“Yes.”
“Pajamas?”
“Mom!”
I laughed.
That morning, my wedding gown hung inside the bridal suite while my sister Megan helped me with my hair.
Barbara came and went several times.
At one point, she disappeared for around twenty minutes.
I barely noticed.
There were photographers everywhere.
Bridesmaids running around.
My aunt was panicking over her mascara.
By the time I put the dress on, I was too distracted to examine every inch of it.
The train was long anyway.
I couldn’t really see the back.
Barbara suddenly became unusually helpful.
“I’ll carry your train.”
“Thank you.”
She smiled.
“Of course.”
Right before the ceremony began, she crouched behind me.
“Let me arrange this properly.”
I heard fabric moving.
Then she stood.
“There.”
I glanced over my shoulder.
“Everything okay?”
Her smile widened.
“Perfect.”
I didn’t understand what she had done until I was halfway down the aisle.
The music began.
The doors opened.
At first, I saw only Brandon.
He stood at the front, already fighting tears.
Then I noticed the guests.
Some of them weren’t looking at me.
They were looking behind me.
Whispers moved through the rows.
A few people pointed.
I assumed something had become caught in my train.
Then Brandon’s smile slowly disappeared.
Lisa stood near the front in her pale-blue flower-girl dress.
She leaned sideways, trying to see behind me.
Then her forehead wrinkled.
“Mom?”
I stopped.
“What?”
She pointed.
“Why does that suitcase have my name on it?”
My stomach tightened.
“What suitcase?”
My sister hurried forward and lifted part of my train.
For a second, my brain couldn’t make sense of what I was looking at.
Tiny fabric suitcases had been sewn all over my wedding dress.
Eight of them.
And attached to the very end of my train was the largest one.
A small tag hung from it.
LISA.
I stopped breathing.
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