the wedding ceremony scheduled for two, relatives had gathered around breakfast. Aunt Ruth ate yogurt. Michael made a spectacularly bad waffle. Allison was upstairs preparing with her daughters. As I poured coffee, Rachel approached alone; Daniel stood a little distance away on the phone. BookVenues
“Good morning.”
“Good morning.”
She took a lid. “Late night?”
“No.”
“I saw you downstairs.”
“I assumed you had.”
“You looked like you were having fun.”
“I was.”
“With your friend?”
Her carefully casual smile fooled neither of us. “Yes.”
“That’s nice.”
“It was.”
She stirred her drink, then volunteered, “Daniel said he didn’t know him.”
“I’m sure he didn’t.”
Daniel was already watching us. Rachel noticed and gripped her wooden stirrer harder.
“You know, Claire, you don’t have to make things awkward.”
I was standing at a coffee station while my husband vacationed with his mistress at my cousin’s wedding hotel. Somehow I was
