“The one with two bathrooms?”
I laughed.
“That’s the one.”
His eyes widened.
Maya tugged her mother’s sleeve.
“Tell him about the bathtub.”
Tasha closed her eyes.
“She has told everyone about the bathtub.”
“It has jets,” Maya informed me.
“Then clearly that is the most important part.”
Tasha smiled.
Then her expression changed.
“Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me.”
“I do.”
Her voice grew quieter.
“My kids haven’t had many reasons to be excited lately.”
I did not know what to do with that sentence.
So I said the only true thing I could think of.
“I’m glad you’re here.”
She nodded.
“So are we.”
Before the ceremony, I saw Emily through the window of the bridal room.
She was laughing with her best friend, Hannah.
Then Hannah stepped away, and for a moment Emily stood alone.
Her hand went to the necklace at her throat.
Her mother had given it to her years earlier.
I knew because Linda had mentioned it every time Emily wore it.
Emily looked toward the garden.
Toward the aisle.
Toward the place where her father would not be standing.
Her face changed for less than a second.
Then Hannah returned.
Emily straightened.
When the ceremony began, she walked down the aisle with Hannah beside her.
Not her father.
Halfway toward me, Emily’s eyes met mine.
I saw the sadness.
Then I saw her choose not to give the sadness the whole moment.
She smiled.
I will remember that expression longer than I remember the flowers or the music or the vows.
We got married.
Nothing stopped.
No chairs collapsed.
No sky darkened.
No one whispered that the wedding had failed because her parents were absent.
People laughed.
People cried.
Someone’s baby made a noise during the vows and everyone smiled.
When we kissed, our friends cheered loudly enough that Emily laughed into my shoulder.
For almost an hour afterward, I thought the hardest part was over.
Then, during cocktail hour, Emily grabbed my forearm.
Her fingers tightened.
I followed her gaze.
Linda.
Mark.
Rachel.
All three walking through the entrance.
Dressed for the wedding.
Linda wore the silver dress she had shown Emily months earlier. Mark had on the suit Emily helped him choose. Rachel carried the clutch that matched the bridesmaid dresses.
They looked like guests.
That was the problem.
“What are they doing here?” Emily whispered.
“I don’t know.”
They moved directly toward Melissa.
I could not hear the first exchange.
Then Linda’s voice rose.
“What do you mean we’re not on the list?”
Several nearby guests turned.
Melissa kept her voice low.
Linda did not.
“We’re the bride’s parents.”
I walked over.
Emily stayed where she was.
For the moment.
Linda saw me coming.
“You.”
“Linda.”
“What did you do?”
“You told us you weren’t attending.”
“We never said that.”
“You said fifty thousand dollars or you weren’t coming.”
“That was a negotiation.”
“No. It was a condition.”
Mark stepped closer.
“This is our daughter’s wedding.”
“Yes.”
“We have every right to be here.”
“You were invited. You declined unless we paid you.”
“We did not decline.”
I felt something in me settle.
Maybe because the conversation had happened so many times already.
Maybe because the ceremony was finished.
Maybe because for the first time, the threatened empty chairs were not empty.
“You’re not on the guest list anymore,” I said.
Linda stared at me.