"Are you okay, honey? You look like youve just lost your best friend. "
Lauren forced a smile, said quickly, "I dont think you should be setting the table at your own wedding. "
"Thats the great thing about remarrying the same guy. What matters is the marriage, not the ceremony. Were only doing this for Mama. " She leaned closer. "I told her not to bother, but you know my mother. "
Angie went back to setting out the silverware.
Lauren felt her move slightly to the left, and it seemed suddenly as if there was a vast space between them. "Do you want a boy or a girl?"
Angies hand froze in midair, a pair of knives hung suspended above the table. The moment seemed to draw out. From the other rooms, noise surrounded them, but here, in the dining room, there was only the sound of two women breathing slowly. "I dont know," she said at last, then went back to placing silverware. "Healthy is all that matters. "
"That counselor you sent me to . . . she said I should feel free to ask you questions. She said its better to have everything out in the open. "
"You can talk to me about anything. You know that. "
"That adoption plan we made . . . " Lauren started to ask the question that had kept her up all last night; halfway into it, she lost her nerve.
"Yes?"
Lauren swallowed hard. "Will you stick to it? Send me letters and pictures?"
"Oh, honey. Of course we will. "
Something about the way she said honey, so gently, broke Laurens heart. She couldnt hold it inside anymore. "Youll forget me. "
Angies face crumpled at that. Tears glistened in her eyes as she pulled Lauren into her arms and said fiercely, "Never. "
Lauren was the first to draw away. Instead of comforting her, the hug had only made her feel more alone. She put a hand on her belly, felt her babys fluttery movements. She was just about to ask Angie to touch her stomach when David walked into the living room. She ran for him, let him take her in his arms.
The loneliness that had gripped her only a moment ago released its hold. She wouldnt be alone after the baby. Shed have David.
"You look great," he said.
It made her smile, even if it was a lie. "Im as big as a house. "
He laughed. "I like houses. In fact, Im thinking about architecture as a career. "
"Smart-ass. "
He looped an arm around her and headed for the food. On the way there, he told her all the gossip from school. She was laughing again by the time the music started and Maria herded everyone to the backyard, where a rented white arbor was entwined with hundreds of pink silk roses.
Conlan stood beneath the arbor, wearing a pair of black Levis and a black crewneck sweater. Father OHoulihan was beside him, dressed in full robes.
To the strains of Nat King Coles "Unforgettable" Angie walked down the flagstone path. She wore a white cashmere cable-knit sweater and a gauzy white skirt. Her feet were bare and the wind whipped her long, dark hair across her back. A single white rose was her bouquet.
Lauren stared at her in awe.
As Angie passed Lauren, she smiled. Their gazes met, held for the briefest moment, and Lauren thought: I love you, too.
It was crazy. . . .
Angie handed Lauren the rose and kept walking.
Lauren stared down at the rose in disbelief. Even now, in this moment that was Angies, shed thought of Lauren.
"You see how lucky you are," she whispered to her baby, touching her swollen belly. "Thats going to be your mom. "
She wasnt sure why it made her want to cry.