Page 50 of One and Only

Adaline laughed.

Poppy slung her arm around Mom’s shoulders as she grinned. “Speak for yourself. I was an angel.”

I burst out laughing. “Oh please. You were more savage than the rest of us combined, and we were beastly in our own right. It’s a miracle this house didn’t burn down when we were kids.”

All four of us laughed at that, my mom wiping happy tears as her shoulders shook.

The bedroom door opened again, and Tim poked his head in. His face softened immediately at the happy atmosphere he walked into. He was having a good day, and even though his walk was a bit slower, his frame a bit thinner underneath his suit, there was a brightness to his eyes and a spring in his step as he walked toward us.

I stood from the stool and turned to face him.

Immediately, his eyes welled with tears. “My God, Greer, look at you,” he said, voice snagging on the words, emotion thick in his voice. “You are the most beautiful bride I’ve ever seen.”

Adaline wound her hand through mine, and I gripped it tight, allowing that anchor to help me keep the makeup on my face and my emotions in check.

Tim pulled a handkerchief from his pocket to dab at his eyes. My mom joined him, wrapping her hand around his arm, probably as much of a show of support as a way to make sure he was steady on his feet.

I heard Poppy sniff behind me, but I kept my eyes on my dad.

“You’re not gonna make me cry, are you?” I said quietly. I approached him when he tucked the handkerchief back into his pocket, and he emitted a choked laugh.

“I don’t know. I’ll try.” He exhaled, long and slow, an obvious effort to get his own emotions in check. “Your groom is down there charming the pants off everyone. He even has Erik smiling.”

My oldest brother hardly smiled at anyone except his wife.

My eyebrows popped up. “Really?”

Mom laughed. “That surprises you?”

“A little,” I hedged. “Beckett is usually pretty … reserved.”

“Yet he’s marrying you,” Adaline mused. “I hope he’s buckled in to have a wife who’s not.”

I shot her a dark look.

Tim chuckled, walking forward to pull me into a tight embrace. “Be nice to your sister on her wedding day,” he told Adaline. “And when it’s your turn, Greer has to be nice to you too.”

Adaline grinned. On her ring finger was the obnoxiously beautiful ring her fiancé, Emmett, gave her. They were so perfect together that I’d want to puke if I didn’t love them both so much. And in truth, I was happy to let them plan the wedding of their dreams if it meant this casual backyard wedding would allow Tim the moment he wanted.

As I stood in the room with them, I couldn’t deny that this was giving me something I’d miss too. I’d have this moment with Tim—real or fake or whatever anyone wanted to call it—where he proudly walked me down the aisle. I’d always have this with him. No matter what the next year of our life brought.

Before I could burst into tears, he pulled back and settled a hand on Adaline’s cheek. “I hope I get to be there for your day too, sweetheart.”

The tone shifted immediately, Mom dropping her chin to her chest with a quiet sniff. Poppy pulled a tissue from a box on the counter and wiped under her eyes. Adaline pressed a quick kiss to Tim’s cheek.

“Now, now,” Mom said, her voice only trembling slightly. “None of that. We have a wedding to start.”

Tim winked at me. “I’m always the one causing trouble.”

When eyes were sufficiently dry, makeup touched up, and bouquets in hand, we walked downstairs. Even though Adaline and Poppy would be proceeding me down the aisle, Beckett and I decided to stand by ourselves underneath the gentle arches of the lights strung from the tree.

From the kitchen window, I smiled at how pretty everything looked. It was a small crowd, just my immediate family and Josie, Micah, and Olive. Olive had her hair braided back off her face and was wearing an adorable light-green dress with floating ruffles along the skirt. In her hair was a small sprig of white flowers.

My heart clenched at the way she looked up at her dad, standing solemnly next to the pastor, waiting for me to appear.

Beckett looked … good.

Handsome and tall and strong in his dark-gray suit and his pale-colored tie. His face was solemn, but I caught no hint of reticence, and that had me breathing a little faster, my ribs tightening in anticipation.

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