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She laughs and stands next to me. “You always were funny.”
“I was?” I turn to her.
“Yes.”
That’s one good quality, I guess.
“Now.” She heads over to the bed, picks up the veil, and positions it on my head before I have an opportunity to object.
I look at my reflection in the mirror and feel something oddly familiar about this situation. Like every other memory that’s come back, it flickers to life and I’m right there, reliving the moment.
“You’re gorgeous,” Marla said, pinning my veil in place. “Isn’t she, girls?”
I was staring at my reflection when Nikki came to my side, smiling. “You are. Adam’s going to die. Let’s hope you make it to the reception.”
“Nikki,” Marla scolded.
“They’re gonna be married, Mom. You can’t be that naive.” Nikki sat on the bed, putting on her heels.
The bridesmaids’ dresses were a bluish-green, but every girl wore a different style. Mandi didn’t want hers as revealing as Nikki’s, and Hank hadn’t been happy with Chevelle’s first choice, insisting the slit was too high.
I watched them all stand there behind me, looking at me, and I was so happy they were going to be my family. My parents had refused to come back from Idaho and said I shouldn’t be marrying into the Greene family. They were people who took from others.
I’d grown up in Sunrise Bay, so I knew that when Hank and Marla got together, it wasn’t brushed under the rug. Marla was Hank’s cousin’s ex-wife. She’d returned to town after Jeff Greene cheated on her, and she and Hank rekindled a relationship they’d had when they were in their senior year of high school. Marla had told me it happened fast, and that she quickly knew Hank was the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. She’d told me that story when I came to her crying that my family wouldn’t agree to me getting married. They thought I was too young and didn’t know what I wanted.
Happiness radiated from me that Adam was my future. I turned away from the mirror and allowed everyone to ahh over my dress.
Hank knocked on the door and stood outside the room in a tuxedo. “Ready, ladies?”
“We’re ready,” Marla said, looking back at me to make sure.
I nodded.
“Good. The boys will meet us there.”
Tires squealed out of their driveway—the groomsmen, who consisted of all the Greene men, along with Toby.
“Fucking Toby. We’ll be lucky if Adam gets there alive.” Cora rolled her eyes.
“They’ll be fine,” Marla assured me.
We all went down the stairs, through the Greenes’ big house, and out to the cars thatwould take us to the spot where we were to get married. Adam and I had toyed with the idea of eloping somewhere,but I’d wanted everyone to witness me marrying the love of my life. So Adam had found the perfect spot since he’d been working at the park ranger office.
“Not too far in that your dress will get dirty, but far enough that we won’t have spectators,” he’d said.
I sat in the back of a rented limo with Marla and Hank and Cora. The rest of the bridesmaids were in another car. Cora smiled at me.
Marla took my hand. “Hank and I would like to give you one last thing you need before you get married. Something old.”
“Oh.” I hadn’t been worried about that superstition, but it seemed important to Marla.
“Adam’s mom received quite the jewelry collection when her mom passed. The collection has been passed down for generations. Chevelle’s already picked out what she wants, and each of the boys picked out the items they’d like to give their significant others once they marry,” Hank said.
“Really?” Adam hadn’t said anything. It must’ve hurt him to go through things his mother loved.
“Well, we didn’t expect to be at that stage yet, but here we are. Fate is fate.” Hank smiled and pulled a small box out of his pocket. He cleared his throat. “Adam would like you to wear this on the way down the aisle.”
Hank opened the box, revealing a sapphire stone surrounded by diamonds nestledinside.
