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On the day of the State championship, Julie came over to Matt's grandma's house to help finish decorating the tree he had bought. Grandma Saracen tired so fast these days that they could only do a little bit at a time.
"Hey. You sure it's okay, you being here today?" Matt asked her.
"Oh. Yeah, definitely. As long as I'm at the game, the rest of it … well, Dad's at the field house, and Mom took Gracie to see Santa. That's kind of a thing, and—I don't know, it's weird. She didn't want me to go, though."
"Well, good. We're glad to have you here, aren't we, Matthew?" Matt's grandma asked, squeezing Julie's arm.
"We sure are." He sat back and smiled, watching the two of them as they decided on the best place to hang the next ornament.
"You young people excuse me a minute, I'm going to be right back." His grandma headed through the kitchen toward her room. Matt had grown used to her suddenly leaving the room—sometimes she took a nap and didn't come back for an hour.
Suddenly a loop of tinsel landed around his shoulders and Julie giggled. "What's that for?" he asked.
"It's for the tree."
"Well, I'm not the tree," he pointed out, unwinding the garland from around his neck and putting it aside.
"Kids!" His grandma was coming through the kitchen with a box. "Come here. I found it! I knew I would. It was in that back bedroom under all that junk." She set the box down on the kitchen table and lifted the lid off the box, squealing with happiness as she looked at what lay under it. "Julie, you got to see this, honey. I'd forgotten how pretty it is." Reverently, she lifted her own wedding dress out of the box, all yellowing lace and white silk. Holding it up to herself, Grandma Saracen laughed with glee.
"It is," Julie agreed politely.
"I can't believe it's this white. Look at it," Grandma Saracen exclaimed, laying the dress out across the kitchen table. "Oh, me."
It was well preserved—Matt could see how much she must have loved it, to pack it away so carefully. But he also wanted Julie to know he wasn't going to pressure her into having someone else's wedding.
Gently, he said, "You know, I think Julie might actually want to get her own dress, Grandma."
"Oh, nonsense." Grandma Saracen turned back to the dress as though he hadn't said anything at all. "This might need a little washing …"
"Nonsense," Matt repeated, smiling gently at her. He looked at Julie to see how she was taking this. Julie just laughed and buried her face against his shoulder so his grandma couldn't see her.
Grandma Saracen was still talking away, studying the dress. "I can do it … I think I can do it in the kitchen sink. Oh, I'm so glad I found it for you, honey." She looked up at Julie, smiling so brightly. Matt hadn't seen her look like that in a long time. "Could I—" She glanced down at Julie's hand. "Could I look at the ring on you?"
"Yeah." Julie lifted her hand, showing off the tiny diamond on her finger. Matt was so glad she liked it, that she didn't want some modern thing he bought just to buy it. His grandma had been the most important person in his life for so long—he wanted Julie to wear her ring, to tie these two women he loved together.
Grandma Saracen took Julie's hand in both of hers, looking at the ring, and then she bent and pressed her face against it, kissing the ring with all the love she had felt for her husband, all the love it had held as long as she had worn it. Her eyes were bright with tears when she lifted her face again. "You like it?" she asked Julie.
"It's beautiful, Mrs. Saracen." She meant it, too, and Matt and his grandma could both see that.
His grandma wrapped her arms around Julie, pulling her close. "I love you."
"I love you, too."
One of the first things Matt had loved about Julie Taylor was how good she was to his grandma, how patient, how she spoke to her like a person and not like someone old and out of it. To know they were going to be family—Matt blinked against tears himself, watching these two women he loved hold each other and express their love for one another.
Letting go, Grandma Saracen said quickly, "Now, I've got to look for some shoes and veil. I don't know … I don't think … My feet have always been extra small …"
As she headed for the back bedroom, leaving Matt and Julie in the kitchen together, Matt called after her, "Well, you just find them, and then we'll check it out, okay?"
"Yeah. We'll have to see."
Matt turned to Julie, who looked upset, like she was about to cry. "Hey, what's the matter?"
"Do you think we're making the right decision? I mean, we're still really young and everything my mom and dad said … And we don't even live in the same state, Matt."
"Julie, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if we live in the same state, it doesn't matter how old we are, we know we love each other. And we know … we know we're perfect together." She knew every part of him—the part that belonged in Chicago, doing art and making a life for himself, but also the part that was from Dillon, who loved his grandma and wanted her to be happy and never wanted to forget how she had been there for him his whole life. And he knew Julie—the part who wasn't sure about herself, the part who was her parents' adored daughter, the part who was brave, and the part who was kind.
"You really believe that?" Julie asked in a small voice.
"Yeah. It's going to be perfect." He leaned forward and kissed her, and Julie smiled.
From behind them came his grandma's squeal of delight. "Look! Lookie here!"
Matt turned to see her in a lacy, fluffy little white hat. "Oh, wow."
"What do you think?"
"That's a great hat, Mrs. Saracen," Julie told her.
"Now, what have I told you, Julie Taylor? You call me grandma, because we're family now." His grandma reached out and folded Julie into a fierce hug. "We're family now."
"Yes. Yes, we are."