“Jake’s gonna lose his shit when he sees you.” I bite my lip, but my eyes still fill with tears.
“Don’t start that, or I’ll cry too,” Ava says.
“We’ve already had to fix her makeup twice,” Molly says. The sound of her voice sobers me, and as I turn to her, my feelings must be written all over my face, because her shoulders sag. “Sorry. I’ll get out of your way.”
“No,” Ava says. “Please stay. No fighting on my wedding day.”
“Molly, it’s fine,” I say. It doesn’t feel fine, but I’ll try for Ava.
Ava takes my hand and smiles. “You were supposed to be my maid of honor, but when you weren’t returning our calls . . .” She forces a smile. “Anyway, it feels weird to know I’ll be standing up there without you.”
“I’m here, though,” I say, squeezing her hand. “And this way I can take the pictures I need to paint you
a special memory from today.” I wasn’t planning to make any such promise, but now that the words are out there, it feels right. I should paint again. Fuck not being “good enough.”
Her eyes go wide. “You never paint anymore.”
I shrug. “Maybe your wedding day was the inspiration I needed.”
She wraps her arms around me and pulls me into a tight hug. I close my eyes and hold on. With so many questions in my life, it’s good to know I have a few steady people I can rely on. Ava and Levi are that for me right now. Maybe they have been for years.
When she releases me, I look around at the bridesmaids in their beautiful plum-colored dresses. I know them all—Nicole Maddox, Ethan Jackson’s fiancée—the one who tucked the note into my invitation; Shay, Levi’s sister; Teagan, a local friend who’s a regular at girls’ nights; and, of course, Molly, Ava and Colton’s stepsister. It seems like just the other day we were all gathered around the table at Jackson Brews trying to convince Ava to ask Jake for sperm so she could have a baby. So much has happened since then.
“Oh, Ellie. You came.”
I turn to see a woman with short gray hair heading toward me. Levi’s mother, Kathleen Jackson, opens her arms and wraps me in a hug. “Hi, Mrs. Jackson,” I say, hugging her back.
“Thank you so much for coming. I know it means the world to Ava to have you here.”
“True story,” Ava says behind her.
“How are you?” I ask Kathleen.
“I’m amazing. I have family and good health, and I get to welcome Ava to our family on this beautiful day. What more could I ask for?”
Nicole is smiling at me too. “I’m so glad you came,” she says.
I nod. “Your note was really sweet.”
Nicole’s sister Veronica steps up beside her. She has her arms full of a chubby infant and waves. “Hi, Ellie.” She picks up the baby’s hand and mimics a wave. “Say hi, Jackson.”
“She named him after the Jackson family,” Nic says softly.
I nod. My hand goes to my stomach, and I feel that intense rush of grief for the child I lost the night of the assault. “I remember.”
Teagan is less restrained in her affection and picks me up off the ground when she hugs me. “You scared us,” she says. “I’d have been so pissed at you if you’d died.”
“Well, we wouldn’t want that,” I say, laughing. “Missed you, Teagan.”
She pulls back and beams at me. “You remember me. Yay!”
I nod. “I pretty much remember everyone now.”
“Anything about what happened to you?” Ava asks, wrapping her arms around her waist. “Or about who . . . ?”
I shake my head. “Unfortunately not.”
“But you’re staying with my Levi,” Mrs. Jackson says. “You’ll let him take care of you until the police get to the bottom of all this?”