“I don’t know.”
When I got home, Sophie was sitting at the kitchen table coloring.
She looked up immediately.
“Mommy! Did Aunt Amanda look
pretty?”
I swallowed.
“Yes, sweetheart. She looked beautiful.”
“Did she like the wedding?”
“I think she had a complicated day.”
Sophie considered that answer.
Then she returned to her drawing.
I went upstairs before she could see me cry.
Three days passed before Amanda called.
I almost ignored her.
“Brittany,” she said when I answered, “we need to talk.”
“Are you calling to yell at me?”
“No. Not exactly.”
She sounded tired.
She told me Travis had insisted they speak privately before continuing the ceremony.
He’d asked her why she had lied about Sophie.
At first, Amanda defended herself. She blamed the pressure, the expense, and my interruption.
But Travis refused to let her change the subject.
Eventually, she admitted she knew excluding Sophie would hurt Travis and the rest of our family.
