Page 43 of While You're There
Until I see you again,
Mom
She hadn’t had a chance to show Rhett the letter, but she told him all about the necklace when his fingers brushed against it during their first dance. The beautiful irony was that her mom did, in fact, know the man she was marrying. She had known him since he was six years old. Her mother knew him, and she had loved him. That Tori knew for sure thanks to the second envelope her father handed her after she opened the necklace. He called it the “only if” letter, which made sense once she read the second handwritten note from her mom.
Sweet girl,
If you are reading this letter, please remind your father that he owes me $50. I always knew you were going to end up with Everhett Wheeler.
Tori grinned at the opening line, tickled to see a bit of her mother’s humor on the page. The letter continued:
Give Rhett all my love. Oh what I wouldn’t give to see you two dancing together at your wedding! It seems silly to think about that now as I write this letter, considering you’re only eleven years old, but a mother always knows. If that boy loves you with the same kind of ferocity he displayed as your friend growing up, then I know for a fact that you’ve made the right choice.
I want to tell you a secret. Although I’m sure it drove him crazy, I made your father swear to me that he would never mend the broken spot in the fence. He didn’t understand why I was so insistent, but I’m sure I made a big enough fuss that he wouldn’t dare fix it.
Sometimes we don’t see what’s right in front of us when it’s whole. Sometimes we don’t realize the true value of something until it breaks. And sometimes a broken fence is meant to stay broken. Otherwise, nothing gets through. Not even the good things.
Take care of one another, and remember that there’s beauty in the broken. That’s how the love gets in.
All my blessings and all my love,
Mom
She had always wondered if her mom had any inklings about her future relationship with Rhett. They hadn’t officially started dating until they were fourteen years old. It had always been him, and her mom obviously knew it.
Tori held both letters to her chest, trying to absorb all the love and wisdom her mom bestowed upon her when she penned them years ago.
“Hey, V, you okay in there?”
Rhett’s soft knock on the bathroom door brought her mind back to the present moment. She had no idea how long she’d been standing there, lost in thought, treading through memories. She let out a long breath to steady herself before responding.
“I’m good. I’ll be right out.”
She ran her hands down the see-through lace bodysuit she had picked out for tonight. She and Lia had made time earlier in the week to go shopping. Her best friend had encouraged her to break in the new rose gold Amex Rhett had ordered in her name.He didn’t know it yet, but she had an entire suitcase of lingerie and new bathing suits packed for their honeymoon. The lingerie was for their trip, but she had also made good use of it earlier that day during her secret boudoir shoot. Rhett wasn’t the only one who could pull off a surprise.
Tori finished wiping the lipstick off her mouth and swapped it out for her favorite sweet mint lip balm. She left the rest of her professionally applied makeup in place, and she didn’t dare touch the perfectly pinned curls of her hair. Rhett had leaned in close during the fireworks and mentioned something about messing up her hair just like he did on prom night. She was willing and eager to recreate that memory with him. She took in a deep breath, filling her lungs to capacity, before she finally turned and opened the bathroom door.
She stepped into the master bedroom—theirmaster bedroom—and felt his gaze land on her immediately. He was perched on the end of the bed, stripped down to nothing but his suit pants.
Damn. He looked so good. Her husband was hot as hell.
“Fuck me,” he groaned as she made her way across the room to join him.
“Oh, I fully intend to, husband.”
“Seriously, V. You lookamazing. You’re a knockout. I don’t even know what this thing is, but I want to rip it off your body right now.”
“I’ll let you rip it if you want.”
He growled in response, hooking his fingers under the high-cut elastic above her hips and using his hold to steer her to him. She stepped in between his legs, wrapping her arms around his neck and bringing his head to rest against her chest.
“Not tonight,” he relented, gazing up to look at her. “I feel like I’m gonna want to see this again.”
She hummed as his hands ran up the sides of her body and over the lace. He lowered his head to settle in between her pushed-up breasts. His fingertips teased at the thin straps over each arm.
“Want to know a secret?” she purred, running her polished nails through his hair and pulling his head tighter against her chest, urging him on.
“You bought this in every color?” He found the edge of the lace cup with his teeth and pulled, exposing just a hint of nipple over the fabric. He lapped at the dark pink bud, teasing out more with each lick until her entire breast was exposed. He left the other side in place for now, instead grazing over the thin lace and pinching her through the fabric. Each lick, each pinch, each graze of teeth sent a jolt of wanting to her core.
