Chapter 12 - The Wedding Invitation
Bianca’s wedding took place in early spring.
Mara nearly didn’t attend.
Not because she was angry.
Because she worried her presence might turn Bianca’s day into a public story about reconciliation.
Bianca solved the problem herself.
“No press,” she said.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Then she added, “I spent enough years caring what strangers thought.”
Mara smiled.
“Good.”
On the morning of the wedding, Dominic found Mara staring at two dresses.
“You’re doing it again.”
“What?”
“Thinking too hard.”
“I’m choosing.”
“You’ve been choosing for forty minutes.”
“One is blue.”
“I noticed.”
“One is gold.”
“Also noticed.”
Mara narrowed her eyes.
“You’re extremely helpful.”
“I specialize in strategic insight.”
Sofia ran into the room wearing flower-girl pajamas.
“Gold!”
Mara laughed.
“Why?”
“It sparkles.”
Decision made.
At the wedding, Celeste sat beside Mara.
Their relationship had changed slowly over five years.
They were not the women they had once been.
Celeste had apologized through actions.
She had stopped commenting on bodies.
Stopped treating appearances as morality.
Stopped pretending cruelty was sophistication.
During the ceremony, Bianca walked down the aisle.
She looked nervous.
Mara smiled at her.
Bianca visibly relaxed.
Later, during the reception, she approached Mara.
“Thank you for coming.”
“Thank you for inviting me.”
Bianca glanced at Mara’s gold dress.
“You look—”
She stopped herself.
Mara noticed.
Bianca laughed.
“I almost said something about how flattering your dress is.”
“What were you going to say instead?”
“That I’m happy you’re here.”
Mara smiled.
“That’s better.”
Across the room, Dominic was dancing with Sofia standing on his shoes.
Mara watched.
Celeste approached.
“You know what’s strange?”
“What?”
“I spent most of my life believing our family reputation depended on looking perfect.”
She looked around the imperfect wedding.
A child crying.
Someone spilling champagne.
Bianca laughing too loudly.
Dominic dancing terribly.
“And?”
“Nobody remembers perfect.”
Mara nodded.
“They remember how you made them feel.”
Celeste smiled.
“Apparently you’ve become philosophical.”
“I charge by the hour.”
They laughed.
Later, Mara danced with Dominic.
“Remember our first Serrano gala?” he asked.
“I remember wanting to disappear.”
“You almost did.”
“I know.”
He held her closer.
“What would you tell that version of yourself?”
Mara thought.
“Nothing.”
Dominic looked surprised.
“Nothing?”
“She wouldn’t have believed me.”
“What would you do?”
Mara rested her head against him.
“I’d sit beside her until she was ready.”
Dominic kissed her hair.
“That sounds like you.”
“No.”
She smiled.
“That sounds like what you taught me.”
He shook his head.
“We taught each other.”
May you like
And perhaps that was closer to the truth.
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