Page 103 of Where the Roses Bloom
The bathroom was still—too still. I didn’t believe in ghosts the way Silas did, but I believed in grief…and I believed in guilt. And maybe what Carter’s remnants were made of was rage, but I thought guilt was more likely, and grief over the fact that he’d had a whole future ahead of him that ended up wrapped around a tree in rural Georgia.
Nobody deserved that.
Not even the damned.
“I love her,” I said to the empty air. “Let her be happy.”
I stood there for another moment, listening…then the lights flickered, a breath ghosting through the room.
Then it was gone.
Out in the hall, the windows were open to let in the breeze, and a few kids from the high school were playing music outside—fiddle, guitar, and mandolin. The smell of roses and wildflowers drifted through the air, and Beau’s laughter echoed from the kitchen, while Milo trotted toward me with a wreath of flowers around his neck.
I knelt to scratch behind Milo’s ears. “You look ridiculous, buddy.”
His eyes darted over my shoulder and he whined softly, looking toward the bathroom.
“Yeah…don’t worry,” I said. “I think he’ll be takin’ his leave soon.”
When I stood, the warmth from the windows followed me, sunlight painting the worn wood floors gold. Holden passed by in a clean button-down someone had clearly forced him into, brows rising when he saw me.
“I was just lookin’ for you,” he said, then frowned at the look passed between me and Milo. “You good…?”
I nodded and laughed softly. “Yeah…yeah, I’m fine.”
“You sure? You’re lookin’ at the hallway like it just bit you.”
I huffed. “It tried.”
Holden snorted. “Well…I think we’re all set. The girls said they’re ready.”
My heart clenched. “She hasn’t run off?”
“Not yet,” Holden winked. “But there’s still time.”
“Ah…fuck off, kid.”
Holden grinned and clapped me on the shoulder before heading back down the hall, whistling like he didn’t just stir up every nerve I had left.
I let out a long breath and stepped into the living room. Whit was fiddling with a tie he didn’t seem even remotely able to make work. Beau passed him with a tray of cornbread muffins, tossing Whit a piece like it might calm him down, Milo catching it instead. June was already at the back door, wearing lavender vestments, smiling at me.
I frowned. “Uh…think we’re missin’ a brother here.”
June nodded. “Silas thought it would be nice to walk her down the aisle; she looks beautiful in Amelia’s dress.”
I blinked.
Amelia’s dress?
The significance of it hit me all at once—the meaning. I hadn’t even known Silas still had the dress, let alone that he’d offered it up to Willow. He didn’t talk about Amelia much anymore, and when he did, it usually served to build up walls rather than bring themdown. The idea of him carrying that dress all these years…
I’d never been in love before, but I realized now how much that must hurt.
I reached out and braced a hand against the wall.
“He okay?” I asked, voice rough.
June tilted her head, considering. “He will be.”
