Free Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Beth K. Vogt

baby.”
    â€œYou’re going to be a mom. I’m getting married again. Look at us—all sorts of dreams are coming true.”
    â€œSo what do your parents think? They’re happy for you, right?”
    â€œYes. Absolutely.” Vanessa released the squirming puppy and got comfortable on the couch again.
    â€œYou have told them, right?”
    â€œOf course. There are no surprises with this wedding, believe me.”
    â€œSo what did your mother say?”
    â€œShe wanted to know why I wasn’t getting married in Montana—as if that was home or something. Just because my parents retired there doesn’t require me to have my wedding in Great Falls.”
    â€œTrue.” Mindy motioned to the dessert sitting on the coffee table. “Eat your cake, but keep talking. So what did she think of your Florida destination wedding?”
    Traces of their conversation the night before she left Montana intruded on the conversation.
    â€œYou’re getting married again? In Destin?” Her mother paused, her hand suspended above the latest quilt she was working on. “Ted knows about your first . . . wedding?”
    â€œWell, we both know that wasn’t a real ceremony.” Vanessa would say it before her mother. Beat her to the verbal punch. “And Logan and I were married in Alabama, not Destin.”
    The past, which Vanessa tried so hard to keep behind her, hung between them.
    Her mother was the first to step away from the simmering tension. “Well, fine, then. Maybe you know what you’re doing.”
    Not exactly a vote of confidence. Was Vanessa going to be forever branded by what had happened ten years ago?
    â€œHey, where’d you go?” Mindy snapped her fingers in front of Vanessa’s face.
    â€œWhat? Sorry . . . My mom’s a bit preoccupied with my dad’s recovery right now. I promised to keep her updated on the wedding details.”
    â€œDetails—which brings us back to me being your matron of honor. Do we have time to go shopping for dresses while you’re here?”
    â€œYou mean a dress for you? I guess so.”
    â€œFor me—and you, too. What else are you doing?”
    â€œI have a list in my purse.”
    â€œHand it over, girlfriend.” Vanessa giggled at Mindy’s elaborate hand gesture. Back in high school, Mindy’s friendliness had somehow slipped past Vanessa’s protective barrier. For some reason, the girl wanted to be her friend back then—and still wanted to be her friend now all these years later. “Your matron of honor needs to have a look-see.”
    â€¢Â Â â€¢Â Â â€¢
    Mindy was the next-best thing to a fairy godmother stepping out of a children’s book and into her life.
    Now that Vanessa knew Mindy’s secret superpower was organization, Vanessa could have her talk to the hotel wedding coordinator and the florist. She’d nibbled on another sliver of carrot cake while her friend powered up her laptop and transferred the wedding to-do’s to an Excel spreadsheet, fine-tuning it with an online wedding checklist—and one for the matron of honor—creating a shared Dropbox folder labeled HOLLISTER-TOPLIFF WEDDING .
    They discussed flower options. Clothing options for Ted and his best man. Dress styles for her and Mindy, even pinning a few options on a Pinterest board. Decided on a late afternoon wedding—despite Mindy’s pleadings for a sunset ceremony on the beach. But no matter how much Mindy begged, Vanessa vetoed the idea of walking toward Ted as he stood against the backdrop of a brilliant sun setting into the horizon.
    She couldn’t bring herself to explain to Mindy that a decade ago, she and Logan had daydreamed about a second wedding ceremony—this time with family and friends celebrating with them—saying their vows on the beach just as the blaze of the sun seemed to extinguish itself in the Gulf.
    So