Page 79 of The Lookback

“I’m going to kill her.” I straighten.

“Wait, you’re going to kill me?” Abby asks. “Or her?”

“Both of you, probably.” My sister has now gone full-wedding-planner on me, bringing me bridal magazines—which I didn’t know still existed—and texting me with flower arrangements and bridesmaid dresses. “While we’re on the subject, I will have exactly one bridesmaid.” I glare. “You.”

She shakes her head. “It doesn’t work that way. David actuallyhasfriends, so you have to come up with a bridesmaid for every one of his groomsmen.”

“Absolutely not.”

She’s nodding. “And you need to pick colors that will fit the season. Since you’re in a hurry, I’d suggest you choose fall tones. That’s why I’ve been sending you mums and marigolds and?—”

“I willnothave marigolds in any part of my wedding.”

Abby laughs.

I wish I could bottle up her laughter for a hard day. It’s like the bubbles in champagne. It’s like the glimmer on the top of snow after a blizzard. It’s that little drop when your plane is descending that you didn’t expect.

“Why can’t you be my only bridesmaid? You’re the only person I really like.”

“Other than David,” Abby says. “And there’s about to be one more.” Her eyes well up with tearsagain. It was cute the first time, but does she really have to cry every single time she thinks about my baby?

“He might be a total brat.”

“She might be an absolute angel.”

“Or a devil,” I say.

“You’re right. He’ll probably take after his mother and be practically demonic.” Abby’s smiling again, swiping at the errant tears. “I just can’t wait to find out. I hope she’s a total Helen, ordering people around and turning her teachers on their heads.”

“I never did that,” I say. “I was a delight to instruct.”

“Tell that to the five teachers you got fired.”

“I only did that to incompetent ones,” I mutter. “And of course they’d complain. Their attitude was the problem.”

“Here’s what we’re going to do. I hired you the best wedding planner in America, and she quit. I hired the second best, and you fired her.”

“I’ve never settled for second best.”

“You’re going to offer that first one double what we were paying her, and then you’re going to listen to everything she tells you to do. Because if you don’t do that, we’ll never make this happen in the next two weeks, even though you own two resorts in the area. And we can’t delay this if you’re still insisting on wearing that black monstrosity.”

“It’s not a monstros—” I sigh. “Do you really think it’s a bad gown for a wedding?”

“I think you should wear whatever makes you feel beautiful for your wedding,” Abby says. “I may not understand it, but we’ll make it work. It will be visuallystunning,and if your in-laws and the world all think it’s going to spell the doom of your marriage, well, you’ll prove them wrong.”

“I’ve been proving people wrong my entire life. What’s one more round of it?”

“I did have an idea for a way to kind of. . .” Abby pauses. “Jazz it up.”

“Jazz?”

She rolls her eyes. “I’m not sure what word to use. Bling?”

That’s not promising, but before I can let her tell me her strange plan and shut it down, a car pulls down her drive. With rental car plates. “When did you say Mom was coming?” I ask.

She glances at her watch. “She said eight o’clock. I just assumed. . .” But it’s almost eleven in the morning, and it looks like Mom meant that she would land in Salt Lake at eight a.m. Because she’s now climbing out of the beige sedan and striding toward us with her best “that guy isn’t getting tenure” expression.

Abby puts Nathan down and hands him a toy before she opens the door, gesturing Mom through. As if she doesn’t even see Abby, Mom marches straight up to me. “Well, I heard you had bugs in your house, and that man finally convinced you to marry him, and it was not a good time, what with fall midterms, but I had to get on a plane.” She drops her hands on her hips. “I can’t believe that we came out here to save your sister, and she managed to drag you down instead.”

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