My sister smiles at the scene from the doorway, but then puts on her stern face. “Who gave you those? You are both wearing white!”
I take a step to the left, bringing Angel with me so our bodies hide the offending chocolate donuts on the table behind us. Angel is almost as tall as me these days. She’ll be taller than me within the next few months. I suppose that’s not difficult, since I’m somehow the smallest of the family by many inches.
Someone calls Willa’s name before she can chastise or direct us more and she points two fingers at her eyes and then us before stalking away to deal with whatever else could go wrong.
“Mary,” Angel starts. I can tell from her tone that she’s about to ask a difficult question. One of the ones with a messy answer.
I give her my attention and nod at her to go on.
“I asked Mom if you love Maxim and she said it’s complicated. But you do, right? Love him?”
I blink at the candor of the question. I can see my sister trying to be honest with her daughter without telling her the whole truth. Normal people don’t need arranged marriages.Complicated indeed.
“I am marrying for love.” I don’t mention that this is not love forhim, but for her, for all our family. “Maxim will be a good uncle to you, you’ll see.”
“But are you in love with him? Like Mom and Dad?”
I open my mouth, then close it. I can’t lie to her, she’s too sharp. She’ll see straight through me; she already has, she just doesn’t want to believe it.
“I don’t think I’ve ever loved someone as much as your parents love each other. But that’s okay.”
She’s quiet for a long moment, takes a bite of a mini donut. “Do you think I’ll love who I marry?”
I nod too quickly, any other option too abhorrent to me. I don’t want her to know how thoroughly that question just knocked me on my ass. I think if she tried to marry someone she didn’t love, I’d drag her away to another country to hide out in a beach house. Hell, I’d take her to Italy. We could start a business, fend for ourselves.
“You will,” I say, my voice firm. “You’ll find a love so big it’ll make you dizzy. And you’ll drive your kids crazy by kissing at the dinner table, and you’ll be so deliriously happy.”
She smiles, quiet delight so evident on her face. I pinch her cheek again and she bats me away.
I look in the mirror at us in our white dresses and smile. I will do this for her, so that she can live long enough to have that future.
A throat clears from behind us, and we both jump, turning to see none other than my husband-to-be standing in a crisp suit, all black, with a crimson rose boutonniere pinned to his lapel.
Angel shrieks. “You’re not supposed to see her!”
Maxim doesn’t respond at first, his gaze preternaturally still on me.
He probably agrees that I look as ridiculous as I feel. He snaps out of it and offers a smile to Angel.
“But if I can’t see her, how will I give her my gift?”
Angel’s eyes go wide—the girl, like any thirteen year old,lovesgifts.
“Scram,” I whisper. She gives an excited giggle before walking off past him. Then it’s just us in the quiet bridal suite, sun casting through the tall windows on the floor between us. I don’t step toward him, and after a moment, his strides eat up the distance between us.
“Willa will scream if she sees you in here. She’s superstitious.”
“And you?” he asks, a smirk tugging up his lips. “Do you believe in bad luck?”
I shake my head.
His eyes flit down again before returning to my face. If I didn’t know better, I’d think my fiancée was just checking me out.
“You are very beautiful,” he says. I note that he didn’t say Ilookbeautiful, only that I am.
“And you are very. . .”handsome, striking, perplexing, all cross my mind, “tall.”
That rare smile breaks over his face, and I find a soft one on my lips as well. “You look very nice,” I amend. “Like a groom.”
