“Then make sure to get some rest on the flight.” When her eyes met mine, my stomach lurched. “It’s going to be a long night too.”
Saying nothing else, she dropped her head onto my shoulder, nudging at my arm until I got the hint. Folding my arm around her back, I drew her close, and I swore to god, if I could have just spent the rest of my life like that, I would have been a happy man.
She shifted against me, her expression hesitant. “Are you sure Matt’s okay? I feel awful that he got so sick today.”
I smiled into the dark limousine. She was thinking about me. She was with him but thinking about me. It made me wonder if that had ever happened before, and if so, how many times?
“Yeah, it was probably some bad sushi or something. You know how that guy is with his raw fish.”
Cora nodded against my shoulder. “He was okay when you guys went to bed last night, right? When you stayed at his place?”
There was just enough doubt in her voice for me to pick up on. She was questioning if Jacob had really stayed the night at my place. If he’d gone to bed like a good boy on the night of his wedding, or spent it partying like he tended to most Friday nights.
Tell her now. Another segue that’s as good as they’re going to get.
“Yeah, it wasn’t until this afternoon when he started losing his insides via his mouth.” I sighed to myself after. Every minute that went by made it harder to tell her.
“We should swing by, you know? Bring him some tea or soup or something.” She tipped her head so she was looking up at me.
My chest squeezed. She wasn’t just thinking about me, she wanted to do something for me. She wanted to do something nice for me on her wedding day. It was no wonder I’d had it so bad for Cora all of these years. No woman rivaled her. No woman ever could.
“Believe me, it would come right back up. And if we want to make our flight, we can’t waste another minute.” I checked my watch. We had plenty of time before our flight to make a quick stop, but there wouldn’t be a food-poisoned Matt to check on if we did stop.
“Then let’s call him.” Cora was already pulling her phone out of her purse.
“No!” I wrapped my hand around hers before she could dial my number. My phone was currently in my pants’ pocket and not silenced. “Let him rest. We’ll call him in the morning.” Yeah, brilliant. Delay the inevitable, because you haven’t already dug yourself a good and deep hole. “I’ve got his wedding present for us,” I said to shift the conversation. “He gave it to me earlier.”
When I pulled the silver bracelet from my pocket, Cora sat up, studying it carefully. “That was your mother’s.”
Her fingers touched the charms hanging from the bracelet, charms representing memories of all the places we’d traveled together before she died. From one of Mickey Mouse from the time she’d taken us to Disney World, to a spaceship from when we’d visited Cape Canaveral.
“Why would he give it to me instead of his wife one day?” she asked as I clasped it into place on her wrist.
That question was one of the few I could answer honestly. “Because he loves you.” I studied the bracelet on her wrist; it was a perfect fit. Then I glanced at the ring on her finger. I might have been the one who’d slid it into place there, but I wasn’t the one she wanted. I never had been. “You’re like the sister he never had and the wife he never will have.”
Her head shook against me. “He’ll find someone. I know it.” She exhaled, almost sounding sad. Was it pity? Or was it regret? I couldn’t be sure. “I can’t believe someone hasn’t snatched him up yet.”
I snorted, like I knew Jacob would have. “Matt?”
“Yes, Matt.” She blinked at me, one eyebrow raised. “Don’t pretend you don’t adore him. He’s a good man. You both are good men. I just want to see him happy like we are.”
Another break in my heart. It was a miracle there was still anything left to break after all of these years.
My arm tightened around her, my chin tucking over her head. “He is happy. I know it.”
He’d never been happier.
At least for the moment.
I loved him more than ever before.
It was a relief, because I hadn’t been sure how either one of us would feel once we were married. With some couples, it seemed like marriage made them fall more in love every day, and with others, more out of love.
Sitting in that limo, I knew for sure we were in that “more every day” category. I also knew I’d made the right decision. After everything—the doubts, the fights, the lies, the promises—I’d made the right decision. It was confirmed every time I looked into my new husband’s eyes. He didn’t just love me today—he’d love me forever.