Chapter Five Ivy
I've been to enough weddings at Mountain Laurel to know how they usually go. The happy couple, the toasts, the dancing, it all follows a familiar pattern. But nothing about tonight feels normal, because nothing about the way Maddox keeps looking at me feels like pretend.
The reception is in full swing, the lodge's grand ballroom transformed by hundreds of twinkling lights. Sarah and Jack are lost in their own world on the dance floor, and the atmosphere is infectious. Everyone's laughing, dancing, celebrating.