“No. That’s why I gave Dad a gift to hand over to Jude today as well.” I smiled, slightly shrugging my shoulders up before remembering I wasn’t supposed to be moving.
The stylist was so good that I’d almost forgotten she was there.
“I was told to deliver this,” Brian said, pulling a small box out of his pocket and stepping forward to place it in my small hand, “before your makeup was done.”
A small laugh escaped my throat. “That man thinks of everything.”
“I’ll leave you ladies to your primping.” He turned to his wife and child. “Come on, son. Let’s give Mommy a few more hours of pampering.”
Zander reached out for his daddy and gave us a wave with his chunky baby hand, and then soon, both were gone.
“So, are you going to open it?” Grace asked eagerly.
She and my mother were staring at me. I glanced up to see that even my stylist had stopped to see what might be hidden beneath the ornate silver wrapping.
With shaky fingers, I slowly lifted the red bow and pulled off the paper. When I opened the box, a gasp escaped my lungs at the same moment tears stung my eyes. I was so glad I didn’t have makeup on. It would have been ruined for sure.
A stunning silver heart locket was resting in the velvet box. But it wasn’t just any heart locket you’d find anywhere. The heart was made of two interlocking angel wings. The wings opened, and nestled inside was a folded piece of paper with Jude’s angular handwriting.
My angel, my Lailah, my love.
“Oh God, I love this man,” I choked out.
The room was silent, and as I looked up, I found three women with tears to match my own.
“Please tell me he has a brother,” my stylist said between sobs.
I laughed. “He does, but my Jude is one of a kind.”
And today, that one-of-a kind man would become mine forever.
A QUIET KNOCK echoed through the apartment, and Marcus didn’t waste any time in jumping off the couch to answer the door. Seconds later, Brian appeared, following closely behind Marcus.
Brian’s eyes met mine, and he slowed slightly. “Still pacing the floors, I see,” he said as he adjusted a fussy Zander on his hip.
I ignored his comment and kept with my current plan of wearing a hole in the hardwood before the end of the day.
“You should have planned a morning wedding. Lailah’s a mess as well.”
My eyes darted up to Brian’s, remembering the errand I’d sent him on. “How is she? Is she okay?”
He smiled smugly. “Well, she wasn’t dressed when I saw her . . .”
My eyes widened as I took a wide step forward, intent on grabbing Brian’s neck, but then I stopped myself when I saw his innocent child between us.
His free hand went up like a white flag. “Kidding. Mostly. Shit, Jude. Relax. I’m just messing with you. She was in a robe, and she was getting her hair done. It’s too bad you don’t drink, man, ’cause you could use a little something for those nerves right now.”
My hands went through my hair, and I took a step back, falling into the oversized chair positioned by the large windows overlooking the city. “It’s not nerves. I’m just sick of waiting. I’ve been up since the crack of dawn. I just want to see her already.”
“I get it, Jude,” Marcus chimed it. “I waited over twenty years to finally marry the love of my life. The morning of, I was a nervous wreck.”
“We should have eloped.” I sighed.
“And left me to deal with Molly when she found out? You would have done that to me? After everything I’ve done?”
A small chuckle escaped my throat. “No, I guess not. But damn, if you could make that clock move a little faster, I’d appreciate it.”
He smiled warmly, moving toward the chair where I’d chosen to fall into a useless slump. “Come on, Jude,” he said, holding out a cupped hand.
I firmly gripped it, and he pulled me to a standing position.
“Let’s go get some lunch and see if we can’t talk away some of these hours. Sitting around here will be like watching a pot of boiling water.”
Brian sighed. “I’ll be right back. I’ve got to go take back a few snide comments.”
I had no idea what he meant, and before I had a second to ask, he was gone.
Marcus’s arm fell loosely around me in a fatherly gesture—one I’d seen but never really had the pleasure of enjoying as a kid. My father’s love had always been shown in his devotion to the family business, not in physical gestures.
“One must always provide for his family,” he’d once told me.
And he had. It had been his number one goal, his life’s ambition. Even though I’d missed out on an abundance of hugs and trips to the zoo, my father had shown his love in his own way.
Still, as Marcus looked at me with admiration and pride, like a father admiring a grown child, I couldn’t help but wonder what an embrace like this would have felt like from my own father.