Total pages in book: 174
Estimated words: 172061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 860(@200wpm)___ 688(@250wpm)___ 574(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 172061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 860(@200wpm)___ 688(@250wpm)___ 574(@300wpm)
“Says the girl who looked like she had a mini orgasm every time she met his eye from across the room yesterday.” Emery grinned at me through the mirror.
“Those were just aftershocks.” My lips slammed shut. Did that actually come out of my mouth?
A gasp ripped out of Charleigh and Emery squealed, all while Raven sent both of them an I told you so look.
“Tell me you two actually got naked last night?” Raven demanded.
More of that redness blazed. The blush Raven was using would no longer be required with the flush that kept hitting my cheeks.
“Come on, dish it. There are no secrets between besties, remember?” Raven lifted her flute and took a sip.
“Not exactly naked.” The words were suddenly blubbering out without permission. “Okay, Cash was the first night, like really naked, but I was basically fully dressed both times.”
“Both times?” Emery shrieked like that was all the evidence she needed.
I blew out a sigh. “Don’t worry, Cash made it completely clear last night that it was a mistake and it wasn’t ever happening again.”
“What do you mean?” Worry slipped into Charleigh’s voice.
“Just…I don’t think Cash has ever been able to move on since the tragedy happened when we were teenagers.”
Uncertainty spun around me. A dark cloud.
It was an accident.
No blame given.
At least that was what the newspaper had reported.
But after what Cash implied last night…
Sympathy gushed out of Raven. “He’s always been the saddest person I know,” she whispered beneath her breath.
“Ever since you met him?”
I knew she had met him soon after he left West Virginia.
“Angry and so freaking sad. It breaks my heart a little more every time I look at him.”
Sorrow clutched my spirit. I hated it. Hated knowing that he’d lived in so much pain. Leaving me behind to deal with my own grief to wander in his alone.
Raven’s expression deepened in emphasis. “But there’s something different about him now, Daisy. A piece of him that came alive when you came to Moonlit Ridge, even though he’s terrified of it. I think he needs you just as badly as you need him.”
I didn’t want to fall into the hope, yet my wayward gaze drifted to the ring that glinted on my left ring finger.
His mother’s ring.
I couldn’t imagine the amount of pain it likely caused him, taking it out from wherever he had it stored and putting it on my finger.
“Just love him, Daisy,” Charleigh whispered. “Just love him from right where you are. I think you might be the only one who can reach him.”
I blew out a shaky sigh, and Raven touched my hand. “Well, I for one think the only thing any of us are going to be experiencing today is love. Can’t you just feel it?”
“Yeah.” Emery nodded as she added a bunch of dainty cream-colored flowers into the twist she’d put into my hair. “Something about all of this…about all of us…” She glanced around at each of them before her gaze settled on me through the mirror. “It just feels complete.”
A riptide of affection washed through the room. A moment given to this all-consuming feeling.
Then Raven dug into her bag. “Here we go. The last and most important piece. Part your lips.” Raven leaned in close to apply color to my lips.
She sat back and looked down at me. “God, you’re so beautiful. With or without makeup. Inside and out. I’m so happy you and Cash found each other again.”
That refusal churned inside me, and I stood, unsure if it was the mimosas or their care that made me wobbly.
The fact I was marrying the man of my dreams, and it was only a dream.
But I could barely get my legs to cooperate as I moved over to the bed where Piper had laid out the dress.
Emery dumped the bag of undergarments onto the bed and Charleigh removed the lid to the shoes.
“Strip and don’t get shy with us.” Raven laughed as she said it.
Amusement rippled through me, and I shook my head as I unbuttoned the blouse they insisted I put on so I didn’t ruin the end effect.
I stripped down to nothing.
“I already washed everything so it’d be ready for you,” Emery assured me as I slipped into the strapless bodysuit.
It was lace and satin and probably the sexiest thing I’d ever worn.
Okay, there was no probably to it.
I bit down on my bottom lip, then Piper and Emery unzipped the dress and helped me into it while Charleigh held out the shoes.
They zipped me up, then Raven got behind me and turned me toward the mirror.
A gasp wheeled out, and my fingertips trailed over the bodice of the fitted dress.
“Told you,” Raven whispered near my ear. “Gorgeous. Stunning. Beautiful. All of you.”
My throat felt thick. “Thank you so much for doing this for me. I would never have thought to…”