Page 46 of When Hearts Awaken

I feel raw and exposed under his scrutiny.

My heart is now drumming up a storm inside me.

He takes another step toward me.

“Charles?” Maxwell asks before following Charles’s gaze and turning his head my way. My brother’s eyes darken with concern.

Quickly, I look away and force my lips into a bright smile. “Girls, how’s the dance coming along?” I holler to Ainsley and their group.

“Something is coming all right! A herd of elephants!”

The girls cackle, and I hurry over to join them, ignoring the penetrating heat of Charles’s gaze.

Chapter 21

The pianist sways hisbody as he plays Claude Debussy’s “Clair de Lune” and the bridesmaids slowly make their way down the aisle. As I stand there inside the gazebo next to Steven, as his best man, I watch Belle, followed by Millie, glide up the cobblestone path, both of them a vision in dark red, before they stand to the other side of the officiant. Glancing at the men next to me, I find Maxwell and Ryland’s gazes affixed on the women, love shining from their eyes.

Maxwell’s lips move as he mouths a few words to Belle, who looks like she wants to run into her husband’s arms.

I love you.

Those were the words he murmured—I’m sure of it.

My heart hitches at the obvious affection—enough to melt the normally cold exteriors of the Anderson twins.

What would it feel like to let someone in and have her love all parts of you, including the parts you hide?

I breathe in. Would I turn into my parents, so madly obsessed with each other, no one else matters in life? Not their responsibilities, their families…their children?

A few kids giggle and I see the little girls in tutus pointing at the bridesmaids, their eyes wide with wonder. My lips twitch as I remember how excited they were moments ago when they were practicing a dance with Taylor.

“That’s good! You were wonderful!” Taylor clapped, her face radiant with joy.

My heart skipped several beats as I took in the happiness in her eyes, the brilliance of her smile.

“But Tay Tay, what if I forget how many times to spin?” one of the kids asked. “What if I’m too scared to move?”

Taylor tapped her chin, like she was considering their plight seriously. She kneeled to the ground and beckoned the girls closer. “Then you wiggle your booty like elephants!” She tickled the girls, and they squealed.

I swallowed the chuckle threatening to erupt because the boys were standing next to me.

“When I was your age, I always forgot my steps too. And you know what the secret is? You just pretend you know what your next steps are as you make them up, because no one else knows the dance. Only you do.” She winked and the girls gaped at her like she was Yoda.

Taylor was so good with the kids. So patient, fun, and kind. I had a feeling this sweetness was hidden inside her all along.

I flinch at the direction of my thoughts and I refocus my attention on the scene before me.

The wistful strains of the cello sweeps through the air. I recognize the wedding processional music the happy couple chose—Camille Saint-Saën’s famous musical piece, “Le Cygne.”

Otherwise known as “The Swan.”

It was a favorite of Grandma’s. She told me it represented the impermanence of beauty, but it stayed with you long after it was gone.

It’s a heartrending sentiment.

The mesmerizing violin wraps the intimate space in its thrall when Taylor walks in.

Every atom in my body freezes, suspended in time, as I watch her float toward me like the beautiful swan of this musical piece. My breath hitches as I stare at her, unable to look away.

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