chapter one of
Today was all about her. It was a day to celebrate the start of her greatest adventure. She would look back, years from now, and remember with longing and love how the women she cherished most surrounded her with approval and support. They were showing their love by celebrating her fairytale love story.
There would be gifts and advice given. Stories would be told of their cute younger years, their embarrassingly awkward phases, and how she and Will had met and fallen in love. It was an afternoon based on the appreciation that she had found her soul mate.
It was a load of crap.
Her bridal shower was only two hours away and she couldn’t honestly say she was a bride anymore. The fight they had last night was epic. She couldn’t even tell you how it started now, Will chalked it up to pre-wedding panic, but that turned into yelling and brutal truth-telling.
Some of the things they said to each other may have been true, but the way they said it was awful. All the frustrations of the last few weeks came to a head, and with two words, he shook her to her core, leaving her breathless.
“I’m done.”
When he slammed the door behind him, she wondered if he meant the fight or their future. Rory stared in the mirror and was struck by the black circles under her eyes from tossing and turning all night. The girls would know something was wrong the minute they saw her. Her girls were her tribe, her people, her first loves, and her best friends. They were the people she was comfortable enough to be herself with, something she wished was easier for her.
She met Millie in the beer aisle of a Walmart during her freshman year of college. They went to a small school and were bound to meet eventually, but they were both grateful to have met early on. Now, they had years of blackmail and inside jokes to keep them laughing and a genuine love for each other that anchored their friendship in the forever category.
Millie was her sister from another mother, her partner in crime, and her free therapist when times got tough.
Rory looked in the mirror again. “Times are definitely tough now,” she sighed.
She met Audrey in college as well. Biology 101 had the potential to be torturous, but it came so easily to Audrey that being in her study group was a necessity. She still thanked Audrey for saving her life because if she had taken an F home, she was positive her dad would have whooped her biology. Audrey used that year as a stepping stone towards her dream of delivering “tiny humans” and was currently working on her residency at Rex Hospital. All the girls agreed that Dr. Audrey Jones, OB/GYN, would be their favorite epidural provider when the time came to start boarding the baby train.
Cate was the latest to join the group. In the five years since Millie introduced them, she had kept the group in shape from belly laughs. Her tales of the kindergarten classroom adventures she faced every day were hilarious. She made them hilarious, though. Cate had a sarcastic and sometimes blunt exterior, but anyone who really got to know her saw her optimistic heart of gold. It was that heart that would make her a great Principal as soon as her classes were complete.
Rory took a deep breath. They would see the circles under her eyes and know something was up. She added a little more concealer and blush. Tammy Faye had nothing on her today. She gave a pitiful attempt of a smile at the woman in the reflection.
She had just found her girly side a few years ago. She was nothing but a tomboy growing up – climbing trees, making fart noises from her armpit, and playing any kind of sport with skinned knees and ponytails all year long.
She had a great childhood, full of homemade adventures that seem so real to a kid. Nothing like kids today, she thought with pity. She was dirty more often than clean when she was young. Church was the only time she wore a dress, but she always put shorts on underneath so she could climb the old oak near the fellowship hall. She wondered if kids even knew how to make mud pies anymore. Or how refreshing it was to take a big gulp from the hose in the backyard on a hot summer day.
“You’re stalling,” she said to herself. She added one more layer of blush to brighten up her face and, hopefully, her mood, then turned off the lights. There was no sense in staring any longer. Being late would only make everyone more suspicious since she was never, ever late.
She got into her car and cranked the radio up to sing back up for Andy Grammer in the hopes that he could convince her that it was good to be alive. By the time she got to her aunt’s house, she felt better and could at least smile enough to lighten her eyes.
When she walked into the house, the smells of her Aunt Patricia’s baking had her moaning. She closed her eyes and breathed in the sweetness - her mother’s pound cake.
“You’re here! You look beautiful, sweetie!” Her aunt hugged her tightly and whispered in her ear. “Your Aunt Ruby is in the kitchen, God bless her. She thinks you’re joining the Army.”
Rory pulled back to look at her. “What in the world? Where did she get that from?”
“Who knows! That woman was loony before the ‘incident’,” she rolled her eyes with finger quotes. “On the bright side, she’s brought a great present you can use at basic training.”
“Oh, Lord.” They smiled at each other with understanding.
“How you holding up?”
Rory looked down at their joined hands. Aunt Patricia had put her whole heart into this shower. She didn’t want to take any of her happiness away today.
“I didn’t sleep well, too excited about today. Thank you so much for all you’ve done.”
“Oh, please, you haven’t seen anything yet, soldier. Come in!”
The room erupted in squeals when Rory walked in. She was hugged and kissed by one while another held her hand to get a look at the ring. She made her way through the throng until she got to Millie.
