Her eyes flicker open.
For a second, we stare at each other. And then, she squeezes my hand.
Emotion clogs my throat as I look into her wise eyes.
“Thank you, Auntie Sue.”
* * *
Mom insists on picking me up for Dad’s mayoral dinner, and I’m on my way out the door when my phone rings. I wave to Mom as I climb into the passenger seat. My long, black skirt gets caught up in my heeled shoe and I untangle it as I answer my phone.
“What’s up, Sheldon?” I say. “I’m with Mom, and we’re on our way.”
Sheldon starts talking a mile a minute, but a car drives by and honks at the same time.
“I missed all of that. Can you start over?”
“Cara’s driving me crazy. I try to help out as best I can, but it’s never right, and she’s at her mom’s now in tears, and I don’t even understand what I did wrong. I’m sure you can enlighten me.”
“Let’s talk when I get there,” I say. “I’ll meet you in ten minutes.”
As soon as Mom and I arrive at the banquet hall, I rush the hors d'oeuvres station. I’ve just filled my plate with chicken satay strips and pastry puffs filled with spiced potatoes when Sheldon rushes over to me. Between his stubble and the dark smudges underneath his eyes, he looks like he hasn’t slept in days.
I gesture for him to join me at a table in the back of the hall. He and I are two of the first people here, and I’m enormously grateful for the lack of a crowd. The camera crew is still setting up by the stage, and a few reporters are milling around; I wave at Glenn, give a terse head nod to Calvin, and turn to Sheldon.
“Hate that damn reporter,” Sheldon mutters as we take seats kitty-corner to each other.
“I know,” I say. “He’s the one who spread the lie about Dad having an affair with his assistant, remember? He doctored the photographs and changed the dates. Lindsay likes women, not men; I still don’t know if Calvin’s end game was to force her to out herself or to get Dad voted out as mayor.”
“I say he wanted both things. Like I said, hate that guy.” Sheldon grabs a puff off my plate and pops it into his mouth.
“You look awful. So what’s the matter, big brother?”
“My wedding…” Sheldon pauses. “Olive, I’ll be blunt with you because I can be: it’s driving me fucking nuts. I’m not kidding here. I’m going crazy.”
I look at his bloodshot eyes. “You do seem especially tense. What’s the problem?”
I’ve managed to eat two puffs and start in on a chicken satay before Sheldon speaks again, which is fine with me because when I’m chewing, I can’t answer him very well. I’m just in the middle of fantasizing that maybe I’ll be able to finish my entire plate of hors d'oeuvres before I have to pay attention to anything other than the food in front of me when Sheldon starts talking.
“Cara’s family is rude and demanding and can be quite crude…”
“I think I get the picture.” I cut him off. “They’re not helping things. But what’s really going on?”
“Cara’s miserable over it,” he says. “I know our family’s kind of overbearing and judgmental…”
I nod at him and purse my lips.
“But hers is just impossible,” he says. “Everybody’s divorced, and none of the exes can be in the same room with one another. Except they have to be for this one day, right? Which presents a problem. I mean what do they expect us to do—throw two weddings so half can attend one ceremony and the rest go to the other?”
“They’re all divorced?”
“Some two and three times.”
“Well, families are always hard. Especially around relationships.” I think about Jenson and me. “You and Cara have to put yourselves first. You have to. Or else you’ll drown underneath all these other people’s agendas.”
Sheldon picks up a chicken strip and points it at me. “Thisis why I called you. You’re right. So what do I do?”
“Don’t let them get in between you,” I say. “Simple as that. No matter what you have to do, don’t let that happen.”
