be a little uneasy, even though I’m making the right choice?”
“No,” Jen said. “You must stay calm and collected, for that is what we expect from you at such a monumental moment in your life.”
A hell of a time for Jen to place expectations on her. She’d been less nervous before her keynote address. Caroline turned to Kathleen. “Remind me to give Jen a hard time when she’s trying to hold it together at her own wedding.”
Jen waved her off. “I have a year to prepare.”
“It’s never enough time,” Caroline said. “Never.” She swallowed hard. “Marriage is permanent.”
Kathleen snorted. “Just like divorce.”
At least she hadn’t mentioned death. Caroline shuddered.
Jen put her hand on her shoulder. “Do you want me to go get Christine?”
She took a deep breath, trying to quell her panic. Why was she getting so upset? “I want you to go get Jack.”
“That won’t happen,” Jen said. “He’s been hiding from all of us. He knows we’ll just drag him to see you.”
“Go get Bob,” Kathleen suggested.
“Good idea.” Jen squeezed Caroline’s shoulder. “I’ll be back.”
Kathleen shut the door after Jen left. “Are you okay?”
Caroline rolled the half-empty water bottle between shaking hands. “I don’t know. What’s wrong with me?”
“I’ve never been married, so I don’t know what to tell you. Are you nervous about the ceremony?”
“No, I’ve done it before. I just-”
Kathleen sat down next to her on the couch. “What is it? Come on, I don’t have time to go back and forth with you.”
“I barely got a decade last time,” Caroline whispered.
Kathleen put her arm around her. “Is that what you’re worried about? He’s not that much older than you. You two will probably be together for at least fifty years.”
“That doesn’t matter,” she said. “Anything can happen.”
“You can’t live your life dwelling on things like that. Would you rather not have him at all?”
“No.” Caroline straightened up and swiped at her eyes. “I’m sorry.”
Kathleen snatched a tissue from the end table and handed it to Caroline. “It’s okay. I didn’t mean to give you a hard time. Don’t wreck your makeup.”
“It’s waterproof mascara. Super heavy duty.”
“Then we’re probably safe. Did you talk to Jack about this?”
Caroline laughed. “Of course not. He’s so insecure sometimes. I didn’t want him to think I had cold feet.”
Kathleen hugged her. “You’ll be fine. You just need to stop thinking so hard.”
Jen burst back into the room, dragging a tuxedo-clad Robert Allen behind her. He didn’t appear all that happy. “Found him,” she said.
“She found me, as she so gracefully put it, right when I realized I needed to take a piss,” Bob said. “I was about to walk into the men’s room when she started in on me.”
Kathleen waved him toward the other side of the room. “Do your business in that single stall bathroom over there. Try to avoid the beauty products. Caroline left her waterproof mascara on the vanity if you need something to bring out your eyes.”
“I let him take care of it before I dragged him in here,” Jen said.
“Yes.” Bob straightened his tie. “Thank you for that small favor, Ms. Whitcomb.” He smiled at Caroline. “You okay, sunshine?”
“That’s our cue to leave.” Jen grabbed Kathleen by the arm. She nodded at Bob. “Mr. Speaker.”
He waved her off. “Get out of here. She’ll be fine.” He shook his head once they were out the door. “She’s going to be trouble once she takes your seat. I can tell already.”
Jen had announced her candidacy a few weeks before the wedding, after handing in a tearful resignation. “She’ll be great,” Caroline said.
“What about you? Why did she come barreling out into the church looking for me?”
“I’m a little nervous.”
“You have no reason to be.”
Of course he’d whip out the logic right away. “I know.”
“What’s the problem?”
She felt guilty, since she could say this to Bob and not Kathleen. It was somehow easier to burden him. “Marriage is forever,” she whispered. “I didn’t think I’d do it twice.”
“You can’t control those things.”
“I know.”
“You’re happy,” Bob said. “Your kids are happy. McIntyre is happy. Can’t you see why that might be a better situation than what all of you were in before?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s okay to be nervous. Just don’t be nervous for the wrong reasons.”
A valid point. “Jack went with me to Nicky’s gravesite last week.”
That got his attention. “Oh?”
“He asked him for permission to marry me.” She didn’t know for sure, but the signs were there. He told her he wanted a few minutes alone so she wandered around