Page 31 of A Wedding in the Bay

There was a long pause on the other line. “Well, thank you, sweetheart. I’m in a better place now, and I understand what you’re saying. That makes sense.”

Josie nodded, her stomach twisting with emotions. Part of her felt relieved, but she knew better than to think that the road to healing was linear. She was thrilled that her mother was doing better, but she wasn’t sure how bumpy the path to recovery was still going to prove to be.

“The decision on whether or not you want to come, based on those guidelines, is up to you, but it would really mean a lot to me to have you there.”

There was another pause. Josie winced, wondering if her mother was starting to change her mind about what she’d said. She knew that her mother’s reactions were anything but predictable, and they often changed multiple times in one conversation.

“I want to be there. I don’t love the way you’re asking me to not have an important conversation with my own daughter. I think that’s pretty unreasonable.”

“I’m not asking you to not talk to Paige, and I’m not asking you to never talk with her about her moving away. But please do it respectfully when you do, and please don’t have that conversation on my wedding day.”

There was a pause, and then Josie’s mother inhaled. “All right. I hear what you’re saying.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

“Well, let me think about it, but I do want to be there. You know what—I don’t need to think about it. I’ll be there.”

“Yeah?” Josie said, wishing she could just feel happy but instead feeling worried that her mother would end up changing her mind, or become unable to attend for some other reason. “That’s awesome, Mom.”

“It’s your wedding. Hopefully your only wedding. I’ll be there.”

“Okay, that’s great. Don’t forget about what we talked about though, okay?”

Josie’s mother sighed. “I won’t. You run along now and start picking out a wedding dress or whatever it is you need to do. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Okay, Mom. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

They said goodbye and hung up. Josie sat for a while on the end of her bed, staring at the floorboards and trying to figure out how she really felt.

I feel all kinds of things at once, she decided finally. Nervous, happy, relieved, and a little sad. I love my mom. I wish things weren’t the way they are—but it does seem like they’re getting better.

She took a deep breath, worried that her mother’s recovery wasn’t going to last, and worried that her mother wouldn’t end up coming to the wedding after all.

She reached for her phone again. She knew exactly who she needed to talk to in that moment, and she dialed another number and listened to it ring a few times.

“Hey, Josie!”

Josie’s face lit up into a grin as soon as she heard her sister’s voice on the other end. “Hey, Paige! Do you have a minute?”

“I do! I’m walking across campus now, on my way back to my apartment. What’s up?”

“Oh, I just wanted to talk for a little bit,” Josie said, not wanting to suddenly bring up what she knew was also a difficult topic for her sister. “How are classes going?”

“They don’t feel like classes.” Paige laughed. “They’re the best part of every day. I love baking. All the information I’m learning here feels so exciting. And even the business classes, even though they aren’t as fun, make me happy. I know they’re preparing me to open my own bakery once I graduate, so I’m always happy to be in class.”

“That’s great,” Josie said warmly, pride filling her chest as she thought about Paige acing all her classes. “But I’m not surprised at all to hear you’re doing amazing work.”

“Thank you!” Josie could hear in her sister’s voice that she was smiling. “I miss you! I can’t wait to come back for the wedding. I’m so excited about it!”

“I am too,” Josie said, smiling.

“How’s all of that going?”

“Good. I did the hardest thing on my to-do list today. I called Mom and invited her to the wedding.”

“You did?” Josie couldn’t tell if Paige’s tone was eager or nervous. “How did that go?”

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