All Chapters of The Day You Never Came: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

After taking care of everything at the hospital, I went back to the small room we'd set up for the wedding.The guests were long gone.A large wedding banner still hung in the center of the room. I'd put it up myself the night before, making sure it was perfectly straight.Mom had insisted on that. She always said if you started things right, everything else would fall into place.The cake she'd picked out was still on the table, already starting to melt. The frosting had sagged into a shapeless mess, which pretty much matched how I felt.I changed out of my wedding dress and started cleaning up on autopilot.I was halfway done when Isaac Hudson and Jolene Cohen finally showed up, still carrying a bag from the popular cake shop."Lily, we're back! We even got Ms. Page a low-sugar cake. It's one of their specialties…"Jolene's cheerful voice trailed off as she took in the empty room. She looked stunned."Where is everyone? I thought there was supposed to be a wedding. Why is it

I liked Jolene's post.Not even two minutes later, she called. She sounded uneasy."Lily, you saw the post? Don't get the wrong idea. We were just messing around and taking a few pictures."I said nothing.She hurried to explain, "Don't worry. I made sure Ms. Page couldn't see the post."So she knew exactly how it might look to Mom. What she didn't know was that Mom would never see it anyway.Jolene kept going. "Lily, don't stay mad at Isaac. I've already talked to him. We'll find somewhere even nicer and make sure Ms. Page gets her wish. She's one of the most important people in my life too."Those words made my chest tighten until I could hardly breathe.Jolene had been one of Mom's students too.Her family always put the boys first, and there were times Jolene barely had enough to eat. Mom would quietly make sure she had money for lunch.During Jolene's senior year of high school, her family tried to make her drop out and get a job. Mom went to their house three times and

I opened the envelope and found the speech Mom had written for the wedding. Her handwriting was shaky, but she'd clearly taken her time with every word."Isaac, the one thing I can't stop worrying about is Lily. She grew up without a father. She may seem easygoing, but she's always been more afraid of loneliness than she lets on."You're the more levelheaded one. When she gets stubborn, just be patient with her. Don't take every stubborn thing she says to heart. When I'm gone, please love her a little extra for me."Below that was another note, the handwriting even fainter."Jolene, I have one favor to ask of you too. Lily can be stubborn, but underneath it all, she's softhearted. You two have always been like sisters. When I'm gone, I just want you two to look out for each other. Then I won't have to worry.A tear splashed onto the page, and I couldn't read any further.Even at the very end, Mom was still thinking the best of Isaac and worrying about Jolene and me. She was still

I wiped the tears from the corner of my eye and scoffed. "You think you have any right to?"I pried Isaac's fingers off my arm one by one. "Yesterday, while she was waiting for you to show up in your tux, you were holding up the hem of Jolene's dress."While she was waiting for you to show up as part of our family, you were off taking couples' photos with Jolene. Now that she's dead, you suddenly want to say goodbye? Don't you think that's disgusting?"Isaac's hand fell away, and he looked utterly broken.Jolene moved toward me on her knees and grabbed the hem of my dress. "Lily, I was wrong. I know I was wrong. I'll get on my knees and beg Ms. Page for forgiveness. I'll do anything you want."I looked down at her. This was the friend who used to sleep beside me, the one who had cried and promised she'd always be there for me. Now she was kneeling in front of me, sobbing uncontrollably.I felt nothing."Jolene, Mom loved you like a daughter. She never asked you for anything in

My phone kept lighting up with messages from Isaac."Lily, I was wrong."I'm not asking you to forgive me."Just let me do something for Ms. Page."I'll cover her medical bills, the burial costs, whatever else comes up."Please don't carry all of this by yourself."I didn't reply to a single one.Then he started calling, so I blocked his number.Early the next morning, the doorbell rang.When I opened the door, I found breakfast waiting outside with a note. It was in Isaac's handwriting."You have a sensitive stomach. Eat something first."I stared at the note and almost laughed. Of course he knew I had a sensitive stomach.Back in college, while Isaac was trying to get his startup off the ground, I was living on one meal a day. One time, my stomach hurt so badly I ended up crouched on the floor, unable to stand.He carried me to the hospital and, with tears in his eyes, promised he'd take care of me for the rest of my life.But as the business got busier, he started tell