Page 88 of Take Me to the Wedding

That was when she saw my face. And all the pain I couldn’t disguise. “Oh my God,” Wynn said. “What’s wrong?”

I’d never expected to open myself up to everyone all at once. And the struggle was oh, so painful. I realized then how little I told—well, anyone, but especially her. How I kept all my troubles to myself so that she could have this perfect life. Only I hadn’t made it perfect. My silence had just pulled us apart.

Mia stepped in because she knew I couldn’t. “Sam loves Caleb, but Lilly told Sam tonight thatshe’sin love with him. And long story short, because I don’t know if you know this, but your sister used to hate my brother until she started helping him get Lilly back a few weeks ago.”

“I sort of get that,” Wynn said, sitting down on the other side of me and resting a hand on my back. That simple gesture of comfort from my little sister undid me even more. “Caleb loves you too,” she said simply, as if it weren’t complicated at all. “I could tell. Plus I did Oma’s matchmaking test on you two.”

I sat up. “Wynn, no! Oma’s test is a bunch of—ofmalarky. It’s a fake. It’s gotten me into so much trouble. Doing it will only get you into trouble too.”

“No, it won’t,” she said very calmly. “It works.”

“When did you do that?” I thought of that night in Caleb’s apartment, when we were fighting. And driving her to the D’Angelos. I couldn’t recall her ever stopping to touch both of us at the same time.

“I did it on the way out the door to get ice cream the other night. I handed Caleb his crutch, and I touched you at the same time.”

I’d had no idea. “The fact that you did that for me is—really sweet. And clever. But it doesn’t change the fact that the test isn’t real.”

Wynn opened her mouth to protest, but before she could, Mia spoke. “Okay, forget about Oma’s test for now, ladies.” She was all business. “We have other problems.”

I looked at my sister. So young. So worried-looking on my behalf. “I’m sorry, Wynn.” I grabbed her hand. “I’m sorry for not sharing more of my life with you. I thought that I was protecting you from pain. But I was only preventing us from being closer.”

“I know you do everything for me,” she said. “I was a brat about Oma’s house. I knew you did what you had to.” She paused, seeming to be thinking of what to say. “It is kind of nice to see that you’re not perfect either. And you shouldn’t have been so nice to Lilly.”

My sister had just bowled me over with maturity and compassion. I should have breakdowns more often if this is what they led to.

“Okay, I’m glad you two have resolved things,” Mia said. “But focus, people. A few weeks ago at the farm, we all saw how you and Caleb were laughing, joking, and eyeballing each other—it didn’t take a rocket scientist for Lilly to see what was happening.”

“Are you saying that Lillyplannedthis?” That had crossed my mind, but Mia saying it confirmed my deepest worry.

“I don’t know,” Mia said. “But telling you she’s in love with Caleb is a great way to get you out of her way.”

“That’s devious,” Wynn said.

“This is the same woman who used to feign headaches to get out of having dinner with us when we’d go to see Caleb in Milwaukee.”

Nice.

“What are you going to do now?” Wynn asked.

“I mean, he left with Lilly,” I said. “I haven’t seen him since.”

“Caleb wouldn’t go off with her to like, to be with her,” Wynn said.

As I sat there thinking of the mess I’d created, my own words that I’d said to Ani came back to me, paraphrased of course.You don’t need anyone to tell you what’s in your heart.

If I loved Caleb, that meant that I also trusted him. He’d already chosen me over Lilly. Why hadn’t I believed that? If I had, I never would have given him a straight path back into Lilly’s arms. This bitter truth left me cold.

“What are you going to do?” Wynn asked.

This was exactly why I’d vowed not to fall in love—it made your life an absolute mess. But it was my mess, and I would do anything to fix it. “I need to find him and tell him that I love him and that I messed up.”

Mia’s phone rang. “Hi. Yes, of course,” she said. “Sure. We’ll be right there.”

I could tell from the solemn expression on her face that something was wrong. “What is it?”

“It’s Ani. She needs us.”

Before I got up, I grabbed my phone.I’m sorry,I texted Caleb.Please forgive me. That was all I had time for.

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