Chapter 2 - The Wedding Claire Refused to Abandon
Claire expected herself to break once they reached the bridal suite.
Instead, she became strangely practical.
“Is my makeup ruined?”
Her best friend Maren stared at her.
“Claire.”
“I’m serious.”
“Your mother just ripped your wig off in front of forty people.”
“I noticed.”
Maren’s expression softened.
Claire sat in front of the mirror.
For most of her treatment she had avoided looking directly at herself without something covering her scalp.
That afternoon she did.
Silas waited outside until Claire asked him in.
“You want to leave?” he asked.
“No.”
“You don’t have to prove anything.”
“I’m not proving anything.”
She looked toward the wig lying on the counter.
“I’m getting married.”
Silas smiled faintly.
“With it or without it?”
Claire looked at herself once more.
“Without.”
Twenty-three minutes later, she walked back beneath the arch bareheaded.
Nobody stared for long.
Silas made sure of that simply by looking at her exactly as he always had.
They exchanged vows.
Beatrice did not attend.
Maren had watched her leave through the side entrance without saying goodbye.
The reception was smaller afterward.
Quieter.
Better.
Claire danced with Silas.
She ate half a slice of lemon cake.
She even laughed when his eight-year-old nephew asked whether being married meant Silas had to share all his French fries forever.
But near the end of the evening, Claire noticed her aunt Diane standing alone near the patio doors.
Diane was Beatrice’s younger sister.
They had barely spoken during Claire’s illness.
Claire had assumed Diane was uncomfortable with cancer.
Beatrice had said so more than once.
Diane approached slowly.
“I need to ask you something.”
Claire braced herself.
Diane looked toward the black folder on the gift table.
“Was that true?”
“The rent?”
“Yes.”
Claire nodded.
Diane stared at her.
“How much did you pay her?”
“Eighteen hundred a month.”
“For the basement?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Six months.”
Diane’s mouth parted.
Claire waited for criticism.
Instead Diane whispered, “Claire, I offered you my guest suite for free.”
Claire thought she had misheard.
“When?”
“The week you started chemo.”
“No, you didn’t.”
Diane’s eyes filled.
“I texted your mother because you weren’t answering. She said you didn’t want me involved.”
Claire’s stomach tightened.
“That’s not what she told me.”
“What did she tell you?”
Claire looked across the room at Silas.
“She told me you said having somebody sick in your house would be too much.”
Diane stepped backward as though Claire had struck her.
May you like
“I never said that.”
And suddenly six months of silence had a different meaning.
