Hunter pulled out a handkerchief. “Here,” he said, handing it to her.
“Thanks.” She dabbed at her eyes, not wanting to mess up her minimal makeup. Right after she’d left Hunter to finish his shift—and after his mind-blowing kiss—she went straight to Savannah’s and apologized. Her friend was surprised and forgiving.
“I promise I’ll never keep another secret from you again,” Britt had said. And she meant it.
Savannah hugged her. “I’ve already asked Trudy to be my maid of honor.”
“It’s okay. I understand. Can I still come to the wedding?”
“Of course. I couldn’t get married without you being there.” They sat down on her parents’ plush white leather sofa. “Now, I want all the deets about this Hunter guy.”
Britt had given her the “deets,” and two days later, she and Hunter met Savannah and Justin for breakfast at Yo Jo’s. Hunter and Justin hit it off right away, and Savannah gave her an enthusiastic two thumbs up.
She had also put her channel back up, and started making videos again, with even more enthusiasm than before. Although it did take her a while to clean up her DMs.
“Britt.” Hunter tapped her on the shoulder, pulling her out of her reverie. “Time to go.”
She got up from the pew and stepped into the aisle. Mom and Dad were sitting right behind them. Dad winked at her, and Mom gave her a little wave as she blew her nose. Her parents had been spending more and more time together lately, with Dad dropping by the house after work at least three times a week for supper. They still fought occasionally, but more about differences of opinion than anything serious, and they weren’t vicious to each other anymore. Britt didn’t know what all of it meant, other than it felt like she had a complete family again, and it was wonderful.
Half an hour later she and Hunter walked into the Elegance Ballroom for the reception. Britt had helped with the last-minute decorations, including hand-lettering all the table cards, adding two tiny, entwined gold-leaf wedding rings at the right-hand corner of each one. “Everything looks beautiful,” she gushed as more guests filtered into the room.
Hunter agreed, taking her hand. “Do you want to sit down? Or circulate?”
“You know the answer to that.” While she had come a long way in overcoming her social anxiety, she would never be a mix-and-mingler.
They found their seats while the hall filled. Finally, Savannah and Justin showed up, and the reception was in full swing.
The bridal party didn’t dance, but the DJ hollered for everyone to hit the dance floor. Hunter leaned close to Britt. “Remember our first dance?”
She grinned. “How could I forget?”
He stood and held out his hand to her. “Dance with me. It’s been a while since I showed you my sixth-grade moves.”
Britt laughed and slipped her hand in his. He led her to the floor, and she easily melted into his arms. Suddenly there was a tap on Hunter’s shoulder. He turned around.
Dad was standing there. “May I cut in?”
Hunter nodded and smiled at Britt. “She’s all yours.”
“I hope I didn’t interrupt anything,” Dad said, taking her hand as ABBA’s “Take A Chance On Me” started to play.
“I can dance with him later.”
“True. I don’t think he’s going anywhere.”
“He better not.” She smiled. The song was too up-tempo for a slow dance, so they just made up the steps as they went along.
Dad cocked his head. “I haven’t heard this song in years,” he said above the music.
“I heard it yesterday.”
“Where?”
“On my yacht rock playlist.” She grinned. “I can share it with you sometime.”
They finished up the song, and another slow dance started to play. “I guess I better turn you over to Hunter,” Dad said.
“Wait.” Britt grabbed his hand, then pulled him into a hug. “I love you, Dad.”
