Mother of the Bride, page 1
Mother of the Bride
by Kim Hartfield
Mother of the Bride
Published by Kim Hartfield
Copyright © 2018 Kim Hartfield
All Rights Reserved
May not be copied or distributed without prior written permission.
Cover photo: © Deposit Photo
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Prologue – Gloria
1984
Bethany swept up to the front porch in a cloud of hairspray and cheap perfume. She rang the doorbell before she even noticed me standing there in the shadows. “Gloria, how long were you going to hide there?” she asked with a trilling laugh.
I hugged myself, my denim jacket no protection against the biting wind. “I’m not hiding. I was waiting for the right moment.”
“The party started half an hour ago.”
“I wanted to be fashionably late.” More like I didn’t want to go in without her. Alone, I was plain and boring. When I was near her, I soaked up some of her effortless coolness.
She shrugged, the moonlight sparkling off her dark brown eyes. “Let’s get this party started.”
A quick rap on the door, and a guy I vaguely recognized from school came to open it. I followed Bethany into a smoke-filled living room. Rhonda, the girl who was hosting this party was in my chemistry class, but I’d never actually met her. She threw parties whenever her parents were out of town. I’d never been invited, until now.
I squinted to make out the shapes of the people on the couches and on the floor. There was a guy from the football team, and a cheerleader. Everyone I could see was from the popular crowd, except for me. What was I even doing here?
“Gloria?” the cheerleader said, putting out her cigarette as she looked up at me in confusion. “I didn’t think you came to these parties.”
She squinted, taking in the way I’d teased my hair into huge curls and painted my eyelids with hot pink eyeshadow. I’d wanted to fit in at the party. Now I saw that was never going to happen.
“It’s my first one,” I said. “Bethany brought me.”
“Oh, okay.” She relaxed into her boyfriend’s arms.
Bethany was a few steps ahead of me, and I could’ve sworn the dim light in the room bent and shaped itself to form a spotlight that shone directly on her. Everyone looked up as she passed, and their eyes lit up when they saw who she was.
She wasn’t popular, exactly – not in the sense of being on the cheer team. She was cool, though –confidence radiated off her, and even if she didn’t dress in the latest fashions, she always looked perfect. She was herself, genuinely and unapologetically, and that made everyone else want to be like her.
“Sorry, give me a minute,” she said to the guy trying to hug her. “I’m just going to grab a beer for my friend.”
Her friend. That was me. Since she’d started working at the bagel shop with me, she called me a friend. And even though it’d been almost three months and I should’ve been used to it by now, I still got shivers every time she used the word.
I had other friends, and I liked them fine. They just weren’t like her. I couldn’t talk to them for hours about every subject under the sun between filling customers’ bagel orders. We didn’t make up games to play together, changing the rules every two seconds until we dissolved in laughter.
My other friends didn’t make my heart jump every time I looked at them.
Bethany pressed a chilly bottle into my hands, her fingers brushing against mine and making my pulse race. “Drink up,” she said with a devilish grin.
I’d try. I’d only had a sip of wine before, stolen from my mom’s glass when she went to bed without finishing it. It’d made me gag a little, and I’d had no particular desire to try drinking again.
With Bethany urging me on, though, I couldn’t say no. I tipped the bottle upward and swallowed down the cool, bitter liquid. My face scrunched up. Bethany watched me, her eyes laughing. I had a feeling she saw right through me.
“You don’t have to finish it,” she said, taking a generous swig of her own drink. “Just enjoy yourself.”
Was that even the idea at parties? To enjoy yourself? I’d always thought the point was to get drunk, flirt with boys, and sneak off to have sex. That was what Hollywood movies had always told me.
I didn’t care about alcohol, boys didn’t care about me, and I was nowhere near ready to have sex. The only reason I was here was to spend more time in Bethany’s orbit.
“What’s up, Bethany?” a guy I didn’t know said, swinging an arm around Bethany’s shoulders.
She fluttered her eyelashes at him, and I froze inside. Please don’t leave me here alone. Please don’t make me watch you flirt with him. I squeezed my bottle of beer so hard I worried it might break.
“Have you met my friend Gloria?” she asked him, then turned to me without waiting for an answer. “This is Pete.”
“Hi.” I was glad Bethany was including me, although I would’ve preferred that Pete left us alone. I really just wanted it to be me and Bethany, all the time.
“Shake his hand,” Bethany prompted with a laugh. To Pete, she said, “Gloria’s a little shy.”
I wasn’t, honestly. I had no problems dealing with people. It was just that when Bethany was around, I didn’t care to talk to anyone else.
I reached out my hand, and Pete took it. He was a good-looking guy, with longish brown hair and a black leather vest. Since I hadn’t seen him around, maybe he was older – a college student, even. I should’ve been excited to meet him, but all I could think was that he was getting in the way.
“Nice to meet you,” he said. “You live around here?”
His eyes held a look I’d rarely seen before – interest. I wasn’t the ugliest girl around, but I wasn’t the prettiest, either. I kept to my small group of girlfriends at school, and we were all focused on getting high enough marks to get into a good college, rather than on finding boys to date.
