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The rest of the evening goes by without a hitch. Saoirse and Haley don’t mention Declan, and I wonder if they even know about us. Maybe inviting me here had just been a coincidence, and they really were just trying to bring me into the folds of their friendship.
We finish the evening with Vee and I stumbling out of the house and Finn driving my car back home for us. I’d drank way too much by accident, and was going to call us an Uber, but he insisted it was his job to get us home safely and didn’t mind.
Grateful not to have to come back for my car in the morning, so I didn’t argue. I planned for my mom to drop off two cakes to Saoirse’s house for testing, and still, she didn’t bring up Declan.
“She totally knows about Dec,” Vee says through a hiccup. “I mean the fact she brought up the cake thing and asked for you to just bring them to her. He told her.”
I shoot a longing glance out of the window, arms crossed over my stomach. “Nah. Maybe he just told her our schedules couldn’t sync up,” I defend.
Finn glances at us through the rearview mirror. “She totally knows. We all know.”
Vee shoots daggers at the back of his head.
“Know what?” I ask, narrowing my eyes. My chest ached, suddenly completely aware that I may not see him again aside from Saoirse’s wedding in two weeks.
“You broke his heart, you know?” Finn says, glaring at me through the mirror. “He can’t stand liars. And you lied.”
Finn brings the car to a halt. “We’re here,Mrs. Cullen.”
Thank fuck. I push on the door handle and hurry out of the car, suddenly feeling nauseous.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“Mom!”Emscreamsfromdownstairs. I let out a sigh, not ready to get out of bed. I’m hungover from last night, exhausted, hungry, sick. The list of reasons for my bed as the better option than whatever real-life responsibilities are endless.
Her footsteps sound from the hallway, then the door cracks open, letting in light. I shrivel beneath the covers like a vampire being forced to face the daylight.
“Mom.” She taps on the door. “Gram and Pop are here. She needs your help getting the cake to the hotel.”
I groan. God. Today is the day. How has it already been two weeks? I’ve been going through the motions. Getting the kids up and ready for day camp or whatever else they had going on this summer. Thank God for Vee. She’s been fielding all the work that needed to be done at the hotel so I could avoid Declan. She even handled the rehearsal last night.
But there’s no more avoiding today. No more pretending he doesn’t exist.I’m going to see him at the wedding in just a few hours.Em heads to Ian’s side of the bed and crawls in beside me. I turn over to curl her against me, my arm resting on her stomach.
“I miss him a lot today,” she whispers.
My eyes snap open, catching sight of the photo of him on the nightstand. He’s holding her when she’s just a small baby, only a few hours old and still in the hospital.
I press a kiss on her cheek. “I miss him a lot every day.”
“Do you think you’ll ever move on?”
My breath catches. I don’t respond, too focused on not breaking into a fit of tears in front of her.
“It’s healthy, Mom. It’s okay to find someone else to be happy with.”
“Yeah.” My voice cracks. “But I have you and Max.”
“And one day we will be adults with our own families. I don’t want you to be alone.”
I let out a slow exhale. Then I poke her in the side. “Are you giving me permission to date?” I ask, my tone light and joking.
She lets out a snort. “As long as you’re home by ten and refrain from public displays of affection.”
“Wow.” I let out a low laugh. “Tough crowd.”
She squeezes my hand. “I’m serious, Mom. Max said some dude was here a couple of weeks ago. Was he. . . your . . . boyfriend?”
“No,” I say, too fast. “He was here to grab the cakes.”
