“Shit, baby,” I said as I finally clued into how fuckin’ beautiful she was. “I’m so sorry. I completely forgot.”
It sounded horrible.
But as I was leaving, a horse owner had torn into the lot with the hounds of hell on his heels.
When he’d gotten there, he’d told me his horse was about to die because her baby was stuck.
Holly and I had immediately jumped into action, delivering the two foals.
Sadly, neither foal had made it, and the mother was well on her way to dying as well.
I hoped with some relaxation and rest, she might pep up in the morning.
But still, I’d missed my own wedding day.
“We’re going after this.” She bumped me with her shoulder, a smile on her face. “I rescheduled when I called and you didn’t answer.”
Relief hit me like a battering ram.
I’d been looking forward to this day since we’d picked it.
We’d decided to go with the day that we’d met.
A day neither one of us would ever forget.
I’d never been the same since I’d first seen her standing in my grandmother’s cottage.
So it was fitting that we continue to make this day the best one of the year.
“Thanks, baby,” I said as I placed a kiss on the tip of her nose. “But stay back here, yeah?”
She rolled her eyes, but backed up to stand with the employees who were watching the free show with glee.
They’d never liked my mother, and it showed now in the way they were all standing in a defensive arc around Nettie.
I walked unhurriedly to my mother who was standing in handcuffs by Gentry’s cruiser.
She stared at me pitifully, and I noticed then that her clothes were unkempt.
They weren’t as starched and pressed as they usually were.
I crossed my arms over my chest and waited.
“I didn’t tell you about your other sister because she was supposed to die.”
I shouldn’t be surprised by her words, but I was.
Still, I didn’t talk.
“She has a heart condition,” she persisted. “They expected it to kill her being born. It didn’t.”
“And you think that your husband would’ve been upset with a baby that had a heart condition?” Gentry snorted. “Get the fuck out of here.”
He opened the door to the cruiser and started to shove her inside.
She resisted, her eyes on me.
“Felicia was born the same day, in the same hospital,” my mother continued. “She was abandoned. I took her home instead.”
