Marriage Offered, Love Declined novel · Chapter 23 of 24
Chapter 23: The Second Ceremony
On the first of March, my father's backyard had been taken over by a union hall.
The tomato cages were gone.
In their place stood three patio heaters borrowed from the corner bar.
There was a trestle table under a plastic cloth.
Folding chairs from the church basement sat in rows on the frozen grass.
Sixty people sat in them in their coats.
The widow from the corner, in her church hat.
The man in the SEPTA jacket, and the cousin who sold insurance, and the family from across the street who had gotten their garage back.
Forty of the Aramingo yard, some of whom had brought their wives and a casserole.
Cosima in a yellow coat with a clipboard, already crying, which she said was the cold.
The great-aunt who liked me sat in the front row with a cane and a flask.
"This is the right ceremony," she told the man beside her. "The first one was a mistake of paperwork."
Sebastian stood at the back door in his charcoal suit and no tie.
He had been told to come at noon for lunch.
He had not been told anything else.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of Marriage Offered, Love Declined are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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