreamy wedding."

"Promise?"

"Of course!"

Sherilyn checked the time on her new BlackBerry before tucking it into the pocket of her chocolate brown trousers. She'd chosen the champagne satin blouse to wear to dinner because it was one of Andy's favorites, and she smoothed it in the elevator before hurrying across the lobby.

"Everything is all set for dinner, Miss Caine," the hostess told her as she crossed into the restaurant. "Your guests have just arrived."

"Thank you."

Andy stood as she approached the table, and he pecked her cheek and held out the chair next to his. "You look stunning," he whispered in her ear, and she squeezed his hand.

"Hi, all. I'm sorry I'm late. I have an excited bride upstairs. Did everyone see my beautiful flowers? Andy sent them to me this morning."

"Gorgeous!" Emma exclaimed.

"Fine," Sean taunted Andy. "Make us all look bad."

"Well, I don't think you have anything to feel bad about," Fee told him. "I mean, you know . . ." And she raised her left hand, wiggling the large round rock gracing her ring finger. ". . . Some women get flowers, others get diamonds."

Emma and Sherilyn's collective gasps set off a wave of questions, comments, and congratulations.

"You two met like twenty minutes ago," Russell said. "Sean, you're ready to invest in forever?"

"No question," Sean told them.

"And you!" Russell exclaimed, pointing at Fee. "You know nothing about this fella. He could be some born-again, bigamist serial killer with a family in eleven different cities and four bodies in the trunk of his car."

"I'll take my chances," Fee beamed. "I know everything I need to know."

"Well, Andy and I can't very well say anything. He proposed on our tenth date!"

"You were counting?" he asked her.

Sherilyn shrugged and gave him a loving smile. "Well, speaking of engagements . . ." she began, but Jackson and Emma whispered something to one another and popped with laughter. "What?" she asked them.

"Well, Fee sort of stole our thunder," Jackson replied, and he lifted Emma's hand from her lap and waved it at them.

"What!" Sherilyn cried, leaping to her feet and grabbing Emma's hand to inspect the flashy diamond that graced her ring finger. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was going to," she said. "But when you invited everyone to dinner, we thought it would be a perfect time to share our news with all of our friends."

"And you too, Russell." The serious expression on Jackson's face melted away to a grin, and Russell crackled with laughter.

"Speaking of stealing people's thunder," Andy said softly.

"Yeah, it might not seem so big to everyone in light of all of these other announcements of marital intentions," Sherilyn announced. "But Andy and I have set our wedding date. That's why I invited you all to dinner."

"Ohhh," Emma cried. "I'm sorry."

"No, no," Sherilyn rea.s.sured her. "This is perfect. All three of us with news to share!"

Russell hopped to his feet, threw both hands on his hips, and glared down at J.R. "And you with no diamond to offer? Hmmph!"

"Oh, sit down, silly," Sherilyn teased.

"So when is the big day?" Emma pressed her.

"Midnight. New Year's Eve."

"No way!" Fee exclaimed. "Dude, that's when we're getting married!"

Sherilyn's hand slapped against her heart, and she felt the blood rush out of her face. "What?"

"Kidding. Congratulations."

Sherilyn grinned and deflated into Andy as he slipped his arm around her.

"Well, Jack," Russell said. "When you decided this would be a wedding-themed hotel, you really started something, didn't you? You sure aren't a bloke to mess around!"

Andy sat in the very back row of chairs, Sherilyn at his side as Brittany Lund exchanged vows with David Pendleton. When the mayor p.r.o.nounced them husband and wife, and Sherilyn slipped her hand into Andy's and smiled up at him, it was another one of those moments where she completely took his breath away.

The bride reached out and squeezed Sherilyn's hand as she and her groom pa.s.sed them.

"Thank you so much," she said softly. "For everything." Sherilyn looped her arm through Andy's on their march through the doors. "Wait until she sees the surprise I have for her."

Andy didn't have the opportunity to ask her what she meant before she grabbed the clipboard she'd stashed under a ficus in the hall. "The reception is in the English Rose ballroom at the far end. Go ahead and get back to Jackson, and I'll meet you at the door in an hour? Don't be late, okay?"

