“ARE YOU ASHAMED OF ME?”
I put the coffee pot on the counter.
“Are you ashamed of me?”
“Mom, don’t do this.”
“Do what?”
“Make this harder.”
“For who?”
“It’s one day.”
“It’s your wedding.”
“I know.”
“I’m your mother.”
“I know.”
Her voice cracked slightly.
But she still didn’t look at me.
I wanted to scream.
Instead, I asked one more question.
“Does Adrian know you’re asking me not to attend?”
Sophie hesitated.
That hesitation told me everything.
I nodded.
“All right.”
She finally looked up.
“Really?”
“I won’t come.”
Relief crossed her face.
That hurt more than the request.
After Sophie left, I poured both cups of coffee down the sink.
Her lipstick mark was still on the rim.
I stood there staring at it for an embarrassingly long time.
Wondering how the little girl who once wanted to buy me a house with two kitchens had become a woman who wanted to erase me from her wedding day.
THE PEARL LOCKET
On the morning of the wedding, I stayed home until almost noon.
Then I opened the drawer where I kept my mother’s pearl locket.
My mother wore it on her wedding day.
I wore it on mine.
When Sophie was a little girl, she used to open the velvet box and ask:
“Can I wear this when I get married?”
And every time I said:
“Absolutely.”
No matter how hurt I was—
I wanted her to have it.
So I placed the locket inside its small velvet box.
Then drove to St. Evermere Chapel.
I had no intention of attending the ceremony.
I only wanted to leave the gift.
I WAS SUPPOSED TO LEAVE
Guests in expensive dresses and tailored suits were walking toward the chapel entrance.
I found an usher.
“Could you give this to the bride?”
He looked at the label.
Then at me.
“You’re Sophie’s mother?”
My throat tightened.
“Yes.”
“You’re not going inside?”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
Before he could ask anything else, the organ began playing.
The chapel doors opened.
I should have left.
Instead—
I slipped inside.
White roses covered the sanctuary.
Every pew looked full.
I quietly sat at the very back, partly hidden behind a tall floral arrangement.
I told myself I would watch for five minutes.
Just enough to see my daughter.
Then I would leave.
And then Sophie appeared.
