The bride gave a wistful smile. “I just always thought I was going to marry . . .” She hesitated. “Well . . .”
“A prince,” June suggested. “A movie star. Barack Obama.”
“A firefighter.” The bride’s eyes were pained. “I grew up next to a fire station and every night I’d hear the fire trucks head off to rescue someone. I thought I’d marry someone like that. Someone who . . .” Another tear trickled down her cheek. “Someone who could rescue me.” Off June’s silence, the bride shook her head. “It doesn’t even make sense.”
“It does,” June said. “You want to feel safe.” Back when Eugene was alive, June had always felt safe. The hardest part about losing him was the knowledge that the one person who could protect her was gone.
The bride shook her head. “I don’t know if I can do it.”
The fans of the air-conditioning whirred in the silence. In the mirror, June saw that Chloe was chewing on her lip, as though considering the girl’s words, and Kristine was staring down at her wedding ring.
“Every bride goes through this,” June said. “Whether it happens six months before the wedding, two days before or even on the day of, there will be tears, regrets and what-ifs. Trust me, I know. I almost backed out of my wedding.”
“You did?” Kristine asked.
June smiled. “I asked my mother to send me to a nunnery. But . . . She tapped me on the cheek and said, ‘That’s a terrible idea. You’ll just get kicked out.’”
Chloe laughed. “She was right about that.”
“So, I got married instead.” June indicated her family. “And it was the best decision I ever made.”
The bride studied her engagement ring again. Just beyond the door, the muffled voices of the bridal party talked and giggled. The faint strains of a harp began to play.
“If you’re really going to call off this wedding”—June did her best to keep her voice gentle—“you won’t want to do it alone. We need to go find your best friend.”
Chloe nodded, moving toward the door. “Is it your maid of honor? I’ll go get her.”
“No.” The bride shrugged. “That’s the worst part.”
June felt a flicker of hope. “Why?”
“Because Robbie’s my best friend. I can talk to him about anything, he always makes me laugh and he knows just what to say when I’m feeling . . .” The girl’s voice trailed off. “Oh.” The sound was barely a whisper.
“You love him, don’t you?” June asked.
The bride’s eyes widened. “I do.” Jumping to her feet, she stared at June as though she were a magician. “I do!”
“Well, save those I dos for the altar,” June laughed. “Because there’s a wedding out there waiting for you.”
“And it’s beautiful,” Kristine said.
“You should marry him.” Chloe nodded. “I mean, if he really is your best friend.”
June grabbed another tissue from the counter. Quickly, she dabbed at a tiny smear of mascara just below the girl’s eyes then gave her a little push. “Go.”
The bride rushed toward the door, her white dress swaying behind her. Suddenly, she stopped and grabbed her throwing bouquet out of the vase by the mirror. “I was going to do this at the reception, but . . .” Raising it up, the bride gave June a mischievous smile. “Catch.”
Before June could even register what was happening, the bouquet was flying through the air toward her face. June put up her hands, more as an instinctive block than anything. A hard stem hit her palm and she felt her fingers wrap around it. Kristine’s and Chloe’s hands folded over the top of hers. Stunned, June looked down at a bouquet of pink and white roses, surrounded by a cheerful spray of baby’s breath.
The bride squealed. “You’re next! All three of you.”
Chloe gave a nervous giggle. “Um, do I have a boyfriend I don’t know about?”
Kristine shook her head. “I’m . . . I’m married.”
June raised her eyebrows. “Wouldn’t that be a nice surprise?”
“Thank you.” The bride clasped her hands, her eyes bright. “This was . . .” She bowed her head, as though realizing the enormity of what she’d almost done. Looking up, she smiled at June. “Thank you.”
The young girl opened the door. Sunshine spilled into the room and Lake Michigan shimmered in the background. The bridesmaids saw her and waved, chattering in excitement.
June extended her arms like an usher. Her daughter and granddaughter grabbed hold, the bouquet in