The first notes of the music drifted across the venue, and the conversations around Lesley slowly faded into silence.
She turned toward the aisle.
White flowers lined the path beneath the warm Greek sun, their petals shifting gently in the breeze. Beyond them, the sea stretched toward the horizon, blue and endless, making the entire setting feel almost unreal.
Denisse sat beside her, their shoulders brushing.
Lesley glanced at her briefly before looking back toward the aisle.
Leanne was getting married.
For some reason, seeing Leanne standing at the entrance, ready to walk down the aisle toward the person she loved, made Lesley smile.
She reached for Denisse's hand.
Denisse looked down, then intertwined their fingers.
"You okay?" she whispered.
Lesley nodded.
"Yeah."
Her eyes returned to the aisle just as everyone around them began to rise.
The music changed.
And then Leanne appeared.
Lesley's smile grew as she watched her sister slowly make her way toward the altar, every step bringing her closer to the person waiting at the other end.
Denisse squeezed her hand.
Lesley squeezed back.
For a moment, she forgot about everything else.
The work waiting for her back home. The restaurant. The responsibilities that always seemed to find their way into her thoughts.
All of it could wait.
Today belonged to Leanne.
When Leanne reached the altar, she took her place beside the man she was about to marry.
Lesley watched as they exchanged a nervous smile, the kind that carried more emotion than words could have. For a moment, Leanne looked almost overwhelmed, her eyes moving across the faces gathered before her before settling once again on her groom.
The officiant stepped forward.
He continued speaking, but Lesley found herself listening only in fragments.
Her eyes remained on Leanne and the man standing beside her, on the way they looked at each other as though the rest of the room had disappeared.
For a moment, Lesley's thoughts drifted.
What if that were her standing at the altar?
What if the person beside her was Denisse?
The thought came so quietly that she almost dismissed it.
But then she looked down at their joined hands.
Denisse's thumb moved gently across the back of hers, absentminded and familiar, and something inside Lesley softened.
She looked back toward the altar.
She could almost picture it.
The flowers. The music. The people they loved gathered around them. Denisse standing across from her, wearing that smile Lesley had come to know so well.
Her lips curved slightly at the thought.
Maybe someday.
Lesley lowered her gaze for a moment, her fingers tightening gently around Denisse's hand.
When she looked back toward the altar, the ceremony was still going on, but the thought remained with her.
-
The wedding ceremony unfolded in a blur of applause, laughter, congratulations, and kisses.
By the time the last photographs were taken with the family, everyone had made their way toward the reception area, where music drifted through the space and champagne glasses caught the warm glow of the lights.
Lesley watched her sister move through the crowd, her husband beside her, both of them smiling as people stopped to congratulate them.
She couldn't help smiling too.
Her sister was married now. She had found the person she wanted to spend her life with, and seeing the happiness on her face made Lesley genuinely happy for her.
She reached for a champagne flute from a passing tray and took a small sip.
Across the venue, Denisse was talking with her parents. She had one hand resting loosely around her glass, her head tilted as she listened, the corners of her mouth lifting whenever someone said something that amused her.
Lesley's gaze lingered.
The white dress suited her beautifully. The way it fell around her, the soft light catching against the fabric, the dark contrast of her hair against the white. Lesley found herself watching without even realizing how long she had been doing it.
"Beautiful venue, right?"
Athena's voice finally pulled Lesley's attention away from Denisse.
"Yeah. It really is," Lesley answered, though she didn't bother looking away from her girlfriend.
A quiet laugh came from beside her.
"I'm beginning to think Denisse is the only thing you came to Greece to look at."
That finally made Lesley turn.
Athena stood beside her with an amused smile, one brow raised as if she had been waiting for Lesley to finally acknowledge her.
"Silly," Lesley muttered, taking another sip of champagne.
Athena's smile lingered for another moment before her expression softened.
"I know you love her," she said. "And being at a wedding like this can make you start thinking about what you want for yourself."
Lesley's fingers tightened slightly around the stem of her glass.
Athena continued, her voice softer now.
"But don't let the moment decide for you. If marriage is something you really want, then you'll know. There isn't a deadline for it. Too early, too late... none of that matters. You'll feel it when you're ready. Your love will decide for you."
Lesley lowered her eyes to the champagne in her glass.
The bubbles climbed lazily toward the surface.
She let Athena's words settle without trying to answer them.
No one was rushing her.
Not her family. Not her friends.
And certainly not Denisse.
They were happy. That was enough.
For now, that was more than enough.
Lesley's eyes drifted back across the gathering.
Denisse had turned slightly, and for a brief second their eyes met. A small smile appeared on Denisse's lips before she turned back to the conversation.
Lesley smiled to herself.
"All right, ladies!" someone called from near the dance floor. "It's time for the bouquet toss!"
A wave of excitement moved through the room.
Lesley barely had time to react before Alex and Sam appeared beside her.
"Aren't you joining?" Alex asked.
