Page 46 of The Vineyard Bride

“I’d still like a knitted sweater, Susie,” Lola joked.“No matter how many criminal cases you take this year.Get ready to knit!”

Susan laughed as she stretched her hand over her newly curled up-do.Amanda’s heart surged with love for her mother, her favorite person in the world— the woman she most wanted to become when she was younger.She’d watched her overcome so much throughout her forties.

What awaits me as I get older?

Cancer?Divorce?Sorrow?Loss?

Will I handle it with as much grace as Susan Sheridan?

Suddenly, Amanda heard herself ask something she’d never imagined she’d have enough strength to ask.

“What did you think of me when Chris left me at the altar?”

There was a strange moment of silence, during which the Sheridan clan eyed Amanda curiously, just as confused as she was that the question had come out.

“Someone left you at the altar, honey?”one of the hair stylists asked.

“Men can be so all over the place,” the other cooed.“You never know what they’re thinking because they don’t even know what they’re thinking.No self-reflection.No communication!”

“To be honest with you,” Audrey began, “I never liked the guy.”

Amanda laughed inwardly.Audrey had said the sentiment many times, but each time seemed lighter and less judgemental.

“I just really wanted to get married,” Amanda explained to the hairstylists.

“That can happen,” one of them offered.“I see it all the time in this line of work.Women feel this ticking clock and just flail around and pick the guy who’s closest to them.”

“I can tell you that I never did that,” Lola affirmed.

“Honey, that’s clear.Nobody has to get married once they hit forty,” another stylist joked.“Once you’re forty, you do it because you’re actually in love, I think.That’s my current theory, anyway.”

“I’d back up that theory,” another told them.

Susan crossed and uncrossed her eyes as confusion played out across her face.“I guess I’m the only one here who really saw your and Chris’s relationship up close.”

Amanda’s heart seized with a thousand little memories: the first time Chris had met Susan and worn a bright pink tie; the first time Susan had baked Chris a platter of cookies before his midterm; the time Chris and Amanda had picked Susan up from the airport, just a week or so after Richard’s affair with Penelope had come out.

“Amanda, you loved him.For a little while, I believe that you really loved him and that he really loved you.But sometimes, unfortunately, and for reasons none of us can fully understand, love doesn’t last,” Susan said finally.

“Ain’t it the truth,” one of the hairstylists said.

Amanda nodded, dropping her eyes to the ground.

“But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t allow yourself to try again,” Christine said knowingly, as though she could already feel the “meaning” behind Amanda’s question.

“And I think I know a gentleman who seems more than willing to try again with you,” Susan said, her eyes twinkling.

Upstairs, baby Mia cried out as she erupted from sleep.Amanda laughed as the cry seemed a direct link to her emotions.Somehow, we all must wake up to a brand-new day, get accustomed to our new surroundings, and continue to try, try again.

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