The Duchess had thrown a fit about everything you could imagine—including not being listed on the wedding invitation. Mark had calmly explained, “Mom, you know that the bride’s parents are the ones listed on the wedding invitation because they are the ones who are throwing it. You get to be listed on the rehearsal dinner invitation.”
She’d rolled her eyes, put her sunglasses down to cover them, dramatically thrown her silk scarf around her neck, and said, “I guess being the mother of the groom means nothing to these people. It’s all about the bride, bride, bride.”
Mark had put his arm around me and said, “I’m sorry. My mother has trouble not being the center of attention.”
“You don’t say. Perhaps we should put her picture in the paper instead of my bridal portrait with the wedding announcement.”
“Oh, sweetie, you are so selfless,” Mark said, before noticing my incredulous look. “Right,” he said. “You’re kidding. That would be insane.”
“Yes,” I agreed. “Completely and utterly insane.”
But the bright side of all the family drama was that it had brought Mark and me together as a united front more than I could have imagined. And I had no doubt left in my mind that we were meant to be together. We were as solid as they came. And Mark was the sweetest human on earth.
The night before, he had taken me to the ballroom at the Peachtree Bluff Inn, which was almost always empty except for a few special occasions a year, so we were the only people there. He had pulled out his phone to play a song, resting it on a nearby table before grabbing my hand. As he pulled me to him, Jason Mraz started crooning from the speaker, “So I won’t hesitate no more, no more.”
I had smiled and pulled him closer, kissing him. We had danced to this same song, in this same place, after being crowned prom king and queen.
“It doesn’t seem like it was even that long ago, does it?”
Mark shook his head as he led me around the carpeted room like he had eight years earlier. I remembered thinking then that we would be together forever, that this was the first of a lifetime of dances, that one day people would be crowded around watching us do this at our wedding. And now it was almost here. I hadn’t been wrong.
It couldn’t help but make me think of Grammy. Mom had signed up to chaperone the prom, and I had been horrified.Horrified. Ever the patient mother, she hadn’t wanted to shirk her responsibilities to the school but also didn’t want to add to the long list of potential items I could complain to my theoretical therapist about in my later life. So she had let Grammy chaperone instead. It made me sad to think that Grammy wouldn’t see my first dance at my wedding. But she had gotten to see me dance with Mark that night. So maybe that was almost as good.
We hadn’t talked about what happened with Grammy, not ever. But this seemed like the right time.
“Mark?”
“Hmmmm?”
“I want to thank you for everything with Grammy, for, um, you know, the pills.”
He leaned back and smiled and kissed me. “You know I would do anything for you, Emerson.”
I nodded. “If I didn’t know it before, then that definitely proved it. That was above and beyond, Mark.”
He shrugged. “Well, I would never let someone so special suffer if I could help it. And I could help it, so I did.”
I kissed him, and we kept dancing, silently.
I had gone to sleep that night feeling so content. So it startled me how unsettled I felt waking up.Seven days, I thought. A distinct nausea welled up in me. I tried to push it away, but I couldn’t help but wonder why I felt so anxious—and itchy. I reached up to scratch my head. When I did, I realized that it was itchy all over. And when I pulled my hand away, there was a bug on my finger.
It took me a moment to realize what was going on. I had lice. I HAD LICE. I didn’t know what to do. My heart was racing, my mouth went dry, and I jumped out of my bed like it was what had infected me. I was trying to decide whether I should get into the shower or not when I heard myself screaming at the top of my lungs, “There are bugs in my hair!”
Vivi opened the door and said, very calmly, “It’s OK, Aunt Emmy. It’s just lice. Gransley is calling someone now to come treat us all.”
I peered at her, trying to stay calm. “Did you give me lice?”
A terrified look passed over her face. “No! Of course not!” She glanced from one side to the other and whispered, hand over her mouth, “It was AJ and Taylor.”
Of course it was, those little rats. I mean, I loved them. But this was mywedding. My wedding was a week away, and I was being attacked by parasites.
I noticed some movement in my bed, which was when I remembered that Biscuit had slept with me. That was great. Just great. I was sure the dog had lice now, too.
Vivi’s phone beeped, and she looked at the screen. “The Lice Doctors are going to be here in an hour to get us all fixed up,” she said, “but we have to spend the night at the Peachtree Bluff Inn.”
“Who said that?” I asked.
“Gransley.”
