Chapter 2 - The Pictures to Look Complete
For thirty-four years, Emily Carlisle had been told she was difficult.
That was the family word.
Not cruel.
Not selfish.
Not unstable.
Difficult.
It sounded almost polite.
A difficult child asked why Vanessa got new ballet shoes when Emily’s sneakers had holes.
A difficult teenager objected when Richard used her college fund to pay for Vanessa’s summer abroad after Vanessa cried that Paris was “important for her growth.”
A difficult daughter refused to laugh when Patricia said Vanessa had “a softer heart” and Emily had “a stronger spine.”
A difficult woman left her husband when he screamed at Lily for wetting the bed during a thunderstorm.
And a difficult mother, apparently, refused to apologize when her sister slapped a nine-year-old flower girl in front of two hundred wedding guests.
Emily had not wanted Lily in the wedding.
That was the truth.
Not because Lily would do anything wrong.
Because Vanessa would.
When the invitation came, Emily almost threw it away.
Cream envelope.
Gold ink.
Vanessa Carlisle and Grant Whitmore invite you to celebrate their marriage in Charleston, South Carolina.
The venue was old money disguised as garden romance.
White chairs.
Rose arch.
String quartet.
Champagne tower.
A bridal luncheon.
A welcome dinner.
A farewell brunch.
Vanessa had always wanted her life photographed from above.
Emily read the invitation at her kitchen table in Raleigh while Lily colored beside her.
“Is that Aunt Vanessa’s wedding?” Lily asked.
Emily looked at her daughter’s hopeful face.
“Yes.”
“Am I invited?”
Emily hesitated half a second too long.
Lily saw it.
“She doesn’t like me?”
“She doesn’t know how to like people gently.”
Lily frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“It means adults can be wrong.”
That was not enough.
Children always know when adults soften truth to keep their own hearts from breaking.
Two weeks later, Patricia called.
Not to ask.
To assign.
“Vanessa wants Lily as flower girl.”
Emily nearly laughed.
“Why?”
“Because she’s her only niece.”
“Vanessa has never wanted Lily at anything.”
“Don’t be dramatic.”
There it was.
The family’s other favorite phrase.
“Mom.”
“It will look strange if Lily isn’t included. Grant’s family is very traditional.”
“So Lily is a prop.”
Patricia sighed.
“You always make things ugly.”
“No, I identify the ugly part.”
“Emily.”
Emily closed her eyes.
Lily was in the next room singing softly to herself.
“What does Vanessa actually want?”
“She wants the pictures to look complete.”
Complete.
Not loving.
Not family.
Complete.
Emily said no.
Then Vanessa called.
May you like
That surprised her.
Vanessa rarely handled emotional labor herself when Patricia could do it badly for her.
