Wedding Haters (Event to Remember Series-Book 2) by Melissa Baldwin

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cousin. I think Stephy said everything perfectly. We have so much
respect and love for Madie, and we do consider her another sister.
Even though we haven’t been as close as we were when we were young,
Stephy and I are making the effort. We practically had to beg her
to be bridesmaids, and thankfully, she finally agreed. Of course,
in her defense, it was last minute.” I look at Sienna and signal
the she needs to cut this off now. I see her whisper to Craig
because this was his idea to emotionally torture me for an hour.
“How terrific are her cookies? They almost look store-bought, but
don’t worry, Madie, I know you made them,” she says, pointing at
me. “I have to admit I was surprised about this hobby of hers. When
we were kids she did break our Easy-Bake Oven and almost burned our
house down, and believe me when I tell you that was not the only
stupid thing she did . . .”
    “OK! Thank you so much, ladies,” Craig
interrupts Ellie. “I’m terribly sorry to cut this short, as you can
see, the dessert buffet has been set up. I know after listening to
all of these emotional tributes I could definitely go for some
chocolate. Please help yourself.”
    The guests start chatting and making their
way to the dessert table, which looks amazing, I might add. Because
I don’t have tequila here, I will just have to eat my weight in
desserts. I’m not usually an emotional eater, but after today, I
probably need to be.
    “So, I don’t think it was that bad,” Craig
says after he walks over with a black-and-white cookie in his hand.
“Whatever!” I exclaim. “That was brutal, thanks by the way.” I’m
not one who holds grudges, but it may take me a while to forgive
Craig for this one.
    “Craig’s right. I expected much worse,” Abby
says, wrapping her arm around my shoulder.
    A little while later most of the guests have
gone except for Sienna, Abby, Craig, Susan, and my family. We’re
busy gathering the gifts, décor, and the flowers.
    “Madison, I can bring all the gifts to the
house. You can put everything away as you move your stuff over,”
Susan says as she looks for something in her gorgeous Louis Vuitton
bag (authentic, of course). Crap! She didn’t just say that out
loud, did she? With everything happening, I haven’t had a chance to
tell anyone about the house.
    “House? What house?” Sienna is the first to
ask; everyone else is staring at me. I guess this means it’s time
to make the announcement.
    “My house, well mine and Cole’s.” I give
Susan a big smile. I know she’s probably wondering why I haven’t
told anyone. “I’ve been so busy that I haven’t been able to tell
you all about this fantastic gift that we’ve been given. Cole’s
parents have given us a beautiful house for our wedding. I still
can’t believe it!” Everyone starts talking at once and asking
questions.
    “Susan, what a wonderful present. Thank you!”
my mom says, giving Susan a big hug.
    “What’s the square footage?” Grandmother
asks.
    “Is there a pool?” asks Craig.
    “We will have so much fun decorating!” Abby
exclaims.
    “Are you kidding me? Who gets a free house?”
I hear Ellie whisper to Stephy.
    “Where is it?” Sienna asks.
    Thankfully, Susan starts answering everyone’s
questions. I pull Sienna aside to explain.
    “I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you yet. We found
out while we weren’t speaking, and then you were so busy with the
shower. Honestly, I just forgot.” I feel so bad right now; I should
have told her.
    “I know we were planning to live close to
each other. Neither Cole nor I knew they were going to do this.”
I’m trying to talk as quietly as I can, especially because I see
Ellie and Stephy curiously watching us. I know they think we’re
about to argue, and I refuse to give them the satisfaction of
seeing that.
    “Of course. I know that,” she says.
“Congratulations.” She gives me a quick hug and runs off to pack up
the décor.
    “Honey, are you OK?”