He Loves Me Right, Finally novel Chapter 161

Wynette had promised to spend the night, so Lila had a room waiting for her.

It was thoroughly, unapologetically princess-coded, right down to the soft curtains and the delicate furniture.

Lila smiled as she showed her in. "This is Joanne's room. She said you two are close, and she thought you'd be comfortable here."

"Thank you so much, Mrs. Gallagher. I really don't mind at all," Wynette said, and she genuinely meant it.

Lila caught her hands and held them warmly between her own. "You and Joanne are practically sisters, sweetheart. Don't go calling me Mrs. Gallagher like we're strangers. I still remember when Joanne dragged you over here as a little thing, you were barely this tall.

"Time really does fly." Lila's voice turned soft and fond. "That tiny little girl grew up into such a lovely young woman. Joanne was always running wild back then, but somehow she'd actually sit still and behave like a proper little lady whenever you were around."

The mention of Joanne lit up Lila's whole face, the affection she had for her granddaughter spilling warm and unguarded into every word.

Wynette honestly didn't remember much about her early visits to the Gallagher residence.

Lila, clearly, remembered everything. "Oh, and the time you two played wedding," Lila went on, her eyes crinkling. "Joanne threw an absolute fit and declared that you had to be her sister-in-law. She refused to hear otherwise. She cornered Adriel and told him he absolutely had to marry you.

"I don't even know where she found the veil, but she did." Lila paused, then brightened considerably. "Actually, I still have the photos."

It had been pure luck that Lila's youngest son had just gotten a new camera that day, and Joanne had screamed loud enough and long enough that he'd eventually caved and taken a few shots.

Lila had kept every single one.

Wynette's mind went completely, helplessly blank.

I'd played wedding with Adriel? When had that happened?

My memory just silently deleted an entire incident?

Then Lila produced a photo album, opened it, and there was the evidence.

Little Wynette in a forest green vintage dress, a decorative fan held up in both hands, a white bridal veil pinned crookedly over her hair.

And there was little Adriel in a miniature black suit with a tiny red bow tie, his small face arranged in an expression of such solemn gravity it was almost comical.

So he hadn't smiled much as a kid either.

In the photo, the two of them were facing each other in what was clearly a very serious attempt at a wedding ceremony, Adriel performing a stiff, formal little bow with all the ceremony of a knight receiving a title.

There was another shot of him lifting the veil, his expression thunderously unimpressed.

Wynette stared at the photos and felt her entire face ignite.

She had absolutely no memory of this. None whatsoever. How old had she even been?

She was just an oversized potato back then.

She wanted to sink directly into the floor and stay there.

It was bad enough that she had zero recollection of it. The fact that photographic proof existed and was currently living in Lila's personal collection made it somehow so much worse.

Oh God, no, no, no.

Lila noticed Wynette's mortified expression and smiled sweetly at her. "You were absolutely precious as a little girl. Your mother always dressed you up so beautifully, like a little doll. I adored it.

"And Joanne, goodness." Lila's smile deepened into something deeply amused. "She'd heard the phrase 'sister-in-law' in a show, went and demanded a full explanation from her grandfather, figured out what it meant, and immediately pointed straight at you and announced that you were going to be hers."

The memory was clearly one of Lila's favorites, because she was laughing softly before she even finished telling it. "After that, Joanne followed you around calling you her little sister-in-law every chance she got. Adriel turned bright red and kept telling her to stop."

Looking back on it now, Lila thought, that child had simply always known what she wanted, and had gone after it without a second of hesitation.

Wynette sat there with the expression of someone who had been very thoroughly blindsided, because she truly, genuinely had no memory of any of this.

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