Her Wedding Dress novel · Chapter 4 of 24

Chapter 4: The Family Room

Nobody in the family room got up when I came in.

My mother looked at the paper on the table, not at me.

"Sit down, honey," she said. "Read it before you say anything."

I stayed on my feet.

The man in the gray suit slid the sheet an inch closer. "Mrs. Ashdown, this is a family agreement. It protects everyone."

"Everyone," I said.

"It's short. You waive any claim to Mr. Ashdown's property, and you agree to keep today's events private."

"That's two things."

"There's a third." He cleared his throat. "If the marriage ends, Mr. Ashdown has primary custody of the child."

The room was quiet enough to hear the quartet through the wall.

I put my hand on my stomach.

"The child I'm carrying."

"The child of the marriage," the lawyer said.

"And what do I get?"

"Your father's remaining surgery bills are paid in full. Your brother's car loan is cleared. You receive a monthly allowance."

My father looked up. He was a quiet man with big careful hands, and he had not slept.

"Autumn," he said. "I didn't know about the dress."

"Hush," my mother said.

I turned to her.

"Did you know about the allowance?"

"Clifton's family has been very generous."

"Did you know about the custody clause?"

She smoothed her skirt. "It's only a precaution. Nobody expects it to happen."

"Then why does it need to be signed in a back room an hour after my wedding?"

"Don't be rude," Clifton's mother said.

She hadn't turned from the window.

Judith Ashdown was fifty-eight and wore pearls to breakfast, and in three years she had never once said my name.

"Mrs. Ashdown," I said. "Did you write the custody clause?"

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