Page 100 of Where the Roses Bloom

And I could tell he meant it.

CHAPTER 34

Willow

The house smelled like roses.

It was the first time in weeks that I’d caught that familiar scent…the scent I associated with Hazel’s meddling, with the clues we’d followed out into the woods when we broke the curse. I couldn’t find a source for it, but I knew I would track it down eventually—that I would find roses blooming out of season on a windowsill, or a thorny vine growing through a crack in the wall.

That was the Ward house…our house.

And I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Delilah was setting out makeup on the vanity in the bedroom, placing everything in order like she was laying out an altar; Jasmine had brought her curling iron and what felt like hundreds of gold bobby pins; and June sat cross-legged on the bed, weaving lavender into a flower crown like she did it professionally.

Meanwhile, I was still in my pajamas, hair drying from the shower, not entirely sure what I was supposed to wear to this kind of event…especially when I still hadn’t replenished my wardrobe after leaving Carter.

“Ireally can’t just wear a sundress?” I asked, eyeing the little floral number I’d set out that morning. “We’re getting married in the backyard. I didn’t exactly pack Vera Wang.”

“Well, you’renotwearing that,” Delilah said with a scowl. “I’m calling around to try to figure out if we can find a dress that fits you…somebody has to have something.”

“But I’d much rather?—”

“You arewearing whitelike agoddamn maiden priestess,” Delilah snapped. “Trust me, we all know you ain’t no maiden?—”

June snorted, shaking her head.

“—but that doesn’t change the fact that you deserve to look like a princess.”

I wanted to argue, but I kept my mouth shut…because they had no ideajust how much of a maiden I wasn’t.The pregnancy was still new, but we’d decided to keep it hushed up for now until we could finish this whole shindig and drive out to the clinic in Perry.

Still…the knowledge buzzed under my skin like honeybees. I kept catching myself touching my belly when no one was look, just resting a hand there. Just…feeling.

Jasmine looked up from her hair stuff, cocking her head at me. “You’re glowing.”

“I’m hot,” I muttered, ducking my head. “And not in a fun way.”

She chuckled. “Sure.”

Before I could formulate a response, a knock came at the door—soft, hesitant. We all exchanged a look, my brow furrowing as Delilah stepped toward the door ready to go to war; Rhett had been trying to come in and see me all day, but Delilah was a stickler for the rules.

“I swear to God, if that’s you, Rhett Ward…” Delilah started—but a different voice came through the door, muffled.

“It’s Silas.”

Delilah blinked and backed up a step. “Oh,” she said—then she cracked the door, peeked through…and opened it all the way.

Silas stood there like he wasn’t sure if he should have knocked at all, dressed for the wedding already in a plain linen dress shirt and jeans. He held a bundle of white cloth like it was breakable, so carefully folded that it shocked me to see his calloused hands on it. His eyes darted past me toward June, then back.

“I brought you somethin’,” he said. “Figured you could use it rather than just…lettin’ it continue to collect dust.”

I wasn’t sure what it was, but Delilah seemed to have already figured it out. Her hand flew up to cover her mouth, her eyes glistening as she let him past. He didn’t look at me as he set the bundle down on the bed beside me, then took a step back.

“It was uh…” he paused to clear his throat. “It was Amelia’s. She never got to wear it. I…I kept it. Didn’t know why. Couldn’t let it go.”

No one spoke. Jasmine audibly gasped, while June dropped the flower crown on the bedspread. Delilah just stared at Silas like she was seeing him for the first time in years.

“She picked it out two weeks before the accident,” he said. “It came back from the tailor after the funeral, after she was um…after she was buried.” His mouth twisted into a sad smile. “I think she’d want you to wear it. You were the same size, so?—”