Page 75 of The Wrong Track

“It’s not bad at all,” Hazel disagreed. “You look so beautiful, I can’t even…” She stopped, sniffing. “Good gracious, I’m overwhelmed with happiness.”

“Really?” I asked her.

“Really.” She hugged me but very carefully, so she didn’t mess up Annie’s dress. I’d been fairly certain that I would be much too big for it, but it went right on. I was, however, much too short for it, but that was where seamstress skills were great because I’d been able to tack it up and I could take it back down before I returned it to her. Hazel wore a beautiful dress, too, because she and Monica were going to be our witnesses.

Annie recovered enough to say, “You should get going. We’ll see you at Evelyn’s house after the ceremony.”

I heard Charlene make a small sound and Monica shot her a look, but I didn’t because I was afraid to see the disapproval on her face. The marriage ceremony in front of the county clerk was only for me and Tobin and the witnesses, but I’d said that a party would be ok. It was how his family did things and I could tell that Tobin was looking forward to it.

“I’ll want to stay close to you while we’re there,” he’d said. “You know, in case I get lonely.”

I was lonely for him right now. Last night, he’d headed out with some of his cousins and his friends and Hazel and her mom had come over to spend the night. Bill had picked him up and he’d wanted to speak to me before they left.

“Big doings at the library,” he’d remarked while he waited for Tobin to get his bag and say goodbye to the baby. “We got an anonymous tip leading to a stash of drugs in the ceiling.”

“Oh.”

“Unfortunately, there are no cameras in the building and there was no fingerprint evidence on the packages. Everyone’s trying to keep it quiet because it doesn’t look great that nearly three kilos were found in a county building.”

“That’s too bad. Or, good,” I’d answered and then Tobin had come out.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he’d told me. He’d bent to look right in my eyes, questioning me.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I agreed, and he pressed his lips to my forehead.

And now tomorrow was here, and we were going to stand in front of the county clerk and swear to be together forever.

“Remy? Everything ok?” Hazel asked.

I looked down and saw that I was clutching her arms, so I let go. “Yes, everything is great.” Everyone in the room stared at me, assessing, and I could read their thoughts. Was I going to go through with this, or would I run away from Tobin like I had done to my family? Was I going to make it work, or would I pretend it wasn’t even happening like I’d done with my pregnancy? Was I going to screw it up, like I’d done with the rest of my life?

When someone knocked on the front door, I was quick to say, “I’ll get it.” I didn’t see anyone through the glass panes at the top, but people had been dropping off presents all day. Tobin had told them not to, but they wanted to give us things, he said. So I swung open the door to say thank you for the latest package.

“Oh no,” I blurted out. Christ! It wasn’t a wedding present. “Lulu.”

“Hi,” she answered. She looked me over and I wondered if I was going to hear a comment on my weight, like she’d done to Hazel. But when she spoke again, she only stated, “You’re not wearing sweats.”

“Yes,” I agreed cautiously.

“Because you and Tobin are getting married.”

“Yes,” I repeated, and got ready in case she lunged at me. I couldn’t let anything happen to Annie’s dress.

“I heard it was happening. Charlene bragged to everyone at the yoga studio.”

Bragged?

“It’s ok,” Lulu said. “I knew it was over. I knew when I saw him holding that baby that I didn’t have a chance anymore. You gave him a family.”

“That’s why he’s marrying me,” I concurred. “The baby.”

She shrugged. “Maybe.”

“I tried to get you guys back together,” I told her. “I really did. I knew that you loved him and I wanted him to be happy and I thought that maybe...I don’t want you to be unhappy now, and I’m sorry.”

“Yeah.” She looked at my dress again. “I needed to see in person. I couldn’t really believe it.”

“I’m sorry,” I repeated, and I was. Not that I was marrying Tobin, but that I was making this person so clearly miserable. No matter how much she thought that my underwear was ugly and that I should have gone to Kuwait, I still didn’t want to hurt her feelings.