“No, Sarah, everything’s not going to be fine.” She sighed. “Malcolm’s grandmother was too sick to travel. A fun fact no one bothered to mention to me when I organized this event, and now the only thing Malcolm and his parents can talk about is how much she’ll be missed, how tragic it is that we’re doing this without her.”

Lia reached into the pocket of her sports coat and retrieved a chocolate bar. A real one, not the chalk-looking protein things she’d been consuming before. She ripped it open and took a bite.

“Well, how sick is she?” Sarah asked.

Her mouth full of chocolate, Lia stared at her like it was a ridiculous question. “I don’t know, Sarah—too sick to travel.”

Sarah sighed. Patience. “I’m asking because if she’s not completely bedridden, I may have a way that she could still be at the reunion.”

Lia stopped pacing. “You mean virtually?”

“I installed some virtual conferencing equipment in the larger event room…” It would mean moving the event into that room instead…moving the decor and the tables and the centerpieces and everything that they’d just finished setting up in the smaller room, but if it would mean that this event could be considered a success, if it would appease Lia, then it was worth doing.

Her self-esteem and confidence could use one thing going right that weekend.

Lia nodded slowly. “Malcolm’s aunt decided not to come so that someone would be there with Grandmama…she could definitely help her with a laptop.” Relief started to appear on Lia’s face as she nodded. “That might work.”

It would definitely work; it just meant a lot more work for Sarah.

“Well, go. Get started,” Lia said. “We only have a few hours.”

Sarah’s back teeth clenched. “I’m on it.”

Just forty-eight hours until all of this is over.

Hours later, exhausted and barely able to keep her eyes open, Sarah collapsed on her bed. Downstairs, all of Lia’s and Malcolm’s family members had checked in, gotten settled in their guest rooms, and were mingling with their wine and cheese reception. Loud voices and laughter drifted up the stairs toward her room, but Sarah was happy to be away from the crowd.

Her gaze settled on her grandmother’s journal on the table near the armchair. Worried about that day’s event, worried about her own future plans, and hurt over her argument with Wes, she hadn’t slept the night before. Instead, she’d continued reading the entries in the journal.

Her grandmother’s heartache over Jack’s refusal of her love had spilled from the pages, and Sarah’s own tortured heart hadn’t found the reassurance she’d been hoping for. Instead, it had only made her heartache that much worse. She hesitated before picking up the journal to read it.