After her diagnosis, the joke stopped feeling quite so casual.
Suddenly I couldn’t assume anything.
So when I went dress shopping, I took only her.
It wasn’t meant as an insult.
Isabella didn’t see it that way.
***
Nathan’s mother had stared at me when she found out.
When I went dress shopping, I took only her.
“So I’m good enough to help pay for flowers, but not important enough to see you choose the dress?”
“I’m sorry. Mom and I have talked about doing this since I was a teenager.”
“I see.”
“It’s not about excluding you.”
“No. You’ve made it very clear whose family matters.”
“It’s not about excluding you.”
I explained about Mom.
Isabella knew about the cancer.
She knew why that day mattered.
It didn’t help.
From then on, whenever the wedding came up, so did dress shopping.
She knew why that day mattered.
Nathan kept trying to reassure her that she wasn’t being pushed out. I knew we’d arranged one small surprise for her at the reception, but Isabella didn’t.
