“I haven’t seen my mom yet,” Misty said.
“My momma has her,” Link said. “She’s okay, and she’s at our table anyway.” He didn’t seem nervous on the outside, but the way he gripped her fingers and strode like he was fleeing a zombie apocalypse told her otherwise.
Someone started to clap as they neared the front, and Misty’s face burned. She wasn’t used to being scrutinized, and she told herself over and over that wasn’t what the Glovers were doing. They werecelebratingher and Link, and that was totally different than having eyes on her for a negative reason.
Janey had already found her seat at the front table, and Misty found two spots between her and her bestfriend. One had been labeled with Danny’s name and the other her mother’s, and Link stood behind her chair, that look of adoration on his face that Misty loved.
Because it meant he loved her.
“Do they need to look again, my love?” he whispered as he drew her closer. “Turn away from everyone, okay?”
Misty did, pressing her cheek to the lapel of his jacket. He wore black from head to toe, with a light purple shirt, and her fingers found the end of his silk tie and fiddled with it while she took in a breath.
“It’s just us,” Link said in her ear. “They love us; they’re not thinking anything of us.”
“Other than I’m a mess,” Misty muttered.
“A beautiful mess,” Link said. “Come on, now, sweetheart. This is something special for two special people.”
Him and her.
Misty took in as much air as her lungs would hold, she held it there, and then slowly let it leak away. The tension in her shoulders melted away, and Misty put a smile on her face. “Okay,” she said. “I’m ready to have them look again.”
“Okay,” Link said. “And you look at them too, Misty, okay? You look at them.” He stepped back and pulled her chair out for her.
Misty looked down at it, then turned and lifted her eyes to the crowd. All of them had started to take their seats too, and Misty copied them. Link sat next to her,moved his chair closer, and draped his arm around her. “See them?”
She gazed out into the vastness of the barn. Tables had been set up, with matching chairs. But it didn’t matter if the chairs matched, because Sammy and her army of sisters-in-law had put lavender covers over the backs of the chairs and tied them with white ribbons.
Tall vases of flowers went straight up from the middle of each table, the blooms spilling overhead without blocking the view of the guests sitting across from one another.
The table closest to them had Etta and August corralling their children into their seats while Bear came forward to sit at the front table with her, Link, and a few other significant others in the wedding party.
Misty had Ralf, Janey, Danny, and her mom. Link had his parents and his grandmother—who had helped Misty and Sammy plan a lot of the wedding.
She caught sight of her mom and Sammy, and they both wore a smile. So things couldn’t be too bad, right? Misty’s pulse skipped over itself, but she forced herself to stay in her seat as Danny and Ralf came to take their seats too.
Link’s grandmother leaned over him and gave him a hug and kiss, and he murmured, “Love you, Grandmother,” before Lois moved to Misty.
“Thank you so much for this,” Misty said to Lois as she hugged her too.
Lois beamed at her with all the love Misty could imagine from a grandmother. Her heart warmed at the look on Lois’s face, and she struggled to believe she was worthy of so much attention, so much adoration, so much goodness from the Glovers.
“I’m so thrilled for you and Link,” she said, her voice shaking. She moved to sit at the end of the table with her husband, and finally, Sammy arrived with her mom.
“Mom.” Misty stood up and embraced her mother. She clung to her tightly, noticing the scratchiness of her mom’s dress. She seized onto that so her emotions wouldn’t spiral out of control.
She pulled back and smiled at her mother. “I love your dress, Mom.” She was working on forgiving her mother for all of the things that had happened over the years. But that didn’t happen overnight, and Misty needed more time and experiences with her mom to replace the images and opinions she’d lived with for so long.
Every minute created a new version of the relationship Misty had with her mom, and she’d been praying for weeks and weeks that tonight and tomorrow would go off without a hitch. That her and her mom would have a chance to build new and different bonds with one another.
“Thanks,” Loretta said, but she said nothing of Misty’s purple dress. She swallowed back the bitterness suddenly on her tongue and turned toward Sammy.
The woman pulled her straight into a hug. “How beautiful are you?” she asked. “This dress isperfectfor you.” She smiled and smiled at Misty. “You and Link will take fifteen minutes with the photographer after dinner, won’t you?”
She glanced over to Link. “With your shirt and tie matching Misty’s dress so perfectly, you have to.”
“We will, Momma,” Link said, looking up to her. “Can you sit down, please? Uncle Bishop has steam rising from his head, and we’re five minutes late.”