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You, she told her reflection in the mirror, are impetuous, impulsive and a walking disaster.
As a child she’d flitted from one passion to another like a bee searching for nectar. When she was eight, she’d wanted to be a ballerina. At nine, an astronaut. By the age of ten she’d turned to teaching and lined up her dolls in classroom style. And so it went on. She couldn’t help it. She became wildly enthusiastic about something, and then moved on.
Her track record with boyfriends looked much the same.
And now there was Dan who she loved totally and absolutely. But it was true they hadn’t known each other that long.
Did that matter?
She was beginning to wish she hadn’t called her sister. But how could she not have called her?
“How does it look?” Catherine’s excitement penetrated the door. “I think it might be the one. The moment I laid eyes on it, I knew it was perfect. I can’t wait to see it on you, and I can’t wait to see Dan’s face when he sees you wearing it! Oh, I think this might be the best day of my life.”
It was turning into the worst day of hers.
Rosie wanted to claw her way out of the room. “I’m still changing, Catherine.”
“Do you need help, honey? I can—”
“I’m fine, but thank you.” She closed her eyes and leaned back against the wall. What was she going to do? She needed to get her head back into the place it had been before that phone call. Either that or press pause on the whole thing. But how could she step off this runaway train without seriously injuring all those involved? This wasn’t a night class (she’d switched from French to Italian after a term) where she could rethink her options.
Why did Katie’s comments have so much influence on her?
She was old enough to make her own decisions, independent of her sister.
Catherine tapped on the door. “If you’re worried about the price, don’t be. This is my special gift to a special woman. It’s not every day your precious only son gets married. I can’t wait to welcome you officially to the Reynolds family. My Dan is a lucky, lucky young man.”
Rosie pressed her hands to her ears to try to block out the sound of Katie’s voice. She adored her older sister, but part of her was angry that she’d injected doubts. Why couldn’t she have been happy and supportive?
She needed space to think, and she couldn’t think while she was trying on a wedding dress.
She glanced around the fitting room for an escape hatch. Surely she couldn’t be the first bride-to-be to wonder if she was making a mistake? Why didn’t they cater for that type of thing? She slid her fingers down the edge of a mirror, hoping it was secretly a door, but all she saw was her own panicked reflection staring back at her.
When Dan had said all those things during Thanksgiving dinner, and then proposed in front of his whole family she’d been deliriously happy. She’d never felt about anyone the way she felt about Dan. The last few months had been the happiest of her life. She adored her family, but they still treated her as someone who needed protecting. Was she using her inhaler? Had she had an attack? Their anxiety had fueled her anxiety. Moving far away had been the best thing she’d ever done. Terrifying, of course, and to begin with she’d been homesick, but the freedom had more than compensated. She’d felt stronger. More capable and independent. She made decisions without everyone questioning her. And then she’d met Dan, who had made her feel stronger still. She’d been so sure of her feelings for him, it hadn’t occurred to her to question whether saying yes to his proposal was a good idea. And then there was the love in his eyes and the fact that the fourteen people seated around the table had already made up their minds that this was a great idea.
Of course she’ll say yes, his paternal grandmother had whispered to her sister, who had been in full agreement.
Who wouldn’t want to marry our Dan?
It had seemed a reasonable question to Rosie.
Who wouldn’t?
Their delight at the proposal simply endorsed her conviction that this was the right thing. And why wouldn’t it be? Everyone thought Dan was wonderful. She thought Dan was wonderful. He was the best listener, and there were times when she felt closer to him than she did to her own family. She’d said things to him that she’d never said to them, including how hard it was to push herself to take risks when people were constantly telling her to be careful. And he’d talked to her about the loss of his father, and how deeply it had affected him. True, they didn’t know the small details about each other’s lives, but the small details were less important than the big things. She’d assumed they’d have plenty of time to learn more about each other, but then his mother had suggested a Christmas wedding and excitement levels had escalated.
Rosie felt as if she’d been picked up by an avalanche and swept down the mountain.
She’d wondered herself if Christmas might be a little soon, but only because the logistics of arranging something at such short notice blew her brain. Organization wasn’t her strong point. She had nine thousand, four hundred and twenty emails sitting in her inbox because she never liked deleting anything and filing didn’t come naturally to her. Her essays were often finished at the last minute, and doctor, dentist and hair appointments always ended up being an emergency.
She’d opened her mouth to tactfully confess that there was no way she could organize a wedding in such a short time frame, but Dan’s family was already in deep planning mode. She’d half expected Catherine to leave the room and start whipping together a bouquet.
Rosie was already in love with Dan’s family, particularly his great-aunt Eunice whose hearing was now challenged but who filled in gaps in sentences with her own active imagination.
Did she say she’s feeling horny?
No, Great-Aunt Eunice, she said the table decoration was thorny.
And then Dan had kissed her and said how much he adored her and how this wedding was going to be magical and perfect and suddenly it was agreed that they were getting married in a month.
