If she said no, he’d be okay. He at least had to try. And try again if he had to until he convinced her.
He glanced at his watch. They’d be on their way to the church right now. He should be with them. He’d made a promise to Paul, to the girls, that he’d be there to give them his silent confidence as they took part in the wedding.
He’d be there for Daisy, too, if she let him.
“Lily. I think there’s somewhere else that we should be right now. Someone I have a bit of an apology to make to. Actually, maybe two people I owe an apology to.”
Instead of looking disappointed, Lily’s face broke into a blinding smile. “Dad? Would you mind if maybe I didn’t go fishing with you next time? It’s kind of a little too quiet and boring for me.”
He laughed, seeming to remember once saying the same thing to his old man a long time ago. “Sure thing.”
Because sometimes the whole point wasn’t being there when you wanted to be, but being there when they were ready to have you.
…
“You look stunning,” Daisy said in a near whisper as she stared at her baby sister.
Although Benny had always been the tomboy of the two, preferring jeans and oversize pants, and later scrubs, to anything remotely feminine—at least until she met Henry—today she stood resplendent in her vintage twenties-style wedding dress.
Simple in its lines, the cream-colored sleeveless V-neck dress had a lovely overlay of lace and beads, cinched with a slim belt at the waist, that fell gracefully down to swish around Benny’s ankles. To match the quiet but simple elegance of the dress, Benny’s hair was a mass of dark curls pinned up in the back, with only a simple white flower—a ranunculus—to adorn it.
“I don’t think I can quite believe it’s me,” Benny said, staring into the mirror.
Daisy laughed. “I certainly hope so. Henry would be sorely disappointed it weren’t.”
Her sister turned and smiled. “You look lovely, too. I’m just sorry…” she trailed off, but both of them knew what she had been leading to.
“Don’t be. I’m happy for you and for Henry and there’s nowhere I’d rather be than watching you two say I do.”
“Champagne?” Payton asked from their left, handing both a glass of the bubbly.
Kate and Henry’s sister, Morgan, appeared next to her, having been preoccupied trying to get the cork out of the bottle for the past couple of minutes. They all were uniquely beautiful, dressed in the various bright-colored bridesmaid dresses of the same style—fuchsia for Daisy, poppy-red for Payton, and a vibrant deep-hued orange for Kate—all colors that Benny said reminded her of a bright, happy summer bouquet.
“I want to toast, too,” Henry’s five-year-old niece Ella said from a chair across the room. With her light blond hair and blue eyes highlighted by the bright citrus yellow flower girl dress, she was going to be a hit when she went down the aisle.
“Me, too!” Natalie said, who, along with Jenna and Paul, were watching the preparations unfold. Her girls, the junior bridesmaids as Benny called them, were just as sweet looking in matching dresses, their hair swept up in simple updos that had them preening as they looked at themselves.
Paul seemed less excited to be with all the women, impatient now for his mom to finish so she could take him to find his uncles, where they’d hopefully help him with that tie.
“I expected you would. How about some sparkling cider instead,” Morgan, said, grabbing the bottle that seven-month-pregnant Payton had opened to celebrate the occasion.
By the time Daisy’s parents came into the room, glasses were nearly empty from the round of toasts they’d given, but their spirits were high. They beamed with pride as they stared at their youngest daughter, and Daisy swallowed another lump in her throat, remembering how she’d robbed them of this moment more than ten years ago. No, robbed herself, too.
“Can we go now?” Paul asked, tugging at her hand. “I’m bored.”
“Yeah. Let’s go find your uncles,” she said. With Kate and Payton offering to keep an eye on the girls, Daisy led Paul down the hall to where the groom and his groomsmen were getting ready.
There was a faint scent of incense in the air, something old and familiar and almost comforting. Ahead of them, the boisterous sounds of men laughing assured her she was nearly there.
“Paul!”
The voice came from behind them, and Daisy froze as she recognized it. She turned, not really believing it, but there she was. Lily. Alongside her dad, who was smiling warmly at her.
Dios mio.
She felt lightheaded, her breaths shallow as they drew nearer, and she clutched Paul’s hand as if it were an anchor.
He looked so good. Not just because he filled out the lines of that gray suit so well, or because his dark sandy brown hair waved back perfectly from his brow. But because the sight of him instilled in her a sense of strength, security, and…warmth. And she knew that if she let him, his arms would wrap around her, taking away all her worry and sadness. And she’d feel…complete.