Deal.
I replied to my mom. Fine, but can we make it early?
She told me to be there at six.
“It’s important that we go,” Amy was saying. “I’d be so hurt if she didn’t come to mine.”
“She might not come to yours,” I cautioned. “Remember, her wedding is two weeks before the date we’re talking about.”
“She told me she’s coming.”
“Do you actually talk to her?”
Amy gave me a dirty look. “Yeah. Maybe you should too.”
“Girls, stop,” our mother said absently. “Amy is probably right. Lily?”
“I just—I don’t really have the time or the money to drop everything and fly to Chicago for a weekend.”
“She’s going to be our sister.”
“In-law. Calm down, Ames.”
She crossed her arms. “Are you even going to come to my shower at this rate?”
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t know, is it in Chicago?”
“Why are you being such a bitch?”
I looked at my mother, who said nothing. “Seriously?” I asked her.
“Amy, language,” she said mildly.
I looked to my dad, who was extremely engaged in eating his salad and staying as far from the conversation as possible. He never publicly took my side against my mother, but he usually would against Amy when she was being ridiculous. Apparently his salad was absolutely fascinating, though, because I couldn’t catch his eye.
I huffed, defeated. “I can try to find reasonable airfare. And if we share a hotel room, I can probably swing it.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t be in all of those weddings,” Amy said, bolstered by our mother’s refusal to actually check her. “Family comes first.”
“Is that why Ashlee is your maid of honor?” I shot back. My mother perked up.
“Do you even want to be? I feel like you don’t want to be in my wedding at all!”
I stood up and put my napkin on the table. “Okay. I’m outta here. Look, I said I’ll go to the shower even though it’s not easy for me to do right now, but I’m not going to sit here while you shame me about your wedding because I’m not dropping everything to be at your beck and call.”
“Actually, I’m shaming you because you’re making no effort to get to know Madison and it’s pissing Jake off.”
“Then let Jake tell me that because he hasn’t said a word to me.”
“When’s the last time you even talked to him? He said you haven’t returned his calls.”
I paused. Yes, I’d missed a couple of calls from Jake, but that was like a month ago. I had figured if it was important, he would text me or at least leave a message. And then I promptly forgot about it because I had so much else on my plate with all of the brides. Was I the reason we didn’t have much of a relationship?
When I didn’t say anything, Amy continued. “I’m just saying you need to go to the shower.”
“And I said I would!”
“Grudgingly! You should want to go.”
“Some of us actually pay our own bills.”
“Enough,” my mom said, finally with some force. “Amy, we’re going to the shower, all of us. Lily, you could make more of an effort with Madison.”
“Like you did with the bridesmaid dresses?” I asked quietly, unable to hold the words in.
My mother started sputtering, and I didn’t want to be there to see the steam that was about to come out of her ears. “I’m going home. Thank you for dinner. I’ll email you with airfare rates.” I turned and raced out of the dining room.
My father caught me just after I went out the front door. “Lily, wait.”
My shoulders slumped, but I turned around. It was freezing out and he hadn’t put on a coat. I walked silently back to him and he led me into his study, where I sat in the chair across the desk from his. He closed the door behind us and sat down as well.
“I know,” I said.
He raised his eyebrows. “What do you know?”
“That I’m overreacting and I shouldn’t have said all that.”
“That wasn’t what I was going to say. I was going to ask if you’re okay. You don’t seem happy.”
“I’m just stressed about all the weddings. And Amy’s not exactly helping. Can’t she stop already? We’re both adults now.”
He looked amused. “You are. We’ll talk about her status if this wedding takes place and she’s no longer living under my roof.”