Chapter 33 - Allison Gets Engaged
Allison announced her engagement at breakfast.
She did it badly.
“I’m getting married.”
I dropped my spoon.
Patricia screamed.
Eleanor clapped because everyone else reacted.
Julian calmly drank coffee.
Apparently he already knew.
I glared at him.
“You knew?”
“Three days.”
“Traitor.”
Allison smiled.
Her fiancé, Daniel Ruiz, sat beside her looking terrified.
He was thirty-five.
Public school counselor.
Divorced.
No trust fund.
No yacht.
No European estate.
Robert would have hated him.
I liked him immediately.
“Why didn't you tell me?” I asked.
Allison shrugged.
“Because the last time I planned a wedding, federal agents arrested the groom.”
“Reasonable.”
Daniel laughed nervously.
“We’re not doing anything big.”
“How small?”
“City hall,” Allison said. “Dinner after.”
Patricia looked personally wounded.
“No flowers?”
“One bouquet.”
“No ballroom?”
“No.”
“No orchestra?”
“Mom.”
“I’m just asking.”
Allison turned toward me.
“I want you there.”
I said nothing.
“Not as maid of honor,” she added quickly. “No pressure.”
I kept staring.
She became nervous.
“Meredith?”
“You're sure?”
“Yes.”
“About him?”
Daniel looked alarmed.
“Yes!”
“Financial disclosure?”
“Meredith!”
Julian laughed.
I ignored him.
“Debt?”
“Student loans.”
“Criminal record?”
Daniel raised his hand.
“One parking ticket in 2018.”
“Good.”
Allison covered her face.
“This is humiliating.”
“No, this is due diligence.”
Eventually, I smiled.
“Congratulations.”
Allison began crying.
I stood and hugged her.
A real hug.
No hesitation.
No calculation.
She whispered against my shoulder, “I didn't think you'd ever be happy for me again.”
I pulled back.
“Neither did I.”
That was the truth.
But happiness had returned slowly.
Not because the past vanished.
Because the present became trustworthy.
The wedding took place six months later at Boston City Hall.
Twenty-three guests.
No society pages.
No imported orchids.
Allison wore a simple ivory dress.
Daniel wore a navy suit.
Patricia cried from beginning to end.
Robert watched through a secure video connection approved by the prison.
Allison almost refused.
Then allowed it.
When the clerk pronounced them married, Robert covered his mouth.
He didn't speak.
He didn't need to.
At dinner, Allison stood.
“I have one toast.”
She looked at me.
“My first wedding was built around proving something.”
Everyone became quiet.
“I wanted people to envy me.”
She looked at Daniel.
“This wedding is different.”
Then back to me.
“My sister once told me an apology doesn't erase twenty years of cruelty.”
I remembered.
“She was right.”
Allison’s voice broke.
“But she taught me something else without saying it.”
“What?” Patricia whispered.
Allison smiled.
“That becoming better is still worth doing, even if nobody owes you forgiveness.”
I cried before she finished.
May you like
Aggressive allergies.
Again.
