"Marjorie just wants everything to be perfect. She has high standards."
“I don’t think she’s going to make the wedding day easy for you, sis.”
Or Celia and Trevor’s life together, but that was a whole other discussion.
"You just have to get used to her." Celia capped her lipstick and tucked it into her small purse. "She means well."
"Don't sweat your mother-in-law. She's not the type to be happy. No matter what you do, she's going to find something to criticize. Just do whatever you want,” Kelly placed her hand on her sister’s arm in comfort. “As long as you and Trevor are happy, that’s the important thing.”
Celia's reflection stared back at Kelly in the mirror, her expression unexpectedly hardening. She pulled her arm away from Kelly's touch.
"That's easy for you to say," Celia replied, her voice taking on a firmness Kelly rarely heard from her sister. "I'm marrying Trevor, and that means I'm marrying his whole family, too. I have to get along with her."
The sudden shift caught Kelly off guard. Celia wasn’t the type to stand up for herself, and she’d been trying to urge her to do just that.
“I wasn’t suggesting that you don’t?—”
"You don't get it." Celia turned to face Kelly directly now, no longer using the mirror as a buffer. "This isn't about one day or one wedding. This is about the next forty years. This is about holidays and birthdays and grandchildren someday. This is about Trevor not being caught in the middle every time his mother and I disagree."
“I'm just saying you shouldn't start your marriage by bending yourself into a pretzel to keep Marjorie happy. It will never be enough for her."
"And I'm saying you don't know what you're talking about." Celia's words were clipped and precise, while tears glittered in her eyes. Kelly immediately felt like total crap; the last thingshe’d wanted to do was upset Celia. How had this all gone so wrong? "And this is one area where you shouldn't give advice."
The statement hung in the air between them, unexpectedly harsh in the quiet elegance of the bathroom.
"Cel—"
"No." Celia cut her off, straightening her shoulders. "You live your life one way, and that's fine for you. But I'm making different choices. I love Trevor. His family is important to him, so they're important to me. Sometimes that means compromise. You know what compromise is? It’s that thing you don’t like to do."
"I'm sorry," Kelly said finally. "I didn't mean?—"
"I know what you meant." Celia's voice softened slightly, but the firmness remained. "Look, I appreciate that you're concerned."
Without waiting for a response, Celia walked out, leaving Kelly standing alone in the bathroom.
Kelly gripped the cool edge of the marble counter, letting the words sink in. Had her independent lifestyle made her incapable of understanding real relationships? The kind that required daily navigation, constant negotiation, the messy work of living alongside other people's needs and wants?
She couldn’t be sure of anything at the moment, her mind still absorbing her sister’s accusation.
Compromise? That thing you don’t like to do?
Was she so unyielding? Rigid?
She wouldn’t have described herself that way, but clearly her sister did. But did Celia understand that the compromises that had been asked of Kelly were simply too much? No one should have to change who they are just to please other people.
Even their own family.
Tossing her lipstick back into her bag, Kelly took a deep breath before placing her hand on the door. She was going to goout there and be the kind of family she’d always wished to have. The kind that supports the other’s differences and decisions. She was going to support Celia’s choices this weekend, even though they weren’t what Kelly would have done.
Two sisters. Two different life paths. But for this weekend, Kelly was going to be Celia’s biggest cheerleader.
Chapter
Eleven
You know what compromise is?It's that thing you don't like to do.
The words played over and over in Kelly’s head as she and Ben drove to Callum Henderson’s office. She should be concentrating on the investigation, but instead she was reliving the five minutes in the ladies’ room at brunch.
