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He nodded as the excitement he’d tried to keep contained all day bubbled to the surface. “Dr. Ford called this morning to officially offer it to me. He said the board didn’t hesitate with their decision and I can pick up my doctoral studies right where I left off. The job’s mine if I want it.”
“That’s fabulous!” She threw her arms around his neck. Her touch was like the cherry on top of an excellent day. It filtered through him, intensifying his already jubilant emotions.
He wrapped his arms around her waist and, picking her up, spun her around. Her flowy dress flared around them as they twirled, and the only thing Grant could think was how right she felt in his arms. How right it felt to be here, with her.
He set her on the ground, trying to refocus on the conversation at hand.
“Did you accept? Have you told your sister yet? When do you start? What did Mateo say?” She peppered him with a round of questions, hardly taking a breath in between.
Grant held up his hands to slow her down, although her enthusiasm was contagious. “Slow down, Speed Racer. One question at a time.”
She drew in a deep breath, making a display of calming herself, but her smile still stretched from ear to ear. “Okay, one question at a time, starting with, what happens now?”
Grant glanced at the entrance of the boutique hotel. “Right now, we have a few other non-job-related things going on.”
“Oh, right. How’re the wedding day festivities going?”
“I’m about to walk my baby sister down the aisle to marry some man. I gotta say, I’m a little more emotional than I thought I’d be.”
“Not some man.” Molly linked her arm through his and started walking toward the entrance. “Lance is a great guy and they both seem very happy. But I get the emotion.”
He knew she’d get it. She got him. And now that he had her support to lean on, the underlying sadness he’d managed to keep tucked behind all of the other intense emotions floated to the surface. He stopped in front of the doors and stared at them. “I keep thinking I wish my parents were here to see this. My mom would’ve loved it.” Tears stung his eyes.
“I bet.”
She pulled closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder. They stood there, just outside the doors, in a comfortable silence for several moments as the surging emotions played through him. Once again, he kept coming back to the fact that out of all the people here, out of all the people in his life, Molly was the first person, the main person, he wanted by his side to walk through this today.
Finally, he drew in a cleansing breath and wiped his eyes. “To be clear, those will likely not be the last tears I shed today.”
“Lucky for you, I packed extra tissues in my clutch.” Molly gave him a squeeze.
Like he said, she got him.
His confidence returning, he opened the hotel door. “You want to come say hi to Claire before the ceremony?”
“I’d love to.”
With her hand still tucked in the crook of his arm, he took the final step over the threshold and into the place where his sister would be married. They walked through the hotel to the guest room Claire was using to get ready. He knocked on the door then used his keycard to open it.
Claire, dressed in her wedding gown, stood in front of the full-length mirror on the opposite side of the room. Even though he’d seen her multiple times today, it was still a surreal experience to look at his baby sister dressed in a wedding gown. She was the one he’d given piggyback rides to. The one who couldn’t say “spaghetti” right. The one he’d have to help find Mr. Panda so she could go to sleep. When had she turned into this beautiful, amazing adult? He had to blink back the fresh wave of emotion that stung his eyes.
“Look who I found lurking around the parking lot.”
Claire’s face lit up when she saw Molly’s reflection in the mirror. “Molly!”
Molly let go of him and crossed the room to his sister and hugged her. “You are radiant,” she gushed. She stepped out of the hug and admired the dress. Claire spun to show it off. “You’re right. I can’t even tell where the seams were. The seamstress did a fantastic job. Did she sew all these beads on by hand?”
He watched as the two women discussed the dress and the shoes, the flowers in Claire’s hair, and giggled about wedding stuff. Other bridesmaids joined in the conversation until the room was full of happy chatter and laughter. And Molly was in the middle of it, as if she’d always belonged there.
As if she belonged here with him.
The wedding coordinator knocked on the door and stuck her head inside. “About ten minutes, and we’ll head down.”
“Oh, gosh. Already?” For the first time today, he saw a flicker of doubt flash across Claire’s face.
Molly must have seen it too, because she grabbed both of Claire’s hands and stared into her eyes. “You look amazing, everything is in place, and you’re ready for this. Time to say those ‘I dos.’”
Claire beamed. “You’re right. Regardless of what else happens today, at the end of the night I’ll be married to my best friend.”
