She opened the front door into a house filled with people. Aunts and uncles had arrived, as well as Emma’s friends, Chelsea and Jane.

Home. She had grown up here, yet it didn’t feel like her home anymore. Too much time had passed, and even though so many things looked familiar to her, like the fireplace where she and Emma used to sit and sing together, and the kitchen table where they’d eat breakfast before school, a lot had changed. There was new carpet and new living room furniture, and Mom had changed the paint scheme on some of the walls.

Life goes on without you, Molly. Deal with it.

“Molly, you’re here!”

Her mother hurried over, a bright smile on her face.

Her mother’s love and smiles, however, would never change, and she was so grateful for that.

Molly dropped several boxes of donuts on the kitchen counter along with the foam cup filled with coffee she’d picked up at Megan’s shop this morning.

Her mother grasped her hands. “Let me look at you.”

“You just saw me a month ago when you came to visit.”

“Shh. I know that. But I still miss you every day.” Her mom gave her the once-over. “You look beautiful, as always.”

Molly laughed. “Thanks, Mom. You’re good for my ego.”

Her parents’ dog, Pokey, a miniature dachshund, came over to sniff her.

“Hey, Pokey, how’s it going?” She bent down to love on the dog, picking him up to hold him. Her parents brought Pokey along whenever they came to visit, so she had a little taste of having a pet whenever she saw them, since most of the apartments where she lived didn’t allow animals.

“He’s happy to see you.”

She ran her fingers over Pokey’s back. “I’m happy to see him, too. And everyone else. The house is full of people.”

“Come on, put the dog down and say hello to everyone.”

Not that she’d have a choice, since her mother firmly held her hand and dragged her around like she was eight years old. She listened to the admonishments of her aunts about how it had been way too long since she’d been back in Hope, and was firmly hugged by her uncles.

When she had endured enough, she kissed her mom on the cheek, then headed out back where Emma, Jane, and Chelsea were enjoying coffee.

“Hi, everyone.”

“Molly. It’s so great to see you. It’s been too long.” Chelsea got up to give her a hug, and Jane, did, too.

“It’s great to see you both,” Molly said. This part, at least, was easy. She might not have seen Chelsea and Jane for a long time, but they’d talked a lot on the phone and Skyped over wedding details the past several months, so it was nice to be able to sit down with them in person.

“I see you already got yours,” Emma said as they all took seats.

Molly lifted her cup. “I couldn’t wait, since I was on donut-fetching duty this morning.”

“Lucky you,” Chelsea said. “Emma’s mom called me at seven this morning and gave me a grocery list.”

Emma’s eyes widened. “She did not.”

“She did. Juice and milk and oh, she needed two loaves of bread. She was going to go herself, but there were people at the house and she didn’t want to be rude.”

Emma snorted. “I’m surprised I didn’t get that list. And I’m really sorry she just assumed you’d run errands for her. I’ll talk to her.”

“You’ll do no such thing. You’re the bride, honey,” Chelsea said. “We’re the minions. It was no problem, and the store’s on my way over here.”

Emma blew out a breath. “Thank you. This will all be over soon. I promise.”

“Is the stress getting to you?” Molly asked.

“Just the past week or so. It had been fairly calm and organized before that, but now it seems as if there’s some crisis, or some detail that needs attending to every day.”

“It has been intense, Emma, but you have to trust us all,” Jane said. “We’ll take care of it. We have taken care of everything so far, haven’t we?”

Now Molly felt even guiltier that she hadn’t been here for all those details. She should have never agreed to be the maid of honor. She sucked at this. She hadn’t even come to the wedding shower. Chelsea and Jane had been lifesavers, handling everything in Molly’s absence and telling her not to worry that she couldn’t make it.

“Yes, you have taken care of everything.”

“And now Molly’s here, which is what you were worried about the most,” Jane said, offering Molly a genuine smile.

Which made Molly feel even worse, because Jane and Chelsea didn’t pass judgment on her stupid idiosyncrasies. Like her abject fear about returning home.

“Emma, can you come here for a minute? Aunt Louise wants to take a picture of you with all of us.”

Emma shot a panicked look at all of them before smiling and standing. “Sure, Mom.”

After Emma went inside, Jane turned to them. “I’m glad Will and I did the small wedding. Between his job and mine, and both the kids, we had enough to deal with.”

“Hey, you had a party at the house, at least,” Chelsea said. “It was a great one, too.”

“Yes. With catered barbecue.” Jane looked to Molly. “I got barbecue sauce on my dress. There are lovely photos of a very inappropriately placed stain.”

Molly laughed. “But did you have fun?”