“Stop staring at me like that,” she says through a suppressed smile. “You’re making me more nervous.”
“Can’t help it.” I lean against the wall of the tiny room in thechurch, knocking a few old hymn books as I cross my arms and take her in. “My cousin is getting married. To Jamie Nicks, of all people.”
She laughs, the sound echoing in the small space. Everyone is already seated, the bridesmaids are getting ready to walk, and we’re hiding in this room until the organ plays.
“I know. Weird, right?” she says.
“Understatement of the century.”
Jamie Nicks. The preppiest asshole at my high school and a guy I punched so hard he had to get a nose job is about to become my family. Turns out he’s not as bad as I thought. He's actually a pretty decent guy. Good, even. A father. A partner. Someone who looks at my cousin like he'd go through hell and back just to be with her, and he did.
He gave up everything and now coaches football at the local high school just to make sure Ella and Tiff can have whatever they want.
Don’t get me wrong, I still find it weird, but after seeing them together and being a real family, I know they were made for each other.
Tiff steps closer, her dress rustling with the movement. She reaches for my hand, and I let her take it, her fingers cool against mine.
“I'm really happy for you,” I say, clearing my throat after. “Like, the happiest I've ever been for another person. You deserve this. You and Ella deserve everything.”
She blinks quickly, and a small tear escapes.
Fuck. I need to stop talking before she starts bawling.
“Don't,” I warn, pointing at her face. “You'll mess up your makeup, and Madison will murder me.”
She laughs, though tears are spilling over now. I take the handkerchief out of my pocket and dab her cheeks gently, careful to avoid her carefully lined lashes. “Madison's goingto murder you anyway. She thinks you're being 'emotionally constipated' about your feelings.”
I roll my eyes, and once I've cleaned Tiff up, I step back. Tucking my handkerchief back in my pocket, I say, “Madison needs to mind her own business.”
“Oh, please. She’s never minded her own business a day in her life.” Tiff squeezes my hand. “But she's not wrong. About you... avoiding things.”
Things.
Honey.
We both know what she means, but neither of us says it out loud. Saying it makes it real, and I’ve been doing a pretty good job pretending I’m fine. That seeing Honey today, after months of barely answered texts, won’t wreck me. That standing up there at the altar while she’s on the other side won’t feel like someone’s taking a sledgehammer to my heart.
I've been lying to myself since she left, pretending that she didn’t gut me, and I’m sure everyone sees it.
“Today's not about me,” I say, deflecting. “Today's about you and Jamie and that little girl out there who's probably driving Madison insane with questions about whether she can throw extra flower petals.”
Tiff's smile softens. “She asked if she could throwallof them at once.”
“That's my girl.”
We stand there for a moment, just the two of us, and I feel the weight of everything we've been through hit me all at once. All the shit we survived. The custody battles. The sleepless nights.
And now she's here.
Getting married.
Starting something new.
“Come here,” I say, pulling her into a hug before I can overthink it.
She melts into me, her head tucking under my chin the way she did that night when her father kicked her out and she had nowhere else to go.
“Thank you,” she whispers against my chest. “For everything. For Ella. For being there when I had no one. For—”