“Girl, thank God you’re here,” Millie hugged her. “Aunt Ruby was trying to sign me up with you so you have a wingman in the Army. I told her that I didn’t look good in green. You know what she said? ‘You’re right. Maybe one of the other girls.’ As I am no longer being drafted, I’m going to get another mimosa. Want one?”
“A sweet tea, please.”
Millie winked as she walked away, but headed straight to Cate. “I’m getting drinks. Go check on our girl and tell me I’m crazy.”
“Millie, please. Aunt Ruby has nothing on you.”
“Listen, my life goal is to be like Aunt Ruby one day. I still say she’s faking the crazy, so she can say anything she wants and get away with it.”
“She did that before the stroke, Mil. She doesn’t need an excuse. Let’s go back to your crazy. What’s up?”
“I don’t know. Something though. Talk to her, you’ll see it. Something’s wrong.”
“You’re drunk. She’s having the time of her life.” But as she said it, Cate saw the sadness. “Get the drinks. Make mine without orange juice.”
“You want champagne?”
“Why yes, thank you for asking.”
Millie rolled her eyes with love and headed towards the kitchen.
Rory smiled her sweetest smile and did her best to appreciate the moment. There was so much love in the room. Most of it aimed directly at her.
Before she knew it, the gift-opening portion of the party had begun. She was showered with china and towels, crystal and serving bowls, and an odd little gnome that her cousin Grace explained would create Feng Shui and good luck if put in the proper spot in the backyard.
“This is the last one,” Aunt Patricia said excitedly. “It’s from Aunt Ruby.”
Rory smiled at both her aunts, who were clearly eager for her to open the box. She didn’t know how much longer she could fake smiles over cutlery and housewares. Her head was pounding. She just wanted to sleep away the headache and the dread of what was waiting for her when she got home. Or worse, what wasn’t waiting for her.
All thought and breath left her when she pulled the tissue paper back. Rory just stared at the open box, like it held all the answers to life’s mysteries. She wasn’t blinking, wasn’t breathing, wasn’t moving. She felt Aunt Ruby’s hand on her knee and forced herself to look up.
“I thought maybe you could wear it on your big day.”
Rory looked at the box again. “How did you…”
“It’s been in my closet all these years. Took some time to get it cleaned up, though.”
“But the fire. She was sure it burned in the fire.”
Ruby squeezed her niece's hand, “You don’t have to wear it. I just wanted you to have the option.”
The tears came so quickly that there was no chance to stop them. “It’s my mom’s wedding dress. She’s giving me my mother’s wedding dress.”
The whole room gasped, with tears all around and whispers of what a precious gift it was. Rory couldn’t take her eyes off it. She stroked the fabric as if it were sacred. It was sacred. It was a piece of her mother.
“Aunt Ruby, I don’t know how to thank you…”
“Hush, child. Go try it on. You’re about the size she was back then.” Rory looked down at it again in awe. “She’s going to try on the dress,” Ruby announced to the room. “All you drunks, keep your cocktails under control until we get back. I’ll introduce you to the sharp end of a switch if you spill anything on her.”
Aunt Patricia stood up, “I’ll help you get…”
“Sit down and host your party,” Aunt Ruby said slowly, giving her knees a chance to adjust. “I’ll take her. We’re going to your room, Patricia. Let’s hope we don’t find anything with batteries.”
“Aunt Ruby! Good glory!” Patricia sat down with a bright red face and took a good chug of her mimosa. “Crazy old woman.”
When Rory and Aunt Ruby got to the bedroom, Rory laid the dress on the bed to take a good look at it.
“It’s beautiful. She must have been so beautiful.”
“She was, and you will be too. Now get to changing.”
Rory undressed while Ruby worked on the buttons on the dress. When she slipped it over her head, she smelled the faint scent of her mom’s perfume and nearly fell apart. “It smells like her,” she whispered.
“Chanel number five. Never wore anything different. I spritzed it before Patricia wrapped it. Let me take a look at you.”
Rory turned towards her to share the moment. She should have known better than to think her aunt would get mushy over her.
“There is something wrong with you.”
Rory laughed, “You’re one to talk. Why were you drafting people to join the Army with me down there?”
“Oh, that? I just like to mess with people. It’s fun to watch their reactions. Especially that Millie, she falls for it every time. At my age, people just accept it.” Ruby cocked an eyebrow, “Don’t blow my cover, girl. I’ve worked years on those girls.”
“I promise, but Millie is on to you.”
“Is she? Huh.” She was going to have to up her game, she thought. “So, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing. It’s perfect.”
“I’m not talking about the dress. What’s wrong?”
