“Ah, you really are the best, Nora.” He laughed, relief written all over his face. “And I’ll make sure to give Ky a heads-up so he won’t think I’ve been going behind his back to see his sister.”
“Oh, I don’t know…” I smirked. “It might be fun to let him believe it. Just to mess with his head a little.”
Miles shook his head, amused. “If that’s what you want.”
“Might as well have a little fun, right?”
“In that case…” He glanced over his shoulder, checking who was within earshot. “Maybe we should start laying the groundwork tonight.” He shifted closer, letting his arm rest casually along the back of my seat, making my stomach flip. “Get in some practice so it looks believable.”
So, I slipped a smile onto my lips as I leaned in closer and said, “Fine by me.”
8
THEO
I pulledinto Romeo and Lia’s neighborhood a little after seven fifty with Charlotte chattering nonstop from the backseat. We were late, partly because of me and partly because Charlotte decided she needed to find “the perfect outfit for the party.”
“Sorry we’re tardy,” I told Lia as we stepped through the side gate into the backyard. “Someone had an important fashion crisis.”
Charlotte twirled beside me, proudly displaying the final result. Pink tank top. Fluffy light-pink skirt. Heart-shaped sunglasses. Plastic princess heels that clicked dramatically with every step. A pearl necklace. Her American Girl doll in a special carrier backpack. And a tiny purse was slung over one arm like she was heading to brunch with the ladies.
Alisha would have had mixed feelings about this look. She’d loved dressing Charlotte in outfits that were more polished. The kind that photographed beautifully and stayed neatly in place.
But I didn’t have the heart to rein my little girl in. Charlottewould only be little once. And if she wanted to show up to a backyard garden party dressed like a miniature celebrity headed down a red carpet, who was I to stop her?
“Well, don’t you look darling,” Lia said in her soft Italian-accented voice as she crouched to Charlotte’s level. “Quite the fashionista.”
“Thank you,” Charlotte replied, flipping one pigtail over her shoulder with all the seriousness of someone who knew she looked good.
“She’s got style.” Lia laughed, glancing up at me with a grin that said she understood exactly what it was like to be outranked by tiny humans with very strong opinions. “And confidence. Dangerous combination.”
“Definitely,” I said dryly, though I couldn’t stop smiling.
“Hey,” Lia said, looking back to Charlotte and nodding toward the yard. “Bria and Camilla are on the swing set with Dante, if you want to go join them.”
“Otay!” Charlotte said, taking off across the grass before I could even remind her to stay where I could see her, pink skirt bouncing, plastic heels abandoned halfway to the swing set as she opted for speed over fashion.
I watched Charlotte for a moment to make sure she’d settled in, then followed Lia over to the patio where a small group of our friends were gathered. As soon as we reached them, Lia slipped her hand into her husband Romeo’s, and he closed his fingers around hers like it was the most natural thing in the world.
“Are you all ready for the wedding?” Lucy asked Maddie, who stood in the small circle beside her fiancé.
“I think so.” Maddie smiled, her brilliant blue eyes lighting up as she looped her arm through Ian’s. “Thankfully, Ian’s mom has become a pro at this wedding thing after getting all three of his siblings married off in the last two years. I just have my hair andmakeup trial this week. If that goes well, we should be all set.”
“That’s so exciting,” Lucy said. “Just under two weeks and you’ll be married.”
“I know. I keep pinching myself.” Maddie laughed softly. “Before I met Ian, I honestly didn’t think it would ever happen for me.”
“You just had to find the right guy,” Lucy said, leaning in closer to her own boyfriend.
Maddie had come to Eden Falls last summer as a single mom. She was “girl next door” beautiful, and for a brief moment, I’d actually considered asking her out myself. But I was just barely dipping my toes back into the dating game, and timing had never been my strong suit.
And then, she and Ian had started dating, fitting together in a way that made it obvious I’d never really been a contender.
They made sense. All of them did.
Romeo and Lia, Lucy and Owen, Ian and Maddie. Hands linked. Bodies angled toward each other. Easy affection woven into every small movement.
Then there was me, standing just outside the circle, hands in my pockets because the woman I used to hold onto at these types of events had left this earth much earlier than I’d ever anticipated when we’d shared our wedding vows. Leaving me and Charlotte behind to figure out how to live life without her.