A Wedding in December

“I’m trying not to reach for my phone and call Dan.”

“We need to find something else to do with our hands.” She saw Catherine grin suggestively and felt her cheeks burn. “Catherine Reynolds, you have no shame.”

“You’re right, I don’t. In fact, I’m feeling quite proud. I feel responsible for bringing you and Nick back together. Fate’s a funny thing, isn’t it? Maybe I pushed too hard to have this wedding quickly, but if we’d done it next year you and Nick would have been divorced.”

Maggie felt her heart tumble. She liked to think they would have found the way back together somehow, but maybe they wouldn’t. She reached out and hugged Catherine. “Whatever happens with our children, I hope we can stay in touch.”

“Of course!” Catherine eased away. “I was so nervous about meeting you.”

“You were nervous about meeting me?” Maggie started to laugh. “I was terrified of meeting you. You’re so successful, and you run your own business.”

“I run my own business because I’m far too picky to ever work for anyone else. No one would ever hire me. Why are you staring at me?”

“Because—I never thought of that option. Working for myself.” Why hadn’t she thought about it? Why let others decide whether she’d be a success at something or not?

“You should think about it. There’s nothing like being the boss. You can give yourself a raise, and take tea breaks whenever you like.” Catherine picked up her bag and coat. “We should get back.”

They walked to the door and Maggie paused. “For what it’s worth, I’m sure they’re in love.”

“I’m sure of it, too.”

“She’s changed. She’s more confident. Being with him has made her more confident.” Maggie held the door open. “They’re good together. We have to hope they’ll realize that themselves.”

“And if they don’t?”

“Then it won’t be a very merry Christmas.”

Rosie

“Rosie, wait! Wait.”

Rosie heard her sister’s voice and carried on walking. It was Dan she needed to talk to, not Katie. Katie had already said more than enough.

“Please—” Breathless, Katie caught up with her and put her hand on Rosie’s shoulder. “We need to talk.”

Rosie shrugged her off. “You’ve already said what you wanted to say, and I heard you.” She was desperate to talk to Dan. Where had he gone? The fact that he’d disappeared so quickly worried her more than anything. He didn’t want to be found. She wasn’t even going to be given a chance to fix this.

“Rosie—I need to explain—”

“No, you don’t.” Rosie whirled round to face her sister. “What is wrong with you? I don’t believe for a moment you’d try to intentionally hurt me, so what is this? Are you jealous? Is that what’s going on? Are you envious that I’ve finally found someone I love and who loves me back?”

Katie recoiled. “Of course not. It isn’t that at all.”

“Then what? Because I don’t believe this is all about protecting me. You haven’t protected me from hurt, you’ve given me the hurt. You’ve taken away the one thing I wanted more than anything in the world. I love him, Katie.”

“But you were having doubts—”

“I haven’t once told you I was having doubts. It was you who said that.”

Her sister looked stricken. “But you were using our parents as evidence. I thought—”

“You thought you knew better than I did, even though this is actually my relationship, my feelings.” She stepped closer to her sister. “And do you know what? If I’d had doubts, those would have been my responsibility and handling them would have been my responsibility, too. This is my life, and I’m allowed to feel the way I want to feel. And if I make a mistake and mess up, then that’s on me, too. And what qualifies you to think you know better than I do? When did you last fall in love?” She felt a flash of guilt as she saw the agony in her sister’s eyes.

“You’re right.” Katie’s words were barely audible. “I don’t know anything about love, but I know you.”

“You know one side of me, the side you think is vulnerable and needs protecting. You’ve asked a ton of questions, trying to find a reason why this is the biggest mistake ever, but you haven’t once asked me why I love him. I’m an adult, Katie, and yes, I have a tendency to change my mind about things, but that’s part of who I am. And by the way, I change my mind a lot less since I’ve been with Dan because he doesn’t make me doubt myself the whole time. Being with him is the best thing that has happened to me. I love him, and I won’t be changing my mind about that, but even if I do that has nothing to do with you. I don’t need you to make my decisions for me. And I don’t need you to question the ones I make.”

“You’re right. And I’m sorry. But our parents—”