“Just a lot going on.”
“Hogwash.”
“I’m fine, Aunt Ruby. It’s all just a little overwhelming. It’s a big change, you know.”
“I do. What’s wrong?”
“There’s so much pressure to have the perfect…”
“The perfect what?”
“The perfect everything.”
“Perfection is pointless if you ask me. What’s perfect to one is imperfect to another. Who says you have to be perfect? If it’s that boy, I’ll get in my car right now and show him the perfect right hook.”
“I’ll store that offer for next time. Thank you.”
“Then tell me about this time.”
Rory sank on the bed with a long huff, billowing her dress to show off the miles of fabric in the skirt. “We had a fight last night.”
“That explains the pancake makeup trying to hide the circles.”
“I didn’t sleep much.”
Aunt Ruby sat on the bed beside her. “Rory. What’s wrong?”
Rory put her face in her hands and cried. “Aunt Ruby, I don’t even know how it happened.” She lifted her head to plead for help. “Children. I’m… I’m not sure Will wants them. He’s so good with them. He adores Hailey. When I told him Margaret had the baby, he was the first in line to visit her with a little pink bear. He’s so good with kids. He would be the perfect dad.”
Rory looked down at her hands. She hadn’t noticed she was stroking the skirt of the dress for comfort until then. “What do I do?”
“Do you love him?”
“I do.”
“Will he be enough to make you happy?”
“I never planned my life around kids, but they were always in the picture somehow. I think I want a family… someday.”
“Then you need to know if this is a reservation or a resolution of his. Which is it?”
Rory shrugged. She was embarrassed. “We never got that far into the conversation. The things we said to each other, Aunt Ruby, were awful.”
“Oh, please, I went after your Uncle Robert with a hatchet once. Would have used it too, but he came to his senses and apologized.” Ruby shook her head and smiled, “Lord, I miss that man. Kept me on my toes, he did. Never met anyone who could outwit Einstein like he could. Smart ass.”
Rory smiled. Theirs had been a great love. No matter what Ruby said, everyone in the family and the community knew how much they adored each other. “I want what you two had. How did you know Uncle Robert was the one?”
“Nobody knows that, honey. You just have to jump in and fight for it. Every day. Robert was no saint, but I knew I was a better person with him than without him. He made me feel sexy, confident, and smart. No one else came close.” Ruby felt her voice begin to break with emotion and pulled back before she could show the loss she felt. “And he was a firecracker in the bedroom,” she chucked. “Lord, I miss that man.”
She had given Rory a chance to collect herself. Now was the tough love. “No need to blush now, girlie. Men have been putting a pep in women’s steps long before me. Let’s get to my sage advice. Decide on your own what your life will look like. Leave the details to fate, but know what will make you happy. Only you know what that is. Once you know, stand by it. If he doesn’t board the train, tear up his ticket. This is your only life to live, child, make it count.”
Fate, Rory thought, then she jumped at the knock on the door. “Are you dressed yet? The natives are getting restless, and the mimosas are getting stronger. That’s a bad combination.”
Rory cleared her throat, “We’ll be right out, Cate.”
“I like that girl,” Ruby got up, slower this time, Rory noticed. “She’s a smart ass, too.”
“High praise, indeed.”
“Don’t tell her, though. I’m going to draft her next. Should be fun.”
“On my honor.” Rory crossed her heart and laughed. “She just got accepted into Carolina, you know. She’s literally a smart ass.”
“You don’t say. Good for her. Now, let’s look at you.” Ruby turned Rory towards the mirror to give her a chance to swallow the knot that was forming in her throat. “It needs some alterations, but it’s not too shabby. Not too shabby at all.”
“Thank you, Aunt Ruby. For everything.”
“You thank me when it’s tax season. I’ve got shoe boxes of receipts for you to go through.”
Rory cringed at that. “Haven’t I told you to order carbon copy checks, woman? No one has time to go through all that.”
“I’ve got a system.”
“What you have is a hot mess. I’m going to drag you into the twenty-first century eventually. I’ll swing by this week and pick up the box.”
“There are a few this year, dear. Bring back up.”
It relieved Ruby to see some spunk in Rory as she huffed out of the bedroom. Children were the one thing her Robert hadn’t given her, and it still broke her heart. She wouldn’t have changed their love for the world, but in her soul, she knew even in Heaven, she would always regret not being a mother.
She watched Rory walk towards the tipsy women, oohing and aahing, and wondered if she would see her darling girl walk down the aisle this year or not. She may have to pay the groom-to-be a little visit now, though.
“Dumb ass.”
"What a page turner! All women should have a tribe like this.
Great characters, great story line and such a fun read!
~ Pat B.
let me know what you think!
