"Diana, I'm fine, I don't need..."
She opened the door and stopped.
Wendy stood in the hallway, overnight bag in hand, her dark curls tumbling over her shoulders and a grin splitting her face.
"Surprise."
"You left." Chloe grabbed her sister and pulled her into a crushing hug. "You were supposed to be in Vermont."
"I was in Vermont. For about six hours." Wendy hugged her back just as hard. "Then I got a vision of you getting married and realized there was no way in hell I was missing it."
"You flew back?"
"Drove, actually. Fourteen hours." Wendy pulled back, her brown eyes bright with exhaustion and joy. "I made good time."
"You're insane."
"I'm your sister. Same thing." She pushed past Chloe into the room, dropping her bag on the chair. "Now. Tell me everything. How are you feeling? Nervous? Excited? Ready to throw up?"
"All three. Maybe four other things I can't name."
"That's normal." Wendy kicked off her shoes and flopped onto the bed, patting the space beside her. "Come on. Last night as an unmarried woman. We're going to stay up too late, talkabout boys, and I'm going to tell you embarrassing stories about Mom's wedding that she made me promise never to repeat."
Chloe laughed, the tension in her chest loosening for the first time all day. She climbed onto the bed beside her sister, just like they used to when they were kids sharing a room, and let herself sink into the comfort of family.
"I can't believe you drove fourteen hours."
"I can't believe you're getting married in an orchard in February." Wendy poked her shoulder. "We're both making questionable choices. That's what sisters do."
"I'm glad you're here."
"Me too." Wendy's voice softened. "I wouldn't miss this for anything, Chloe. Not for anything in the world."
They talked until midnight, then past it, until Chloe's eyes grew heavy and her words started slurring together. Wendy pulled the quilt up over them both and planted a kiss on her forehead.
"Sleep," she whispered. "Tomorrow you marry your bear."
Chloe smiled, already drifting.
Tomorrow she married her bear.
She couldn't wait.
38
CORIN
Corin stood beneath the arch at the very edge of his orchard, surrounded by flowers and fairy lights and the faces of everyone he'd ever cared about, and his bride was late.
"Relax." Elias stood at his shoulder, steady as always. "She's not running."
"How do you know?"
"Because I can see her through the trees." Elias nodded toward the farmhouse. "She's laughing at something Wendy said."
Of course she was. Chloe was always laughing again. It was one of the things he loved most about her.
The afternoon sun filtered through the bare branches, warming the February air. Heaters hummed at the edges of the gathering, pushing back the chill, and everywhere Corin looked, he saw life returning. Green shoots pushing through the last patches of snow. Buds swelling on branches that had been dead two weeks ago. His bees, impossibly active for the season, drifting between the hives in lazy spirals.
