EPILOGUE: BREE
ONE YEAR LATER…
The dress hung on the back of the bathroom door where I’d put it three hours ago.
Green, because anything else felt sacrilegious to the Sullivan line, even for our version of a wedding ceremony. It was St. Patrick’s Day. We had to wear green. Simple as that.
I needed to walk down the aisle of Nana’s pub in green to honor her and our traditions. I checked the train on the dress, second-guessing whether it would tangle on a barstool. The last thing I needed was to trip because of something so simple. Talk about bad luck.
Clara let out anaaaaghand the thwack that followed told me she’d thrown her sippy cup out of the playpen. Again. I’d memorized the sound after the fifty million times she’d done it.
“You’re not helping.” I wagged a finger at her and retrieved the cup.
She giggled and made gimme hands, flopping onto her back and rolling onto her belly, then to her back with a squeal. Herwide, gummy grin showed a single tooth breaking through, and she grabbed the teething ring shaped like a shamrock Finn had bought her last week.
My hands shook when I reached for the dress. Not from fear. I knew what I was doing. I wanted this. No. They shook from the sheer overwhelm of standing on the edge of having everything and not being sure if it was real.
A year with my men and Clara, and I still pinched myself sometimes to make sure I hadn’t dreamed it all up.
I pulled the dress off the hanger and stepped into it, easing the straps over my shoulders and sliding the zipper up the side.
I couldn’t help checking my reflection in the mirror.
My hair had grown out long enough to style, and I’d twisted it into a few spiral curls that framed my face.
I looked like a woman in love and ready to promise forever to her men.
All three of them.
“Well.” I turned to Clara. “What do you think?”
Her eyes squinted together, and she made thataaaghsound again before hurling the shamrock over the edge of the playpen.
A knock on the door sent me forward to scoop Clara into my arms and unlock the door.
Tammy stood on the other side, wearing a pair of sparkly green tights and a shimmery green shirt. She looked me over, her approval shining in her eyes. “You look beautiful.”
My throat tightened. “Thank you for doing this.”
“Doing what? Walking you down the aisle.” She stepped into the apartment and closed the door. “Bree, I’ve known you since you were born. Your mother would’ve wanted it, and your grandmother would’ve insisted on it if she couldn’t do it herself. I’m not about to let either one of them have a reason to haunt me.”
“True.” I laughed when Clara tugged one of my curls, her eyes going wide with wonder when it sprang back into place. “Let’s do this before you pull all my curls out.”
Clara giggled and clapped, then bounced against my arm. Yep, she definitely wouldn’t let me hold her much longer.
Thankfully, everyone downstairs would look out for her during the ceremony.
I picked up the bouquet of white roses and greenery from Nana’s garden that Ronan had put together for me this morning and pressed it to my nose.
Tammy opened the door, and music started downstairs.
I took a breath, held it, then followed Tammy onto the landing. She hooked her arm around my elbow, and we descended together.
Ronan, Finn, Declan, and I had decorated ourselves, and even though I’d been part of every decision, the sight of all of it together took my breath away.
Declan, Ronan, and Finn waited for me in front of the fireplace. They wore black tuxedos with green vests and green pocket squares, the three of them looking delicious enough to eat up right there.
Later.
