Page 65 of From Best Friend to Bride
I took my attention away from her knowing gaze as her twin sister, Adelaide, whispered something to her, also shooting a similar smile my way.
Oh, the girls could piss off.
I didn’t need to ask them to know how they felt about this.
I bet they were members of that stupid shipping club the women in our lives were obsessed with.
I scanned my gaze over my family, nausea rolling in a wave through me yet again. What if Deli wasn’t coming? What if she’d changed her mind? We hadn’t spoken all morning. We hadn’t been allowed to exchange so much as a text. Our phones had even been confiscated by my mother to ensure we had no contact until we saw each other here.
At the aisle.
Right before we said our vows.
If Deli had run, I had no means of knowing. No means of contacting her. No means of chasing her.
A movement caught my eye, and I locked gazes with Nana. Her eyes were full of warmth and pure joy—a joy that radiated out of her very being. Her fragile, weakening frame was alive with life in a way I hadn’t seen in weeks and weeks, and as her elation settled around me in a bubble, I let out a long, shaky breath, and smiled at her.
Right.
That’s what this was for.
Her. Her happiness. Her last wish to come true.
The only difference between Granny and Nana was that I shared blood with one of them, and I would do this for Granny if she were in Nana’s position right now.
Nana’s eyes crinkled as the music started. The reverberation of the first notes of the music made my heart thump against my ribs, and I lowered my head, sucking in a deep breath.
First, Lucy. Her loose, light blue bridesmaid dress draped over her growing bump, and she looked the picture of elegance as she walked down the aisle with William’s steady care beside her. Then followed my sister, accompanied by Hugo, Henry’s older brother, wearing a different dress in the same shade of powder blue.
One by one, my friends walked the aisle with a bridesmaid, most of them from my family. Deli truly hadn’t cared as long as she could have Lucy as her chief bridesmaid, and nobody had said a word.
Just made it all happen.
Then… the wedding march.
I looked up, only to see Nana’s empty seat. Where had she gone? She’d been here only a few minutes ago. Was she unwell?
I turned towards the back, my heart racing, and froze.
Ah.
I should have guessed.
Nana was right there, holding the hand of my best friend as she rounded the corner and came into my view.
For the first time in my life, Delilah Peters made my heart skip a beat.
Her dress was simple and unfussy—the most Delilah thing I’d ever seen. It was strapless, plain, and the skirt was asymmetrical. Shorter at the front, showing off her toned legs, and a bit longer at the back. It barely skirted the floor behind herblack heels, but the skirt was just puffy enough that it gave her the princess vibes she’d always loved as a child.
She wore her hair down and loosely curled, and the dark waves fell over both of her shoulders. She’d rejected a tiara from the family vault, instead choosing a simple hair ornament. It was so small that if you blinked you’d miss it, but somehow, she made it look like the most extravagant decoration you could imagine.
And despite it all, she looked as sick as I felt.
I pressed my lips together, trying not to smile as widely as I wanted to. It was a hell of a fight, because how could I not smile?
I was marrying my best friend, and she’d never looked more beautiful.
Deli and Nana stopped in front of me, and Deli peered up at me hesitantly. “Hi,” she whispered.
