Page 81 of Sweet Revenge
He rounded the trunk and helped her out, keeping a firm grip on her hand when she tried to wriggle free and then tucking it into the crook of his arm. The crowd parted as they made their way up the steps and stopped in front of the heavy, carved doors.
From this vantage point, she could see the black SUVs parked at either corner and the men who stood at the perimeter of the crowd, eyes alert.
“So you did put on extra security.”
He brushed a curl off her face that the breeze had blown loose. “Well, it seemed important to you. And it made sense. I’ve got to go do groomsmen stuff. You going to be okay?”
“Yes. Go and leave me to fend off the horde of curious onlookers.”
He laughed, and before she could stop him he leaned in and captured her lips in a quick, searing kiss that left her a little breathless.
“That should give them something to talk about,” he said before disappearing inside and leaving her standing alone in the sunshine.
Evie ran a hand over her hair to smooth it in place and caught Helen’s stare from the bottom of the steps. Her barely contained outrage lifted Evie’s spirits, and she practically floated into the lobby to be seated.
People seemed to follow her lead, filing inside behind her, as much to take their seats as to get a glimpse of her. Being with Declan had always been this way. People were curious about him but too afraid to ask, so they had always asked her instead. She didn’t imagine they’d be shy for long.
An usher led her to a seat in the second row, behind where the bride’s family would sit, and she frowned.
“Oh no, this is a mistake. I’m sure I should be back there somewhere,” she insisted, gesturing over her shoulder with her clutch.
The boy, he couldn’t have been more than seventeen, flushed under the collar of his tux. “Boss’s orders, ma’am,” he said before turning.
She slid into the pew to get out of the aisle and wondered if he’d meant Declan or Maura and hoped it was the latter.
The church was decorated exactly how Maura had described, with flowers in deep blues and purples filling large copper urns that lined the altar. More hung in pretty bouquets on the pews and speared up out of tall stands set in front of stained glass windows.
The last time she’d been in this building, she’d been burying her parents. Sometimes she missed them so much she ached with it, more than she ever had in the last ten years. The finality of it cut deeper, knowing they weren’t a phone call away anymore, knowing she couldn’t pick up the phone and hear her mother’s voice or pop over to their house and walk in to the smells of baking bread.
But with their dying breaths, they’d given her something, something she couldn’t even acknowledge she’d been missing a few months ago. They’d brought her back home, back to Declan. And she didn’t want to waste this second chance with him. A second chance to make them proud.
Conversation faded to a hushed silence as the groom and his men filed out of a side door, lining up next to Father Charles dressed in his white robe and stole. She spotted Declan, who stood as James’s best man. God, he looked good in a tux.
His eyes found her almost immediately, and he smiled, causing more than a few heads to turn. She noticed his crooked bow tie and mimed straightening it, watching as he did. She was really going to enjoy taking every single piece of that tux off him later.
When the processional music began, she shifted in her seat to watch Sean walk down the aisle with Alice, guiding her to the front row before taking his seat on the opposite side of the church. Alice turned in her seat to offer Evie a warm smile, leaning over the pew to squeeze her knee.
The flower girls followed next, dancing up the aisle, happily flinging blue and purple rose petals. Evan had to be nudged through the doors, clutching the pillow the rings were tied to in a death grip. Cait had been coaching him, but he looked nervous.
When he spotted his father, he took off down the aisle at a trot, halting in front of the altar and flinging the pillow toward the line of groomsmen like a frisbee before diving into a nearby pew with his grandparents. Evie stifled a laugh with her hand when Finn deftly reached out and caught the pillow with one hand, passing it to Declan.
Once the bridesmaids were in place, the bridal march began, and she rose with the rest of the guests. When the vestibule doors opened and Maura appeared, framed by large bouquets and supported by her father, tears pricked Evie’s eyes.
She’d seen her in the dress at the fitting, but it paled in comparison to now in this moment with her hair done up and the veil cascading behind her and the radiant look on her face as she walked down the aisle toward James.
Evie peeked over her shoulder at James, who looked equally as entranced as his bride, and caught Declan watching her with an intensity that sent electricity racing along her skin and butterflies looping in her belly. It seemed somehow unfair that he could have such an effect on her with a single look.
Father Charles began the service, and she found something comforting about the ritual of it, about watching the depth of two people’s love for each other take shape under vows and blessings. Watching Maura and James promise to love and honor each other forever had her eyes sliding to Declan. She’d eagerly awaited such a promise once.
When the priest pronounced them husband and wife, the congregation cheered, and as the recessional music began, she lost Declan in the crowd when he escorted Reagan down the aisle. Turning to join the crowd of guests making their way outside, she stopped short when she noticed Alice standing at the end of the pew.
Alice held her arms out and waited for Evie to step into them, giving her a tight squeeze. “I’m so glad you came. I hope Maura took my advice and gave you your own invitation instead of making you show up as a plus one.”
Evie laughed softly, letting Alice tuck her hand into Evie’s elbow and lead her from the church.
“She did.”
“Good. It’s time to let bygones be bygones between you two. You’re good for each other, you three. As girls and now as women. Do right by each other.”
