Rachel and Abby say Haley’s happy, and she looks happy. Through the window, I watch as Haley releases a beautiful smile as she hugs Noah and then Isaiah.
Her hair is long, like I remember, but the brown has more of a chestnut hue. I remember the way her dark eyes flashed with fire the first time we met. She’s just as beautiful as she was back then. Today she wears blue. Blue always looked good on her, and that dress she wears fits her in every perfect way.
A snap of fingers in front of my face, and I’m drawn back to the reason I’m here: Abby.
“Young,” Abby says. “Where’s my something blue?”
I raise an eyebrow at her, and I’m tempted to point at Haley, but I don’t. Instead I pull a jewelry box from the pocket of my tuxedo and hand it to her. In a slim-fitting white wedding gown, Abby tilts her head at me. “What’s that?”
“Your something new and blue. I don’t do borrowed, so you’re going to have to live with the disappointment.” That’s what happens when she asks me to be her best man. She could have done the whole maid or matron of honor thing, but she didn’t go that route. It’s Abby so I roll with it.
Her expression softens. “I was kidding. I wasn’t expecting you to get me anything. The whole present thing isn’t why I’m getting married.”
Why she would think I wouldn’t buy her anything, I don’t know. She’s not just like a sister to me, she is my sister. My entire family is here because years ago, during her senior year, my parents adopted her. Abby, the former drug dealer, officially became a Young before her eighteenth birthday and also became a member of one of the richest families in Kentucky.
Since then, she took on the role of a Young better than any of us born into the title. She is even one of my father’s top salespeople.
Is the top salesperson, or was—not sure of that yet. Medically, it’s been a rough two years for her. She’s better now, and her spot at Dad’s company will be there if and when she ever wants to return. For now, she’s doing what Abby does best—living life her way.
No rules, no regrets.
Abby accepts the box from me, and the soft smile on her face is the reaction I had been hoping for. It’s a bracelet. Tiffany, of course, because my mom would be appalled if I bought anything else for her daughter. There’s four colored stones in silver settings. Three of the stones have names engraved in the silver—Abby’s name, the Youngs’ and Logan’s. The blue stone doesn’t have a name because the person who gave me the stone didn’t want the name on it. He told me Abby would know who it was from, and from the tears she’s batting away, she does.
“When did you see him?” she asks.
“A month ago,” I say. “He told me to tell you he loved you, and congratulations.”
Abby’s father—the man who raised her for the first portion of her life—is serving life in prison. He only allows her to visit him once a year, and she does, faithfully. I took a chance to see if he wanted me to do anything on his behalf for his daughter’s wedding day. He gave me explicit instructions, and I followed them to the letter.
“He told me that you’d know what it is.”
She nods as she holds the bracelet out for me to put it on her. I do and then she touches the blue stone. “This belonged to my gran.”
That’s what I thought.
Abby clears her throat, smooths back her short chestnut hair and gives me her best Abby-rules-the-world stare. “Haley’s single.”
That causes both of my eyebrows to raise, but I turn and check my bowtie in the mirror. “I thought she was dating some guy who thought he was as smart as a brain surgeon.”
“He is a brain surgeon, and she broke up with him—about two months ago.”
I’m dying to know why, but Abby’s baiting me, and I’m not going to give. Not even on her wedding day. If I do, they’ll be no reining her in. Abby, if anything, is incorrigible.
“She asks about you,” Abby continues as she slips off the socks she had been wearing.
Sure she does. “Probably wondering what’s wrong with the world that they allow me to be a high school guidance counselor.”
“What if I told you she broke up with him because you are