Captiva Ever After (Captiva Island Series #7)

“Adrianne and I got ours last week,” Eva said. “We were nervous that the hurricane might come our way. Fortunately, the dresses were ready. Tampa didn’t get anything except a little rain. What’s the damage on Captiva?”

“According to my father, not too bad at all. There were lots of trees and branches all over the place. Some buildings were flooded, but not all. I guess they’re moving quickly to clean up the streets,” Becca answered. “Wait! Hang on! My cell is ringing.”

Becca quickly grabbed her cell phone. “Hey, Amy.”

“Oh, Becca, The shop had about three feet of water. As you can imagine, the problem is that the water isn’t clear, clean water. There’s quite a bit of mud and muck and I don’t know what. Your dress is among several that have been ruined. I’m so sorry. I can possibly try to clean it, but I’m not sure because of the material whether dry cleaning it would work, but we could give it a try.”

“Yes, please go ahead and do the cleaning. I’m going to look at dresses up here as a backup just in case. Thanks, Amy, and I’m sorry about your shop. I hope you can be back in business soon.”

Becca hung up the phone and looked at her friends. “You heard?”

“Listen, this is how I see things like this. It’s a sign that you’re not supposed to wear that dress, that’s all,” Morgan said.

Adrianne and Eva were quick to follow Morgan’s lead. “Morgan’s right. You have to look at it that way. Whatever will be, will be,” Adrianne added.

Becca couldn’t help but feel a deeper and more foreboding signal. “I guess,” she said.

“What’s really going on with you, Becca?” Morgan asked. “I feel like there is something you’re not telling us.”

Sighing, Becca refilled her wine glass. “I don’t know, guys. Something just doesn’t feel right. From the start of all this…”

“All this?” Eva asked. “You mean you’ve been feeling this way since the engagement?”

Becca shrugged. “I don’t know what I’ve been feeling. It’s an awful place to be. Remember how I told you how nervous I was about marriage and how nothing lasts in this world? Well, back then I let Beth talk me into relaxing about the whole thing. But…now…I don’t know.”

“Whoa…,” Morgan declared. “This isn’t good.”

“Oh, stop,” Eva added. “She’s just getting cold feet. It happens to brides and grooms all the time.”

Becca could tell that Morgan understood what she was saying better than Adrianne and Eva.

“I adore Christopher. I swear I’ve known since we were kids that he was the one for me. I never doubted it for one second. Now, after all these years of certainty, something’s changed. I’m not the same person I was back then.”

“Oh, heck, Becca. I’m not the same person I was last month. We change, we grow, and that’s part of life. Are you saying that you and Christopher have grown apart? Is that the change you’re talking about? Because, if it is, then we’re talking about something important and this wedding needs to be postponed at the very least,” Morgan insisted.

“I’m telling you guys that it’s not that. I feel closer to Chris than ever. I just don’t know what this is about.”

“Maybe you need to talk to a professional,” Adrianne said.

“You mean a therapist or psychiatrist?” Eva asked.

“Yes. Maybe Becca just needs to talk to someone who’s skilled in getting to the bottom of things,” Adrianne explained.

“Guys, stop! You’re talking about me like I’m not in the room. It’s not a big deal. I’ve been working and studying like crazy to get everything done before the wedding. I’m probably just exhausted. Here I am miles from where the wedding will take place and it has a hurricane. My dress is destroyed along with any dreams of the perfect day when I marry the man of my dreams. Nothing is going right and I think I’m overreacting to it all.”

She held up her wine glass and smiled. “Let’s toast to romance getting back front and center in this wedding. I don’t want to lose that because of silly fears creeping up. I won’t let anything ruin this day…not even Mother Nature.”

The four women held up their glasses and laughed. “Well said, Cheers!” Eva and Adrianne yelled. Morgan, on the other hand, looked Becca in the eye and smiled. Holding up her glass, she joined the others in celebration. “To Becca and Chris, the perfect couple.”

* * *

Exhausted as he was, Crawford joined the neighbors in helping wherever he could. Joshua, Luke and Finn went door-to-door taking inventory of what needed to be repaired as well as making sure there were no injuries from the storm.

Linda St. James’ home was in fairly good condition, but downstairs where she ran the island’s newspaper was a mess. Water seeped in, causing damage to her main printer and although there were more important problems than hers on the island, she had several people to meet with to explain that their money would either be refunded or applied to future advertisements.

Maggie Moretti was one such person, and Crawford promised Linda that he would help facilitate getting the information out to local business owners.

“Jack of all trades, master of none is how I like to think of myself,” Crawford said to Ciara.