The pampering continued all morning and into the early afternoon, the technicians rotating between the three women. More food was brought in around lunchtime, though only Julia seemed the least bit hungry. Tessa merely nibbled on some sushi and drank a cup of soothing herbal tea that Sasha had insisted would help calm her mounting case of bridal jitters.

“Everything’s going to be just fine, you know,” assured Sasha at one point. “During my morning meditation, I could sense the good vibes all around us. And while I was hiking everything just felt completely in tune with the world. Your wedding is going to be perfect, Tessa, so there’s absolutely no need to stress, okay? And if you do feel the least bit nervous, just practice those breathing techniques you and I do during our sessions, okay?”

Tessa nodded, taking one of those very same deep, calming breaths right now. “Okay,” she nodded. “But I might need you to remind me to breathe as we get closer to the ceremony.”

Sasha grinned. “Of course. That’s what bridesmaids are for, after all. That and telling you how beautiful you look.”

The beauty crew finally packed up all of their supplies mid-afternoon, though two of them promised to be on hand right before the wedding started to do any needed touch-ups on hair and makeup. Soon after they left, it was time for Tessa and her attendants to start getting dressed. Even though the ceremony wouldn’t start until four-thirty, the photographers would be arriving in less than an hour to start taking photos. Since the owner’s villa had its own private terraced garden, it had been decided to take all the pre-wedding shots of Tessa, Julia, and Sasha right here.

Tessa had just finished shimmying into her bridal lingerie - an exquisite, hand sewn corset of ivory silk and lace, matching panties, and ultra sheer ivory silk stockings - when Joanna and Francine arrived. She had asked both women - one her future mother-in-law, and the other the woman who’d been both her mentor and a surrogate mother of sorts - to be here to help her dress and also offer up any last minute words of advice and encouragement.

She would have expected Joanna’s eyes to shimmer with tears at seeing her fully dressed in her bridal attire, but Tessa was more than a little shocked to realize Mrs. Carrington also looked a bit weepy. But the real shock was seeing how the normally buttoned-up office manager, who had always favored starchy tweed suits, tight buns, and plain, low-heeled shoes, looked this afternoon. Francine had ditched the severe suits for a pretty flowered silk dress and matching pastel heels, and while her dyed auburn hair was still pinned up, it was in a much more attractive French twist. She had even - miracle of miracles - worn a bit of makeup, and didn’t look nearly as terrifying as usual.

Francine fluffed out the wide tulle skirts of Tessa’s gown before making an unneeded adjustment to the antique bridal tiara that had been in Joanna’s family for several generations. The priceless diamond encrusted band was Tessa’s “something borrowed”. Her dress, shoes, and lingerie qualified as something new; the ruffled satin garter she wore high up on her thigh the something blue; and threaded among her thick blonde curls was a slender piece of white satin ribbon that Glen Rockwell had found in the envelope containing Gillian’s pictures. He guessed that the ribbon had once embellished a dress or blouse of Gillian’s, or perhaps even a baby garment of Tessa’s. Either way, it had been appropriated as her “something old” today.

“You look absolutely stunning, my girl,” Francine told her in a slightly unsteady voice. “Like a queen about to marry her king. And while I never knew your mother, Tessa, and you’ve talked so little about her over the years, I’m very, very sure that if she were here right now she would be immensely proud of you. But no more so than I am.”

Tessa bent and gave the tiny woman a fierce hug. “Thank you for being here today,” she whispered. “There are so many of Ian’s family and friends and associates here, while I have hardly anyone. But you’ve always been there for me, far more than my own mother was capable of being, and it means the world that you came today.”

Francine made a clucking noise. “As if I would miss it,” she scolded. “Not to mention the fact that Ian insisted on paying our way up here, even arranging first class airline tickets and a chauffer to drive us up from the airport.” In a softer voice, she added, “He knew that you didn’t have any real family, dear, and that no matter how kind and welcoming his own family and friends have been it wasn’t really the same. So he made sure that Oliver and I were here, even though I told him I would have taken a Greyhound bus if necessary to be at your wedding.”

Tessa felt tears well up in her eyes, only to be immediately scolded by four horrified women, “For God’s sake, don’t cry now! You’ll ruin your makeup!”

Instead she burst into laughter as she hugged each of them in turn - best friend, teacher, mother-in-law, and surrogate mother. And suddenly she felt a little bit less alone as she realized that all of these wonderful women were here for her, that they would be her family today.

Chapter Seventeen

“Feet getting cold yet, old man? Oh, wait. I forgot I can’t call you that anymore. Not since the night of your bachelor party when you and the missus were ninety seconds away from getting it on right there in that chair. Got to tell you that lap dance made Selina so hot she jumped my bones the minute we got back to our hotel suite. Well, the Cosmos she was bolting down all night might have helped a bit, too. Not that I was about to complain, of course, but -”

“Enough,” interrupted Ian, holding up a hand in protest. “I thought we agreed when you got married that there would be no more sharing of your amorous exploits. And to answer your question - no. My feet are actually quite warm. Literally and figuratively. Unlike you, I’m very anxious to put an end to my bachelorhood.”

“I was anxious,” replied Colin a bit sullenly. “I mean, it took me some time to come around, of course, and then Selina refusing to take my calls until I made a commitment to her. But once I got over all that, then I was gung ho to become a married man.”

Hugh grinned. “That’s not exactly how I remember things happening, but Colin’s always had a bit of a short memory. However, he’s happily married now, and Selina isn’t about to let him forget it. Seriously, though, Ian. How are you feeling, mate? Given that you’ll be a married bloke yourself in, let’s see, less than an hour’s time?”