I thought about boys sometimes, in a general way. I wouldn’t know what to do with a guy who actually liked me. As it stood, I just wanted to run away.
“Not too far,” I said curtly. “Bethany, I desperately need to pee.”
Pete huffed at us, but we were already scurrying away in giggles. We held each other’s arms as she led me to the bathroom, and it was a disappointment when we reached it and she stopped touching me.
We stood in the hallway outside the open bathroom door. “I don’t really need to pee,” I admitted. “I just didn’t want to talk to him.”
“Why not? He was cute!”
“Oh.” My heart sank. “You were into him?”
“No, he liked you.”
I snorted. “Maybe so, but he liked you just as much.”
“True.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder. “These guys will sleep with anything that moves.”
I nodded. She was so mature. She knew all about men, and everything else in life. What could I possibly have to add?
“Anyway,” she said, “let’s head back in there. I think they’re going to start playing games soon.”
I followed behind her like a lapdog. Games? I hadn’t been expecting any games. There was more to these parties than drinking, smoking, and trying to hook up? This could be fun after all. Maybe I’d get to play Monopoly.
Back in the living room, people had moved the coffee table out of the way. They sat on the floor, forming a circle. Bethany slipped into the circle, and the people on either side parted readily for her. There was no space left for me. I shuffled over to the only spot that was left, across from Bethany.
I looked around. There were no board games in sight. Rhonda, the hostess, stood in the middle of the circle. All eyes were on her as she tipped her beer back, finishing it, then placed the bottle at her feet. “You guys ready to play?”
My stomach sank. I had an idea of where this was going, and it wasn’t going to be Monopoly.
Did Bethany always play Spin the Bottle at these parties? The thought of her kissing some random guy just because of where the bottle pointed made me sick. She was glitter in human form. Magic personified. These dumb high school guys didn’t deserve to touch her.
Across the circle, she looked excited. Pete was sitting next to her, and he nudged her in the ribs and said something I couldn’t hear. I looked away. It was none of my business who she did or didn’t kiss. I just wished I didn’t have to see it.
Maybe I should leave now. I could claim I was tired, or even that I’d gotten sick. Bethany was the only one who’d wanted me here in the first place, and if she was about to make out with Pete, she wouldn’t care if I was gone.
I shifted my weight, about to stand up. Before I could, Rhonda was already speaking. “As the official party hostess with the mostess, I’m going first.” She spun the bottle, and it twirled in rapid circles.
I couldn’t get up now – it’d draw too much attention. I stared at the bottle instead, hoping it would shatter and this whole ordeal would be over. The room was quiet, everyone watching it spin.
As it began to slow, it spun past me, and I realized with a start that I was part of this game, too. Would I have to kiss a boy? Wait, would I have to kiss a girl? What would happen if a girl spun the bottle and it pointed at another girl?
The bottle came to a slow stop, pointing at a football player whose name I thought was Greg. “Well, here we go again,” he said, shrugging his huge shoulders beneath his letter jacket.
He dropped the hand of the girl beside him and stood up. Was that his girlfriend? He’d kiss Rhonda even though he had a girlfriend, even though his girlfriend was right there?
He took Rhonda by the arms and planted a long kiss on her mouth, then sat back down and took the other girl’s hand. I blinked, then blinked again. I didn’t understand this game at all.
Another girl spun the bottle and made out with a guy for a solid minute. A guy spun, and when it pointed at another guy, he gave him an exaggerated smack on the cheek.
I hugged my knees to my chest, my anxiety rising with each passing moment. If the bottle ever pointed at me, I’d just say no. No one could make me kiss anyone. It was a game, not a law.
Someone gave the bottle to Bethany, and my heart nearly stopped. I didn’t think I could watch this. I couldn’t have explained why I cared so much, why it would’ve hurt to see her kiss someone else. I just knew I had to get out of here.
I went to stand up again, but Bethany caught my eye. When she was looking at me like that, all excited and happy, I couldn’t move a muscle.
I sank back to the floor, my chest tight. I’d leave right after this – I promised that to myself.
Her hand was already on the bottle, her ruby-red nails glistening in the dim light. Her slim, elegant fingers turned the bottle a little to the left – then flicked it, gracefully, expertly, to the right.
I averted my eyes as the bottle spun amidst a chorus of ooh-ing and aah-ing. I wasn’t going to look until it was over. I squeezed my eyes shut just in case.
“Who is that?” someone said.
Someone else said my name. “Gloria.”
Other voices joined them. “Gloria, Gloria, Gloria…”
I opened my eyes and looked at the faces surrounding me. Every one of them was staring straight back at me.
Bethany bit her lip. She met my eyes and gave me a tiny, apologetic shrug.
I looked down at the bottle.
It was pointing straight at me.
One – Bethany
2019
I puttered around the kitchen, making sure everything was neat and tidy. George hadn’t been back for months; the three-hour drive back from Seattle was too long for him. He’d come for Christmas but had skipped over Easter, claiming to be too busy with work.
