Chapter 32
By the time Beth reached Kalispell, Kayla was already waiting outside the bridal boutique.
Her daughter stood beneath the striped awning with a coffee in one hand and her phone in the other. The moment she spotted Beth’s truck, she lifted her phone and waved it enthusiastically.
Beth smiled as she pulled into a parking space.
There were days when Kayla looked so grown-up that Beth could hardly connect the confident young woman in front of her with the little girl who used to climb into her bed during thunderstorms.
Then there were moments like this.
Kayla hurried across the sidewalk before Beth had even closed the truck door. “Are you ready, Mom?”
“For you to try on your wedding dress?”
Kayla nodded and Beth looked toward the boutique. She’d known this day was coming. She’d helped Kayla choose the dress months ago. She’d talked about alterations and shoes and whether Kayla should wear her hair up or down.
But somehow, knowing they were here for the final fitting made everything seem much more real. In a few weeks, her daughter was getting married.
Kayla studied her face. “Mom?”
“I’m ready.”
“You look like you’re about to cry.”
Beth slipped her arm through Kayla’s. This should be a happy day, not filled with tears. “It’s a big day. Let’s go inside before I get even more emotional.”
The boutique smelled faintly of roses and something sweet Beth couldn’t identify. Soft music played in the background, and sunlight poured through the front windows, catching on rows of white and ivory dresses.
A woman named Melanie greeted them and disappeared into the back to collect Kayla’s dress.
Beth sat on a pale pink chair outside the fitting room while Kayla went inside to change.
“How’s the arts center?” Kayla called through the curtain.
“Good. Busy.”
“Dave still helping?”
Beth narrowed her eyes at the curtain. “Yes.” There was a suspicious pause.
“That’s nice.”
Beth knew that tone. “He’s my friend.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You didn’t have to.”
Kayla laughed.
Beth shook her head, but she was smiling. She hadn’t told Kayla about dinner with Dave. Not yet. It was too new. Too precious, perhaps. She wanted to keep the memory of sitting across from him in the café to herself for a little while longer.
The way he’d held her hand.
The expression on his face when she’d told him she liked him for more than the pie. She’d thought about that moment far too many times since.
“Okay,” Kayla called. “I’m coming out.”
Beth straightened.
The curtain opened, and every thought about Dave disappeared.
Kayla stepped onto the small platform in front of the mirrors.
Beth stopped breathing. The dress was beautiful. She knew that already. But the first time, the gown had been too long and loose in places, held together at the back with clips while everyone discussed hems and seams.
Now it fit her perfectly.
The fabric skimmed Kayla’s waist before falling into a soft, flowing skirt. The square neckline was simple and elegant, and the tiny buttons running down the back made it look timeless. But it wasn’t the dress that brought tears to Beth’s eyes. It was her daughter.
Kayla turned toward the mirror, smoothing her hands over the skirt. “What do you think, Mom?”
Beth opened her mouth, but nothing came out.
Kayla looked at her reflection and smiled. “That good, huh?”
Beth pressed her fingers against her lips, then hunted in her pockets for some tissues.
“Oh, Mom.”
Finally, Beth said, “You look beautiful.”
Kayla’s smile trembled.
Beth stood and walked toward her. “Absolutely beautiful.”
Kayla opened her arms. “Don’t cry, Mom.”
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
Beth held her daughter tight. “I’m allowed to.” When she stepped back, Kayla was blinking quickly.
“If you cry, I’ll cry,” Kayla said softly. “And Melanie will charge us extra for getting mascara on the dress.”
From somewhere behind the curtain, Melanie laughed.
Beth held Kayla’s hands, and for a moment, neither of them spoke. She remembered tiny fingers wrapped around hers on Kayla’s first day of school. A teenager slamming a bedroom door because Beth had refused to extend her curfew. A young woman leaving home, determined to build a life of her own.
And now this. “I can’t believe you’re getting married,” Beth told her daughter.
Kayla squeezed her hands. “Neither can I sometimes.”
Beth looked at their reflection in the mirror. Something was missing. No, it wasn’t something. It was someone. The thought came quietly, but the ache behind it was familiar. Jessie should have been here.
He should have been sitting beside Beth’s chair, pretending he wasn’t emotional. He would have teased Kayla about how much the dress cost, and then told her she looked stunning before going outside so they didn’t see him cry.
