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“My bet is that they leave right after the speeches tomorrow night.”
“Please!” Lana Mae exclaims. “I give them ‘til after the ceremony.”
“You’re on.” I stick my hand out and we shake. And though we’re both smiling, making light of it all, there’s a sadness below the surface. For the person who’s missing today, the person who’d be loving every minute of this. The sting of my mother’s absence is particularly pronounced at big events like these.
“Should we get our seats before we have to encounter Dad again?” Lana Mae mumbles.
“Definitely.” I nod, look down at Legs. “Wanna save seats for us? Annie too?”
“Yup!” Legs takes off for the dining room with Lana Mae in tow.
My gaze then zeroes in on the hazel eyes of my beautiful date.
She’s finished her conversation with the curly-haired lady, and is making her way towards me with purpose. Her dress, coffee-colored, silky and gorgeous, moves fluidly over her curves as she walks.
“Wow,” I breathe. “You look…”
“Like I might’ve broken my ankle on those stairs?” she finishes. “Yup.”
I chuckle, already happier now that she’s in my proximity. “I was going to say stunning.”
She gives me a cheeky smirk. “That works, too.”
“What was so terrifying on your phone that you almost faceplanted on the staircase?” I ask with a laugh.
Her face freezes for a split second. Then, she licks her lower lip before saying, “Maybe not the best time to talk about it.”
My brow furrows. “Is everything okay?”
“Oh, yeah. All good.”
I monitor her face, but she looks back at me placidly. Whatever it is, I know she’ll tell me when she’s ready. “Okay. Just as long as you’re okay.”
“I… it will be,” she says with a bright smile.
I nod just as my eyes fall on an interaction across the room. My shoulders tense automatically. “In other news, I have something terrifying of my own to tell you: my dad and his wife have arrived.”
She gives my arm a squeeze, then puffs out her chest and straightens her spine like she’s preparing for battle. “Nothing I can’t handle.”
I stop in my tracks, spin her to face me. My hands slide over her shoulders and onto her back, slipping over the silky fabric of her dress. “Before we go in, I just want to thank you.”
“For what?”
“For being here. You have no idea how much it means to me to have you here this weekend.”
“Liam,” her voice is soft and crackly, like bonfire kindling. “All I want is what’s best for you. Always.”
“I thinkyoumight be what’s best for me,” I reply, drawing her closer still.
That frozen look rushes back onto her face, but she blinks it away in a heartbeat.
“I hope so,” she says seriously.
I know so.
I release her from my grasp and hold my hand out to her. She takes it, her fingers sliding through mine like we’ve held hands a thousand times.
“Let’s do this thing.”