Lesley gave her an incredulous look. "What? Me? No."
"Why not?" Sam laughed. "Those are for unmarried women, not literally singles."
"Exactly," Alex added. "You're technically qualified."
Lesley shook her head. "I'm not doing this."
Athena suddenly looked past her and grinned.
"Well, Denisse joined."
Lesley's head snapped toward the group of women gathering in front of Leanne.
Sure enough, there she was.
Denisse stood among them, laughing with the other women as they arranged themselves across the floor.
Lesley stared.
"Traitor," she murmured under her breath.
Sam laughed.
"Good luck."
Lesley rolled her eyes, but she couldn't stop smiling.
Leanne moved to the front of the group, her bouquet held behind her as she turned her back to the women.
The crowd gathered around them, cheering and calling out encouragement.
Lesley watched from a short distance away, champagne still in hand.
Then Leanne tossed the bouquet.
The flowers rose into the air.
Several women reached upward at once, hands scrambling beneath the falling bouquet.
For a second, Lesley couldn't tell where it was going.
Then the flowers dropped neatly into the hands of the woman standing almost directly in the middle.
The women shifted, giving Lesley a clear view of who had caught it.
Denisse.
Her friends burst into cheers and applause.
"Whoa!"
"Denisse caught it!"
Sam clapped beside Lesley, laughing as the women around Denisse cheered.
Denisse stared down at the bouquet in her hands as though she couldn't quite believe it herself. Then she looked up.
Straight at Lesley.
Their eyes met.
Athena leaned closer, her grin impossible to miss.
"Good luck, Ms. Ashford."
Lesley slowly turned toward her.
"Oh, shut up."
Athena laughed.
Lesley looked back at Denisse.
Denisse was still holding the bouquet.
A little while later, they were gathered around a large table, champagne glasses and half-finished plates scattered between them. Lesley sat beside Denisse, surrounded by her parents and her friends.
Conversation flowed easily.
They talked about the wedding, the food, the venue, and everything they had seen during their time in Greece. Someone mentioned the view from the ceremony, and another immediately launched into a story about getting lost on the way there. Every few minutes, laughter rolled across the table.
Lesley listened with a smile, occasionally glancing at Denisse beside her.
Then her mother's eyes fell on the bouquet resting on the table, just beside Denisse's glass.
A knowing smile appeared on her face.
"Looks like we're going to be planning another wedding soon, dear."
"Mom!" Lesley protested, though the shy smile she couldn't quite hide ruined any attempt at sounding offended.
The entire table erupted in laughter.
Lesley shook her head, feeling the warmth creep into her cheeks. Beneath the table, her hand searched for Denisse's and found it.
She laced their fingers together.
"Don't mind them, babe," she murmured, turning toward Denisse with a smile.
Denisse looked down briefly at their joined hands before squeezing hers.
"We'll eventually get there, I suppose," she said, looking toward Lesley's mother.
Something warm settled in Lesley's chest.
Of course we will, baby.
She kept the thought to herself, her thumb brushing slowly over Denisse's knuckles beneath the table.
Her father chuckled.
"Yeah, don't pressure them, honey. They have all the time in the world."
"Agreed, Uncle," Alex said. "Married life is completely different from the girlfriend phase. I know you'll agree with me, Auntie and Uncle."
Lesley's mother nodded, her expression turning thoughtful.
"Oh, I couldn't agree more, honey. It's completely different. It takes more patience, understanding, trust, and love."
She paused, glancing around the table.
"Especially when you already have a child. That changes your life in ways you don't always expect."
Lesley listened quietly.
Her father's gaze moved toward the empty seats where Stacy and Zoe should have been.
"Just look at Stacy and her wife. They couldn't make it to Leanne's wedding because they have a baby to consider now. They might be sad they missed today, but I'm sure they're just as happy being home with their little bundle of joy."
"And I completely understand that."
Leanne's voice came from behind them.
Lesley turned to see her sister approaching with her husband, both still carrying the relaxed smiles of newlyweds who hadn't quite gotten used to being called husband and wife yet.
"Their baby comes first," Leanne added as they joined the table.
"Exactly," Lesley's father said.
Lesley smiled.
"They're sending their congratulations," she told her sister.
"Tell them thank you for us," Leanne's husband said with a warm smile.
Lesley nodded, but her attention drifted back to Denisse.
The conversation continued around her, but her thoughts had already wandered somewhere quieter.
Getting married was easy enough. A ceremony, vows, rings, a celebration surrounded by the people you loved.
The life afterward was where everything truly began.
There would be ordinary mornings and difficult conversations. Responsibilities neither of them could predict. Moments when patience would be tested and times when loving each other would require more than simply saying the words.
Lesley didn't pretend to know exactly what their future would look like.
But sitting there with Denisse's hand still tucked inside hers, she realized there was one thing she knew without hesitation.
Whatever that life looked like, she couldn't picture living it with anyone else except the woman seated beside her.
Denisse.