Chapter 8 - THE SECOND WEDDING
Three months later, June got married.
Technically remarried.
She had eloped with her longtime boyfriend Daniel at city hall two years earlier because his mother was undergoing chemotherapy.
Now that everyone was healthy, June decided she wanted “the ridiculous dress and free cake.”
Her words.
I was matron of honor.
Norah was flower girl.
She took the responsibility extremely seriously.
Elliot wore navy.
He complained that June threatened bodily harm if he wore charcoal because:
“Apparently you already ruined one wedding in charcoal.”
“I ruined nothing.”
“You made Nadine drop stemware.”
“I was standing.”
“Menacingly.”
“I was holding a four-year-old.”
“Very threatening.”
Norah looked up.
“Daddy, are you threatening?”
“Yes.”
I answered.
“Mostly when someone doesn’t brush their teeth.”
Norah immediately stopped smiling.
Elliot nodded.
“Correct.”
June’s reception was held at a vineyard.
Warm evening.
String lights.
Nothing like my cousin’s ballroom.
No Nadine.
No Chad.
At least not originally.
Then I saw Chad near the back.
Alone.
I looked at June.
She smiled innocently.
“You invited him?”
“Daniel did.”
“Why?”
“Apparently they know each other through work.”
I stared.
June shrugged.
“Small world.”
Chad saw me.
He didn’t approach immediately.
Good.
Later, when Elliot took Norah to inspect a fountain, Chad came over.
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
“You look good.”
“You need new material.”
He laughed.
“Fair.”
He looked toward Elliot and Norah.
“How are they?”
“Good.”
“And you?”
“Good.”
He nodded.
Then:
“Mom moved.”
That surprised me.
“Where?”
“Arizona.”
“Why?”
“My aunt lives there.”
I waited.
“And because we’re not speaking much.”
I studied him.
“Your decision?”
“Yes.”
“How does that feel?”
“Awful.”
Honest.
“And peaceful.”
More honest.
Chad looked at the vineyard.
“I used to think peace meant nobody was upset with me.”
I understood that.
“What do you think now?”
“That sometimes peace starts after someone gets very upset.”
I smiled faintly.
“Therapy?”
“Painfully.”
June walked past carrying champagne.
“Look at you two. Emotionally literate.”
Chad laughed.
I almost did.
Then he became serious.
“The repayment went through.”
“I know.”
“Your attorney confirmed?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Half had gone to a local organization offering emergency housing and counseling to women leaving coercive relationships.
The other half went into Norah’s college account.
Elliot initially protested.
“She’s four.”
“Yes.”
“She currently wants to become a mermaid.”
“Mermaids need education.”
“That seems unsupported.”
We deposited it anyway.
Chad looked toward Norah.
“She seems great.”
“She is.”
“She yours biologically?”
I raised an eyebrow.
He immediately winced.
“That sounded terrible.”
“Yes.”
“I mean—”
“I know.”
He rubbed his neck.
“I heard Nadine tell Elliot…”
“Yeah.”
“Sorry.”
“Not yours.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“I’m glad he said what he did.”
I followed his gaze.
Elliot was crouched beside Norah, listening as she explained something with both hands.
“Me too.”
Chad was quiet.
Then:
“I used to think you wanted too much.”
I looked back.
“What?”
“From me.”
He shrugged.
“Attention. Honesty. Time.”
I stared.
“I told myself you were impossible to satisfy.”
“Convenient.”
“Very.”
He nodded.
“Laura said almost the same thing before she left.”
“Your ex?”
“Yes.”
“She said I called women demanding whenever they asked me to make a decision that disappointed Mom.”
I looked at him.
“Was she right?”
“Yes.”
There was no defensiveness now.
I could almost see the man Chad might become.
It made me happy in a distant way.
Like hearing someone you once knew survived an accident.
“I reached out to her.”
My eyebrows rose.
“Why?”
“To apologize.”
“And?”
“She accepted the apology.”
“Getting back together?”
He shook his head.
“No.”
Then smiled.
“She’s engaged.”
I winced.
“Sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
He looked toward Elliot.
“I think maybe not getting what you want is part of growing up.”
That was probably the most mature sentence Chad Bennett had ever said.
Before I could answer, Norah came running.
“Mommy!”
I caught her.
“What?”
“Daddy says I can have sparkling juice.”
I looked at Elliot.
He raised both hands.
“One.”
Norah held up two fingers.
“Two.”
“One.”
She considered.
“Three?”
Chad laughed.
Norah noticed him.
“Who are you?”
There it was.
No drama.
No inherited history.
Just a four-year-old asking a normal question.
