Page 43

The opening chorus of Maroon 5’s She Will Be Loved echoes through the car.

Our eyes lock, both of us staring at each other like we can’t possibly believe the universe just pulled that card on us. A second passes, and then the sheer absurdity of it breaks me. I explode into laughter. Drew cracks a massive, boyish grin, his own laughter joining mine as he keeps his eyes on the road.

The anxiety of the missing rings evaporates for a moment. I raise my hands above my head into the open sky, letting the wind whip through my fingers, and scream the lyrics alongside the stereo, breathless and alive for the first time in a long time. Drew looks over at me with a beaming smile.

“Are you absolutely sure you haven't seen a little black velvet box with two wedding rings in it?” I ask the barista, breathlessly. “No one turned them in at the register or left them at a table?”

The barista offers a sympathetic look. “I’m really sorry,” she says, shaking her head. “I do remember him coming in this morning, but there were definitely no rings turned in or found after he left.”

I let out a heavy, defeated sigh. “Okay. Thank you anyway.”

“Thank you for checking,” Drew adds quietly, placing a supportive hand on the small of my back as we turn around to leave the coffee shop.

We drive back to the estate in absolute silence, both of us feeling like we’ve failed Cooper. We pull back into the valet and walk toward the courtyard, collapsing into a couple of the wooden ceremony chairs. Drew bends forward, burying his face in his hands in defeat.

“What the hell are we going to do?” he whispers into his palms.

Right before I surrender to a nervous breakdown, something catches my attention across the lawn. Ivy’s five-year-old niece, Emma, is giggling and spinning around in the grass right before us. As she twists, a brilliant glint of metal on her tiny finger catches the midday sunlight.

“Holy shit,” I breathe, my eyes widening.

I quickly stand and sprint straight across the grass toward the little girl.

“Hey, Emma!” I smile warmly, dropping down onto my knees right in front of her.

“Hi, Ms. Camille!” she beams, stopping her spinning.

“You look so pretty today, Emma. Hey, what do you have there on your finger?”

Her cheeks turn bright pink, and she hides her hands behind her back. “I was just keeping it safe!” she says nervously.

“And you’ve done such a wonderful job,” I soothe, keeping my voice gentle and encouraging. “Do you mind if I keep them safe for the rest of the night so they don't get lost?”

“Okay!” she smiles. She slides the shimmering gold band off her thumb and reaches into her mini sequined purse, pulling out the matching small black velvet box.

“Thank you, Emma!” I beam, taking the treasures from her tiny hands.

I turn back toward the ceremony chairs, finding Drew watching me intently from a distance, his brow still furrowed in worry. I lift my hand, flashing the small box in the air. A visible weight drops off his shoulders.

“You are freaking amazing!” he yells, sprinting across the grass to meet me. Before I can even reply, he catches me by the waist, pulls me tight into his arms, and lifts me off my feet, spinning me around in the center of the courtyard. I wrap my arms tightly around his neck, giggling down at him. When he finally stops, we stay like that for a lingering moment, just staring into each other’s eyes. We forget, for a second, that we’re standing dead center in an open courtyard for anyone to see.

A slow, tender moment passes between us before he gently sets my feet back down on the ground. Instead of letting go, his hand slides down my arm, lacing his fingers into mine.

We turn in unison to head toward the main entrance of the suites, the victory high still buzzing in our veins, when we suddenly freeze.

Standing just a few yards away are my mom, Jen, and Ivy. All three of them standing side by side, watching us with giant, knowing grins plastered across their faces.

Drew swipes his keycard against the reader, and the lock clicks open as we both go tumbling into our suite, still caught in a fit of breathless laughter. This is easily the most effortless day we’ve shared all week, with no heavy tension between us. For a few hours, we fell back into our old, familiar patterns. It was fun and easy.

I wander over to my bed, letting out a long exhale as I fall straight back onto the mattress. We have a few hours to kill until rehearsals. Drew walks over, trailing the short distance between our beds, and takes a seat on the edge of his mattress directly across from mine.

“Besides all the absolute chaos of hunting down those rings, today was really fun.” I chuckle, staring up at the ceiling.

He laughs softly with me. “We make a good team, Cam.”

A fragile silence falls between us. My laughter fades, and the smile on my lips grows smaller, replaced by a deep ache in my chest. “Yeah,” I whisper, meeting his gaze. “We do.”

Drew leans forward across the narrow gap separating our beds, his movements slow, deliberate, and entirely focused on me. He extends his hand, softly tracing his fingertips along the edge of my knee.