Dad smiled.
“Years of practice.”
Vanessa looked at me.
“Maybe after the wedding we’ll create some new routines.”
Dad nodded.
“Sure.”
“For us.”
The word hung there.
Dad did not seem to notice.
I did.
At the dress fitting, things became worse.
Dad had promised he would come, but an emergency at work kept him away.
Aunt Claire offered to take me.
Vanessa immediately said that was unnecessary.
“I’ll take her.”
Dad looked at me.
“You good with that?”
I did not want him to think I was difficult.
“Sure.”
The bridal shop was bright, expensive, and full of mirrors.
Vanessa had already selected a pale-blue dress for me.
I loved it.
The skirt fell just below my knees.
The sleeves were simple.
There was a narrow satin ribbon around the waist.
When I came out of the changing room, the saleswoman smiled.
“That color is beautiful on you.”
Vanessa looked me up and down.
“It’s fine.”
The woman adjusted the waist.
“She’ll look lovely standing with her father.”
Vanessa’s expression changed.
“She may be sitting with family.”
I looked at her reflection in the mirror.
“Dad said I’m standing with him.”
The saleswoman immediately became interested in a rack of dresses across the room.
Vanessa waited until she walked away.
“You enjoy correcting me in public?”
“I wasn’t correcting you.”
“You were.”
“Dad said—”
“I know what your father said.”
She stepped closer.
“Listen carefully, Ellie.
Weddings are complicated.
Plans change.”
“My plan isn’t changing.”
Her eyebrows lifted.
“Your plan?”
I realized too late what I had said.
Vanessa folded her arms.
“This is exactly what I mean.”
I looked down.
“Sorry.”
She softened immediately.
That was another trick.
The moment I apologized, she became kind again.
“You don’t need to be sorry.
You just need to understand that your father is starting a new life.”
“With you.”
“With me.”
“And me.”
She did not answer.
I looked up.
“And me, right?”
She smiled.
“Of course.”
But she never actually said yes.
On the drive home, I sat in the passenger seat holding the dress bag across my lap.
Vanessa drove in silence for several minutes.
Then she said, “I need you to do something for your dad.”
“What?”
“Try not to make him feel guilty.”
“About what?”
“Growing up.”
I frowned.
“He is allowed to have a marriage.”
“I know.”
“He is allowed to put his wife first sometimes.”
“I know.”
“He lost a lot when your mother died.”
My entire body stiffened.
Vanessa continued driving.
“He deserves happiness.”
“I want him to be happy.”
“Good.”
She glanced at me.
“Then help him.”
I looked out the window for the rest of the drive.
That night, Dad knocked on my bedroom door.
“How was the dress?”
“Good.”
“You like it?”
“Yeah.”
“Picture?”
I showed him.
His face brightened.
“Peanut, you look beautiful.”
I smiled despite myself.
“Thanks.”
He sat on the edge of my bed.
“Vanessa said you seemed quiet afterward.”
My heart jumped.
“She said that?”
“Yeah.”
I wondered what else she had said.
Dad touched the necklace he had given me.
“You nervous?”
“A little.”
“About the wedding?”
I wanted to tell him everything.
Instead, I asked, “When you marry Vanessa, does she come first?”
He looked surprised.
“In some things.”
I swallowed.
“What things?”
“Marriage means partnership.
We make decisions together.
We support each other.”
“Do I come second?”
His expression changed immediately.
“No.”
“But you said—”
“It’s not a ranking.”
“Vanessa said wives come first.”
Dad became very still.
“When did she say that?”
I panicked.
“She didn’t exactly.”
“What did she say exactly?”
I could hear Vanessa downstairs.
Cabinet doors opened.
Plates moved.
I suddenly imagined the argument that would happen if I told him.
Then I imagined Vanessa smiling afterward and saying I had misunderstood.
“She just said you deserve to be happy.”
Dad watched me.
“That’s different.”
“I know.”
He did not look convinced.
“Ellie, if something is bothering you—”
“I’m okay.”
He waited.
I smiled.
Eventually he nodded.
But when he left my room, he did not go downstairs immediately.
He stood outside my door for almost a minute.
I could see his shadow beneath it.
I think that may have been the first time he realized something was wrong.
Chapter 4: THE EMPTY SEAT
Three weeks before the wedding, Dad showed me the printed ceremony program.
My name was on it.
ELLIE CARTER — DAUGHTER OF THE GROOM.
I stared at those words longer than I should have.
Dad noticed.
“You like that?”
I nodded.
“There’s more.”
He pointed lower.
During the ceremony, after the vows, he planned to say a short promise to me too.
Not a second wedding vow.
Just a few sentences acknowledging that marriage would change our family but would not erase what had come before.
