19. Remi

"At the altar, the groom traditionally stands on the bride's right side, so his right hand—or sword hand—is free to fight a jealous rival and defend his bride." ~ Tim Rhodes

"You look so beautiful."I smiled down at my mom, who took her place beside me so I could escort her down the aisle.

She'd spent the morning with Ruby, Harper, and Taylor at The Best Hairhouse in Texas, getting their hair and makeup done.

"You ready?" I asked, offering my arm to her.

She nodded as she wrapped her hand around my bicep. I'd been home a week, and in that time, I was convinced that she'd lost a couple of pounds. She appeared even more fragile than she had when I arrived.

I hadn't been able to spend much time with her. After she got home from work, she either fell asleep on the couch or in her room. She'd avoided or dismissed any attempts I'd made at getting to the bottom of what was going on with her. I wasn't going to bring anything up today, but tomorrow, before I leave, we're going to have a serious talk, whether she wanted to or not.

"I wish your dad was here," she whispered as she squeezed my arm.

Ruby's dad was an asshole who had taken advantage of my mom when she was grieving. He was not only fifteen years her senior; he was a married man with a family. He never even acknowledged Ruby as his daughter. My mom had given Ruby my dad's last name, and I always knew that she thought of him as both of our dads. I wasn't sure it was the healthiest way to cope, but if it got her through it, then I wasn't going to judge.

"I know, Mama. I know." I glanced down and saw huge tears pooling in her lower lids. I pulled out the handkerchief I always kept in my back pocket and handed it to her.

"Thank you." She dabbed it beneath her eyes and then held it out to me.

"Keep it. You might need it."

She sniffed as she nodded, then tucked it in her purse.

Over the years, there have been so many days that I miss my dad and so many occasions that he wasn't there. Small things, like first days of school, getting on the honor roll, throwing my first touchdown pass. And bigger occasions like me getting my driver's license, going to prom, graduating from high school, or when I got engaged. For as long as I lived, I knew that those days would keep coming. Milestone days like my wedding, becoming a father, my kid"s birthdays, and holidays. That was the thing about losing people you loved; the grieving, the missing, and the loving never stopped. And the more you loved them, the bigger the hole they left in your world.

The doors to the sanctuary opened, and, for the first time today, I saw Taylor standing beside Kane. She was wearing the black dress with the high slit on the right thigh that I'd unzipped in the dressing room. Flashes of her face in the mirror as I'd brought her to a climax played in my mind.

We hadn't actually spoken since she'd bolted from Edith's shop. During the bachelor/bachelorette party, she'd actively avoided me. I didn't have any proof that was the case, except that she'd turned Ludacris's early 2000s hit Stand Up into her personal anthem. When I moved, she moved. Every time I tried to get close to her, she got farther away. It was a chess game that she'd won.

As I continued down the aisle, my eyes were glued to hers. Just like she'd done the rest of the week, her gaze avoided me. She was looking down, and whenever her eyes lifted, they scanned the guests and never met my stare.

After seating my mom, I smiled at Kenna, who had asked if we could go to the wedding as friends. I was on the fence about agreeing since I knew how things could get misconstrued in Wishing Well. No one would ever believe that we were just friends. But then, when she told me Taylor had suggested it, it felt like some sort of challenge. Also, I'd seen the way she'd looked at Sam on the dance floor, making out with a woman he'd introduced to me named Camile. I knew that our going together to this wedding was just an extension of what we'd played out in high school. It was another chess game, one where I was a pawn, to make someone jealous, which I didn't mind. I could rest easy knowing that Kenna had zero romantic interest in me. Her heart belonged to someone else.

Sam was seated with his date a couple of rows behind Kenna on Kane's side of the aisle. I couldn't help but notice that he was boring a hole into the side of Kenna's head. Camile must have noticed too because she was whispering something in his ear, but he didn't seem to notice her at all.

Whatever they had going on seemed even more complicated than what was going on between Taylor and me. Not that anything was actually going on. She'd apparently made up her mind to lock up the memories of the night we'd shared in her mind vault, and it seemed she was determined to keep it locked. I planned on giving her the key as many times as possible.

On my way out the side door to head back around to the foyer to join Ruby and give her away, I grinned at Kane and gave him a chin nod. He barely noticed. His eyes were glued to the double doors leading into the sanctuary, where my sister was going to be walking out.

As I passed by Taylor, who stood beside him, the back of my knuckles brushed against her forearm. The touch had truly been accidental, but I didn't miss the sharp intake of breath that I'd heard. I affected her. She might be able to deny any prior knowledge of who I was, but there was no way she could deny that.

It was a small victory, but one I would gladly take. She might believe she could ignore whatever was going on between us, and I would leave town tomorrow, and she'd be in the clear. She was wrong. I didn't know exactly what my plan was, but I did know that whatever we had was not over. Hell, it never even got started.

With each step I took down the hallway, I was even more determined to explore what Taylor and I had. When I rounded the corner, I was just in time to see Harper throw a practice petal on the floor before the double doors opened and she walked through them. As it hit the ground, I had a vision of her doing the same thing at my wedding…to her mom.

I was standing at the front of the church when the doors opened, and Harper came down the aisle, tossing flowers. When I looked up again, I saw Taylor. She was wearing a simple, white, off-the-shoulder wedding gown. She looked elegant and perfect.

The vision was as clear as day. It was like a movie I'd seen or a memory from something that had already occurred.

In all the years I was with Misty, I'd never been able to envision our wedding. Not once. She'd modeled quite a bit of bridal in her career, so she'd often show me photos of her in dresses to ask me what my opinion was. She wanted to know what I wanted to see her in. I'd always tell her that she would look beautiful in anything. Which was partially the truth. The other part of that truth was that I'd never been able to picture her walking down the aisle to me.

"There you are." Willow, the wedding coordinator, waved her hand, hurrying me down the hall to the foyer after she'd closed the doors again.

I walked to the center of the foyer, where my sister stood with her eyes closed, taking a deep breath. Her long blonde hair fell in waves over her bare shoulders. Her strapless dress was fitted at the top and flared out at her waist. Tiny lace flowers were scattered on her skirt. She looked like a fairy princess—a grown-up fairy princess.

My eyes watered as I stepped beside her. From the moment she was born, I'd felt responsible for Ruby. She was mine to protect, care for, and love. But today marked a new chapter in her life—one I was sure she was ready for, but I wasn't so sure I was.

"You look beautiful."

Her eyes opened, and she took in a shaky breath as she glanced down and skimmed her hands over her waist. "Do you think Kane will like my dress?"

"Yes," I assured her. "He'll love it."

"Thanks, Bubbas." She lifted her eyes to me for the first time, and her brow furrowed. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

My sister had always been very empathetic and tuned in to people's emotions. It was probably what made her such an amazing performer.

"Nothing's wrong," I assured her as I offered her my arm.

"Is this…too much, you know with Misty, and?—?"

"No," I quickly corrected her, feeling like a total asshole for causing my sister even a second of stress on her wedding day. "No, it's not."

She smiled up at me, but I could see the worry in her eyes.

"I'm just not sure I'm ready to give you away, but if any man deserves you, it's Kane."

Now, when her lips curled, her smile reached her eyes. "He's the best."

"So are you; he's a lucky man."

She lifted up on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss on my cheek.

From behind the closed doors, I heard the music change. Instead of the traditional bridal march, my sister had opted to walk down the aisle to A Thousand Years by Christina Perri.

"You ready?" Willow asked Ruby.

My sister took another deep breath and nodded as we took the first step toward her future. And, as my eyes locked with Taylor's, if I'm lucky, my future as well.