My breath caught as my mind jumped to the message from earlier.Thank you for asking. I can’t.
I had assumed that meant he wasn’t coming and now he was here.
A cold little thought slid in behind my ribs before I could stop it. Maybe he came with someone else.
The idea made my stomach drop, fast and mean, and I hated myself for it immediately. I had no right to claim him. No right to assume anything. So what if we had rolled in the mud, had driving lessons, and shared a coffee? It wasn’t like we were dating.
And still, seeing him here, looking like he belonged, made me feel like I was standing outside a door I hadn’t known existed until it closed.
Meri noticed my stillness. Her gaze followed mine.
“Oh,” she said quietly.
Kitty appeared beside us with a small plate of something she had definitely stolen from the buffet.
“Oh what?” she demanded, already prepared to fight.
Meri didn’t answer. She didn’t have to.
Kitty’s eyes landed on Ephram and widened.
“Oh,” she breathed, suddenly delighted. “He’s cute in the uniform but this is next level.”
“Kitty,” I whispered.
“What?” she replied innocently. “I am just acknowledging reality.”
Ephram shifted slightly, his attention moving across the room. His gaze shifted, and he saw me.
My chest tightened.
He didn’t come over. He held distance like it was a rule he had written for himself before looking away.
I stood there with my hands clasped lightly in front of me, the music swelling somewhere behind my shoulder, and tried to decide what hurt more. The idea that he was here for someone else. Or the reality that he was here, and still not mine to reach for.
Lucy’s voice pulled me back. “Lydia. Are you all right?”
I forced a smile. “Yes. I’m fine.”
Dex glanced in Ephram’s direction, then back at me, his expression unreadable in the way only Dex could manage. Braxton’s eyes flicked between us, catching the thread instantly.
“It’s a little crowded in here,” Braxton offered gently, as if giving me an excuse.
“Yes,” I agreed. “Just… crowded.”
But as the band shifted into a new song and the guests around us laughed and moved and clinked glasses like the world was simple, I felt the night settle into place.
It was beautiful, bright, and full of people. Yet also suddenly, quietly, complicated.
Chapter Twenty-Two: The Unexpected
Lydia
The band shifted into something warm and familiar, a melody that invited people to stop thinking about where they were standing and start thinking about where they were moving. The floor filled in slow increments. Dresses swayed as shoes scuffed and laughter threaded through the air in bright, careless bursts.
For a few minutes, it worked.
Jane pulled Meri into a dance with exaggerated enthusiasm, Meri protesting just enough to make it convincing before giving in. Mom watched from the edge of the floor, her smile soft and proud, while Dad’s arm settled comfortably around her shoulders as if this were exactly where they belonged.
