Page 107 of Hope After Loss

“He’d tell me to run toward happiness.”

She brings her hands to my shoulders and squeezes. “Then, what are you waiting for? I like him. Weston. The way he flew us down here to surprise you and the way he looks at you and loves on Kaela. He’s something else,” she states.

“He sure is,” Mom agrees.

I smile at her and then bring my eyes back to my mother-in-law.

“The day I married Mike was the best day of my life,” I whisper.

“Oh, honey, in our lifetime, we have lots of wonderful days. Many, many great memories are made. But here’s the thing, kiddo: you don’t know which one is the best day of your life until the end, when you look back. It could still be ahead of you. So, you have to keep living to find out.”

Anna

Sara-Beth invited us over to her house for dinner before Mom and Sheila have to return to Kansas.

She ran Hilton off and invited all the girls, so after dinner, Sara-Beth, Leona, Mom, and Sheila take Kaela and sit out on the deck while the rest of us sit at the dining room table, addressing the invitations for Graham and Taeli’s wedding, which will be taking place at Shining Rock Winery in September. They had initially planned a spring wedding but Taeli decided she preferred the fall when the trees are in full color.

“Anyone else feel like we were led here under false pretenses?” Erin asks.

“Hey, Taeli is right there,” Jena says as she nods in Taeli’s direction.

“I can hear you.”

“We’re happy to help,” Jena says loudly.

“Better,” Taeli quips.

She divvies up the list, and Erin and I split the envelopes to hand-address and pass them off for Ansley and Jena to stuff. Maxi and Taeli add the stamps and toss them into the box used for outgoing mail at the Rocky Pass office.

“How does Isley keep getting out of this work?” Erin asks.

“There’s a town hall meeting tonight,” Jena says.

“There is?”

“Yeah, they’re discussing the school budget or something. Trent went.”

Trent is Jena’s husband. They have a nine-year-old daughter in the Balsam Ridge school system.

“That’s no excuse,” Erin gripes.

“She is the mayor,” Maxi reminds her.

“Yeah, well, she milks it. Brandee works for her, and she makes it to everything.”

“That’s because I take my job a lot less seriously than she does. Besides, she promises she’ll be there tomorrow night, and that’s more important.”

Tomorrow, we’re having an early bachelorette party for Ansley.

The guys wanted to throw one for Garrett while he was in town. He extended his stay as long as he could but has to leave to finish the end of his tour next week and will only be back for two days to be in Graham’s wedding before he comes back for his own. Therefore, they decided tomorrow night is the night, and Taeli and Erin announced that we’d go ahead and do one for Ansley the same night.

Brandee shifts her eyes to me. “So, now that the moms are out of earshot, Anna, how was your weekend in Asheville?” she asks.

I look up from the envelope in my hand. “It was good.”

She raises an eyebrow. “How good?”

The question gets Erin’s attention, and she looks between us.