“No. You could pick her up Christmas morning, around ten or eleven or so. You know. After we’ve had time for all the things. Presents, photos, breakfast.”
Holly pressed her lips together, her mind whirling with a dozen responses, all of them too heated for a conversation twenty minutes before a family wedding.
“I was just thinking,” Brittany went on, “you had her all to yourself last year for all the holidays. And the year before, too. It seems only fair that Troy could have her this year, since we’re in town.”
She had spent the past two holiday seasons alone with herdaughter because Lydia’s father hadn’t bothered to show much interest in her whatsoever until his young wife had her own child and developed a sudden desire to be more involved in Lydia’s life.
Now Lydia’s father—or at least her father’s wife—wanted to change all their careful arrangements at virtually the last minute, days before Christmas Eve.
Brittany seemed to sense the objections Holly hadn’t figured out yet how to voice. “You don’t have to decide right now,” she said quickly. “You and Troy could discuss it this evening, maybe. Or we could all talk about it together. I’m sure we’ll have a chance between now and Christmas Eve to go over the details.”
Before she could come up with an answer, Kristine’s wedding planner poked her head into the room.
“We’re lining up for the processional, if you want to take your seats,” Reka Bell said with a bright smile. “Is the flower girl ready?”
“Yep!” Lydia beamed and picked up the ribbon-festooned basket of red rose petals she would be scattering down the aisle of the church.
“Oh, you are adorable,” Reka declared. “Everyone is going to love you.”
Holly managed a polite smile, though her chest tightened slightly. She knew people meant well, but comments like that often focused solely on Lydia’s distinctive Down syndrome features, not the vibrant, determined little girl she knew—the one whose strength, joy and stubborn streak brought so much light into the world.
“I’ll stay with her while she lines up,” Holly said.
“I can do that,” Brittany said. “Why don’t you go take your seat near the front, then she can come sit next to you as soon as she’s done with her job.”
That was actually a good idea, much better than Holly trying to squeeze down the aisle toward the front while everyone in attendance looked on.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I meant to tell you I saw your handsome guy come in a few minutes before I came in here. It looked like he found a place for you and Lydia in the third row.”
“Ryan is here?” Holly told herself the little jump in her pulse was due to maternal nerves over her child’s upcoming assignment but she suspected it had more to do with knowing her date had arrived.
She hadn’t expected him yet, as she thought they had agreed he would join her after the ceremony only for the wedding dinner and reception.
Soft warmth spread through her, knowing he had come early and would be waiting for her in the chapel. He must have known somehow how grateful she would be for his presence.
What a good man he was. He would never say so but she considered him one of the kindest people she had ever met.
“Are you certain you don’t want to sit by Troy?” she asked Brittany.
The other woman inclined her head toward her sleeping baby. “It’s probably better if I slip into a seat near the back so I can take this guy out easily if he wakes up angry.”
Holly could understand the logic of that. She probably would feel the same in the other woman’s strappy heels.
“Makes sense.” She turned to Lydia. “Okay. Honey, I’ll be up near the front, like we practiced last night. Brittany will help you know when it’s your turn to go and then you can come sit by me and by Ryan.”
“I like Ryan,” Lydia informed her.
Yes. Holly did, too. Entirely too much.
After kissing her daughter’s forehead and smoothing anerrant strand of hair back into place, Holly hurried to the chapel.
She spotted Ryan immediately. He stood a few rows from the front talking to Nadine and Nyla, Troy’s aunts. He looked tall and gorgeous in a charcoal suit and red power tie and her heart seemed to skip with happiness.
Aware the whole time of the man who waited for her, she made her way toward him, stopping occasionally along the way to greet extended family members of Troy, some of whom she hadn’t seen since her own wedding.
When she reached his side, Ryan gave her a devastating smile that left her breathless.
