Page 10 of The Runaway Bride of Blitzen Bay (Blitzen Bay)

“What are you doing here?” I grab her and hug her as tightly as I can. “We didn’t get an R.S.V.P. from you.”

“Only because I didn’t get an invitation. And here I thought I was your favorite cousin.”

“What? Mom said she mailed it a few weeks before the others, so we could be sure it would get to you in Spain.”

Kit rolls her eyes. “Elle, c’mon. You let Leni mail it? You know it never got to a mailbox if it ever existed at all. She still blames me for every bit of trouble we got into when we were growing up, even though it was all undeniably your fault.”

“Not all of it—”

“Every single last part of it.” She points her finger at me. “Don’t fight me on this. I still have the evidence.”

Steve’s staring at her. “Steve, you remember my cousin Kit. She visited campus right around the time we started dating.”

“Yeah. Your hair’s bluer than I remember.”

“And your hair’s grayer than I remember,” Kit says, pointing at his temples. “You might want to start dyeing it here.”

Steve forces a laugh. As tears start streaming down my cheeks, I grab Kit into another hug.

“I’m so happy you’re here,” I say, sniffing.

Steve rolls his eyes when he sees me crying. He walks to where Mom’s overseeing the installation of a life-sized Santa behind the altar.

“What’s that about?” Kit says, nodding her head toward Steve.

“He thinks it’s weird that I cry when I’m happy.”

“Well, I think it’s weird that he doesn’t.” She smiles as she wipes the tears off my cheeks. “Do you remember what Grandma used to say about crying?”

“That crying is like a shower for the inside of your body and if you don’t cry enough your insides get stinky.”

“Yes, and you have the cleanest insides of anyone I know. I love your sensitive little soul.”

Steve rushes back over to us. He points at Mom. “You have to stop her.”

I look at Kit. “Is there anything you can do to stop her?”

“Yeah, but it would involve me doing jail time.”

“If you truly loved me,” I say, putting my arm around her, “you would go to jail for me.”

“Aww, Elle.” She leans her head against mine. “That’s how every one of our conversations started when we were teenagers.”

“Katherine!” My mom swoops down the aisle and positions her waif-like body in the small space between Kit and me. “I didn’t know you were coming. I’m afraid we never received a reply from you.”

“Oh, Leni. I would never miss your big day.” She’s called Mom by her first name since she was a toddler. It drives Mom crazy. “I’m sorry. I mean Elle’s big day, of course.”

“Her name is Noelle, Katherine. If you need a reminder, look on the wedding invitation.”

“It’s funny, I never received my invitation. I’m sure it got lost in the mail just like my reply. That darn Spanish postal service!”

Mom turns on her heels and heads back to torture the decorators.

“If I knew you were coming, I would have made you a bridesmaid,” I say as I pull Kit back into a hug.

“I don’t want to be part of that sorority hell. I’m way too special for that and you know it.”

“Way too special.”

“I’m here just for you. Anything you need.” She hugs me tighter and then whispers in my ear. “Even if what you need is to get out of here and never look back.”

I push her back and look into her eyes. She knows. She’s always been able to read my mind.

“It’s never too late, Elle. Never.”

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