Eleanor takes a deep breath, trying to hold in her emotions. “Your ‘something blue’ is the material in the middle. It was also worn by Evelyn on her wedding day. That piece is more important and meaningful than anything else. It is a piece of Andrew’s tie from their first backyard wedding at age six.”
Sadie scrunches up her face, trying to stop the tears.
There is not a dry eye in the room.
After a minute, Evelyn clears her throat. “It would mean the world to me if you could wear this under your dress as I did on the most magical day of my life. Maybe one day you can pass it down to the girls so that Andrew can be with us on all of our special days.”
Oh my god.
“It would be my honor, Evelyn.” She pins the fabric to the inside of her dress, then looks around the room. “Thanks to all of you. The family I always wanted but never knew I would be lucky enough to ever have.”
Sadie hugs us all, thanking us for the hundredth time.
After a few silent moments, Evelyn lets out a loud laugh and playfully nudges her mum. “We’ve been hanging around Sadie too long, all of us crying like babies. We Brits are supposed to be better about holding in our emotions, and why the hell didn’t we give it to her earlier? Now we all have to fix our makeup again.”
There’s a loud knock on the door, interrupting us, then Wills peeks his head in.
“Get out, you crazy man. You can’t see Sadie yet. It’s bad luck!” I scream as Eleanor runs over, trying to push her son out of the room.
It’s no use. He’s like a brick wall.
He ignores us both, scanning the room for Sadie. When she steps into his view, his breath hitches, and it’s clear he’s trying to gulp down his emotions.
“Sadie,” he whispers. The two of them lock eyes as if no one else is in the room. “God, beautiful, you take my breath away.”
I look at Evelyn and she smiles at me, feeling the love between them.
“Come here, baby. I need to talk to you for a moment.”
Her face drops. “What’s wrong? What’s going on?”
He holds out his hand, silently beckoning her.
I must admit, he’s worrying me too, especially when he turns toward me and calls me over.
When we walk to the door, Jack is standing on the other side.
His eyes widen when he sees his sister. “Sades, you’re stunning.” He kisses her cheek, then turns to me and smiles, pulling me into his side, but I can see in his smile that something’s off.
“Do you trust me?” Wills asks Sadie.
She scrunches up her nose in confusion. “Of course.”
“Then know what I tell you next means nothing, and I will fix it. It won’t spoil the day; if anything, I think my plan is better than what we had planned anyway.”
“Spit it out, Wills.”
He hesitates, so Jack jumps in.
“Mom crashed the wedding. She paid the wedding planner to be placed on the guest list before we fired her, so the security guards had no idea. She’s still among the guests because we don’t want to make a scene.”
What the fuck.
Sadie’s worried eyes turn to me, then back to Wills.
I grab her hand in support, waiting to hear what Wills says—letting him lead on this.
“Why is she doing this to me?” Sadie asks the question so forlornly, I feel her pain deeply.
