PROLOGUE #2
“Sorry. Haven’t seen him yet.” Lance’s brow furrowed. “Did you want to wait for him?”
“Nope.” Cami grinned. “I have a man to marry. I’m sure he’ll understand.”
“No doubt.” Lance stuck his elbow out. “Let’s get you hitched.”
Amy followed Lily out the door, a bit disappointed that Will wasn’t there yet, but still very excited for her brother and Cami.
As she walked down the aisle, she smiled at her brothers.
Colin grinned in return, but Josh’s expression was tight with nerves, and he barely looked at her, his gaze going to the rear of the chapel.
Her heart swelled with the thought of one day having a man—Will, hopefully—be so eager for her appearance that he had eyes for no one else.
Once she’d taken her place on the small stage with Lily, the back doors opened again, and Lance and Cami appeared.
As the two slowly walked toward them, Amy looked at Josh and saw that the tense nervousness had left his face.
His gaze was glued on his bride as she made her way to him, and Amy could see the love radiating between them.
Oh, how anxious she was for the day she would be in Cami’s position on her way to Will.
Just before Cami reached the front, Amy looked out over the people gathered there, but still didn’t find the face she sought.
Though it was just family and close friends, they still managed to fill over half the pews.
And more than one woman was dabbing at their eyes as they watched Josh take Cami’s hand.
Resolutely putting aside her thoughts about Will for the moment, Amy turned to face the pastor when Josh and Cami did.
She took Cami’s bouquet and held it with her own as the ceremony got underway.
Amy blinked back tears when Cami and Josh sang a song they’d written together just for their wedding and then listened as they pledged their love to each other before exchanging rings.
When the pastor pronounced them husband and wife, the people clapped and cheered. Amy couldn’t help grinning when her brother wrapped his arms around Cami and gave her a long kiss. Her teenage heart soaked up the romance, and she sighed in delight.
As she followed the bridal couple up the aisle to the back doors of the chapel, Amy’s gaze landed on Will and her heart skipped a beat.
There he stood, looking tanned and a little more buff than she remembered.
However, his dark brown was still cut short, and he had a familiar broad grin on his face as he clapped.
He was looking at his sister and new brother-in-law, but it wasn’t until she got closer to where he stood that Amy realized he wasn’t alone.
Fighting a slow-spreading sick feeling, Amy forced her gaze away from Will and kept a smile pasted on her face as they left the sanctuary.
She gave Josh and Cami a big hug, congratulating them.
It wasn’t long before the rest of the congregation spilled into the foyer as well.
Amy stepped away from the crowd and pressed back against the wall so she wasn’t in the way.
She tried very hard to keep a smile on her face, but as she saw Will approach Cami and Josh, it was nearly impossible.
He hugged his sister, shook hands with Josh and then slipped his arm around the young woman standing next to him.
Even from this distance, Amy could see the smile on Cami’s face change as Will introduced the woman to them.
Amy looked away, not wanting to meet her new sister-in-law’s gaze.
Thankfully, Cami’s nieces, Rose and Addy approached her then, and Amy bent her head to talk to the young girls.
Back at the manor, the caterer had the food all set up for the reception. It reminded Amy of the Christmas they’d spent at Collingsworth when there had been a whole bunch of people gathered for the dinner.
“Are you okay?” Cami asked as she sat down. As the maid of honor, Amy was seated beside Cami, so there had been no way to avoid her.
“I’m fine.” Amy hoped the smile she gave her would back up her words.
Cami took her hand and leaned close. “Listen, sweetie, I want you to hear this from me because I have a feeling he’s going to announce it soon. The woman with Will, she’s not his girlfriend.”
Focusing on Cami’s last comment, hope flickered to life. “She’s not?” Amy met Cami’s gaze and saw the sadness there. No.
“She’s his wife.”
Amy felt as if all the air had been squeezed from her lungs. His wife? How was that possible? She’d been so sure that God had wanted him to marry her. She stared down at her lap where Cami’s hand still gripped hers.
God, I don’t understand why You let this happen, but the least You can do is help me get through this. I don’t want to ruin Cami and Josh’s day.
She looked up at Cami and smiled. “I’ll be fine.”
“We’ll talk about this later. Okay?”
At that moment, Amy was reminded again why she was so glad that Cami had married her brother.
She’d never been super close to her own older sister, Bethany, and she had always suspected it had to do with more than just their age gap.
In Cami, she’d found the relationship she’d always wanted to have with a sister.
“Don’t worry about me. Just enjoy your wedding. I’m so happy for you and Josh.”
Cami pulled her close for a hug and then released her. “We will talk later.”
The evening didn’t follow the normal reception traditions.
It resembled a big family dinner with a few of the guests dressed more formally than the rest. There had been no tossing of the bouquet or long speeches, and the evening hadn’t dragged on as the wedding couple planned to head to a cabin about an hour away for their honeymoon.
Amy pulled her jacket close as she stood on the porch of the manor with the rest of the guests and waved goodbye when her brother and Cami pulled away in Josh’s truck.
As she watched the red taillights disappear, Amy suddenly felt very alone.
No one knew how she was feeling except for Cami.
Somehow she had to make it through the next few days before she and her family left for home.
She didn’t know when she’d next see her brother and sister-in-law, but she hoped it wouldn’t be too long.
Once back in the manor, the family crowded around Will to offer their congratulations to him and his new wife.
Delia. That was her name. Amy allowed herself to really look at the woman for the first time.
She appeared to be Asian with long, jet-black hair and large brown eyes.
As she stood next to Will, Amy could see that Delia was dainty, the top of her head not even reaching Will’s shoulder.
She had a beautiful smile and readily shared it with those around them.
The sick feeling wouldn’t be suppressed any longer as she watched them.
Pressing a hand to her stomach, she tried to look away, but she couldn’t.
On Will’s face was the same love she’d seen on Josh’s not that long ago.
Only it wasn’t directed at her like she’d dreamed.
This dainty, exotic woman was the recipient of what she had thought would be hers.
And if Delia was what Will wanted in a woman, Amy realized she would never have had a chance with Will anyway, because the woman he’d chosen to love was the opposite of her in pretty much every way.
Finally able to turn away from the sight of the happy couple, Amy climbed the stairs to her room. Just for tonight she would let herself weep for the heartache of a shattered dream. But tomorrow she would pull herself back together—she had to—and guard her heart much more carefully in the future.