Page 162 of Could Have Been Us
“What are we watching?” someone asks, and I jump, pushing Jack in front of me.
When I see who it is, I work on calming my heart.
Jack speaks first. “Nothing, just trying to get my wife to see the scenery differently.”
Odette looks over at the RV and then back to me. “Did your brother have a visitor?”
I grin and walk toward her, hooking my arm in hers. “Why don’t you tell me everything you know.”
“Great. Just freaking great,” Jack says from behind us. I ignore him, hoping I can get some dirt from Odette that I can use on our girls’ spa day in two weeks.
* * *
“To Stella and Jack!” Winnie says, raising her glass.
Everyone does the same, and I smile. Today has been a load of fun. We’ve been pampered to the max, Kinsley has had a great time, and I have kept my promise not to say a word about Delia doing the dirty with Josh.
They think they’re so sly. Pfft. They’re idiots, and once today is done, I plan to call them out. It’s only fair since Josh spent a good portion of time tormenting me as a kid. Plus, I don’t want to see Delia hurt.
“Thank you, girls, for being here today. I’m glad we were able to have some fun, leave the boys, and spend some much-needed time together,” I say. “I love you all so much, and I can’t believe I have to have this big, expensive wedding just to make my siblings happy.” They all laugh. “But in all seriousness, I want to thank you all. Each one of you played a vital role in my life. Whether it was being a friend, a sister I never had, or the reason Jack and I finally got it together, you are the best bridal party anyone could have.” I look at Kinsley. “And to my beautiful maid of honor, thank you for letting me in your life.”
Winnie raises her glass again. “To the bride!”
Everyone toasts as I wrap my arm around Kinsley. “Do you think . . . do you think I can call you something other than Stella?”
I look down at her, blinking and trying to form an appropriate response that isn’t just sobbing and incoherence. “Yes, I mean, whatever you want to call me is fine.”
“I talked to my dad about it. I didn’t want to hurt him.”
“Of course. Kinsley, you don’t have to. You can call me Stella. It doesn’t upset me.”
I mean that, and even with wanting so badly for her to think of me as her mother, just having her near is enough.
“I know, but, now that I’m here, it’s really hard to say, ‘Oh, that’s my birth mother,’ you know?”
“I don’t, but I’ll take your word for it. Well, whatever you want to call me is fine, and if you’re not always comfortable and need to flip around until you settle on a name, that’s fine too.”
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” I let out a long sigh. “So, did you have fun?”
“I did. I’ve never been to a spa before, and this was really cool.”
I know that things between her and I won’t always be so fabulous. There will be times when she might hate me, and that’s okay because I’ll love her enough for the both of us. All that really matters is that I’ll be around for her life.
“Hey, you two!” Jess calls us. “The limo will be here soon, and we have some shopping to do.”
I groan. “Can’t we just stay here?”
“No, you need a wedding dress and that’s that.”
I give her a salute. My sister-in-law offered to help do a lot of the wedding planning since she had hers not all that long ago. It’s hard because I always dreamed I’d get married at the Park Inn. Not only did my relationship with Jack start there, but also it’s beautiful. Instead, we rented a huge chateau a few towns over. It has floor-to-ceiling windows and is stunning. It’ll house everyone and give us the best of both worlds: quaint but also bougie. “Fine, fine. Let’s all get changed.”
We head into the changing area, everyone laughing, talking, and moving around. The spa gave us a subsection to ourselves.
I enter the bathroom to find both Winnie and Delia coming out of stalls. I go to wash my hands and panic hits me.
Oh my God.
