Page 23 of If You Loved Me

“Okay, before we get into the magazines, I need to give you something.”

“Okay,” I drew out the word.

She grabbed the wooden box from the top of the magazines and handed it to me. On top of the lid in hand-painted letters was:I can’t say “I do” without you.

Tears pricked at my eyes as I realized what this box meant. “Go on. Open it,” she whispered and I could hear the emotion in her voice too.

I slid the top off and nestled in a bed of crinkle paper was a beautiful wine glass and matching champagne flute that had deep reds, yellows, and greens blown into the surface with a gold rim on the top. Beside them was a burgundy jewelry box and a stationary envelope lay just below it. I opened the card, blinking away the tears so I could see better.

Sarah,

It’s hard to believe just how far we’ve come in life together. I will never forget the first day I met you and how I was sitting all alone in the lunch room and you decided to takea chance on me. I will never be able to repay you for the kindness you showed me as a little girl, knowing just how different I was from you. But I promise to love you as my best friend every single day. It would be my honor to have you stand next to me as I marry Johnny. You believed in our love, even when I didn’t and there’s no one else I’d rather have by my side.

Love,

Willow

I was full-on ugly crying as I looked up at Willow. She had the same tears running down her face as I set the box aside and tackle-hugged her. “Of course I’ll be there with you!”

We both laughed, rocking back and forth as we hugged each other fiercely. I wiped the tears from her face and squished her cheeks between my palms. “I’m so freaking excited, Willow! You’re getting married! And I get to be the sexy bridesmaid standing next to you.” My hands fell from her face. She caught them, cradling them with her own in the space between our crossed legs.

“Bridesmaid? No.” She shook her head. “You’re my maid of honor, Sarah.”

“Well, shit. I like the sound of that. Maid ofhonor. Yup. Definitely has a ring to it.” We both laughed again beforesettling next to each other, our backs leaning against the edge of the sofa.

I grabbed our glasses of wine from the small serving tray on the floor and handed hers to her. She took a long sip, eyeing me over the rim of the glass. “Alright. We need to catch up before we do any wedding stuff. I feel like I’ve barely seen you lately.”

“I know,” I groaned. “The bakery is doing great. Even during the weekdays, there seems to be a never-ending flow of people. It’s awesome.”

“That makes me so happy! I remember how bummed you were when you lost Tommy’s birthday account. I still can’t believe your mom called his mother and told her she should get his cake done by someone else.”

Heat crept up my neck. “I haven’t even told you about Sunday night’s dinner last week.”

Willow’s nose scrunched. “Sunday night dinner? I didn’t think y’all still did that.”

“We don’t. But the moment Theo came back to town, my mother decided it was going to be a thing again.”

Her eyes widened. “How is Theo by the way?”

“If you disregard his three broken ribs, I’d say he’s doing great.”

“Holy shit. Three?”

I nodded as I took a sip of wine. “I don’t love that my brother is doing something so dangerous, but he looks happier than I’ve ever seen him and I know he would have been miserable if he completed law school.”

“Yeah, he’s never really been the intense type. I’msurprised your parents pushed him to pursue that when it’s so obvious he doesn’t have the personality for it.”

“I don’t think they’ve ever taken us into consideration when they started planning our lives. But at least he’s doing what he wants now instead of pursuing something that would never make him happy.”

“I think you showed him that path, Sarah. When you went against everything you knew and followed your heart, it showed everyone in your life that nothing was impossible. I think Theo saw your success despite having no support from your parents and decided he wanted that for himself too. What you’ve done is inspiring.” She gripped my hand.

“It still makes me so angry that they can’t accept it. We basically spent the entire dinner fighting about how they think I’m leading Stephanie down the wrong path because she decided to stay here and pursue baking instead of going off to college.” I rolled my eyes, feeling the frustration from that night simmering in my chest.

“It’s not right that they’re blaming you for that. Especially when it’s Stephanie’s decision to make, not yours. The only thing you’ve done is provide her support.”

“Yup.” My lips popped at the word. I stretched my legs out in a V shape as I rubbed my open palm along the top of my thighs.

“Did your mom bring up the dating thing again?” Willow asked.

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