Chad looked at me.
My decision.
I answered:
“This is Chad. Mommy used to know him.”
Norah looked at Chad.
“Oh.”
Then:
“Do you like cake?”
Chad smiled.
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
Apparently that was sufficient character assessment.
She ran off.
Chad watched her go.
“Used to know me.”
I looked at him.
“Would you prefer ex-husband?”
“No.”
He smiled sadly.
“Used to know me is probably accurate.”
Then a car pulled up near the reception entrance.
I didn’t pay attention at first.
Until Chad went completely still.
“What?”
He stared.
“No.”
I followed his gaze.
Nadine stepped out.
Cream suit.
Pearls.
Same perfect posture.
My stomach tightened.
“You said she moved to Arizona.”
“She did.”
“Then why is she here?”
“I have no idea.”
June appeared beside me as if summoned by drama.
“You have got to be kidding me.”
Nadine walked across the lawn.
Not toward Chad.
Toward me.
Of course.
Elliot saw her.
His expression changed.
Nadine stopped five feet away.
For once, she did not look arrogant.
She looked nervous.
“Meredith.”
I stared.
“This is a private wedding.”
“I know.”
June stepped forward.
“Then we’re off to an excellent start.”
Nadine looked at her.
“I won’t stay.”
“Better.”
Chad approached.
“Mom, what are you doing?”
Nadine looked at him.
“I came to apologize.”
Nobody spoke.
Chad actually laughed.
“What?”
Nadine’s face crumpled.
Not theatrically.
Genuinely.
“I’m tired.”
The same word Chad used at the first wedding.
Interesting.
She looked at me.
“I have spent my entire life protecting people who did not ask me to protect them.”
Chad went quiet.
“I thought being a good mother meant making sure my son never suffered unnecessarily.”
Her eyes filled.
“And eventually every consequence looked unnecessary to me.”
Nobody moved.
Nadine continued.
“When you found out about Rebecca, I thought Chad would lose you.”
“You were right.”
“Yes.”
She swallowed.
“And instead of asking whether he deserved to, I decided losing you was too painful for him.”
That was closer to truth than anything she had ever said.
“So I lied.”
She looked down.
“I intercepted his letter.”
“I hid what I knew.”
“I helped him conceal money.”
Chad’s eyes filled.
Nadine looked at him.
“And I raised you to believe love meant somebody else cleaning up after your choices.”
Chad stared.
For one long second, I forgot where we were.
Then June whispered:
“I hate that this is actually good.”
I almost laughed.
Nadine looked back at me.
“I’m sorry.”
No if.
No misunderstanding.
No but.
I waited.
She continued:
“I’m also sorry for what I said at your cousin’s wedding.”
I smiled faintly.
“The leftovers line?”
Her face turned red.
“Yes.”
“That was particularly bad.”
“I know.”
“Creative, though.”
June whispered:
“Don’t encourage her.”
Nadine almost smiled.
Then her eyes moved toward Elliot.
“And what I said about Norah.”
Elliot’s expression stayed guarded.
“That was cruel.”
“Yes.”
She nodded.
“I had no right.”
“No.”
Then she looked at me.
“I don’t expect forgiveness.”
“Good.”
Apparently that was becoming my favorite answer.
Nadine nodded.
Then turned toward Chad.
“I’m going back to Arizona tomorrow.”
He looked at her.
“Okay.”
Her face changed.
Old Nadine expected him to stop her.
Ask her to stay.
Tell her they were fine.
He didn’t.
That was probably the most loving thing he could do.
She touched his arm.
“Can I call you next week?”
Chad hesitated.
Then:
“Yes.”
“One call.”
A boundary.
Nadine nodded.
“One.”
She looked at me one final time.
“You built a beautiful life.”
I looked toward Elliot.
Norah was now trying to convince him she needed an entire cupcake tower.
“Yes.”
“I did.”
Nadine smiled sadly.
“I’m glad.”
I believed she meant it.
That surprised me.
Then she left.
No dramatic reconciliation.
No hug.
No instant forgiveness.
She simply walked back to her car.
Chad watched.
Then looked at me.
“I think that’s the first apology she has ever given without explaining why she was right.”
“That is progress.”
June raised her champagne glass.
“To expensive therapy.”
We laughed.
Then Elliot came over with Norah.
“She negotiated two cupcakes.”
I stared at him.
“You folded.”
“She threatened to tell everyone I don’t love her.”
Chad winced.
We all looked at him.
Then, unexpectedly—
he laughed first.
And the tension broke.
Not because the past disappeared.
May you like
Because for once, it was allowed to be past.
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