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“Will you be back for Thanksgiving?”
Skylar hesitated for a moment before she said, “Probably. We’ll have to see how it’s going.”
“Is everything okay?” Charli asked, feeling like something had happened. Unfortunately, with her there for just a short time, they hadn’t had time to chat.
Skylar stared over to where their parents were talking with Cole and Gareth. “Yeah. Everything is fine.”
Charli wasn’t convinced. “You know you can talk to me if you ever need to. Just because you’re not here doesn’t mean you can’t call me.”
Looking back at Charli, Skylar gave her a smile. “I know.”
“Don’t just know… do.”
“I will.”
Charli hoped Skylar was just dealing with the adjustments of being away from home for college. Though she wanted to press her sister, a wedding reception was hardly the place to hold that conversation. Of course, it hadn’t exactly been the place to hold the conversation with Blake, either.
She’d give Skylar a call in a week or two, just to check up on her. Sometimes a struggling person wouldn’t make the call to chat but would talk if someone else called them. Charli hoped that would be the case with Skylar.
Finally, Gareth announced that the bridal couple would be leaving. The guests stood and clapped as Kayleigh and Hudson walked out of the ballroom together, waving as they left.
Charli knew they planned to spend the night in one of the cabins at the resort, then they were flying off the next day for their two-week honeymoon somewhere warm.
Once Kayleigh and Hudson had disappeared, the guests gradually left as well. One big difference between this wedding and the other Halverson weddings was that they weren’t required to do any clean-up now that the wedding was over.
The same people who had set everything up were taking care of clearing it all away. Though Charli had happily helped her other siblings where needed at their weddings, she did enjoy the fact that they could just put their coats on and leave without feeling like they should stay to help.
As they walked out to their cars, Blake fell into step beside her, while the girls and Peyton skipped ahead of them. Jay and Misha walked along with them, while the rest of the family were straggling out of the hotel behind them, heading toward the parking lot.
Cole, Lee, Zane, Wilder, and Skylar were spending the night at the family home, and all of them would be leaving the next day. She wasn’t sure if any of them would make it to church before they left. Christmas was about the only time they all went to church together anymore.
Charli gave each of them a hug, holding Skylar tightly for a bit longer. “Call me.”
“I will.”
“You’d better.” Charli gave her another quick squeeze, then headed to her car where Blake stood with the girls.
“We’ll see them at church tomorrow,” Charli said when Layla asked to go for ice cream, since she didn’t want the evening to end. “So you can hang out then. It’s been a long day, and it’s late.”
Layla sighed as she gave Amelia a hug, then climbed into the back seat of Charli’s car.
Charli turned to Blake, a bit uncertain of what to say. There was suddenly a lot she wanted to tell him, but it wasn’t the right time or place to say even a portion of it.
“I had a great time today,” Blake said. “And I never imagined I’d say that about a wedding, but there you go.”
“It was a good day,” Charli agreed. “But I have a feeling a lot of us are going to crash tomorrow. Layla’s excitement had her—and therefore me—up really early.”
“I’m sure. Amelia is already up later than her bedtime, so who knows what tomorrow will be like. She’ll probably need a nap.”
“She won’t be the only one, I’m sure.”
Charli was more reluctant than she’d thought she’d be to leave Blake. But when Layla opened her car door to ask how much longer until they left, she finally said good night.
Layla was clearly tired because she hardly said a word during the trip back to the house. That was fine with Charli, as her thoughts were caught up in the wedding and the time she’d spent with Blake.
She wasn’t sure if she’d made the right decision in agreeing to pursue a relationship with him. And even though she knew it had been manipulated, her catching the bouquet and Blake the garter had uncovered a little bit of hope that she hadn’t realized still existed in her heart.
So she’d set out on a path that was shrouded in uncertainty. And anticipation warred with worry and the fear that she’d made the wrong decision. The last time they’d been in the early stages of a relationship, all she’d experienced was the excitement and anticipation.
