Chapter 1: The Woman Nobody Recognized
The champagne hit my face before I even understood she was angry.
One second, I was standing beside the champagne table, holding a carefully wrapped package against my chest. The next, ice-cold liquid was running into my eyes, soaking my gray cardigan, and dripping onto my shoes.
Then she kicked me.
I fell sideways, striking the edge of the table before landing hard on the marble floor.
My head rang. Glasses rattled. Somewhere behind me, someone gasped.
A woman in a white wedding reception dress stood over me, her manicured fingers gripping an empty champagne flute.
"GET OUT!"" she screamed.
I blinked through the champagne dripping from my eyelashes.
"I'm sorry," I whispered.
"I was invited.""
She laughed.
"By who?""
I opened my mouth.
Nothing came out.
I couldn't even get my legs underneath me.
Then a familiar voice cut through the room.
"Grandma?""
Daniel.
My grandson.
The groom.
He came running across the reception hall, his black dress shoes sliding slightly on the polished floor. He dropped to his knees beside me, completely ruining his tailored tuxedo.
"Grandma! Oh my God. Are you hurt?""
I tried to answer, but my throat had closed.
I reached for his sleeve instead.
He gently put his arm around my shoulders.
"Who did this?""
The woman in white suddenly stopped smiling.
Her champagne glass slipped from her fingers and shattered.
"She's..."" She stared at Daniel.
"She's your grandmother?""
Daniel looked up at her.
"Yes. Margaret. My grandmother.""
The woman swallowed.
"I thought she was crashing the wedding.""
Daniel slowly stood.
"You thought what?""
"She was standing near the food. Nobody knew who she was. I asked her to leave, and she became difficult.""
I looked at the table.
My gift was still there, lying on its side. The gold ribbon had come loose, but the package itself was intact.
I reached for it.
Daniel followed my eyes.
"Grandma, leave that. Let's get you up.""
"No," I whispered.
He looked confused.
"I brought it for you.""
His expression softened.
Then the woman in white stepped between us.
"Daniel, please. Don't make a scene. We have two hundred guests here.""
Daniel stared at her.
"You're worried about a scene?""
She folded her arms.
"I'm your bride. You should be standing with me, not kneeling on the floor beside someone who clearly doesn't understand wedding etiquette.""
Someone near the bar muttered, "Oh, that's not good.""
Daniel's face changed.
The boy who used to run through my kitchen with chocolate on his cheeks disappeared.
In his place stood a man who had just discovered something terrible about the woman he intended to marry.
"Her name is Margaret," he said.
"And she raised me.""
The bride's lips parted.
"Daniel, I didn't know.""
"You didn't ask.""
He turned to the guests.
"Everyone, this is my grandmother. The woman who taught me how to tie my shoes, helped me with my homework, and stayed awake every night when I had pneumonia.""
He looked down at me.
"And she's the person who made sure I had a future when my parents couldn't.""
I finally managed to sit up.
"Daniel, sweetheart. Please don't ruin your wedding.""
He shook his head.
"Grandma, somebody just threw champagne in your face and kicked you.""
The bride, whose name was Vanessa, took a step forward.
"You're exaggerating. I barely touched her.""
A man in a navy suit approached from the entrance.
"Mrs. Hayes?""
Vanessa spun around.
"Not now, Richard.""
He looked at me, then at the broken glass.
"Is everything all right?""
"No," Daniel answered.
"It isn't.""
Richard glanced at the package beside the table.
"Is that the gift?""
I nodded.
Vanessa gave a frustrated sigh.
"Can we please get this over with? Whatever it is, have someone put it in the gift room.""
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
"Don't touch it.""
I looked at him.
There was something I had wanted to tell him for months. Something I had carried from my little house to this extravagant hotel ballroom.
But I had promised myself I would tell him privately.
Not in front of two hundred strangers.
Not with champagne in my hair.
I pulled his hand toward me.
"Daniel, there's something inside that package you need to understand.""
He crouched again.
"What is it, Grandma?""
I looked toward Vanessa.
She was watching us now, her expression changing from irritation to something I couldn't quite identify.
Fear, perhaps.
Because she had just noticed the envelope tucked beneath the gold ribbon.
May you like
And she recognized the handwriting.
Her handwriting.
