Page 16 of Targeted By Desire

“Just…?”

“I wish my mom was able to see me walk down the aisle.”

“I know,” I whispered, giving her hands a squeeze.

Isabelle’s mother died from cancer when she was three years old. Despite being the spitting image of the woman, she had very few memories of her. But, from what she did remember, she told me her mother was a kind, bubbly woman.

And while she loved my mother, grew a similar bond with her, she still longed for the one who birthed her. She just didn’t like acknowledging it, fearing she’ll hurt my mother’s feelings. Not that anyone would ever fault her for the grief she’ll perpetually experience.

But, Isabelle has always been hard on herself. She’s always wanted to be perfect. And by her standards, she was still figuring out where grief fits into that image.

Isabelle let out a soft sniffle as she returned the tight squeeze.

“Don’t cry,” I told her. “She’ll be there. You may not be able to see her, but she will be.” I let go of one of her hands and wiped away some of the tears that escaped her eyes.

Her rainbow of a smile peeked out after the short rainfall, and she twirled back in front of the mirror. “I do love this one,” she mused. “It makes me look like a princess!”

“Then, we’re buying it!”

“But, Mom hasn’t seen it yet!”

“So? Who cares what she thinks?”

Isabelle grinned. “You’re a bad influence, you know that?”

“Of course! That’s why you love me.”

We shared a laugh as I gave her hands another soft squeeze.

With Isabelle’s wedding dress picked out, she immediately went on the hunt for my maid of honor dress. We browsed through the aisles of the champagne colored dresses for about a half hour before I found a simple off-the-shoulder dress to wear.

Starved after all the shopping, we headed to a local restaurant for lunch. Isabelle and I sat next to each other while my mother sat on the other side.

“One step closer to the big day,” my mother commented once we were settled with our drinks and appetizer. “Is Owen ready for it?”

Isabelle nodded. “He’s going suit shopping with his best man next weekend. And we are going for our cake testing next month. It’s so weird! I feel like everything’s happening so fast but slow at the same time.”

“It’s the anticipation. You spend so much time looking forward to something and once it comes, it flies by. Just wait till the day of your wedding. It goes by in the blink of an eye. Both of mine sure did.” Her gaze flicked to me. “Have you spoken to Justin, Simone?”

Here we go, I thought.

As much as she loved and adored Isabelle, she could never just let her have her moment. She always had to compare us somehow and convince herself her daughter lived up to her husband’s.

“Nope,” I answered.

“She’s on a solo self-discovery journey,” Isabelle tried to back me up.

“Isaac says he’s been walking around like a sick puppy since you rejected his proposal.”

I refrained from rolling my eyes.

Justin Hartford was the son of a tech guru in my step-father’s social circle. We dated for almost a year before he decided to get on one knee in front of the huge crowd at his father’s company’s fall fundraising gala. I liked him enough, but I had no intentions on marrying him. Not because he wasn’t a good man, but he wasn’t good for me.

In the months leading to his proposal, he started echoing some of my mother’s thoughts about using my law degree and leaving the FBI. He wasn’t a fan of the late hours and constant traveling. He preferred having me home at a reasonable time, with enough down time to tend to him and accompany him to all his social gatherings.

Being a trophy to flaunt on his arm was far from what I wanted from life. And if he were paying attention, he would’ve known better than to propose in public and embarrass himself.

I opened my mouth to remind her I didn’t want to discuss it but, like always, she ignored me and kept talking.