Beth swallowed.
Kayla’s eyes met hers in the mirror. “I wish Dad was here.”
The words broke something open inside Beth. She held her daughter again, being extra careful not to crush the dress. “So do I, sweetheart.”
Kayla didn’t worry about the fabric. She held on tightly.
Beth closed her eyes. She could almost hear Jessie telling them not to ruin a perfectly good day by crying over him. The thought made her smile through her tears.
“Dad would have loved Tyler,” Kayla whispered.
“He would.” Beth eased back enough to look at her daughter. “He would have asked him a thousand questions to see whether he was good enough for you.”
Kayla smiled.
“And then,” Beth continued, “he would have taken him fishing.”
“Tyler hates fishing.”
“Your father wouldn’t have cared.”
Kayla laughed and wiped her eyes.
Beth did the same. “He’d be proud of you,” she said softly. “So proud.”
Kayla’s chin wobbled again. “Mom.”
“It’s true,” Beth told her daughter.
“I thought we were done crying.”
Beth’s smile trembled. “I never agreed to that.”
Kayla laughed and hugged her again.
A few minutes later, Melanie returned to check the hem and make one tiny adjustment near Kayla’s shoulder. Beth sat down again, watching as her daughter turned slowly in front of the mirrors.
Eventually, Kayla’s smile returned. “Uncle Ryan called me yesterday.”
Beth’s heart gave a small jump. “He did?”
“He gets back from Australia next week.”
“I know.” Ryan had called Beth a few nights ago from Sydney.
They’d talked for nearly an hour, although at least twenty minutes of that had involved him complaining about the price of food and telling her about places he’d visited.
Then he’d asked about the wedding. More specifically, about walking Kayla down the aisle with Beth.
Her brother was nervous. Not about walking beside Kayla. He adored his niece. Ryan was worried about doing something that had always been Jessie’s to do.
Beth hadn’t known what to say at first. In the end, she’d told him the truth. Jessie would have been grateful that Ryan was there.
Kayla turned sideways to study the dress. “He said he’s bringing me something from Australia.”
“That sounds ominous.”
“That’s what I thought.”
Beth watched Melanie place another pin on the right-hand side of the bodice. “Did Uncle Ryan give you any clues?”
Kayla shook her head. “No. He said it’s a surprise.”
Beth smiled. “Knowing your uncle, it’s either something wonderful or completely ridiculous.”
Kayla glanced at her in the mirror. “Even if it’s ridiculous, I’m glad you’re both walking me down the aisle. I know Dad should be there. But he can’t be. And I don’t want the whole day to feel like we’re trying to fill the place where he should have been.”
Beth stared at her daughter.
Kayla looked down at the front of her dress. “I just want the people I love around me.”
For some reason, those words touched Beth even more deeply than the tears had. She stood and walked toward the platform again. “Your uncle loves you very much.”
“I know.”
“He’ll be honored to walk with us.” What Beth didn’t tell her was that Ryan was terrified he’d cry before they made it halfway down the aisle. Or that he’d asked Beth three separate times whether she thought Jessie would really be okay with it.
Those were Ryan’s worries to share if he wanted to. Beth knew the answer anyway. Jessie had loved his family fiercely. He wouldn’t want an empty space beside Kayla simply because he couldn’t fill it himself.
Kayla looked at her reflection again. “It’s going to be a good day, isn’t it?”
Beth stood beside her. “It will be amazing.” In the mirror, she saw herself next to the little girl she’d raised. Except Kayla wasn’t a little girl anymore.
She was a woman about to marry someone she loved. She had plans and dreams and a life that was becoming more her own with every passing year.
Kayla rested her head briefly against Beth’s. “I bet Uncle Ryan brings me a stuffed kangaroo.”
Beth laughed. “That sounds like something he’d do.”
Kayla smiled.
Standing together in front of the mirror, surrounded by white dresses and afternoon sunlight, Beth wished she could hold on to the moment forever. Not because it was perfect. Jessie was missing. There would always be moments when his absence caught them unexpectedly.
But there was so much love here, too. Beth looked at her daughter and realized that maybe that was what moving forward really meant.
Not leaving anyone behind. Just making room for all the people they still had to love.