“Now all you need is something blue,” Verna pointed out.
“I actually have that one covered.” Abby headed for her nightstand, the melodious anklets pleasantly accompanying her every movement.
Her fingertips grazed the small trinket box where she kept Sam’s sliver of sea glass, and her chest squeezed. The heartacheover Max’s absence spread over her, sharp and piercing. She closed her eyes, focusing on each breath.
In and out. In and out.
They hadn’t heard a word from Sam since they left, and the silence had become more deafening each day. Eventually, she’d had to face facts: Max wasn’t coming to the wedding, and she needed to make peace with that.
She opened her eyes and lifted the lid of the trinket box. At least she could hold a piece of Max with her, tucked into her bodice. Not glamorous, by any means, but it was the only way she could hold the sea glass close to her heart.
Abby gasped. Where was it?
She quickly scanned the scant contents. Her wedding band and engagement ring from Donnie. The key to Logan’s grandmother’s recipe box. A few keepsakes from her childhood.
But no aqua stone.
A small sob lodged in her throat, stifling her ability to breathe. Max’s absence hurt badly enough, but now she’d lost the sea glass, too?
“Knock knock.” Logan’s clear, grounding voice called from the other side of her bedroom door.
Her heart leaped. They weren’t supposed to see each other before the ceremony, but at that moment, she wanted nothing more than to feel the comforting strength of his presence.
“May I come in?” he asked, cracking open the door a few inches.
Nadia and Verna looked at Abby, who nodded.
“We’ll give you two a minute.” Verna gestured for Nadia to follow her out the French doors leading to the back garden, leaving Abby alone.
“Come in.” Abby turned, her pulse racing as the door eased open.
The instant Logan stepped across the threshold and caught sight of her in her wedding dress, he stopped short. A spark of awe and adoration lit his eyes, his gaze both tender and intense.
Warmth swept through her body. Her cheeks flushed. Beneath his raw, approving gaze, she’d never felt more beautiful.
“Wow, you look incredible,” he said when he’d finally found his voice.
“Thank you. You don’t look half bad yourself.” In truth, she nearly melted to the floor. The casual suit in a deep denim hue displayed his lean runner’s physique to perfection and enhanced the blue of his eyes. Paired with a white cotton button-up, sans tie and shoes, he exuded laid-back sex appeal.I can’t believe I get to marry this gorgeous man.
“I really want to kiss you,” he murmured in a husky rasp.
“I think it’s against the rules,” she teased, her own voice equally breathy.
“I’m in a rule-breaking mood today.” He stepped toward her, and she surrendered to his strong arms.
His kiss lasted several blissful seconds, soothing the ache in her heart.
When they finally parted, he confessed, “I knew once you walked down the aisle and didn’t see Max standing next to me, you’d miss him all over again. I didn’t want that moment to be the first time we saw each other today. I hope that’s okay.”
“It’s more than okay,” she told him, touched by his intuitive, compassionate heart. “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
“Good.” He grinned, then added, “Plus, I wanted to give you this.” He reached into his trouser pocket and withdrew a long gold chain.
Her gaze fixed on the slender pendant of aqua sea glass, and a gasp escaped her lips. “How did you—?”
She couldn’t finish her thought, too enraptured by the beauty of the necklace. A gleaming gold coil wrapped around the pale blue stone like a gilded embrace, securing it to the chain.
“I knew you wanted to keep the sea glass close by today, so I asked Sage to make it into a necklace for you. The gold wire around the stone can be undone, in case you don’t like it.”