Now he was coming for no occasion, bringing his new girlfriend with him. He’d been vague when I asked about his reasons for coming. Well, I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. If he wanted to visit his mother, good for him. And if I finally got to meet the girl he’d been talking about nonstop for months, even better.
The doorbell rang, and I hurried to open it. “George!”
He grinned as I jumped at him and squeezed him as tight as I possibly could. He’d moved years ago, and I should’ve been used to not seeing him for months at a time – but at that first moment of seeing him again, all the months of missing him hit me at once, and I couldn’t help going overboard.
Letting go, I stood back to look at him. He’d changed – his hair was longer, his beard scruffier, and somehow it seemed like his eyes glowed more. His smile grew as he held out a hand, gesturing to his left. “Mom, this is my girlfriend, Maggie.”
“Oh!” I’d almost forgotten it wasn’t just us. “It’s so nice to meet you, darling. Please, come inside.” I shook her hand quickly and led them both in.
The girl looked pleasant enough. Her brown hair was tied up in a high ponytail, and she wore one of those off-the-shoulder shirts that seemed to be in fashion these days. She exuded an air of intelligence, although I already knew she was smart. She was a veterinarian, same as George.
“What a beautiful home,” Maggie said, slipping off her shoes. “Thank you for having me.”
“I’m glad you could visit. I’ve been very curious about you, as I’m sure George has mentioned.”
“She’s been interrogating me non-stop for the past eight months,” George laughed. “I figured meeting you in person would be the best way to finally satisfy her.”
Was that all this was? My eyes darted from him to her, then back. I was picking up on some nervousness on his part, which wasn’t like him. No one else would’ve even noticed it, but I’d carried him for nine months, breastfed him for two years, and then been his closest confidante as he grew up.
Maybe the nervousness was nothing… and maybe it was something.
“I love your hair,” Maggie said. “And your jewelry.”
“Why, thank you.” I flipped my long gray ponytail over my shoulder. I had on some of my brightest turquoise earrings today. Not everybody liked my style, but they sure did notice it.
“Smells good,” George said. “What’s cooking?”
“Shepherd’s pie,” I said. “I figured you two would be hungry after your drive. George told me you were gluten-free, so I checked the ingredients to make sure it’d be okay for you.”
“That’s my favorite,” George told Maggie. “You’re in for a treat.”
In the kitchen, Maggie tried to help me plate the food. I shooed her away, although I was impressed by the offer. She’d clearly been raised right, and she was definitely eager to make a good impression on me. So far, it was working.
Once I had the food on the table, we sat down and tucked in. “So, tell me about yourself, Maggie,” I said. “Are you originally from Seattle?”
“Yes, I was born there. My mom’s actually from here in Newtonville, though.”
“That’s not surprising. A lot of people here move down there as soon as they finish high school.” I coughed. “People like George.”
“Is it my fault if we don’t have a college in town?” He shook his head affectionately. “What was I supposed to do?”
“Not go all the way to Seattle.” It was a mother’s right to guilt her child, and I planned to keep doing it until the day I died.
He’d been anxious to move to the big city ever since he was about twelve. He’d enjoyed running around outside when he was little, but once he hit his teens, he craved excitement. Newtonville was always too sleepy and quiet for him, as for so many other kids. Now that he lived in the city, he did seem more content. He had a good job and a solid friend group, so I doubted he’d ever move back out here.
“George tells me you’re an X-ray technician?” Maggie asked, then took a bite and groaned. “This is delicious, by the way.”
“That’s right, and thank you,” I said. “I’ve been working at the hospital down the street for over twenty years now.”
“That’s amazing,” Maggie said. “You must be so dedicated.”
I tried and failed to suppress a smile. “Is she always this flattering, George, or is this a meeting-me-for-the-first-time special?”
“It’s a one-time special,” she said cheerfully. “Although I may have to repeat it when I meet George’s dad.”
A cold fist clenched in my stomach. I hadn’t been expecting her to bring him up, especially not out of nowhere like that.
Maggie’s gaze shot to George. “Oops… should I not have said that?”
I cleared my throat. “I think I can handle a reminder of my ex-husband,” I said in a low tone. “The divorce wasn’t fun, but he still exists. No use pretending he doesn’t.”
I took a breath, trying to calm myself. It was nice that Maggie had noticed my discomfort. She really seemed to be a sweet girl.
“Sorry, Mom,” George muttered. “I did warn her. I guess she forgot.”
“That’s fine!” I said, a little too cheerfully. “I’m not upset about it, I promise.”
They traded a glance, and I could tell they didn’t believe a word I was saying. I looked down at my plate, no longer feeling like eating. How much had George told Maggie, anyway? Just that I’d gotten divorced less than a year ago, or had he gone into the details?
Had he told her Todd had up and left me with no warning after thirty years of marriage? Had he mentioned he’d immediately started shacking up with a woman George’s own age?
Maggie cut her food, her knife screeching over the plate. “This is honestly so good, Bethany,” she said. “So good.”
I sighed. “Right. Thank you.”
There was a moment of awkward silence, and then George gave an artificially jovial chuckle. “Maybe that’s a sign that we should get to the good news!”