Jackson had invited him to kill some time up in his office while Sherilyn tended to wedding business. When Andy arrived, he had an impressive carved ivory chess set erected on his desk.

"Do you play?" he asked.

"Not in years, but I used to love the game." Andy sat down across from Jackson, picked up the rook, and examined it.

"This is a pretty cool set."

"It was my grandfather's. He taught me how to play." At the end of the match, Andy glanced at his watch and realized he'd gone over by a few minutes. "Ah, man," he said, "Sherilyn told me not to be late. She's got some big surprise planned for the bride."

"What kind of surprise?"

"No clue, but I'd better get a move on."

"Later then," Jackson said as he set the chess pieces back into place on the marble board.

"Hey, Jackson. Congratulations to you and Emma. We're really happy for you."

"I should have asked her a long time ago," he admitted.

"Well, you asked her now."

Jackson smiled and tilted into a shrug. "You better take off, buddy."

Andy didn't bother to wait for the elevator. He took the staircase down to the main floor and jogged across the lobby. Sherilyn stood waiting at the entrance to the ballroom when he turned the corner, and she rolled her arm at him.

"Come on, come on!"

The minute he reached her, Sherilyn s.n.a.t.c.hed his hand and tugged him behind her into the ballroom where Russell stood on the stage with a microphone.

"So that being said," he told the bride and groom, seated at a long table with the rest of the wedding party, "I hope you'll allow me to give you a little gift in return for welcoming me when I crashed your wedding."

He replaced the microphone to the stand and picked up the acoustic guitar leaning against the piano. He climbed up on a stool and adjusted the microphone as he said, "Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming Mr. and Mrs. David Pendleton to the floor for their first dance."

Sherilyn m.u.f.fled her squeal with both hands before she grabbed Andy's arm and shook it. "It's their song," she whispered to him. "And the mother-in-law wasn't even allowing it to be played."

"So you recruited Russell," he said with a smile.

Sherilyn stepped in front of him and leaned back against Andy. He wrapped her up in his arms, and they swayed to an astonis.h.i.+ngly great rendition of Bob Seger's song, "You'll Accompany Me," as the bride and groom danced across the floor in front of the stage.

When the song came to a close, the room erupted with applause, and the bride took off at a full run toward them. When she reached Sherilyn, she threw her arms around her and repeated "Thank you, thank you so much!"

Sherilyn held her by the arms and grinned from ear to ear.

"You deserved to have your first dance to your song, Brittany."

"But Russell Walker," she cried. "It's just too much. You so ROCK!"

"Standing at the back of the room," Russell said into the microphone, "along with our beautiful bride, is the woman who asked me to come and play for the first dance. Let's give it up for Sherilyn Caine, the wedding planner here at The Tanglewood."

Andy joined in the applause as Sherilyn turned fifteen shades of crimson.

"At the risk of taking over your day, David and Brittany, would you indulge me just one more song?"

Brittany raised both hands into the air from the back of the ballroom and shouted out a resounding, "Yes!" The rest of the room ignited in thundering applause as the bride hurried back toward the stage.

"This song is especially for one of the coolest young women I've ever met," Russell told them. "Sherilyn Caine, your best days are certainly not behind you. Come on back, girl. Rock 'n' roll never forgets."

And with that, Russell took that guitar to town and belted it out in a way that Andy felt certain would have made Seger himself proud. The lyrics seemed tailor-made for Sherilyn as Russell sang about how she'd become much less bolder with age.

Sherilyn covered her face with her hands, turned toward Andy, and peered at him through her fingers. By the time the lyrics declared a teenaged Sherilyn was now in her thirties, Sherilyn's laughter sounded to him like part of the song. And when Russell hit the bridge, reminding her that rock 'n' roll hadn't forgotten her, she grabbed Andy by the hand and rushed toward the stage, already surrounded by throngs of people, all of them clapping to the time of the song. When she joined them in cheering Russell on, Andy did too.

He couldn't help but wonder for a moment what the mother-in-law had to say about what Russell Walker and the wedding planner had done to the dignified wedding reception she'd counted on for her future-governor son. But when he saw the sheer joy in his fiancee's gorgeous face, Andy couldn't have cared one iota less.