Page 90 of Breathe Again

“For that, too.”

Silence stretched across the line. “Do you have an appointment today?”

“Yes. I have to leave in fifteen minutes, but I can talk to you until I go.”

“Well, I guess I’ll take it. I spoke to my ladies; the first craft fair of the season is this Saturday. I thought you could drive us. It’s in the city and you know how I hate to drive there.”

The burn hit my stomach, a combination of trepidation because I needed to tell her ‘no,’ mixed with anger over her complaints and self-focus. Over all of it was relief that I had an excuse.

“Rebecca’s wedding is this Saturday, but as you know, I don’t like driving into the city either.”

“I suppose your sister is going to the wedding? Does she have a date?”

“Yes, she’s going.”

“Where’s it going to be?”

“It’s going to be at Rhys and Rebecca’s place. The guest list is tiny, smaller than her first wedding even.”

“So, she’s not breaking patterns in that way, just in her choice of groom. Do you think she’s just desperate because she’s getting older? Some women can’t handle life without a man. Some women are very needy.”

There was a buzzing in my ears and my throat itched from the curse words I was choking on. “I think she’s incredibly blessed to find love, especially love like she has found, twice in one lifetime.”

She sniffed. “He’s very crass, Mara. Not like Zale, or Jack. Now, he was a looker!”

“Have you ever even spoken to Rhys?”

She sniffed. “I have the wisdom of my years, Mara. And, yes, I did speak to him. He lacked respect for me.”

“How?” I challenged.

“It doesn’t matter. I don’t hold grudges or gossip.”

I withheld my snort, barely.

“So, she’s having it at home, and Willa is going?”

“Yes, they are good friends.”

“I’ll take Olivia for the night.”

“Olivia is coming with us.”

There was a shorter stretch of silence this time.

She snickered. “Really, Mara. You’re going to take that child to a wedding?” She emphasized ‘that’ as if Olivia couldn’t cope and I should know better.

“Well, yes. Bex is making it fun for the three kids, and Olivia has her own space at Rhys and Rebecca’s place so she can retreat whenever she needs to.”

“She has her own space there.”

Her voice fell flat. Bea, too, had made a space for Olivia at her house, then one day she decided to clean it out and disposed of the toys that she felt were too young for Olivia. Olivia didn’t want to leave anything there after that.

“Yes. They have a guest bedroom and Bex made it up in a way that it would appeal to Olivia. Olivia’s comfortable there, we spend a lot of time with Bex and Rhys, so she’ll be fine. Besides, there’ll be floating lanterns, smores, and a heated tent with a mobile petting zoo for a couple of hours in the afternoon.”

“A petting zoo? What kind of family has a wedding like this? Are they hillbillies? Your wedding, your wedding was beautiful Mara. Everybody talked about it.”

I felt a tightness across my forehead and a dull ache beginning at my temples. This conversation never led anywhere good for me.

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