Page 147 of An Inevitable Marriage

Chapter forty-two

Everlee

Wewalkedbackintothe ballroom, and I frowned when instead of heading back to our table, Liam guided me to a quiet spot at the back of the ballroom. I was about to ask him what was happening but before I could, the small group of people in front of us parted to reveal three people.

Three very important people.

“How?” I gasped, hands flying to my mouth and tears stinging my eyes. Somewhere in the back of my mind, a voice told me to move, to run to them, but I was frozen in place. It was only when my dad’s wheelchair wheeled to a stop in front of me that I finally moved.

Or rather, my mom and I moved at the same time, lunging for each other. I wrapped my arms around her shoulders while hers went around my waist. There was no stopping the tears.

Our bodies shook as weeks and weeks of emotion came streaming down our faces. I didn’t even care about my makeup. I’d happily look like a raccoon if it meant I could have this moment all over again.

After a while our sobbing finally tapered down to sniffles and my mom and I broke apart.

She immediately cupped my cheeks and held my gaze. “My sweet, sweet girl, I’m so sorry. You were never a disappointment. I’m afraid that title belongs to me.”

“No.” I shook my head.

My mom’s watery smile had me crying all over again. “What I should have told you from the beginning was how proud I am to be your mom. How proud I am of the strong, independent woman you grew up to be. In a few moments of weakness, I allowed my fears to take over. I’m so sorry I hurt you, Evie.”

“Mom,” I cried. And because I was too emotional to say anything else, I hugged her again. Only this time, another pair of arms wrapped around us both.

“I’m feeling the tiniest bit left out,” my sister sniffled.

My mom and I freed one arm to pull my sister into our hug. Over my mom’s shoulder, I noticed Liam standing with my dad, both of them staring at us with the same expression on their faces.

I stayed in that wonderful embrace for a bit longer, then broke away to kneel before my dad. We both laughed when the skirt of my dress puffed up like a big yellow cloud in front of us.

It took some maneuvering, but once I got the material under control, I could finally lean forward and hug him. More tears fell when I realized how close we’d come to losing him.

“Don’t scare us like that again, okay?” I whispered into his neck.

As before, with my mom and sister, I held on to my dad for a few long, precious moments. When I finally got to my feet, my mom stood next to Liam, and they talked like they knew each other.

Just then, my sister slipped her arm through mine and rested her head on my shoulder. “I seriously hope the universe loves me enough to send me a man who’ll fly out to see my parents and declare his undying love for me.”

“What?” My brows knitted together. “What are you talking about?”

“You don’t know?” Cece straightened and stared at me with her big, beautiful eyes. “Your husband went to see Mom and Dad a few weeks ago.” She told me how Liam and my mom had spent most of the day getting to know each other.

Mouth hanging open, I stared at my sister. Then my gaze snapped to Liam. “That’s where you were when you wouldn’t tell me?”

Eyes never leaving mine, he closed the distance between us. Taking my hands in his, he laced our fingers. “You were hurting so bad, all I wanted to do was take your pain and carry it myself. I couldn’t do that. But I could try to make things right.”

“So you went to see my mom, even though you knew she was furious?”

His smile was slow and sweet. “I’d walk through fire for you, Snow.”

He lowered his face to mine, but before our lips could lock, my sister all but yelled, “No. Nope. No smooching. It’s incredibly rude to eat in front of hungry people.”

“Cece!” our mom chided.

She just shrugged. “It’s true.”

Laughter broke out, and I swear, this time, it really felt as if my heart would burst from all the happiness.

But I should’ve known something else, something dark and ugly, lurked in the shadows, just waiting to slice through this beautiful moment.