The Grown Ups by Robin Antalek

Author:Robin Antalek
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2014-12-02T05:00:00+00:00

TEN

Ladies in Waiting

Bella—2008

You look so beautiful.”

Bella caught Suzie’s eye in the mirror and made a face. She was sitting on a rose-colored velvet tufted stool with her knees to her chest, watching Suzie get her final gown fitting. The seamstress worked down around the hem, a wide bracelet of pins circling her wrist. Bella was definitely not feeling very beautiful in cutoff denim shorts, one of Ted’s V-neck T-shirts, and sandals that showcased unpolished toenails. Her hair, which had never gone back to waves, was pulled back into a messy bun. She had been traveling for what felt like days to get there from Montana.

Suzie made a face back and laughed. “Seriously, whatever it is: Ted, mountain air, clean living, good sex. You look amazing.”

Bella shook her head and caught the eye of the seamstress, who smiled. “Enough about me,” Bella said. “You are the princess today, tomorrow, the next day . . .”

“Ugh,” Suzie said. “You know I never went in for any of that crap.”

“Spoken like a true anti-bride.” Bella laughed.

“Seriously, though, I’m so glad you’re here.” The seamstress stood and stepped back and Suzie turned around to look at Bella. “It’s okay?” She picked at the material that gently hugged the curve of her hips. The dress was simple and elegant, and the color, neither cream nor white, made Suzie’s skin shimmer, turning it a flattering shade of rose.

Bella nodded. Her eyes filled with tears. Suzie was getting married. It was no longer an abstract idea dissected during their weekly calls.

Suzie shook her head when she saw the waterworks. “Bella, don’t.”

Bella swiped at the corners of her eyes with the hem of Ted’s T-shirt. She shook her head. “I’m not a real grown-up person yet and here you are getting married. How did that happen?”

“Do you really believe that?”

“You’re going to be a doctor. You will have a husband who is also a doctor. You have a real home.” Bella smiled, thinking of the apartment Suzie had so proudly showed off, so new the couch and mattress were still wrapped in the delivery plastic and bore stickers from Macy’s. “These are all really good things.”

“It sounds scary when you list them like that.”

“Good scary, though, right? Like you never ever believed that this would happen?”

“Yeah,” Suzie whispered. “But what about you?”

Bella smiled. “I’m happy,” she insisted. “But I don’t quite feel there, where you are, you know?”

Bella hadn’t thought Ted would come with her to Suzie’s wedding. His writing was going well, so well that he had been living alone in the cabin while Bella had gone back to Iowa City for work. She was the only one with a job, a temporary teaching gig, a last-minute replacement for a famous writer who had just had a baby. There was disappointment on all sides, students and Ted alike, when she showed up for her first day. The students were disappointed because she was no one who could further their careers. Ted was disappointed because he had lost his daily reader/editor.

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