On This Day by Melody Carlson

Author:Melody Carlson [Carlson, Melody]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-55097-2
Publisher: The Doubleday Religious Publishing Group
Published: 2006-11-07T20:00:00+00:00

Chapter 25

ELIZABETH

I often cry at weddings. And I expected I would cry today. I even bought a fresh little packet of tissues for my purse, expressly for that purpose. But I hadn’t planned on crying nonstop like this. From the moment the music began, I’ve been unable to quit crying. Fortunately, it’s not the ugly kind of crying where you sob so loudly that you make a complete fool of yourself. Even so, the tears have been steadily flowing down my face, like someone turned on a water faucet and went away and forgot to turn it off. I’m sure my makeup is completely ruined by now. Not that I care so much. It seems the least of my worries today.

Phil keeps glancing at me. These nervous little sideways looks that I avoid returning. I’m sure he’s worried that something is seriously wrong. Perhaps he thinks I’m going to have a complete breakdown right here in front of everyone. Or maybe he knows that I know. I still can’t believe Suzette talked to him this afternoon. I wish I’d gotten more details about what she actually said to him. But then Phil may have just written her off as the one crazy woman at the wedding.

I glance over to where Suzette and Jim are sitting on the groom’s side, directly across from me. I’m impressed at how absolutely perfect she looks. Who would’ve guessed that the woman sobbing uncontrollably at that horrible tavern could transform herself so quickly and completely? Her eyes are a tiny bit puffy, but other than that, she looks amazing. I’m sure that dress cost a small fortune, not to mention the shoes and handbag. I can only imagine what a woman like that must spend on clothes. And then I notice her hand moving across her lap to take Jim’s hand. He turns and smiles at her as if everything is just fine. And suddenly I want to scream.

But I take in a deep breath, force my attention toward the front, and listen intently as Jenny and Michael repeat their vows. I was surprised they chose to use such old-fashioned vows. Jenny is saying, “On this day, I do thee wed …” Despite my tears and my misery, I have to smile. It is so sweet—so like Jenny.

I am suddenly reminded of when Jenny was a little girl and I would get to watch her for an afternoon while Jeannette went to an appointment or ran errands. Jenny’s favorite thing was to play dress-up. And occasionally she would manage to talk my boys into playing wedding with her. Of course, I was a sucker for it too. Not having a girl of my own, I was only too happy to drag out scarves and petticoats and pearls and whatever it took to deck her out like a miniature bride. Then she would cajole either Conner or Patrick (usually Patrick fell first for her wide-eyed pleading) into standing up with her while the other cousin performed the “ceremony.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.