At Dinner, My Mom Smiled And Said, “We’re Passing The Cottage His Parents Gave You Over…”
Seattle in early winter has a way of pretending it isn’t cold—rain instead of snow, streetlights blurred into soft halos, the air smelling faintly of salt and espresso and wet cedar. That night, the city was dressed up for us: a hotel ballroom downtown, linen-draped tables, tiny candles in glass cups, and a pianist playing songs everyone recognized but no one could name. I should have felt light.
Rehearsal dinners are supposed to be the easy part, the warm-up before the vows, the night when people toast the love story and you let yourself believe you’re allowed to be happy. Instead, I kept checking the doorway like I was waiting for something to swing open and let the wind in. Evan stood beside me, adjusting his cufflinks with calm hands, the way he did everything—like steadiness wasn’t an act, it was his native language.
He leaned close and murmured, “You okay?” And I nodded, because nodding had always been easier than telling the truth out loud. My mother arrived in a sweep of perfume and confidence, a tailored dress that looked expensive without ever looking loud. She hugged me a little too quickly, her cheek cool against mine, and then she turned her smile on the room the way a politician turns toward a camera.
Chloe arrived after her, as if timing itself was something she could control. She wore a dress that made her look soft and breakable, and she carried that softness like a weapon. I watched her take in the tables, the place cards, the chandelier light.
I watched her eyes briefly snag on Evan’s parents—the Hails—before she looked away, already filing information away for later. I told myself I was imagining it. I told myself my stomach was tight because weddings make everyone weird.
I told myself I was thirty and I didn’t have to be scared of a dinner table anymore. Then the glasses clinked, and my mother stood. At dinner, in front of everyone, my mom lifted her glass, smiled at me, and announced, “We’re passing the cottage his parents gave you over to your sister.” The kind of line that slices through a room without raising its volume.
Chloe laughed, tossing out, “Relax. It’s just a cottage,” like she was doing me a favor. Guests froze.
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