"It is, Mama," I said leaning down to hug her and feeling sad when she leaned away from me.
"Remind me who you are again, would you?" she said.
I didn't have the heart to tell her, so I simply smiled and repeated that it was so good of her to come. Mama stayed for a short while before being transported back to the retirement community. She'd become agitated because she was away from her familiar surroundings, and it was a reminder of how far she'd slipped away from us. I was still glad that Betty had asked her and that she'd been able to be there. Riley seemed unworried by the whole ordeal with Mama and cheerfully called, "Bye Gram! See you soon!" as the nurse loaded Mama into the car for the trip home.
Once Mama was gone, Patrick pulled me aside and said that he'd tried to find out more about the envelopes we'd found in the house. Mama had only said that she knew Molly was gone.
"How did she know?" I asked.
"I think the letters were Molly's way of letting her know she was okay," Patrick said. "Once they stopped, I think the assumption was that Molly was gone for good, but we'll never really know for sure."
"Can't we hire a detective to follow her trail?" I asked.
"Leah, I've already done that," he sighed. "The trail went cold in Florida, and he wasn't able to find out anything more. She simply disappeared."
"I don't accept that," I said stubbornly. "There's got to be a way to find out what happened to her, and I'm going to figure it out."
"Suit yourself, Leah," Patrick shrugged. "But I'm not going to spend my time chasing after pipe dreams. I'm going to accept that she's gone and move on with my life. You really should do the same."
I turned and walked away from my brother, muttering under my breath about how I'd find our sister and then I'd show him what determination could accomplish.
"Why the sour face?" Jack asked as he caught me by the arm and pulled me into the sitting room away from the rest of the guests. I told him what Patrick had said, and he reminded me that having lots of money had its advantages. "I'll hire someone to do some checking. Now can we get back to celebrating this happy occasion?"
I laughed and assured him that we could, but before we left the room, I turned to him and said, "That was quite a risk you took planning the party before you knew my answer. How did you know I'd say yes?"
"It was a risk," he admitted. "But I had faith in you . . . and in us."
And with that, he leaned down and kissed me before taking my hand and returning to the party.
*
"You look beautiful, Leah," Riley said as she adjusted my veil one last time and handed me my bouquet. "You're the perfect Irish bride."
"I couldn't have done it without you, kiddo," I said, leaning over and kissing her cheek. I’d had a seamstress replicate Mama's white lace wedding gown as best as she could from what I remembered, and it fit me like a glove. The sweetheart neckline dipped just low enough to give me a hint of décolletage, but not so low that I felt self-conscious. The bodice cradled my breasts before sloping inward to give me a waist where it joined with layers upon layers of Irish lace that fell to my feet and stretched out behind me in a cathedral length train. On my head, I wore Betty's wedding veil. It was fitted on a tiara of crystals and fell just above my ankles. I felt like a Disney princess come to life when I looked at my reflection.
"I wish Mom could be here to see this," Riley said quietly as she fussed with the robin's egg blue sash on her dress, trying to get it to lie flat against her waist. I set my bouquet down and fixed it, and said a small prayer of thanks that she hadn’t fought me on wearing a dress for the wedding.
"I wish she could be here, too," I said as I wrapped my arms around my niece and hugged her tightly. "But at least we know she's in peace."
Jack's investigator had followed Molly's trail of letters and had done some digging into what had happened once she arrived in Florida. A week before the wedding, he'd sent Jack a full report of his findings in which he'd detailed Molly's last weeks and her death. According to the coroner's report on Jane Doe #473-229, Molly had overdosed on alcohol and cocaine and been buried in a pauper's graveyard at an old church in Tallahassee.
For two days after we'd learned the news, Riley was silent. On the third day, she came down for breakfast, smiled, and thanked Jack for finding out what had happened. I asked her if she wanted to talk about it, but she shook her head and poured herself a bowl of cereal. Later, Jack asked if we should send her to see a counselor, but I told him it would be better to wait and see what Riley wanted before forcing her to do something. He agreed, and so we waited.
"Now that Mom and Gram are gone, you're my only family," she said looking at me. I nodded and bit my lip to hold back the tears. Mama had passed away in her sleep a month after the engagement party, and while it had been a relief to know that she wasn't suffering from the years of hard drinking and poor health, I still missed her.
"We've got Patrick," I interjected.
"He's a priest," she said rolling her eyes. "He doesn't count."
"Don't tell him that!" I chuckled as I took one last look in the mirror and nodded at my reflection.
Patrick had agreed to officiate at the ceremony and, although Jack and Lincoln had made peace after the blow out over Baby Steps, Jack hadn't wanted him to be his best man. So Riley was doing double duty as best man and maid of honor. Norma, Betty and I had helped her pick out a dress that wasn't too girly, but was appropriate for a summer, backyard wedding. She looked lovely with her hair done and a hint of makeup on her face. I was happy that she'd turned out okay after all the drama, but I also knew we had a long road ahead of us since she would soon turn thirteen.
Jack and I had decided to keep the wedding a small affair and had only invited immediate family and our Baby Steps friends. We'd had the wedding organizer set up casual benches for the vows. We decided to turn the backyard into a dance floor over the pool and had an outdoor barbecue rather than have it be a formal affair. Jack had decided to wear the suit he'd worn the day he'd met me and had suffered the accidental nosebleed. I wore my mother’s dress. Everything seemed perfect.
"You look impeccable," Riley said as she linked her arm with mine and said, "Let's go show Jack!"
I descended the stairs with Riley's help, and as the music began to play, I lifted my chin and walked confidently toward our new life.