Page 3 of The Bride
Instead of answering his question, I nodded.
“Is Janet coming? I didn’t see her at the cemetery.”
“Yes. She was really sorry she couldn’t be at the funeral, but she had to work. She got someone from Jefferson to come in and cover the afternoon shift so she could come out to the house.”
Janet was Jake’s girlfriend for the last two years, and a nurse at the urgent care clinic we had in town. The only place where someone could get immediate medical care until they could be shipped off to an actual hospital.
Riverbend had just about one of everything. Doctor, nurse, lawyer, judge, sheriff. We actually had two schools. K-7, then 8-12. It had been K-8 until the numbers shifted and there more young kids then teenagers. Nothing like watching a wide-eyed eighth grader see a senior in high school for the first time.
We were small. But we were tight. It made sense why Janet hadn’t been there because getting people from towns nearby to provide coverage was never easy.
“Are you going to marry her?”
It was sort of none of my business, but I had been thinking about it lately. I knew they had been dating for a while, but I really didn’t know how serious they were. I didn’t know if my dad dying was going to mess up something else for him, too.
He shifted in his seat. One long movement of uncomfortable.
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
“She’s nice.”
“Do you like her?”
I made a face. He saw my face and winced. Which caused me to make another face. He saw that too.
“I don’tnotlike her,” I said quickly.
“You don’tnotlike anyone.”
It was true. When you live in a town of so few people, I found it a good strategy to like everyone. No enemies that way.
“She’s just really intense sometimes. Like everything is always this big deal. She’s the person who when you ask on a scale of one to ten, comes back and says a hundred. Or a million. Is that a nurse thing? I don’t know. Maybe that’s how she has to look at everything.”
Jake smiled. “Intense is a good word for Janet.”
He didn’t seem to be mad that I was in some way calling out his girlfriend. Maybe this was good. Maybe now that it was only me, he would start treating me more like an adult instead of his kid sister. I took the opportunity to wow him with even more astute advice.
“And you are so not that guy. You see everything in perspective. I guess that’s why sometimes when you two are together, I don’t see it. But if you love her, you should marry her.”
“A topic for another time. We’re here. People have already arrived.”
I could see it. The cars lined up in front of the house. The driveway was one big long U with house at the bottom in essentially what was the swell of the valley. The Long Valley Ranch brick archway announced the start of the property. Jake stopped the car before turning in.
“You ready for this?”
“No,” I answered honestly. “Do we have to do this? Let’s drive somewhere and let them eat each other’s casseroles.”
“But Mrs. Petty’s Bundt cake. You wouldn’t deny me that, would you?”
He was smiling. Sadly. I smiled back because I knew it would make him feel better.
“I mean it, Ellie. I promise you I’m not going anywhere.”
Until he had to. I nodded and took a deep breath. “Let’s do this.”
Two
Ellie
