Forbidden - Karla Sorensen Page 0,88
son. It’s horseshit, and if she was here, she’d tell you the same thing.”
I exhaled a laugh.
“You are so honorable. You’ve always done right by the people in your life. It’s what made you a good father, and husband, and son and brother. But the only thing that matters is that you find someone who loves you and loves Anya. That’s it.”
“It’s so soon,” I said quietly. “And when I moved here, I wanted calm. Peace. We’d had so much chaos, so much upheaval.”
“Isabel doesn’t bring you peace?” she asked.
I exhaled a laugh. “No. I don’t think I’ve had a moment of peace since I laid eyes on her. She’s too … she’s more than I expected.”
My mom sniffled on the other end of the phone. “You know as well as anyone, there’s no rule book you can follow, no plan that is guaranteed. And if this person can bring life into your heart, into Anya’s, then you owe it to Beth to see where that leads.”
It took me a second to find my voice, but when I did, it was hoarse. “You know, I think even if you’d told me to let her go, find someone … else, I don’t think I could’ve done it. But I’m glad you didn’t say that.”
“I can’t wait to meet her,” she said warmly. “Now how can I help?”
I picked up the wedding invitation, head clear and heart steadier than it had been in a long time.
“Would you be willing to take Anya tomorrow night?”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Isabel
“I think I’m going to puke.”
I tucked a piece of hair back into the small diamond clip that held Molly’s hair back. “No, you’re not.”
“I just want to see him.” She waved a hand in front of her face, sweat misting her forehead, even though the day of her wedding had dawned perfectly clear and mild. “You’ve seen him, right?”
Crouching down to fluff the flowing organza of her dress, I hummed in assent. “He sounds about as worked up as you do.”
“Really?” She smiled wide. My sister, as beautiful as she was in the every day, was the most gorgeous bride I’d ever seen. “Tell me. Gawd, I bet he looks so good in his tux. He shaved, right?”
“I believe he did, but I can’t say I would notice if he hadn’t.”
The photographer moved around us, snapping away as I readied Molly to do some shots with Logan in the gardens outside of Cedarbrook Lodge. She’d risked an outdoor wedding at this venue of her dreams, and so far, Seattle was delivering. The hotel sprawled behind us, the indoor reception room already dimly lit and decorated in soft creams and gold.
Off to the side, Lia and Claire chattered happily, snapping pictures of their own. Paige stood between them, red hair swept up off her face, and peacock blue column dress making her look like a friggin goddess.
“It’s not too late to see him now,” Paige teased. “Spare the man the embarrassment of bursting into tears in front of a hundred people at the sight of you.”
Molly laughed. “No way, I can’t wait for someone to catch that on camera.”
I stood back, and the photographer moved around Molly, directing her this way and that.
Paige slid an arm around my waist. “You four sure clean up all right.”
“For as much time as we spent in a hair and makeup chair, we better,” Claire said.
Because Molly allowed us freedom in choosing our dresses, Claire and Lia had opted for a dusty shade of blue, and in similar styles that flowed gently away from their hips, off the shoulder straps holding up a sweetheart neckline. All of us wore our hair down and curled, Molly was the only one who kept hers pulled back.
Her wedding dress, with impossibly thin straps holding it up over her shoulders, was fitted to the waist, covered in delicate floral lace before it flowed out dreamily toward the floor.
And after trying on dresses with far too many frills and embellishments, I found one in a deep navy that skimmed the length of my body, crisscrossing fabric covered my breasts, which left a small peekaboo cutout underneath. My back was completely bare.
I looked beautiful, felt beautiful, and so far, could breathe easily that the pre-wedding moments were going off without a hitch.
“Logan is on his way,” the wedding planner told us, tapping her CIA-level earpiece and speaking to someone we couldn’t see.
Nodding, I picked up my small clutch and walked to meet him, careful to miss the cracks