Page 94 of Breathe Again

“You like it Bex?” We were sitting around the table in her workroom. The lanterns were ready, and we were demolishing the charcuterie board laid out between us.

“Delicious. I’m adopting this for Rhys and me. He’ll love this.”

“It’s really good, Mara. I’m going to do this with Junie and Minty one afternoon at work to surprise them.” Willa’s best friend, Junie, was also her business partner, and their dear friend Minty ran the administrative side for them. “What else needs doing, Bex?”

Caterers were handling the wedding meal. Bex hired a cleaning service for the day before the wedding. The heated tent would be set up on Friday, the decorator would also be coming on Friday to set up the tables and store the table decor, then she’d be back on Saturday morning, with the flowers, to finish the set up. The animalswere set to arrive Saturday afternoon after the wedding meal. They only needed thirty minutes to set up.

Rebecca pulled out six of her midnight blue and silver signature gift boxes that she used for her jewelry.

“You guys gave me great ideas for gifts, and Rhys and I got amazing things for all the guys, but I’ve been working on gifts for you two, Olivia, Amelie, and Rhys’s mom, Jeanie.” She indicated the boxes, “See if you can figure out which is yours.”

Willa snapped all the boxes open, and we studied the contents. There were three bracelets, all with different link patterns, and each had a closure with a tiny charm. Olivia and Amelie’s gifts were easy to identify because they were single charms for the bracelets they already wore. Bex had made a tiny, puffed heart embedded inside another heart that appeared to curl around it protectively.

I felt tears spring to my eyes. I touched it reverently. “Amelie.”

“Yes.” Rebecca sniffed. I laughed, feeling the joy bubbling up inside me.

The other single charm was obviously for Olivia, but I would have known it was hers by the fact that it was a tiny mermaid holding a heart in her tiny hands.

“This is beautiful, and she will love it.”

Willa picked up a box and her big blue eyes lifted to meet Rebecca’s in question. At Rebecca’s nod she teared up and immediately clasped the bracelet around her wrist. She showed it to me, the linkswere tiny triangles interwoven together and the charm, also in the shape of a triangle, made up of three fists each holding the other’s wrist. The three of us, holding together.

“That’s beautiful, Rebecca,” I breathed, happy that Willa had this concrete proof of her place in our trio.

There were two left on the table. One, a tiny anatomical heart, the other, a tiny house with an open door.

“I don’t know which one is mine,” I whispered, stricken, because I didn’t want to hurt her feelings and because I thought I should know.

Willa touched the anatomical heart. “This is you.” She turned to Rebecca. “Am I right, Bex?”

“Yup!” Bex laughed and handed it to me. “Because your love, Merry, is as real as it gets.”

Willa laughed with delight. “I knew it!”

“It’s beautiful!” I burst into tears, and they laughed. It was okay, they were used to my big feelings by now.

“Happy or sad, Merry?”

“Ha-happy.”

They laughed harder, which made me laugh, and hugged me.

There were more tears and more laughter, but mostly laughing tears. And wine, lots of wine.

Two hours later, Rhys held the door open for Willa and me to precede him out to his truck. I heard him order Rebecca, who was more than a little inebriated, to stay awake, and I felt a bitter longing to be wanted like that, remembering a time when Zale wouldn’t miss an opportunity for drunk sex.

It didn’t seem unreasonable to me. I still felt that way about him. I shook it off and Rhys sauntered over to open the passenger side doors. Willa jumped into the back, the high truck bed no match for her long legs.

I reached for the handle to heave myself in.

“Mara, let me help you.” Rhys asked with his gravelly voice.

“Uh…” I wasn’t accustomed to anyone other than Zale touching me.

He held out his hand, grasped my right hand, and placed his hand on my back to give me a gentle boost into the truck.

I felt myself flushing, embarrassed by my weight. I looked to the side to thank him, but he was already closing the door and rounding the front to get in on his side.

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