Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 121898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
I stepped back to steady myself at her body weight slamming into me, but that was all I could do. Her arms were wrapped tightly around my middle, pinning my arms to my sides, and she wailed into my chest. Her sniffles were now thick, body-shaking sobs, and I just knew she was snotting all over my jumper.
I sighed. “Stop—”
“I’m sorry!” she cried, dragging ‘sorry’ out until it no longer formed a word but rather the strangled cry of an alley cat. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry!”
“Okay, okay.” I reached around as far as I could and attempted to pat her on the back.
“I’m sorry!”
“Yes, I hear you.” I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to the sound of her crying. “Hazel, I need you to do something for me.”
“Anything! Anything!”
“Stop this caterwauling.”
She sniffed, loosening her grip on me. “I’m sorry.”
“And stop apologising. I get it, you’re sorry.”
“No, I’m sorry.” She finally let go of my arms and stepped back. She swiped her hands across her cheeks and peered up at me, her eyes still shining with tears. “I had no idea this was so hard. Planning a wedding. I didn’t know how much you did until we had to fix everything. And I made everything so much harder for you!”
Her tears started all over again, and I guided her towards the bed where I sat her down.
“I was so selfish!” She hiccupped and buried her face in her hands. “I didn’t help you at all! I just—hic—made everything so much harder for you! I just had to—hic—give you one song and I couldn’t even do that! I kept asking you—hic—to do more and more and I never did—hic—the one thing I asked to do! I’m the—hic—worst! No wonder you hate me!”
Oh, boy.
It appeared that this drama had given her a reality check.
Well, it was going to happen one day. Why not today?
I walked over to the bar cart that had been set up, uncorked a bottle of wine, and poured two glasses. I carried them to the bed and sat down next to Hazel. Gently, I handed her the glasses, and she took it, gripping the glass and staring into it.
“I don’t hate you,” I said softly, wrapping my arm around her waist and pulling her against me.
She rested her head on my shoulder. “You don’t hate me?”
“Of course, I don’t. You’re my sister. I might not like you very much at times, but I’ll never hate you, Hazel.”
“Okay,” she mumbled into my glass.
“And yes, you’ve been incredibly selfish, but most brides are. To be perfectly honest, most people don’t fully understand what goes into planning a wedding, and that’s why they hire a wedding planner. My entire job is to make sure nothing is forgotten.”
“But you let me get away with so much before you snapped.”
“Because you’re my sister. I wanted this day to be perfect for you, and that means putting up with your bullshit. I’ve done it for years, after all.” I sipped my wine and gave her a little squeeze. “This was a new experience for me, too. I’ve never been emotionally invested in a wedding the way I am in yours. So… I’m not sorry for what I said to you that day, but I am sorry for how I said it. I shouldn’t have exploded like that, but I still stand by what I said.”
She nodded, snuggling in closer to me. “You were right. About everything. When everything went to shit… God, Sylvie, I remember sitting here as Thomas told us what had happened and do you know what I thought? I thought, ‘Oh, my God. What about all Sylvie’s hard work? Now what?’ I didn’t even care about the wedding being off, I cared that everything you’d worked so hard on was ruined. Then we looked at everything that needed to be sorted… That was when I realised how terrible I’d been to you. I’m so sorry.”
“Thank you,” I said softly, resting my cheek on top of her head. “Even if that’s not entirely true. I know how worried you were about the wedding not going forwards.”
“Well, maybe a little.”
I smiled. “Whatever it all is, it’s done now.”
“I know, but… Thank you, Sylvie. Not just for the wedding, but for everything. Since we were kids.”
Warmth rushed through me, and I sighed, swirling the wine in my glass. “Just remember, as of twelve p.m. tomorrow, you’re a married woman. You can’t be acting like a little bitch anymore.”
Laughter bubbled out of her, and she sat up straight, pushing me away from her. “Is that sister Sylvie speaking?”
“Damn right. Unless you’d like to spend the night going over wedding plans again?”
“I’d rather stab thirty cocktail sticks into my eyes.”
“With the cheese and pineapple attached?”
Hazel tilted her head to the side. “Hmm. Maybe not. The pineapple would sting, wouldn’t it?”