Page 39 of Dangerous Encore
Momdoestoo.
Then Mom is putting on my necklace. My earrings. And our limo is arriving. And I'm walkingtowardit.
My dress is huge. It's a struggle to get it into the limowithme.
Piper slides in.ThenMom.
The driver closes the door for us. He steps into the front ofthecar.
And hepullsaway.
We're driving to mywedding.
How did the day go sofuckingfast?
My heartbeat picks up. My stomach rises into my throat. It's not like the other day. These are good nerves. Happynerves.
But they're a lot ofnerves.
I take as deep a breath as I can manage with my corset tight. I exhaleslowly.
Piper takes my hand and squeezes tight. "It's going to beperfect."
Mom takes my other hand. "It really is,sweetheart."
I nod. "I think so too." Another deep breath does nothing to push my nerves away. I look to Mom. "Am I supposed to be thisnervous?"
Her smile lights up her green eyes. "I was, with your father." She looks proud. Happy. Like she really wouldn't trade me for a thousand normaldaughters.
Like she really does love that I'm wearing a black and purple princessdress.
Like she really does love Ethan as much asIdo.
Well, almost as much. Nobody loves Ethan as much as I do. That's not even close topossible.
Mom blinks back a tear. She wipes it away with the thumb of her free hand. "Asher would have been proud ofyoutoo."
Inod.
"He lovedEthan."
"Andhatedhim."
There's a sadness to Mom's smile. "Only for stealing his twin sister's attention." She blinks and the sadness is gone. "I'll always miss him. I know you will too. But this… if he is out there somewhere, I know he's watching over us. I know he's happy that Ethan is going to be taking care of youforever."
My chest warms as a tear rolls down my cheeks. It hurts thinking of my late brother, but it has a place in the day. I loved Asher. Then I hated myself for failing to protect him. It drove me and Ethan apart the first time, but then Ethan is the person who helped me put myself backtogether.
Asher and Ethan fought all the time. Asher thought Ethan was a philistine. Ethan thought Asher was a snob. But they did respect each other. And they both cared most about how the othertreatedme.
"I wish he was here too." I squeeze Mom's hand. "He would have hated mydress."
Mom laughs. "What did he know aboutfashion?"
"And the roses. And the altar. And the music." I can't help but laugh. "He'd really hate all the songs I gave totheDJ."
"Who says you can't have your first dance to a Garbage song?"Momasks.
Piper laughs. "That really is perfectforyou."
