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Viv sniffed backthe emotion that was welling up inside of her as she watched her sister stand in front of the full-length mirror in her wedding dress. Audrey had opted for a simple A-line dress. She wasn’t wearing a veil, she just had flowers in her hair.
“You look so fucking beautiful.”
Audrey met Viv’s eyes in the reflection. “Thanks.”
“Let’s do your final touchups.” The makeup artist moved her in front of a window and put a cape over her shoulders.
Grace, who was still on her phone, walked over to Viv. Her sister had been on that thing all day. She wasn’t sure what was so important that she kept checking it. Especially since she was basically the maid of honor. Technically, Audrey wasn’t having any maids of honor, but she’d asked Grace to walk her down the aisle. When Viv first found out that Audrey had asked Grace to do the honors, she had to admit she’d been a little jealous. But now that the day was here, she knew Audrey had made the right decision.
Grace had had to be both mother and father to her sisters and she deserved respect and recognition for all she’d sacrificed.
As Viv looked back over at Audrey she wondered if she or Grace would be the next Wells sister to walk down the aisle. Not that Glenn had asked her to marry him. Yet. But when he talked, he talked like they were going to be together forever.
They hadn’t even been officially boyfriend and girlfriend that long, but it could not have been going better. Glenn and Bree had even moved into the big house a week ago. The day before they moved in Viv took Bree shopping for bedding for her room. Bree selected a simple black and white polka dot comforter and pink pillows. The room looked more like a teenager’s room than a six-year-old’s but that was Bree.
The shopping trip was their first solo trip out. Viv took her after her ballet class and then they’d gone and gotten ice cream after. It had been one of the best days of Viv’s life. She loved that little girl and from what Viv could tell, the feeling was mutual.
Grace put her phone down and Viv glanced over and asked, “So, have you and Easton talked about a date?”
Grace shrugged. “I think we’re just going to elope.”
Yep, she knew it. Her sister had been seriously commitment phobic before Easton and, unlike their mother, had never been a huge romantic.
“Grace.” Viv took a deep breath and said something that had been a long time coming. “I’m sorry.”
Her sister looked over at her with confusion clouding her perfectly symmetrical face. “For what? You’re not the reason I don’t want a wedding.”
Viv chuckled. “No, I’m not sorry you’re eloping. I’m sorry for everything I put you through when I was a teenager. And a pre-teen. And into my early twenties.”
Grace stared at her blankly for a moment. “You don’t have to apologize. You didn’t do anything to me. You were just…growing up.”
“Yeah, but you never got the chance to do that, and I’m sorry. You found out Mom was sick years before we did and you carried that burden alone.”
“How did you know that?” Grace asked.
Shit.She’d never told her sister she knew that their mom had told Grace that she was sick years before she’d told the rest of them. “I sort of, maybe, read your journal after Mom died.”
Grace closed her eyes and shook her head.
“I just wanted to know if you knew anything about Dad. You didn’t. Or at least you didn’t write it down. But the point is, I saw how much pressure you were under and you were younger than Blake.”
Both women looked over to where Ava and Blake were standing with Audrey as she got her makeup touched up. Seeing the visual of the age Grace had been when she’d had all that responsibility and burden overwhelmed her.
“You graduated high school early and got a job for us because you were scared Mom was going to die before you were eighteen and you thought that the courts might give you custody if you had your diploma and a job.”
Grace shrugged. “I just did what I had to do.”
“No.” Viv shook her head. “You didn’t. You did so much more than you had to do. That’s what makes you so fucking amazing. And I should have made your life easier, not harder. I love you, Grace. I wouldn’t, none of us would be where we are, who we are, without you. You saved us.” Viv felt the tears forming in her eyes and she grabbed a tissue to blot them out. Since she wasn’t the bride, she wasn’t going to get touchups and she didn’t want to mess up her look.
Grace’s phone dinged and she looked down and started typing.
Viv understood that her oldest sister wasn’t the most touchy-feely person but they’d just had a moment and she was typing on her phone. “Who the fuck are you texting?”
“Dad. He’s here.”
“What?!” Viv’s eyes widened.
