by Anne Dayton
I walk on ahead. The bells are still ringing behind me, and the fading sunlight feels good on my face. I can do this. I can make it a few more hours.
I’m trudging up the circular driveway of the hotel when I see something strange. I stop. That can’t be. But it really is. Mrs. McGee’s face on the side of a van.
I watch as the bright blue minivan gets closer, swings into the driveway, and stops right in front of the Fairmont’s big white awning. I throw my head back and laugh in disbelief as the Miracle Girls tumble out of the RealMobile.
Zoe is dressed head to toe in gold and garnet polyester. She’s wearing her marching band uniform, including the little hat with the plume on top. Riley is breathless, running around the car wearing what I recognize as one of Ana’s dresses, and Ana is tucking a silky pink shirt into her black skirt. She reaches into the backseat and pulls out a box, then slides the big side door closed as Riley hands the car keys to the valet.
“We got here as soon as we could,” Riley says when she sees me. “We knew we had to come.”
I run over and throw my arms around them in a big group hug.
“We didn’t know what to wear to crash a wedding.” Ana gestures at her outfit apologetically. “When Riley showed up and kidnapped me, I grabbed a bunch of my stuff so we’d at least look sort of presentable.”
“We changed in the car,” Riley says. “Well, except Zoe. ”
“Ana’s clothes don’t fit me.” Zoe blushes a little. “I was at a parade when they showed up. This is what I had on.”
Dad, Candace, and Emma are walking up the driveway, and Dad stops short when he sees my friends. The girls fall silent as Candace walks toward us. Is she mad? She said I couldn’t invite them, but I didn’t invite them really. They just showed up.
I can’t read her face. Surely she’s not going to make a scene here, at her own wedding. Maybe they won’t even stay. Just coming was enough.
“You look beautiful, Mrs. Lee,” Ana says quickly. “Congratulations.” Where did that girl learn how to suck up so well?
“Thank you, Ana.” Candace watches us, and I put my arms around my friends protectively.
“Well, come on, girls.” She gestures toward the door. “How long are you going to stand around outside?” She catches my eye and smiles. “The party’s just starting.”
***
“So wait.” I reach for another piece of shrimp as a waiter goes by. It melts in my mouth. Why didn’t anyone ever tell me how good shrimp was? I feel like I’ve been missing out my whole life. “Your parents don’t even know you took the van?”
“I’m sure they’ve figured it out by now. And I’m sure I’ll get in trouble, because I haven’t had m license a year, but it was worth it.” Riley shrugs. “They said they needed it, but they were just going to go to Costco. It’s not like Costco won’t be there tomorrow. Besides, I left them a note.” I eye her and wait for her to go on. There’s more to this story, I can tell. Riley sighs. “Okay, fine. I left it in the bowl where we keep the keys. It said, ‘I needed it more’.”
Zoe laughs out loud, and the sound blends into the music of the twelve-piece band playing at the front of the ballroom. This place is gorgeous, I have to admit, with its high ornate ceilings and thick carpet. Even crowded with all these tables and chock-full of people I don’t know, I’m still kind of happy to be here.
“I hope you realize how much it took to get my parents to let me come,” Ana says, rolling her eyes.
“We had to bargain with them.” Riley laughs. “She gave up five dates with Dave and agreed to clean the bathrooms for the whole summer. Now that’s a true friend.”
“Seriously?” I almost choke on the shrimp as I try to imagine the scene.
“Seriously.” Ana reaches for a passing tray of mini quiches. “But probation will be up in a few weeks, and then it will all be better.” Her eyes light up at the thought.
“It was Zoe who was the hardest to track down.” Riley takes a sip of the sparkling cider from the delicate glass in her hand.
“I couldn’t answer my phone! We were lining up for the Founder’s Day parade!” Thankfully, Zoe took the crazy hat off before we came into the ballroom, but she still looks out of place in her band uniform.
“Luckily, Ed told us where the parade was, and we went and got her,” Ana says. “It was a good thing it hadn’t actually started yet, or we would have had to physically yank you out of formation.”
“I would have done it,” Zoe says quietly. “For you guys.”
“So are you going to be in trouble with the band leader?” I wave a waiter over. It’s amazing how much power I have in this dress. Since I’m clearly in the wedding party, the waiters are falling over themselves to bring me whatever I want. I take a whole handful of shrimp this time.
Zoe shakes her head. “Marcus was going to cover for me. He told my section to space themselves so it won’t be obvious I’m not there. They’ll look sloppy, but with any luck, Mr. Parker won’t even notice I’m missing.”
“Ah, Marcus.” I shake my head. “I like that guy.”
Zoe’s cheeks turn pink. “I do too.” She giggles a little. Riley meets my eye and bursts into laughter. Her laugh is deep and rich and so good to hear.
“Don’t worry, Christine,” Zoe says, her face serious. “We’ll find you a guy this summer. A good one this time.”
I watch as Dad and Candace walk through the crowd arm in arm. They keep stopping to talk to people, but every once in a while, they just stop and look at each other like no one else in the room matters.
