Jesse stood before it and slowly lowered himself to one knee, his eyes full of love.
"Addie, I need you to remember something. You're not marrying the Swanson family. You're marrying me."
"Trust me. Three days from now, put on this dress and wait for me at home. I'll come for you."
In that moment, I was certain I'd heard the most beautiful words ever spoken.
Every doubt, every worry—I shoved them all aside and nodded, my heart brimming with hope.
Three days later, on a morning the rest of the world would have called perfectly ordinary, every dream I'd ever carried was about to come to a head.
I was an orphan. I had no parents. The only person in this world I could call family was Nora Dotson, my best friend, who'd grown up beside me in the same orphanage.
We'd entered the entertainment industry around the same time. I'd gone into acting; she'd become an entertainment reporter. We'd had each other's backs ever since.
When I stood before the mirror and slipped into that dazzling gown, Nora fastened the lace ties at my back one careful loop at a time. When she finally spoke, there was hesitation in her voice.
"Addie. Marrying Jesse Swanson—you really won't regret it?"