Her lower lip trembled as she wiped her cheek with the back of her sleeve. “Brenda said you would agree with her after the wedding was over because husbands are always supposed to choose their wives first.”
I stood up straight and picked the fallen flower basket up from the floor. “You are coming outside with me right now, and no one is ever going to hide you from your own family again.”
THE WORDS SHE COULD NOT TAKE BACK
Brenda was standing near the entrance of the garden while the photographer adjusted the edge of her long veil. She wore a bright ivory gown, held a tight bundle of white roses, and smiled warmly at the guests who were taking their seats on the lawn. That polished smile vanished the moment she noticed Hannah walking beside me and holding my hand tightly.
“Chris, why did you bring her back out here right now?” Brenda asked, taking a step toward us with her eyebrows raised in annoyance.
The tone of her question revealed far more than any lengthy explanation ever could. I stopped walking several feet away from her and let go of Hannah’s hand so my sister Patricia could step closer to us.
“Why was my nine-year-old daughter locked inside a dark service room while you were getting your pictures taken?” I asked directly.
Brenda glanced nervously toward the photographer and her two bridesmaids before lowering her voice to a harsh whisper. “She was not locked inside at all, Chris, because I simply asked her to sit somewhere quiet until we got through the main parts of the service.”
“You instructed my child to hide in a laundry room during her own father’s wedding,” I said, keeping my voice steady despite the rage building inside me.
“Please stop making it sound so awful when I was only trying to prevent unnecessary emotional confusion for everyone involved,” Brenda replied, adjusting her grip on her flowers.
Hannah moved closer to my side and tucked herself slightly behind my jacket. “What kind of emotional confusion could my daughter’s presence possibly create on my wedding day?”
Brenda looked past me at the rows of seated guests before answering with a cold edge in her voice. “Everyone here knows she represents your first marriage, Chris, and constantly pushing her to the front makes it look like Rebecca is still a third partner in this relationship.”
I stared at the woman I had planned to spend the rest of my life with, barely recognizing her face. “Rebecca will always be part of Hannah’s life, which means her memory will never be erased from mine or forgotten in my home.”
Brenda’s soft expression hardened completely. “That is the core issue here, Chris, because you keep treating your past as if it deserves the exact same amount of space as our future together.”
