Under the Same Stars(4)

“Princeton sounds lovely.” Da smiled. “Your engagement celebration in Paris also looked beautiful, although based on the Instagram comments alone, I know you have so many people in your life who would’ve loved to be a part of it.”

Nicely done, Da, I thought as I sliced myself a second piece of cheesecake.

“So,” he continued smoothly, “Harry and I”—he reached for Dad’s hand—“would be honored to host an engagement party here, for more family and friends.”

“Oh, wow,” Katie said. “That’s really kind of you.” She turned to Austin. “We should talk to my parents—”

“What’s there to talk about?” My brother grinned and kissed her, then turned to our dads. “Thank you! You guys are the best!”

“We are.” Dad nodded stoically. “It can sometimes be a heavy burden to bear, but indeed.” He squeezed Da’s hand. “We are the best.”

“You are, really,” Katie said after a moment, but I could tell by her smile she didn’t actually mean it. “What number did you have in mind for the guest list?”

***

“Hey, can I talk to you a sec?” Austin asked, joining me at the sink while I was hard at work doing the dishes. His cheeks were still pink and the tips of his ears red from the cold. Katie had wanted to visit the horses.

“Sure.” I dried off a silver dessert fork. “What’s up?”

“The wedding,” he said.

“Is already off?” I joked. “Did Tally talk you out of it?”

Austin elbowed me. “Mads.”

“Why did you propose in Paris?!” I blurted.

Why Paris and not here?

“Because I thought it would be special,” Austin said. “Yeah, the City of Love sounds cliché, but it truly is a magical place.” A dreamy expression crossed his face. “It was perfect that her whole family was there.”

But yours wasn’t, I thought. Our family wasn’t there.

I forced myself to bite my tongue, but maybe Austin could read my mind, because the kitchen was quiet until he eventually prompted: “The wedding…?”

“Right.” I put down the clean fork and picked up a dirty soupspoon. “I’m listening.”

He cleared his throat, like he was nervous or something. “So, I know we didn’t mention it at dinner, but Katie and I talked about the wedding party on the plane the other day. You know, who should be in it and stuff.”

My pulse quickened. Oh, god, the wedding party…

“Katie’s sister is going to be her maid of honor.”

I nodded, unsurprised. “And your best man?”

Austin smiled, and I wondered if he was about to say my name. “Be my best man someday?” he’d asked after I’d given a speech at his high school graduation dinner, a speech I had worked on for two months. “No one knows me like you do, Mads.”

But this time, Austin said, “Nate the great.”

Something in me deflated a bit, even though Nate was our favorite cousin. “Oh, awesome!” I recovered quickly. “How hyped is he?”

“Totally off the charts.” Austin chuckled, then tried to cough away the weird awkwardness in the air. “I also, um, wanted to let you know that Katie has a couple really close cousins, and I can’t even count her friends, so…” He grimaced. “I don’t think you’re going to be a bridesmaid, Mads. Even though it’s apparently tradition for the bride to ask the groom’s sister, she’s not going to ask you.”

I took a breath, a sudden spike in my pulse.

I don’t think you’re going to be a bridesmaid, Mads.

She’s not going to ask you.

Would it be awful of me to admit I was relieved?

“I’m sorry,” Austin said as I exhaled and my blood flow returned to normal. “We don’t want to hurt your feelings, but I thought maybe you could do a reading?” He smiled. “Or give another legendary speech?”

“Definitely!” I chirped.

Relax, Mads, the voice in my head warned. Don’t sound too cheerful.

“Really?” My brother brightened. “You understand?”

“Austin, of course!” I snapped my wet dish towel at him. “Isn’t being a bridesmaid a major commitment, anyway? There are a ton of events before the wedding?” I shook my head. “I don’t have time for any of that, no offense. I’m a junior this year—I need to keep my high honor roll streak going and get recruited for field hockey.”

“True,” he said, then ruffled my hair. “You’re such a good juggler, though. School, sports, social life…”

I wanted to laugh. Excuse me, what social life?

“Everything will work out, Mads.”

“Well, I did learn some tips and tricks from the master.” I grinned at him.

But instead of smiling back, Austin pulled me into a bone-crushing hug and whispered: “I’m so proud of you.”





Two


A few weeks later, after Valentine’s Day, Arthur and Francine broke my concentration while I was doing my biology homework and eating leftover chocolate by barking, barking, barking like the guard dogs Dad encouraged them to be. He was currently grabbing coffee with prospective clients while Da had gone for a run on the canal. I was home alone, the dinner hour creeping closer. “Relax!” I called to the dogs, seeing a brown van slow to a stop in the driveway. “It’s UPS!”