“Probably not enough. For flying off to Ireland with me, for being there when I wallowed, and for fixing everything in the end.”
“I wouldn’t say fixing every….”
“Stop. Don’t push it away. Listen. Thank you. You are the most amazing friend I could ask for. Thank you.”
“Well, if it weren’t for you, I never would have met Finn.”
Bonnie set down her mimosa, giving her friend her full attention and importance for this one moment in her day.
“We’ll make the book work,” she reassured her. “We’ll do whatever it takes.”
Penelope nodded, very aware that this was not her time to become morose but struggling to decide if that was what she wanted. To be a writer, yes. Everything had happened so fast that she hadn’t even let that reality sink in. But to leave her home, teaching, her life, and her parents, for Ireland? For Finn.
“Don’t you dare start crying,” Bonnie warned her. “If you cry, I’ll cry. And they spent way too long on our make-up to do it again.”
So instead, she laughed, a light, hysterical kind of laugh, knowing she wasn’t fooling either of them. But she also knew that if she started crying now, she might not be able to stop. And that really wasn’t an option.
A knock on the door brought the conversation to an end.
“Dresses are here,” called a voice from the other side.
Penelope was beginning to regret not drinking that mimosa. Having made it down the aisle, she stood nervously in front of the crowd of people wearing the seafoam green dress her friend had picked out for her. It wasn’t the color she had an issue with; it was how far it plunged in front as well as in back. If you couldeven call it having a back. Lucky for Bonnie, she was too relieved this moment was actually happening to dispute wearing it.
She was also trying to scan the guests, without being too obvious, to decipher which were Finn’s parents. She didn’t get very far before the music changed.
There was an audible gasp as the bride, radiant in a long ivory dress that revealed her shoulders and clung flatteringly to every curve of her figure, began her approach on the arm of her father. Her thick strawberry-blonde hair was up in a bun, with long strands framing her face. Her smile was wide, and her eyes were locked on Felix.
The groom was equally transfixed with his bride. Besotted was the word that came to mind as he stood in his black suit and bow tie, Finn (his replacement best man) at his side in matching attire, enraptured by every step of her approach.
The vows were said with such sincerity that there wasn’t a dry eye in the crowd. Penelope even caught her dad wiping away a tear.
For all that they’d gone through to get there, it seemed to happen very quickly. Before Penelope knew it, the “I do's” were being said, rings were exchanged, and they were kissing.
She was still staring at the newlywed couple, grinning like a fool, when Finn stepped over to take her arm. “We have to follow them out,” he reminded her, his eyes dancing with mirth, his ever-unruly hair flopping over his forehead.
“Oh, right. Of course. Sorry.”
Finn nodded and smiled at the crowd as they walked back down the aisle. His hand snaked around her waist as soon as they’d made it past the rows of chairs. “Please remind me to thank Bonnie for this dress,” he said lustily.
“Finn,” she protested, “Your parents could be anywhere. I could actually kill her for this dress if I weren’t so damn happy for her.”
“No, not anywhere,” he corrected her. “Right here. Mam. Dad.”
There wasn’t any need to call out. They were already beelining it straight for them, Finn’s mother very much in the lead.
“Finally, we get to meet the girl,” she said, swooping in to hug Penelope before even acknowledging her son. “I feel like he’s been keeping you hidden.”
“Stop that now. Mam, Dad, this is Penelope North,” he said, presenting her formally. “Penelope. These are my parents, Kay and Sean.”
Sean scooched his wife out of the way, giving her a less aggressive greeting. “It’s lovely to meet you,” he said warmly.
“It’s very lovely to meet both of you,” she echoed.
“Pictures!” Bonnie called, pausing long enough to give her aunt and uncle a hug. “We have to do pictures, Aunt Kay. Then you can have her back.”
For the next twenty minutes, they were posed this way and that, following the photographer’s orders. Anytime Finn was anywhere near her, he let his fingers trail enticingly across the bare skin on her back, making it very hard to concentrate on what she was supposed to be doing. But by the time she finished doing the solo pictures of herself and Bonnie, he had disappeared.
His mother, however, had not. Kay saw her moment and swiftly moved in, whisking her away.
