The Mishap by Noelle Adams

Author:Noelle Adams
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: second chance, holiday, Christmas
Publisher: Noelle Adams
Published: 2021-12-14T00:00:00+00:00

ALL WEEK, ARIANA WAS in an emotional tizzy about the upcoming wedding, and no sensible lecture she gave herself could break through and calm her down.

The Friday evening of the rehearsal was crisp and cool but not damp or genuinely cold—a perfect December evening for wedding festivities. Katherine had emphasized that no one had to really dress up for the rehearsal dinner since she wanted her wedding relaxed rather than formal. So Ariana put on a more casual red skirt, sweater, tights, and tall boots, and she felt as pretty as she was capable of being.

She tried very hard not to feel like she was dressing up for Bradley, but she wasn’t entirely sure she succeeded.

To her relief, the rehearsal itself was fine. Jana was a flower girl, and so she was present. She attached herself to Ariana immediately and wouldn’t leave her side, so Ariana had someone to talk to and occupy her thoughts the whole time. She actually had a good time hanging out with the girl and talking about dresses and flowers and trips Jana wanted to take and how she should do her hair tomorrow for the wedding.

When things were starting to wrap up and Ariana and Jana had done their parts, they were sitting on a pew in the church. Bradley came over and stood over them, looking far too handsome in his gray trousers and blue dress shirt. “Jana, maybe Ariana needs a little breathing room?”

Jana straightened up, and her little mouth dropped open in shock.

Ariana couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m just fine. I was having a good time with her.”

With a giggle of what sounded like relief, Jana added, “Yes, she was having a good time.”

“That’s good then. But Ford was just now telling me that he could run around the church outside faster than anyone, and I thought you might want to weigh in on that.”

“What? I’m faster than Ford! How dare he say he’s fastest!” Jana jumped to her feet in her outrage.

“So maybe you want to go have a race with him? Mike’s dad said he would be the referee.”

“I can beat Ford!” Jana scurried down the center aisle and made her way outside to protect her dignity.

Ariana was laughing helplessly as she watched.

“I’m sorry she’s so clingy,” Bradley said. “I hope she’s not bothering you. I keep telling her she needs to give you some space, but it’s hard to convince a six-year-old of how much space is appropriate.”

“It’s really fine. I mean it. I really like her, and I like hanging out with her.”

Bradley took a few seconds to search her face as he sat in the pew beside her. Then he nodded, as if he believed her. “Good. But just tell me if she’s ever too much.”

“I will.”

She expected—hoped—he would get up and leave now that his mission was accomplished, but he didn’t. He stayed beside her, his warm brown eyes on her face.

Her heart raced, and her fingers felt rather jittery. She tried to distract them by smoothing down her skirt.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.