Page 129 of Love Notes & Lifelines
“What’s up, buttercup?”
Emmy glances from me to Stella. “You’ll be my new mommy?” She turns to me. “And daddy?”
The air evaporates in the room as though someone popped a balloon. And once again, it’s Stella to the rescue.
She takes Emmy in her arms and carries her to the window seat, where they sit down face-to-face.
“Your mommy loved you very much, Emmy. So, so very much. That love doesn’t just go away. You’ll carry your mommy in your heart for the rest of your life, and no one can or should ever replace her. But I’d be the luckiest girl alive if I got to love you as much as your mom does. I’ll take care of you here, while she watches you from heaven. And the same goes for Daddy Beck. How does that sound?”
You could hear a pin drop. I scan the room. There’s not a dry eye in here.
Stella Jane is our savior, and she has no idea.
“I lub you.” Emmy’s chin wobbles.
“Ah, sweetheart. I love you and Ruby.” Stella pauses, then locks eyes with me. “And Daddy Beck so, so much. That will never, ever change, okay?”
Emmy throws herself at Stella in her version of a bear hug that is felt throughout the room.
When Stella lifts her chin from Emmy’s head with a deep inhale, Tabby brushes away the tears on her cheeks, then takes charge. “We’ve got a wedding to plan, people. Let’s get moving.”
Leo’s gaze hasn’t left Tabby’s, so when she gives him a list of stuff to do, he’s ready to go. But she still has messy emotions floating in her eyes, so he tugs her to him and hugs her until her breathing evens out.
Love.
I see it now. In every eye, every hug, every person in this room, and regret sinks in. This is the family I could have had allthis time if only egos and miscommunication hadn’t gotten in the way.
It’s a mistake I’ll never make again.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
STELLA
“Breathe, Stella, breathe,”I mutter while pacing beside my mother’s bed.
She’s sleeping. She’s been sleeping a lot since we moved her here, so I miss her voice, but this is better than when she was lashing out. She always did love the ocean, and even if she doesn’t remember me, I hold on to the hope that she’s calmer because I’m here. It’s purely selfish on my part. Need and love are still synonymous in my head.
“You’re beautiful,” Beck says from the doorway, making me jump.
I instantly flatten a hand down my stomach. I’ve been too scared to sit. This white linen floor-length dress seemed like the perfect one in the shop, but I had no idea linen wrinkled as easily as it does.
Beck stands in navy dress pants and an untucked white button-down, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He could easily pass for a J. Crew ad, and he takes my breath away.
Are we really doing this?
He crosses the room and pulls me to him. My worries float away on the sea breeze the second I fall into his arms.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m just…nervous.” My gaze is drawn to the wall of windows.
I have to hand it to Bella Moonbeam. She pulled this together as though she’d been working on it for months, not days.
Sheer panels blow in the breeze on the beach where she created a dance floor, and magical fairy lights shimmer in the fabric. Round tables dot the sand with navy tablecloths and silver bobbles shining on their tops. Accents in yellow are a shock of color that brings the entire scene to life.
It’s beautiful.
“There’s nothing to be nervous about.”
