The Perfect Homecoming (Pine River #3)

When Madeline stepped in under that arbor, she looked as radiantly happy as Emma had ever seen any bride. Everything about her glowed with love for Luke. And Luke? The expression on his face, the pure joy, the pure adoration, made Emma’s heart stop. She had to look away before tears of happiness for the couple and bigger, messier tears of regret began to slide from her eyes. Her gaze landed on Libby, who was standing next to Sam, her head on his shoulder, her hand on her belly, her grin irrepressible.

Good Lord, just put a dagger through her heart! It was wretchedly, selfishly painful to see such happiness brimming from her sisters. As Luke and Madeline expressed their vows to each other, Emma felt a growing emptiness inside her. She imagined herself as the clichéd chick-flick friend, the one who attends wedding after wedding and never has one of her own. But unlike a character in the movie, no Prince Charming was going to come around the corner and sweep her off her feet. Emma had made a point of removing herself from everyone and everything, so that now, in a moment like this, when she should be clinging to someone’s hand, she was utterly alone. As far removed from what Madeline and Libby had found here in Pine River as anyone could possibly be. It was a bit astonishing to understand on that bitterly cold afternoon that what Emma wanted was to be loved. That she ached to love someone.

Emma was crying. Dani smiled at her sweetly, and Emma knew Dani thought Emma was the type who bawled at weddings. Emma was so not that type. These were not tears of happiness. These were tears of deep regret.

After Madeline and Luke were pronounced husband and wife, the guests spilled back into the house, packing into it. Emma lingered behind, sneaking into the shed, trying to put her face back together again before the whole world saw the splotchy skin and knew she’d lost it. By the time she came in through the back door, there wasn’t air to breathe. People were in the living room, the tiny kitchen, the hallway, and in the back, Emma could see some of them had even taken up space in Bob’s room.

Dani Boxer had enlisted the aid of the Methodist Women’s Group to help serve the champagne and finger foods. There would be no sit-down dinner here—money was as tight as the space. Emma made her way to Madeline and Luke and congratulated them, and wiped a bit of perspiration from Madeline’s temple. Someone had opened the windows, so if one was unlucky enough to be standing next to one, it was freezing. Any deeper in, it was boiling.

Leo was in his chair in the living room, strapped in like a baby in a car seat. He was smiling, but he didn’t seem to be talking much. Emma debated escaping with him to his room, but this was Leo’s element. He would never consent to leaving the party.

Emma stood in a tiny space where the living room turned to hall, nursing her champagne, feeling the prickly heat on her nape, watching everyone celebrate Luke and Madeline. But as she stood there, that prickly feeling grew stronger, and she began to realize it wasn’t the heat. She felt as if she was being watched and glanced over her shoulder, into the kitchen.

Her heart stopped beating. And then began to race so desperately she could hardly hold on to her flute of champagne.

In his dark trim suit and black silk tie, Cooper smiled at her. Emma all but tossed the champagne onto a small table in the hall. She pushed past a beefy man and dipped under the arm Bob had braced against the kitchen doorframe as he chatted with Leo’s aunt. She emerged on the other side of Bob to stand just before Cooper, crammed into the small dining space between several other guests. “You came.”

He nodded and touched his knuckles to her face. “Are you okay?”

“No. No, I’m not okay. It’s so hot in here I might throw up.”

He smiled warily. “Please don’t throw up. Madeline would not be happy.”

Emma doubted anything could douse Madeline’s happiness tonight. “That’s not even it. I’m not . . . I’m lost.”

He didn’t say anything to that, just held her gaze.

“I didn’t think you’d been invited,” Emma said.

Cooper chuckled. “Luke invited me without authorization. I hadn’t planned to come, but then I heard about Leo and I worried.”

“I know,” she said, nodding adamantly. “Everyone wants to see him.”

“Yeah, I can imagine,” he said. “But I was worried about you, Emma. I know how much he means to you.”

What was that, wrapping around her heart? “You did?” she asked weakly. “After everything, you still worried about me?”

“After everything. Before everything. During everything.”

Emma closed her eyes and sighed with longing. That was possibly the kindest thing anyone had ever said to her. She opened her eyes to Cooper’s soft gaze. It was liquid silver. Molten kryptonite. Her mouth went dry. “Was your brother released?” she asked, searching for something to say.

He nodded. “He’s already gone. Took off a couple of days ago.”

She hardly noticed that she’d twined her fingers in his. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I’ve known for a long time that Derek is never going to do the things that most people do. He is never going to change his ways. It’s too late for him.”

“That must be hard for you.”