AllFreeNovel
Share Us
* * *
The wedding will takeplace on the lakeshore right at sunset.
We kept the guest list as small as possible—just the people who love us most.
I dress in the small bridal suite close to where we’ll eat after the ceremony, the tables bearing garlands of fresh ranunculus and olive leaves, covered over by canopies of gauzy white muslin that float in the breeze off the lake.
My mom finds a minute wrinkle on the skirt of my dress and takes it into the back room to steam.
Sloane pokes her head in while I’m sitting at the vanity in my crinoline and bra.
“Come in, come in!” I call to her.
“I don’t want to interrupt you—”
“You’re not!”
She joins me at the vanity, sinking down on a ruffled pink pouf that could not be more incongruous to Sloane’s style.
Her dress is sleek and simple, her dark hair parted on the side and pinned with a bronze clip. The green of her dress pulls out the same color in her hazel eyes.
She takes my hand and squeezes it, smiling at me. Her fingers are strong like my mom’s—both capable women who work with their hands.
“I brought you something,” she says. “Not for today, just for you to have.”
She holds out a little box to me, the velvet patchy and worn.
I open it up.
Nestled inside is a pair of garnet earrings, as rich and dark as pomegranate.
I lift one of the earrings. It dangles from my fingers like a teardrop, heavy and glimmering.
“They’re so beautiful …” I breathe.
“They belonged to Dom and Ivan’s great-grandmother. Ivan gave them to me a long time ago. I thought you should have them now.”
Sloane and I have grown closer over the last two years. She’s visited us several times in Moscow. When Adrik and I go to Cannon Beach, we play Halo on teams—me and Sloane against Adrik and Zima.
Still, this is far beyond anything I would have expected.
I don’t quite have the nerve to hug her. All I can say is, “Thank you. I’ll treasure them.”
Sloane looks at me in the way she has, as if she can see right inside me.
“You impress me,” she says.
I let out a nervous laugh. “Never thought I’d hear you say that.”
Sloane smiles too. “You figured your shit out faster than I did. I was in my thirties when I met Ivan. You’re so young, you have your whole life ahead of you. Just remember, you need Adrik—and he needs you. Whenever I feel the impulse to be alone, I remind myself to draw back to Ivan. I’m always happier when we’re in sync. Stay connected—you’re both stronger together.”
“I’ll try,” I say. “I’ll really try.”
She presses my hand before letting go.
“Thank you, Sloane,” I say, again.
Her smile has a little more mischief in it now. “When you get back from your honeymoon, we should play Halo head-to-head. I just hit Diamond rank.”
