Page 55 of Close to My Heart

I felt a little hot and cold at the same time, a shiver ran through my body, and I swayed on my feet.

Fiona grabbed my elbow and guided me to a chair. “Why don’t you sit down? I’ll get you some water.”

A few seconds later, Fiona thrust a glass of ice water into my hands, and I took a sip before pressing it against my forehead.

“Did everything hit you at once?” Fiona asked gently.

“You’ve all been so nice to me, and you almost never mention that this is just for show.”

Fiona frowned. “I don’t know. This feels real to me.”

Daphne held my bouquet. “You and Wes have a great relationship. Even if it’s just friendship, I guess a part of me hopes you two will fall in love.”

I smiled, but I wasn’t feeling it inside my body. “I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

Daphne smiled. “We can hope. We want our brother to be happy.”

“How can you be so sure that would include me in his life?” I asked them.

Fiona shrugged. “You’ve always made him happy.”

As friends though. Not as something more.

“It’s almost time. Are you ready, or do you need a few more minutes?” Daphne asked.

I drank a few sips of the cold water, careful not to ruin the makeup. “I’m okay now.”

The girls hugged me. Then there was a knock on the door.

Daphne opened the door so that no one could see me.

“Can you give this to Sutton?” It was a male voice, one of Wes’s brothers. Probably Jameson.

Daphne shut the door. “Jameson said to give this to you. Maybe it’s a present to go with your something borrowed, something blue…”

It was a velvet box, making me think of jewelry, but Wes shouldn’t be buying me anything. I opened it, sensing the girls hovering around me. It was a ring.

“What’s that?” Fiona asked.

“It’s just one of the cheap rings you get from the gumball machine.” My voice filled with awe.

Fiona nodded. “Ah, yes. But what does it mean to you?”

“I went through a phase where I held pretend weddings, and Wes was always the groom.”

“Why did he have the ring?”

“I gave it to him when we were kids. I didn’t realize he’d kept it.” I turned it over in my hand, then put it on the ring finger of my right hand. It was just a cheap plastic band, but it reminded me of long summer afternoons when we’d pick flowers from the gardens for my bouquet, and I’d pin one bloom to his T-shirt. I’d wear one of my many dresses.

The last time I wore the ring, we’d overheard my parents arguing. The word divorce was thrown around so easily. I realized that they weren’t perfect. I’d given the ring to Wes and asked him to keep it. We never played that game again. But now here we were, getting married for pretend. Maybe it was his reminder that we’d done this before and we’d make it through.

This was one big elaborate game, but why did it feel bigger than anything I’d ever done before?

“Are you ready to become Mrs. Calloway?” Fiona asked, linking her arm with mine.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” I’d always be a Rosesmith, but for a short time I’d be Sutton Rosesmith Calloway. It had a nice ring to it.

We walked together down the stone path and into a side door so that Fiona could run and ensure everyone was seated and the music could start. I heard the sound of a string instrument beginning the melody for Pachelbel Canon.

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