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Charli chuckled. “Yeah. I think Layla is almost as excited as Kayleigh.”
“Are you Miss H’s sister, too?” Amelia asked, peering up at Skylar.
“Yes,” Charli said. “This is my youngest sister, Skylar. Skylar, this is Jackson’s cousin, Blake, and his daughter, Amelia. Amelia is in my class at school.”
Skylar smiled at Amelia. “Is she a good teacher?”
Amelia didn’t even hesitate before saying, “She’s the best. I love her.”
Charli’s heart warmed at Amelia’s words. “I love you too.”
And that wasn’t a lie. She loved all her students, but maybe Amelia had become just a bit more special to her.
“Your dress is beautiful,” Skylar told her. “Do you like getting all dressed up?”
“I do. Aunt Julia helped me pick out my dress, and then she came over to do my hair. Dad only knows how to do ponytails, so we needed help.”
Glancing up, Charli found Blake watching her, an affectionate look on his face. Her heart fluttered in a way that might have been alarming had she not known the reason for it. She didn’t like that Blake could make that happen with just a look.
“We should probably find seats,” Skylar said.
“Can we join you?” Blake asked.
“Sure,” Skylar answered before Charli could say anything. Not that she would have said no.
The four of them passed the wedding planner, who was directing everything. She smiled and nodded at them, not looking as stressed out as Charli would have been had she been in charge.
For all the formality of the wedding outfits, the process of finding seats was surprisingly casual. Skylar and Amelia led the way down the aisle, which meant Charli ended up walking with Blake. Even without trying to, her siblings continued to conspire against her.
“Are you sure it’s okay if we sit with you?” Blake asked, keeping his voice low. “I won’t be offended if you say no.”
Charli glanced over and gave him a quick smile. “It’s fine.”
Her brothers had already found seats, and there was room in their row for them. Skylar went in first, followed by Charli. She expected Amelia to sit next to her, but after a brief quiet discussion between father and daughter, Blake came into the row first and settled on the seat next to Charli.
“She wants to sit on the aisle so she can see Ciara, Layla, and Peyton,” he said with a laugh.
“Not Kayleigh?” Charli asked.
“Nope.”
“Poor Kayleigh. Upstaged by her nieces and nephew.”
The string quartet on the stage began to play a classical piece of music, and the pews behind them filled. The sanctuary wouldn’t be packed, but it also wouldn’t look empty in photos, what with most people sitting toward the front.
“The décor is amazing,” Blake commented. His voice was low, but Charli was near enough to hear his words.
She leaned a little closer as she said, “Hudson’s stepmom insisted on paying for all of it. Kayleigh told her the colors she wanted, and Candace took care of everything.”
“Whoever she hired did a great job,” Blake said. “Really represents the season.”
Charli had always assumed that if she got married, she’d want a spring or summer wedding. But now, seeing how beautiful the colors were for Kayleigh’s autumn wedding, she was reconsidering. And she thought that maybe a winter wedding might not be so bad either.
Although, a wedding was the last thing she should be thinking about. She didn’t even have a boyfriend, so dwelling on what she wanted for a wedding was a waste of time.
In the months following Blake’s disappearance, she’d still imagined a wedding in her future. However, as time had passed, and she went on dates that led nowhere, she’d let the dream die.
Unfortunately, the rash of weddings over the past few years had brought to mind how much she’d once longed for one of her own. Now, the sisters who’d never dreamed much about their future weddings the way Charli had were either married or going to be married.
