Hold the Forevers

This felt like the easiest part of everything. The whole ceremony wasn’t going to be that long. Thankfully, I’d gotten it so that we didn’t have to do a full mass. It was bad enough that I was getting married in this cathedral. Ash’s mom, Cynthia, had insisted on it. And my conversion. Which had been a whole ordeal. We hadn’t been sure I’d get it all done in six months so that we could get married in a Catholic ceremony. But we were here.

I was thankful that we’d hired Courtney so that she could deal with Cynthia through much of this. She did an excellent job at running interference.

“Great. Let’s run that part. Ash and Lila, if you please.”

I took back my fake bouquet that the girls had made at my bridal shower, looped arms with Ash, and walked down the aisle. It was surreal that, tomorrow, we’d be doing this for real. After more than twelve years, this was forever after.

“Delilah, dear,” Cynthia said, reaching for me before we even stopped.

As much as I was ready for this, I was not ready for her to be my mother-in-law. She was more like a monster-in-law. She’d never liked me, and the fact that her son was in love with me and marrying me didn’t seem to have changed her opinion. I hadn’t done anything right since we’d started the process, and I doubted I ever would in her eyes.

“There’s still some time for mass,” she insisted. “Delilah is Catholic now. We could have a full mass.”

I cringed. The last thing I wanted was a full mass at my wedding. I was technically Catholic, but that was too much of an affair for me. We’d been fighting about it for months.

“Mrs. Talmadge,” Josie said with a wide Hollywood smile.

“Yes, Josephine?”

Despite Josie’s mother’s reputation, Cynthia was smitten with Josie. She probably wished that Josie were standing in my place. Fat chance.

“Could I get your help with the florist? They were saying something about carnations for the rehearsal dinner.”

“Carnations?” she gasped. “I didn’t order carnations.”

Josie winked at me and followed Cynthia out of the church.

“Sorry about her,” Ash said with a sigh. “She’s a handful.”

That was putting it mildly. “It doesn’t matter.”

“I know she’s been a stressor.” He pressed another kiss into my hair. “I’m just ready for tomorrow.”

“Me too.”

“I know that we said no wedding gifts.”

“You didn’t!”

He grinned. “I couldn’t help myself.”

Courtney ushered everyone else out of the church and directed them to the rehearsal dinner. She smiled at us and gave us the minute alone that we both desperately needed.

Ash gestured for us to take a seat in a pew and then produced a box from the pew behind us. I hadn’t even noticed that he’d brought it in or hidden it for this moment. Sneaky.

“I can’t believe you did this.”

“Can’t you though?”

“Thank you,” I said, touching the white-and-gold wrapped box.

I tugged on the shiny gold bow, letting the ribbon fall to my feet. I tore into the wedding wrapping paper and revealed a red rectangular box underneath it. I popped the top off and sifted through the mound of white tissue paper before I found what was tucked away.

My throat caught as I touched the leather binding of what I knew was a copy of Little Women before I pulled it out.

When I did, I nearly dropped it.

It wasn’t just any copy of the book. It was the special-edition hardcover that Cole had given me. It had the same bright red leather binding. The same gold-embossed title. The gold-sprayed edges that were so soft and light that they were nearly biblical.

When I’d moved in with Ash, I hadn’t been able to get rid of my copy. It was too perfect. I couldn’t hurt books. I couldn’t completely eliminate Cole either. So, I’d hidden it. Left it in a box that I’d never open and stuffed it in the closet, where things went to die.

For a fraction of a second, I thought he’d found the copy with the inscription in Cole’s handwriting. That I’d been with Cole on the day in the note. But then I pulled the front page open, and Cole’s inscription was missing. It said the same thing all the old copies of Little Women said.

Always your Laurie.

—Ash

I released a held breath. Hoped that he hadn’t noticed my terror or just interpreted it as something else.

“It’s beautiful,” I forced out.

“I’d never seen this copy before. I was scouring local bookstores for something different for you. When I found this, I knew it was the one.”

It was the one.

“I love it.”

He kissed me and then stood to help me out of the pew. “Shall we go to our rehearsal dinner?”

I nodded and followed him out of the church. Josie and Marley were waiting for us. I widened my eyes when I saw them. They’d been my friends long enough to know an SOS when they saw one.