Page 26 of Healing Bonds

“At least you can drink,” she retorted. I shot her a sheepish smile. “I’m dying for a coke and rum. Now, I have an idea. How about you make yourself one or get the runner to bring you one, and I’ll just smell it and live vicariously through you?” The makeup artist, who was currently doing my twin’s makeup on the other side of the room, snorted out a laugh as all the women in the big dressing room joined her.

My mother and Ryan’s mother were sipping champagne, looking over the aisle where Ryan and Ace were standing outside looking at the calm ocean. My sisters were all in different stages of getting ready. Seeing their excited faces, I thought back to the phone call three months ago that had changed everything.

My finger hovered over my mother’s name, my right leg bouncing with nerves and anticipation. I prayed they would forgive me. They had to understand that I was absolutely in love with this man, and even though we had gone through hell to get here, he was the person I knew I would be spending the rest of my life with. Nothing they could say would ever change that.

Ryan was at work, and the near silence in the apartment was driving me crazy. Just the ticking clock in the kitchen was all I had to keep me company and drive me insane all at once.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

I glared at the glowing screen. Sometimes, I hated being an adult.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

The big clock mocked me with every passing second.

It was time to grow a pair and face my fears. They were only my family. They couldn’t hurt me… they wouldn’t.

I tapped my mother’s name, and with a big sigh, I raised the phone to my ear and waited as the phone rang. She might not even answer, and all these nerves would be for nothing.

“Amy.” Her familiar, southern accent sent a wave of sadness and happiness through me, and a lone tear spilled from my suddenly teary eyes.

“Hey, Mom,” I choked out, swallowing the massive lump in my throat. I was strong enough to do this. I could do this.

I briefly heard Ryan’s words of comfort echoing in my mind, could almost feel his gentle strokes through my hair this morning while we were in bed. If he believed in me, then I could do it. I could handle this.

“Is everything okay, sweets?” The old nickname caused the firm grip I had on my emotions to loosen, and the tears spilled over.

“I’m getting married, Ma,” I cried into the phone, clutching it tightly to my ear and holding my other hand over my heart.

“I know.” My teary eyes widened in shock. “That boy of yours called us months ago, asking for our permission. It seems we were wrong about him after all.” She sighed, her age showing through the weariness in her voice.

“You knew all this time and never called me?” I tried to keep the hostility from my tone, but the anger coursing through me was sickening. She hadn’t thought to call me once, to apologize for her harsh words about the mistakes she thought I was making with my life. She finally supported my decision tospend my life with Ryan, and she hadn’t even had the decency to call and tell me herself?

“I knew you would call when you were ready.” I bit back a scoff. “Can we come to the wedding—the girls at least? They ask about you all the time, sweets.”

“Then, why don’t they come visit me, or I don’t know, call me?” I asked, hurt bleeding into my words. “It’s not that hard. It’s the twenty-first century, Ma.”

“Doesn’t matter what they should have done. That’s the past now.” It was always like this. Just brush off my younger siblings’ mistakes but never my own. “Let’s talk about the future, about your wedding, about you.”

“We set the date yesterday,” I told her, letting her have her way. “It’s on Easter weekend at some swanky hotel on the beach. We want to keep it small—just family and a few friends.”

There was a crash on the other end of the phone, and then my mom was yelling at our old dog. “Harley keeps walking into things,” she explained when she came back on the line. “She’s lost her sight, poor thing. We’d love to contribute, sweets. Your Pa and I can pay for the reception. How about that?”

I just hummed in answer, unsure of what to say to her proposition. So, I went to an easier topic—Harley. “How old is Harley now?” I missed that damn dog so much. I’d been away from home way too long.

“Twelve this spring. We’ve been lucky to have her around for so long. The neighbors lost their Beagle to a bear last month. It was terrible.” I cringed. What a horrific way to die.

“Do you want to bring her with you when you come for the wedding?” I asked. “Ryan and I have a small apartment, but it’s pet friendly, and his sister has a big house. That’s where you guys would stay.”

“Yeah, sweets, we can do that. Now, about the money—how much should we send you? We want to help you. This isn’t something you’re supposed to pay for, you know.”

I sighed. My mother always got her way. “Just five grand and tell the girls they can bring a date.”

“Earth to Amy.” Alissa, my identical twin, was standing in front of me, hands on my arms, shaking me. “It’s your cue. The wedding bells are ringing!” she squealed, pulling me to the bright pink door that led out to the aisle I would be walking down toward my future husband.

Nerves flooded me, and my stomach churned. “I’m not ready…” I stuttered, following her on shaky legs.

“Of course, you are! Look at you—you’re absolutely stunning, Amy.” Jamie, my younger sister, stood next to Alissa, her strawberry blonde hair shimmering in the faint glow of the sunset streaming in from the window.

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