Page 19 of Before the Storm

“Daddy couldn’t watch her,” Josie said sweetly. She didn’t want Winnie to feel her anger.

“He couldn’t! How awful,” Tara said, her voice in singsong. “Well, what are we going to do about that, huh, Winnie?”

Winnie giggled.

“Maybe Teresa can watch her while Aunt Josie and Mama take care of this wedding, huh?” Tara suggested, hurrying down the hall to find a hotel employee.

After they secured Winnie with temporary childcare, Tara and Josie rushed through their wedding tasks. It was only the eighth or ninth wedding they’d put on, and Josie was still nervous and very much aware that this was the bride’s “big day.” Everything hinged on what Josie and Tara planned. They had to execute it flawlessly.

Maybe it wasn’t the best time for Josie to say, “You know, Donnie just disappeared this morning? And I found Winnie by the water by herself?”

Tara twisted away from a bouquet to glare at Josie.

“It isn’t the first time he’s bailed on her,” Josie continued, her words fumbling all over each other. “I tried to call him, and he didn’t answer his phone.”

“Maybe it was a misunderstanding,” Tara said.

“We talked to him last night, remember?” Josie reminded her. “He said he’d be home all day to take care of Winnie.”

“Maybe he got called into work? That sometimes happens. Did you check the fridge for a note?”

“There was no note, Tara.” Josie was exasperated. Why did Tara always make excuses for her deadbeat husband?

Tara groaned. “I can’t deal with this right now, Josie. The bride and groom are getting married in less than an hour.”

“I just wish your husband would treat you and your daughter—and me—with more respect,” Josie said.

“He changed his entire life for us,” Tara said. “Maybe he’s a little slow sometimes, but he loves us. He loves you, too, Josie.”

Josie rolled her eyes. She wanted to say,We hate each other. But she didn’t, because she knew that would make Tara sad.

But now, it was time for Tara to speed off to talk to the bride and Josie to head to the groom’s side to make sure everything was ticking along all right. A half-hour later, she led the groom and his groomsmen to their correct positions. It was she who fixed a groomsman’s tie. Three hundred people sat in the audience, twisting their programs and commenting on other people’s outfits. Josie guessed that the clothing in the audience cost millions of dollars. Her dress had been fifty on the clearance rack, and it still felt like the nicest thing she owned. But Tara promised her that being poor would soon be a thing of the past. Tara’s event planning business was off to the races, and Josie was very much a part of that. Josie didn’t want to be the star of the show. But she wanted to be Tara’s second-in-command. She wanted to lend support and be in the heart of the chaos.

The bride floated down the aisle on her father’s arm. Tears glimmered on her cheeks. But her father was the one who blubbered the loudest during the ceremony. Later, he would make a ten-minute speech about his daughter, about how much he loved her and was rooting for her life to be a happy one. It would be incredibly poignant, and almost everyone would cry.

During the vows, Josie hurried back to the reception area to check on the culinary team and make sure the name cards were in their correct places. While there, another hotel staff membersped past and said, “Winnie needs help!” Suddenly, Josie was back in the little playroom near the office, sitting on her hands and knees and trying to console Winnie. Winnie refused to be held. “I want to go out!” she cried.

Josie felt terrible that Winnie was cooped up here. Again, she tried to call Donnie, hoping he could just come pick Winnie up and take her home. This time, Donnie answered, but he slurred his words together, saying, “What? What are you talking about? I’m at work.” It was very clear he wasn’t at work.

“Your daughter is at the hotel,” Josie blared. “She needs you.”

“She needs the money I can earn for her,” Donnie said. “She needs her father to be the breadwinner. She needs her mother to stay home.”

Josie wanted to throw her phone. But before she could scream at Donnie, he hung up on her.

On the floor, Winnie put blocks together and laughed. Josie’s heart felt squeezed.

“Where is your daddy?” Josie asked in a singsong voice. “Where has he gone?”

“Where is Daddy!” Winnie echoed.

Josie knew she was needed back in the reception hall. Quickly, she pulled Winnie into her arms and searched around the hotel lobby and halls for someone else to watch her, someone she knew from her years of working at the hotel. But everyone was up to their ears in wedding stress. Tara was the worst to approach right now. From where Josie watched her in the lobby, it looked as though Tara was trying to put out a small metaphorical fire involving the bride’s mother and a few reception tables. Music spilled into the hotel from the cocktail party outside, where a string quintet played pop hits as though they were classical pieces. Josie swapped Winnie from one hip to another and nearly collapsed with panic.

Suddenly, she was hurrying down the hallway, past the double-wide doors, and into the clear summer day. Nobody would walk past on this side of the hotel, not the catering staff, Tara, or anyone from the hotel. It gave her time.

The number she dialed next was one she hadn’t used in nearly four years.

The phone rang three times before Josie got an answer.

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