“At one point, I might have thought…maybe. But there are other things that matter to me more.”
“Wow, William. You’re just so perfect all the time. Even graceful about this.”
“I am far from perfect. Just ask Sofia.”
“Why her?”
“Because she knows all my flaws.”
“Like what?” Brent joked. “You don’t always floss your teeth?”
“Funny. Sure.”
“I mean it. Tell me one thing. Anything. Give me something to work with to make me feel less…”
William worriedly met his gaze. “Less what, man? You can’t mean to tell me you’re… No. No way. My rich and successful little brother is not jealous of me.”
Brent arched his eyebrows. “One thing. Come on, man. Give.”
William chuckled out loud. “Okay, all right. But you can’t breathe a word.”
“Cross my heart,” Brent said kiddingly.
“I’ve always been jealous of Derrick.”
“No way.”
William set his chin. “He’s so stinking creative. I mean, really. He’s amazing with his hands. I could never do what he does.”
Brent considered this a minute. “Who knew? Derrick.”
“And Sally,” William admitted.
“Sally?”
“She’s the genius in our family. Always got straight As.”
“So did you.”
“Yeah, but I had to work for them. She never did.”
“You don’t know that’s true.”
“Sure I do—because I asked her.”
Brent chortled, imagining his sister’s retort. “Of course she told you that. Sally wants to think she’s better than the rest of us guys.”
“Couldn’t have been easy growing up with only brothers.”
“We were nice ones, though.”
“Yep. That’s true.” William pursed his lips and said, “And then there’s you.”
His brother could have bowled him over. “Me?”
“You always had all the girls, man. I was just tall and gangly.”
“Come on, you had girlfriends.” Brent stopped himself. “I mean, one—before Sofia.”
“Ah, but you had plenty.” A sly smile crept onto William’s lips. “You even stole one of mine.”
“What? No.”
“Laurin Turner,” William stated.
“Who?”
“She wasn’t even in your grade at school. She was in mine.”
“Wait a minute.” Brent chuckled. “Are we talking elementary school? That’s really reaching.”
“She was my first love.” William shared a wistful look, though he was clearly playing around. “But she was in love with my baby brother.”
Brent searched the recesses of his brain. Laurin. Laurin. “The one with braids who lived down the street from us?”
“That’s the one.” William’s eyes held a mysterious twinkle. “I tried to send her a love note, you know.”
“You did not.”
“Did so.”
“What did it say?”
“It was pretty straightforward. Just ‘William plus Laurin’ with a little heart drawn after her name.”
“That’s sweet.”
“Yeah, except she asked me what that blob meant.”
“Blob?”
“I told you I wasn’t artistic.”
Brent chuckled. “Aww.”
“And then, she told me there was only one Albright for her: you.”
“I had no idea.”
“Maybe she was hoping I’d fix you up.”
“Sure, man. Sure,” Brent said, laughing.
William stood and walked toward the door. “In any case, you’d better hurry up and get dressed. You should probably grab something to eat, too. The caterers are already here commandeering the kitchen and setting stuff up, so you’ll have to move fast.”
Brent nodded at his brother. “Thanks for all of that.”
“No worries. Just don’t go blabbing my secrets.”
“You know,” he said as William turned. “You’re going to make a really great dad.”
William smiled over his shoulder. “Thanks, man. So are you.”
…
Sally held in Hope’s waist as Meredith laced up the wedding gown. The fit wasn’t too, too bad. Just slightly snugger than on Wednesday. Thank goodness for Grandmother Margaret’s shapewear, which helped.
They were in her bedroom on the second floor. The men had congregated in Grandpa Chad’s study behind closed doors, and Hope knew they all sported tuxedos. She foolishly couldn’t wait to see Brent in his, knowing he’d make a dreamy picture. Her heart pounded at the idea that he might consider her appearance dreamy as well. She couldn’t help but wonder about Jackie and Brent and what they might each be feeling on this day if things had been different.
If it had been Jackie here in Hope’s place this week, would the bride and groom be just as excited about getting married as Brent and Hope felt now? Would there be butterflies in Jackie’s stomach at the thought of holding both Brent’s hands while gazing into his eyes and saying “I do”? Hope just didn’t know, so she willed herself not to think about it. She was only torturing herself, in the end. It was best to focus on procedure while trying to divorce herself from her emotions, because it was her emotional self that was most likely to trip her up.
When Hope, her mom, and Meredith had entered the main house, Sally had met them in the foyer and hurried them upstairs to where Sofia, Elsa, and Margaret were already beautifully dressed and waiting. The navy blue bridesmaids dresses worn by Sofia, Sally, and Meredith had fitted bodices and an off-the-shoulder look on one side, which tied up in a silky bow on the other. They all wore cream-colored pumps, pearl necklaces, and silk flowers in their upswept hair.
Brent’s grandma wore a pale blue silk suit, while Ava had donned a pale rose slip dress that hugged her figure, hitting right above the knees. Elsa wore a powder blue tunic and sleek cream-colored slacks. This was the first time she’d seen Elsa wear her hair down, and it tumbled past her shoulders in silky yellow waves.