person to a friend she has here.”
“I’m sure whatever’s going on with the wedding setup is fine,” my mom answered. “My concern is with my daughter-in-law.”
Turning toward the window at the end of the hall, I craned my neck and stood a little higher.
“I think I just saw one of the photographers step on your hydrangeas when she was setting up the tripod.”
“What?” A look of horror swept over my mother’s face before she turned toward the stairs and descended them so quickly, I had the strange thought that sliding down the railing would have actually been the safer option.
My aunts followed, though with not nearly as much urgency.
When the three of them were gone, I knocked quietly on the door and opened it slowly. “You okay?”
Vee was lying down on the small love seat with her feet up on the armrest like she wasn’t in a wedding dress with her hair and makeup done.
“I will be,” she said. “This is just all so…unexpected. I mean, I knew all these people would be here, but…”
She gestured to the window above her, where I could see people gathering in the backyard, taking their seats in the white wooden folding chairs my parents had rented. In between the two sections of chairs was an aisle with a pale-pink carpet for Vee to walk down. It occurred to me that she had no one to walk her down it, which seemed both odd and also not odd since the wedding was all a sham anyway.
“It’s fine,” she said. “I’ll be fine. I drank like waaayy too much yesterday.”
“We noticed,” I said with a laugh.
“I think I might still be a little drunk, actually.” Veronica sat up, and it seemed like some of the color had returned to her face.
“Well, then, maybe you should have another drink. Hair of the dog and all?”
She picked up the glass of water from the side table and took a sip. “Nah, I can’t risk having a repeat of yesterday, especially in front of your entire family.”
“They’re your family too,” I joked.
“Not funny.”
After a moment, she stood and made her way to the full-length mirror my mom had brought in from her own closet. Vee took some lip gloss and applied it to her dark-pink lips. Then she stood to the side and smoothed her dress in the front and back. Luckily, it didn’t seem like lying on the couch had wrinkled it anywhere.
“How bad was I last night? Seriously.” She could see me in the mirror, but she turned toward me to await my answer.
“Um, I mean, you did call us all pussies.”
“Shit,” she said softly, her shoulders falling slightly. “I don’t even remember that.” She brought her hands up to rub her face but seemed to realize that wouldn’t be a good idea with all the makeup she wasn’t used to. “What else?”
I hesitated for a moment before deciding it was better just to say, “It’s really okay. We’ve all had our nights.”
Her face grew more serious, and I wondered if these nights were more frequent for Veronica than they were for the rest of us, but it was none of my business. My own face must’ve told her there was more, and she didn’t seem like she was going to let it go until I told her.
“And you told us about some guy you sent a rat to or something.” I said it as if the memory wasn’t clear in my own mind either.
“Shit,” she said again. “It wasn’t as bad as I probably made it seem.”
I wondered if she was referring to getting the United States Postal Service to deliver an animal’s corpse or having her teacher basically stalk her, but I decided it was better not to ask.
“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “You know what’ll make you forget about all that? A fake wedding to my idiot brother.”
I wasn’t sure it was the better option for her to think about, but it was another option.
D R E W
Standing next to Brody as his entire family stared at us from their seats had me feeling all sorts of mixed emotions. Maybe one day all these people would be seated like this as I stood in Brody’s spot waiting for Sophia to walk down the aisle. They would all become my family too. I hoped, anyway.
Mr. and Mrs. Mason were seated in front, whispering quietly and looking up at Brody from time to time.
I glanced over at him. He looked uncomfortable, rigid in his