Wedding Eve Goodbye novel · Chapter 20 of 24

Chapter 20: Wedding Eve

On Friday night the church was full of lilies, and Odile ran the rehearsal like a general.

She stood in the aisle with her cane and moved two hundred empty chairs by pointing.

"The front pew on the left," she said. "That is Rhonda's, and nobody sits within a yard of her."

The priest cleared his throat. "Mrs. Haldane, may I ask whether there is going to be an objection?"

"There is going to be a great deal," said Odile. "Carry on."

I stood at the altar rail in my work jeans.

Mina came up beside me, holding the hem of her cardigan in both fists.

"Elin," she said quietly. "Where do I stand?"

"Next to me."

"I'm not a bridesmaid. I'm the assistant."

"You're my sister," I said. "Stand where everyone can see you."

She pressed her lips together and nodded, and her eyes filled up.

Dominic stood at the other end of the rail with his hands behind his back.

He had not looked away from me for an hour.

"Don't," I told him across the chapel. "It's bad luck to stare at the bride."

"You aren't dressed as one."

"That is tomorrow's problem."

I slept that night in the loft above my workshop with Mina's breathing in the next cot.

I did not sleep very long.

At midnight I put on my coat and walked down to the river path in the dark.

The stone house was black except for one window.

I let myself in by the kitchen and went down the long hallway, past the cold fireplace, and my feet knew the way.

The study door stood open a hand's width, and lamplight lay across the floor.

Keep reading free with an account. Start Wedding Eve Goodbye from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.