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Not that Brady even heard her. He had his wife in his arms and was kissing the stuffing out of my sister.
“May I introduce Mr. and Mrs. McNeill,” Luna added with a laugh.
After a raucous round of applause, I was being hugged by everyone. My parents came forward, along with Mav and Brady’s, and then all of us bridesmaids crushed into a puddle of hugging and crying.
Eventually, I found myself getting passed to the guys in the wedding party. First, to the too pretty to be real Adam and the adorably beefy Austin, who teased me about running into the gas station that night. I let him have his amusement, now that I knew that night had led to our whole lives changing.
I still couldn’t quite believe it.
Even the Chief gave me a quick hug. Finally, I ended up in front of Mav. He lifted me off my feet, and I grabbed onto his shoulders. He kissed me under the tree adorned with all of his thoughtful gifts.
And I let him, because there was really nothing else I wanted in this world right at that moment.
He put me down just before we were dragged over to the tents in the surge of people. Our hands stayed locked as long as possible.
Half of Crescent Cove had to be in attendance. Between the police force and the firefighters and the EMTs, it was a wonder anyone was actually on duty.
But of course I knew who one of them was. Christian was definitely not into having any of the wedding emotions sprinkled on him. I was sure he was finding someone on Lover’s Lane to bother.
And for once, it wasn’t going to be me.
Liz McNeill lifted her voice and instructed everyone to take a seat in the tent. A seating chart had been a ridiculous undertaking, so the place was a free for all.
Half the men got waylaid at the bar. We’d gone the easy route with beer, wine, and spirits from a local winery, as well as cider from the nearby Happy Acres.
The twinge in my back increased. I tried to find my sister in the crush of guests, but she was still surrounded. I caught a glimpse of her radiant face and forced myself to relax.
Today was only meant for happiness.
I tried to push down my own nerves about early pregnancy problems. I’d just found out, for God’s sake. I was fine. My hand went automatically to my middle. The baby was fine.
Everythingwas fine.
I was passed around for another round with the bridesmaids as the wine started flowing. Luckily, the wedding had been built around an alcohol-free bride, and I was able to avoid the bubbly without being obvious about it.
Just as I managed to loosen up, another blast of pain radiated down my back. A familiar hand gripped my hip.
“Hey, are you okay?”
I clutched Mav’s arm. “Where’s my sister?”
His eyebrows snapped down over his midnight eyes. “They’re just about to do the first dance.”
I twisted around. “Where?”
“There, near the cake table.”
I whipped around to see my sister swaying with Brady as they talked quietly.
Beside them, the three-tiered cake was almost as wide as Tabitha. The fat, nearly over-bloomed roses were echoed in the frosting along with a waterfall of strawberries along the bottom layer next to a pair of dog statues that looked as if they were taking a chomp out of the cake.
As cute as it was, I couldn’t shake the knee-shaking fear. They were okay. Was it me?
Terror clutched my throat. Mav noticed and grabbed a water off one of the tables. “What’s wrong?”
I shook my head.
“Vanessa? Is something wrong?” he asked me more directly, a hint of his cop voice slipping through.
