The door opened again, and Lucille walked in like she was heading into a fight rather than a wedding celebration.
“If Maya makes any kind of scene today,” she announced, “I’m walking straight outside before I say something I can’t take back later.”
Behind her, Shannon appeared in a soft blue dress, nervously twisting a bracelet around her wrist.
“Dad?”
“Yeah, baby?”
“Do I have to hug her when she gets here?”
The whole room went quiet at that question. I put both hands gently on her shoulders. “No, sweetheart. Nobody gets an automatic hug just because they happen to share your blood.”
Her shoulders visibly relaxed. “Okay. Good.”
Piper kept anxiously asking everyone whether they’d eaten breakfast yet, which was always her tell that she herself hadn’t eaten a single bite.
Maya Walks Through the Doors
Then the venue doors opened. I somehow knew Maya had arrived before I even turned around to look. The whole room shifted subtly. Voices lowered instinctively.
Maya walked in wearing a sparkling dress that looked considerably more suited for a black-tie gala than her own daughter’s wedding. Diamonds flashed at her throat, catching the afternoon light. Harry walked beside her, neat and expensively dressed, his extended family trailing close behind them both.
Maya spotted Adele across the room and opened her arms wide. “My beautiful girl!”
Her voice carried easily across the entire room, clearly meant to be heard by everyone present.
“I dreamed of this exact day for years,” Maya continued, loud enough that Harry’s family could hear every word. “You have absolutely no idea how long I’ve dreamed of seeing you looking like this.”
Adele smiled back at her, but I recognized that particular smile immediately. It was polite. It was not warm at all.
“I’m glad you made it here, Mom,” Adele said evenly.
Maya reached out and touched Adele’s cheek gently. Then she turned toward me. “Robert.”
“Maya.
Her eyes swept slowly over my suit. “You look tired, Robert.”
“Fifteen years of solo parenting will do exactly that to a person.”
Harry shifted uncomfortably behind her, clearly sensing the tension building.
Maya’s smile tightened at the corners. “Don’t start anything today, Robert.”
“I wasn’t planning to start a single thing.”
“This is Adele’s wedding day.”
“I know exactly whose wedding this is. That’s precisely why I’m standing here.”
Her eyes sharpened further. “You always were so good at making yourself look noble in front of an audience.”
