I nod once, my throat tightening, unable to form a word.
“I love you,” he says.
I can’t even remember the last time my brother said those words to me. After Mom passed, the words just weren’t spoken in our house. I didn’t realize how much I missed them.
“I love you, Kyle. And that woman out there…” He pauses and my chest tightens. Here it comes. The blow that will bring me to my knees. “That woman carrying your child loves you, too. And it took her to make me see that together, we can overcome anything.”
I let out a shaky breath. “I was afraid you were going to tell me her boyfriend was here, and you were going to kill him for me.”
He steps back, laughing. “She’s not going anywhere. For some reason she wants to stick around. Could be because you knocked her up.”
My mouth falls open. “Did Dillan Reed, a.k.a. Bones, just make a joke?”
He shrugs. “You’re not the only Reed who can make people laugh.”
“There are hundreds of people who will disagree with you.”
And just like that, a weight lifts off my shoulders. A dark cloud no longer hovers over me. I feel twenty pounds lighter. Forgiveness and love are more powerful than any drug you can take.
I’ve always had a death wish, but for once I have something to live for.
FORTY-ONE
APRIL
“WE’RE READY,” THE wedding coordinator that Emilee hired calls out, entering the bridal room.
Emilee spins around, smoothing her hands down her Marie-Chantal Miller wedding dress. She looks like royalty in the white lace material. It’s an off-the-shoulder, backless dress with a royal train. It was made for a queen. “How do I look?” she asks nervously.
“Gorgeous,” Jasmine tells her before taking a sip of her champagne.
“Absolutely stunning,” I say with a smile.
“Thank you.” She crosses to me and takes my hands in hers. “I couldn’t have done this without you.”
My cheeks heat as I glance around the room full of women that quickly became my best friends. “I didn’t do anything.”
“Yes, you did.” She lets go of my hands and wraps me in a hug. “You took my dream and turned it into reality.”
When we pull away, I fight back the tears that want to fall. “I couldn’t have done it on my own.” She makes it sound like I planned this entire thing from the ground up. All I did was make flower arrangements. I didn’t even do it on my own. Haven,Jasmine, and Emilee worked day and night on these, too. Even Alexa helped me when she had free time.
“Come on, ladies. It’s time to go.” Sarah, the wedding coordinator, ushers us out of the room.
My phone rings in my purse, and I quickly grab it as I walk out with the girls.
I press ignore but it instantly rings again, and this time I press answer. “I can’t talk.”
“April, I’ve been trying to reach you,” a familiar voice says on the other end.
“Now is not a good time,” I whisper, coming to a stop with the girls in front of the closed double doors.
“I’ll make it quick.”
“I—”
“They took your offer,” she interrupts me.
My mouth drops open at her announcement. “What?” I ask, making sure I heard her right.
