Why I suddenly felt like crying, I didn’t know. But I felt awash in it. In the emotion. In the love. In the true meaning of family.
I hugged Melanie something fierce, Maggie the same, Lincoln and Rhys.
Royce, too, his voice a murmured, “Thank you,” at my ear.
I swiped the tear that got free. “It is my honor.”
Thirty-Three
Violet
“You look stunning.” I smiled softly at my sister-in-law where she stood at the full-length mirror in my bedroom.
Wearing her wedding dress.
Twenty minutes from walking down the aisle.
Waves of blonde were twisted in a loose side braid, and tons of wisps fell out, fresh flowers from the field pinned into the plaits.
“Um. Stunning might be an understatement. Royce is gonna lose his shit.” Mel grinned.
Emily released a shaky exhale, and she spread her hand over her belly, emotion cresting in her eyes that were the same color as her brother’s.
Her mama stepped up to her and took her by the hand. “You are so incredibly beautiful, sweet girl. Look at you. Mel is right. Royce is gonna lose his shit.”
I choked out a laugh, and Maggie took Emily’s other hand. “I agree. You walk in the room, and my brother can’t look anywhere else. Come in looking like this? You’re going to be lucky if you make it all the way through dinner before he’s hauling you to privacy to get you out of this dress.”
Mabel tossed her a grin. “That’s what weddin’ dresses are—a gift for the groom. A present to be unwrapped.”
“Torn to shreds, more like it,” Mel said. “It might as well be five-thousand-dollar tissue paper.”
“Um, if he destroys this dress, he’s in trouble.” Mia sent a playful smile to Emily.
Mia Godwin was dressed in the same bridesmaids dress I’d modeled just a couple weeks before. The clingy, gorgeous fabric hugged her shape flawlessly.
I’d met the wife of Carolina George’s drummer two days ago. Emily had been right.
I loved her.
Instantly.
So honest and open. Direct but soft.
This striking beauty who undoubtedly stopped traffic when she walked on the street.
Melanie hadn’t been exaggerating—there were gonna be some epic pictures from the event. The way the photographer was currently scurrying around and clicking a gazillion shots and groaning in pleasure as she did was proof of that.
“Mommy!” The door banged open to Daisy running in with Anna in tow.
The two little black-haired angels had been inseparable from the second they’d met.
“Me and my’s bestest new cousin friend are all ready. We didn’t even get no dirt on our dresses when we went down the slide.”
Lord help me.
“Daisy. You were supposed to be reading books in your room. Not playing on the swing set.”
“Well, I was telling her a story when we played. That counts, right?”
“This kid’s gonna be an attorney.” Mel sent me one of those looks that prayed for my sanity. “Pretty sure she can talk herself out of any bit of trouble. Hell, all she needs to do is smile.”
Daisy beamed the evidence.
Exhibit one.
Emily giggled at poor Anna standing looking like she’d been cornered.
“I think my daughter is a bad influence,” I said, twisting my face up in a hapless apology.
“That’s what cousins are for,” Daisy informed me. “We gotta learn from each other. And have all the fun together. Right, Anna?”
Anna nodded in her shy way.
The child was quiet and timid and probably feeling a bit out of sorts, but we were doin’ our absolute best to show her this was where she belonged.
That she fit right in.
Cousins.
I doubted either Daisy or Anna had expected that. Rhys had brought it up like a tease during the dress rehearsal last night. Afterward, the two hadn’t been able to stop claiming it.
It was crazy how a few short weeks ago, I’d felt as if I were shouldering so much alone. Loving for so many. Trying to hold up my mama and daddy. To provide for my daughter. To be everything.
And now we were surrounded.
Lifted.
Elevated.
Loved.
Mabel sent me a tender smile as if she’d had a direct connection to my thoughts, her mouth moving in a silent whisper, I am so thankful to have you back in our lives.
Maybe I never should have rejected their support in the first place. Never should have let the choices Richard had made steal them away.
Truth was, most of the time it felt easier to close yourself off than to admit your need.
“Auntie Emily, you look smokins’ hot. Just like my mommy.”
A disbelieving laugh scraped from my throat.
This kid.
“True story,” Melanie told her, giving Daisy a high-five.
“You do, too, Mells Bells,” she added with a resolute nod of her head, child nothing but happy chaos.
Oh, she got that from Rhys. Apparently, my little troublemaker wasn’t the only bad influence around here.
There was a knock at the door, and it swung open to the minister poking his head in. “Everyone ready? I’m about to head to the meadow.”
Emily sucked in a flurried breath. “I’m ready.”
We all filed out, carrying our heels in our hands and wearing flip-flops on our feet so we could make it down the pathway in one piece.
The day was beginning to set so perfectly. That gorgeous fusion of color gathering at the horizon and painting the sky in a portrait of beauty.
Picture perfect.
We made it all the way down to the bottom of the hill where I’d had a small stand built with storage and a cooler for the bouquets. Stopping there, we quickly changed into our heels, all of us giggling like crazy as we shoved our flip-flops into the slots and figured out which bouquet belonged to who.
Excitement billowing.
Nerves rippling.
Daisy went running along to check on the guest book that was set up on the other side of the meadow where the guests came in from the parking lot. Funny how the job she’d been so desperate for had all but been forgotten once she’d gained her new best friend.
Luckily, Shea Stone had been happy to stand in and assist.
We resituated Emily’s dress, made sure her hair was just right, and
