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In most crowds, that would inspire more questions, but with my family, that’s usually enough to shut people down. It’s better to be in law or medicine or politics.

We claim seats in the back, and I open my clutch to text Harrison and say I’m sorry for what happened earlier. He was being unreasonable, but his intuition wasn’t wrong.

I’ve been dreading this day, and I have been keeping him at a distance.

Still, I wish Harrison was with me now—not as protection but because I enjoy his company. The vineyard makes me wonder whether he’d like it or scoff at the natural flowers, which Callie told me cost thousands. If, when pressed, he’d say something like, “If you’re going to spend on flowers, make it look like you did.”

“What’s wrong?” my cousin asks when I curse.

“My phone is missing. Maybe I dropped it.” I stand and dash up the aisle to the main building but run smack into a tuxedo-clad form on the way. I look up to see my brother’s equally surprised face. “Kian!”

“Rae. Shit, it’s good to see you.”

“You look great. I haven’t seen you in anything other than scrubs in years.”

“I haven’t seen you in anything in years,” he points out. “You haven’t come home.”

“I know.” Loaded tension settles between us, and I swallow hard.

“It’s okay,” he says before I can find words. “I forgive you.”

I lift a brow. “You forgive me?”

“Yeah. I mean, when you left for arts school and never came back to visit, even when you worked in LA, I took it personally. But I’m your big brother, and I know I was caught up in my own shit with med school. So, I forgive you. It’s that easy.”

Suddenly, the music starts. As I look around, I’m thinking of all the good times we had as kids, and the heavy stuff falls away.

“This is a big day,” I murmur.

“Start of forever,” he agrees, looking nervous for the first time I can remember. “I keep thinking she’ll come to her senses and say no. Like the officiant will say, ‘Do you?’ and she’ll respond, ‘Fuck this noise. I’m out.’ I never thought I’d be getting married. But life changes you, right?”

My throat tightens as I nod. “You have your something old, new, borrowed, and blue?”

“Think that’s a bride thing, sis.”

I tear a tiny piece of lace off the overlay hem of my dress. “Here. It’s repurposed vintage and borrowed. Just in case.”

His eyes soften, and he pulls me in for a hug.

When Kian heads to the altar to take his place, I remember my missing phone.

It’s too late to go look for it before the start of the ceremony.

I huff out a breath as I slump back in my seat.

“Did you see Kian?” Callie asks when I sink back into my chair.

“He looks good. Happy.”

She squeezes my hand. “Are you happy?”

“I will be,” I say.

There’s a man I care about, and the second I get back to LA, I’ll tell him how badly I wished he’d been by my side today.

The procession music begins, and the first couple comes down the aisle. My attention lingers on the bridesmaid’s dress. The hem kisses the ground as she walks.

“Pretty sure I heard them fucking in the cellar when I got here,” Callie comments, and I swallow a laugh.