Sandcastles

“They’re getting married… Actually they’re ALREADY married!!”

I was pacing back on forth on the sandy beach, my arms folded over my chest, my brow furrowed, eyes squinted, trying to figure out what on the world had happened. Jonny sat in the sand near the end of my little pacing trail, building himself a sandcastle. He didn’t seem to be nearly as freaked out as I was, then again, nobody ever got as freaked out as I did. I could feel him watching me now as I paced, still trying to figure it all out.

“Will you take a deep breath and try to calm down?” Jonny called, laying back in the sand next to the castle he had spent the past hour working on so meticulously.

Sighing, I took a quick deep breath and looked at Jonny. For some reason, he still had that same old smile on his face. “Aren’t you worried about your best friend?”

“Patrick can take care of himself,” Jonny began taking my hand and pulling me into the sand next to him. I sat down and rest my head against his shoulder before he continued, “and so can Sara. They seem really happy together. Not to mention absolutely perfect for one another. In the past week I can tell that she’s already helped to slow down his drinking.”

That was true; the part where they seemed happy together. I never spent enough time around Patrick and Sara to know about his drinking. It still bothered me that she hadn’t come to me if she wanted a wedding. I mean, I planned them for a living. I could have made her day just a little bit more special, but she seemed fine having it without any of us there.

“I just wish that we could have been there…” I stated, slipping my hand into Jonny’s. The sun beating down on us made it hard to really touch without starting to sweat instantly, but that didn’t seem to matter to either of us.

Looking up at Jonny I could see the wheels in his head turning. He was thinking hard about something, though for the life of me I couldn’t figure out what. His eyes were focused on the ocean that lapped the shore in front of us. “What are you thinking about?”

“Maybe you could see it,” He said, looking down at me, a serious expression showing through his features. “The wedding, I mean. Maybe we can convince them to do it again.”

“But they’re already married,” I answered, not getting what he was talking about.

“I know, I know, but,” his eyes trailed down to the sandcastle that sat next to him and he looked at it with his head tilted, “we might be able to convince them to do it again. Renewing their vows, even though I’m sure they’ve only been married a couple of days.”

Sitting up a little straighter, I crunched my face in thought again. He was right. Chances were, we could convince them to do it again… “You know, you just might be a genius, which is saying something since I’m sure you’ve taken a fair share of pucks to the head.”

Jonny looked at me slightly offended before pushing me into the sand and pinning my arms above my head. I couldn’t help but giggle up at him. “I was kidding,” I chimed through my laughter.

“I know,” He answered, kissing me softly. For me, that wasn’t enough and I forced my head forward to make him kiss me harder. Jonathan took that as an invitation and before long we were making out in the hot sunshine. When I finally got the nerve to pull away, I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face. Turning my head to the side, I looked at the little home that Jonny had built.

“So, whose house is this?” I teased, looking back up at him.

Looking at the sandcastle, he rolled off of me and propped himself up on an elbow. “Ours.” His answer was simple and casual, not like I forced it out of him. I felt the heat rise in my cheeks, which seemed impossible since the sunshine had already warmed them to their highest temperature.

“Oh really?” I questioned, almost teasing him.

“Really. Every princess deserves a castle.” He kissed my forehead before standing up quickly. “By the way, you only have an hour to get ready before your surprise.” Jonny and the boys had came back from their trip a little early, thanks to Corey getting a pretty nasty sunburn while they were out on the ocean. He was popped into my room while I was taking a nap and conned me into taking a walk on the beach. Looking at phone, my eyes widened.

“You’re right,” I shot up and gave him a quick, passionate kiss before starting towards the hotel. “By the way, it’s not a castle that every princess needs… It’s a prince.”

-x-

The hour that Jonny had given me to get ready was, of course, not enough. Normally, I wouldn’t take that long to get ready, but on my way to my hotel room I got sidetracked talking to Christine about the things I had discussed with Jonny on the beach, and the possibility of convincing Sara and Kaner to have another wedding. She seemed thrilled at the idea and was going to share it with Sharpie on their dinner date that night. When I reached the room, I was surprised to see that Sara and Kaner had returned and were lying on Sara’s bed watching some movie that I’d never heard of.

I hopped into the shower and took much longer than I had ever planned. To my surprise, I was sun burnt on my shoulders and every time the water hit them, I cringed a little bit. This made doing anything a rather difficult feat. Once I jumped back out of the shower, I wrapped myself in a towel and proceeded out of the bathroom to grab the dress I had bought earlier that day. And, lucky for me, I had managed to stumble right into a Kaner/Sara make out session.

“Geez. Can you two get a room?” I teased, trying to find my other bathing suit to slip on under the dress.

“Technically this is our room,” Kaner quipped.

I rolled my eyes and laughed before starting back into the bathroom. As I went to close the door, I managed to close it right on Sara, who I didn’t know was following me. “Ouch. Could you watch it? I’m here to help you out.”

“I thought you were going out with Kaner tonight,” I questioned, slipping on the bottoms of my bathing suit under the towel that was draped around me.

“I am, I am,” She said, waving a hand at me before picking up a hair brush and the blow dryer. “But you need some serious help in the hair department, and we don’t have reservations until like…9.”

Before long, I was dressed in the sundress that I had bought earlier in the day, my make-up was flawless, and my hair was done. The tiger lily that Jonny had left me was tucked neatly behind my ear. Jonny had shown up about twenty minutes ago and had been forced to sit on my bed and wait. Thankfully for him, Kaner was there to keep him occupied while Sara put the finishing touches on me.

“Are you ready yet?!” Jonny called, a hint of annoyance growing in his voice.

“Oh shove it Toews! She’s just about finished,” Sara shouted, grinning as she squirted me with one last spray of perfume. Standing up, I looked at myself in the mirror and was confused. Who was that looking back at me? I never normally took the time to care about my hair or my make-up, but this time…this time it made all the difference. I turned to thank Sara, but she was already gone, but much she always would do when I went to thank her for something. I walked out of the bathroom and into the living space to see Jonny sitting on the bed. As soon as I came into view, I noticed a slight drop in his jaw. Sitting behind him on the other bed, Sara was clapping softly and excitedly while Kaner was looking me up and down.

“Worth the wait, huh?” I said, twirling from side to side, playing with my dress like a little girl would.

“Bailey, you look…”

Before Jonny could finish his thought, Sara was up and pushing him towards me. “Beautiful, gorgeous, amazing, flawless. Take you pick. Will you two just get out now?”

I laughed at my best friend and waved as I opened the door and walked out. Jonny was right beside me, and we hadn’t even walked three feet before his hand made it’s way into mine. “So what are we doing tonight?” I asked, trying to resist the urge to go skipping down the hallway.

“You’ll see,” was his answer. Lifting my hand, he kissed the back of it lightly while his brown eyes met my own. I had always hated surprises, but in this case, I was going to make an exception.