Of Course, It's You

Chapter 1

HANNAH

Over the past few years, Hannah Nelson learned that there seemed to be a common trend when it came to Tennessee weddings. Almost every wedding she'd been invited to lately seemed to be cut from the same cloth. Even the one that she was attending right this minute, seemed to be repurposing the decorations from all the rest. Maybe there was some Nashville-bride-to-be website or group-chat that they all were a part of. Sharing tips and décor ideas.

The reception glowed beneath a canopy of string lights strung across the rafters of a repurposed barn. Country music pulsed from oversized speakers, echoing off wooden beams and into the surrounding Tennessee night. Mason jars filled with wildflowers lined the long, rustic tables, and the more you drank, the more the lights seemed to shimmer.

Hannah used to love weddings. There was a magic to them once—the excuse to dress up, to dance, to believe in the possibility of that forever kind of love. But that was before. Before the ring on her finger became just a memory. Before Kayley died and took the shine with her. But she tallied that up to one of the many things that had changed since her wife had died.

Nearly four years now. The very thought knocked the air from her lungs. Since then, life hadn't felt quite right. Everything tilted, just slightly, just enough to keep her off-balance, no matter how hard she tried to stand upright.

She didn't want to come tonight. The groom was a work acquaintance; someone, her brother Jason, knew well enough to make it awkward not to attend. But it wasn't an obligation that brought her here. It was Olyvia—her daughter, the flower girl, the only child the couple knew.

So, Hannah came. For Lyvie. And told herself that would be enough.

As music began playing, everyone in their seats turned to wait for the bridesmaids, ring bearer, flower girl, and bride to make their way down the aisle. As the bridesmaids slowly walked past, there was a moment, only seconds, where Hannah wondered if she should have pushed through her own nerves to hold her daughter's hand and help her down the aisle. Glancing hesitantly at the back, she found Lyvie paralyzed in fear, the attention of the entire room must have been too much for her tiny body to handle.

With everyone in attendance looking back at the flower girl, Hannah was the only one that turned to look at the groomsmen at the altar, patiently waiting. Able to catch her brother's eye, she tilted her head, motioning to her daughter still standing frozen at the back. He understood the silent command fairly quickly and left his friends to join his niece and take her hand.

There was a collective awe from the room as they watched him help her make her way down the aisle. Hannah couldn't control her eyes rolling. Of course, this would only lead to his own benefit. But Hannah couldn't help but find herself enveloped in the crowd's emotions. She reached out for a hand beside her that wasn't there, wanting to hold on to a reassuring force that would have been just as proud as she was. A hand to ground her, a hand to comfort her. The only other person that would have reveled in this moment alongside her.

Watching her daughter toss flower petals in clumps, only to bend down and meticulously spread them out, was one of the sweetest things Hannah had ever seen. Joy bloomed in her chest, warm and unexpected. The music, the lights, even the mingling sense of wood and wildflowers all swelled around her, blurring the moment until tears pricked at the corners of her eyes.

Then she caught the looks some of the young women were giving Jason as he escorted Lyvie down the aisle, and she had to bite back a laugh.

This kid is his best wingman. And he knows it. She was his best ticket in a woman's life, or more accurately, into her pants.

It was a good thing their family resemblance was unmistakable. By the time Jason and Lyvie passed Hannah's seat, the little girl squealed and waved her basket like it was a prize.