I Prepared for My Wedding, Only to Be Shut Out of My Own Bridal Suite novel · Chapter 22 of 24

Chapter 22: Housewarming

I sat down in my father's chair to open it.

Cooper got up off the floor.

"I'll be on the porch," he said.

"Stay."

He stayed. He sat on the floor with his back against the bookshelf, and he didn't look at the letter once.

The envelope wasn't sealed. The flap was only tucked in.

Inside was one sheet of yellow legal paper, folded in thirds.

His handwriting got shakier toward the bottom.

He wrote it the last winter, when he couldn't hold a pencil for very long.

Claire,

If you're reading this, you finally got the drawer out. You lift it and then pull. I never told you. I liked watching you fight it.

I'm sorry I'm not there to walk you down.

Your mother will cry before the ceremony and blame the flowers. Let her.

I hope he's somebody who shows up for the boring parts. The cake, the paint colors, the dentist. Anybody shows up for the big day.

If he isn't, you don't owe anybody a wedding. Not him, not his mother, not a room full of people in nice shoes. Walk out. I'll be proud of you either way.

The swing is level. I checked it twice.

Love,

Dad

I read it twice.

Then I handed it to Cooper.

He read it slowly, and when he got to the part about the cake, he looked up at me.

"He'd have liked you," I said.

"He'd have made me peel shrimp."

"He'd have made you peel them right."

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