“Nah.” I pop another shrimp into my mouth. “I don’t think so.” Maybe someday I’ll find someone who will look at me like that too. But until then, I have my family, and I have the Miracle Girls. I’ll be okay.
Ms. Moore’s face flashes into my head. “Besides, this summer we have other things to focus on.”
We stand there for a minute, drinking it all in, but then the waiters start ushering people to their seats. Ana snaps her fingers. She holds up one finger, then turns and walks away.
“You don’t have to go. Candace said they’d find places for you guys,” I call after her. She ignores me and walks as quickly as she can manage in her heels over to the cardboard box she put down by the door. She picks it up and hurries back.
Riley takes the box from her and begins to open the flaps.
“Before everyone gets settled, we thought you should give them this.” Riley and Ana pull out my painting.
“Oh my gosh.” I suck in my breath. “How did you guys get this?” Ana holds the canvas out to me, and I take it gingerly. I finished it earlier this week, and it looks pretty good, if I do say so myself.
“Oh right. We owe you money for a new window.” Riley smiles sheepishly. “We had to break the one by the door to get in.”
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. “You guys broke into my house to get this?”
“That was before they picked me up,” Zoe says, waving her hands in innocence.
“We knew you would want it after all,” Ana says softly.
I look down at the canvas. Is it Mom’s painting or mine? I worked harder on this than I’ve ever worked on anything, and it turned out better than I’d hoped.
“I’ll be right back.”
I thread my way through the guests, who are finding their way to their seats, and head for the big table at the front of the room. Dad and Candace are just sitting down, with Emma and assorted family members around them. I come around behind them.
“I have something for you guys.” I lift the painting up onto the table and lay it down carefully in front of them.
Candace gasps. “Christine, did you paint this?”
I nod.
Dad keeps his head down, studying it silently.
“Cool!” Emma shrieks, leaning over to see.
Dad stares at the painting. It’s our living room window, up close, but it’s kind of stylized. You can see some of the outside of the house, but if you look i
n through the front window, the main stuff is going on inside.
“I remember this,” Dad finally says and looks at me. He noticed. He knew what she’d been working on. That’s enough for me.
“Hey, that’s us!” Emma points to where four heads are peeking over the back of the couch—two black, two brown, all together. “Are we watching TV?”
I shake my head. “We’re just there.”
“How did you make the glass in the window look like that?” Candace turns around and looks up at me with awe.
Mom already had the glass done. It was her specialty. “I had some help.”
Dad squints, focusing on the thing I knew only he would notice.
“That’s her couch.” He looks up at me with tears in his eyes.
I nod. Instead of the brown sectional that’s actually in our living room, I painted the four figures sitting on Grandma Ba’s couch instead. The flowers on that thing almost did me in. I wanted to show that she’s not totally gone. There’s still something of hers in it, but we’re there, all of us, and we’re okay.
Dad jolts up, and for a moment I’m a little worried, but he pulls me into a tight hug.
“Thank you, Christine,” he whispers into my ear. “For everything you did today, but especially this.”
Candace stands up and throws her arms around me, and Emma joins in too. The first official Lee family hug.
We all pull back. Candace blows her nose, then grabs my hand. I almost jump at her touch and notice that she has tears in her eyes. “Thank you,” she whispers. In her face I see all the hopes she has for us, for healing, for the future, for our new family. Suddenly my eyes are watering too. I bite my lip and take a gasping breath.
“I’m trying.” A tear rolls down my face. “I really am.”
She pulls me into a huge hug and whispers, “I know you are,” in my ear. Her voice is soft and sweet and sends warmth down my spine. It isn’t love, but it’s something. We hold each other for a long moment, and for once in my life, I’m speechless. Finally she has to let me go to blot her face.
The wedding coordinator hands my dad a microphone and a glass of champagne, and I begin to back away. Dad flips on the microphone and stands so he can give a welcome toast. Candace gestures to my open seat next to Emma, but I shake my head and walk away, past the photographer, around to the table where the Miracle Girls are seated. Zoe is sitting next to the mayor of Half Moon Bay, but she doesn’t seem to have any idea. I pull an empty chair from the next table, and the girls move over to make room for me to squeeze in with them.
Dad clinks his glass to get our attention, and we all turn as everyone in the room clinks their own glasses in response. Candace stands up and gives him a kiss, then they thank us for being part of the start of their new life together. While Dad is talking, Candace catches my eye and smiles. I know she wants me to sit with them, with her and Emma, and I will, later. They’re family now, for better or for worse. They’ll always be there. That won’t change. But Riley, Ana, Zoe, and I are what I need right now.
It hasn’t been an easy year for the Miracle Girls, but we made it. We scraped by through thick and thin, popular and freak, competition and boys, through the sheer torture of high school, and I think we’re stronger for it.
Dad keeps blabbering away, but I’m not even listening anymore. I’m thinking about how someday we’ll go off to college and move away and have weddings of our own. But I’ll never forget how they were here for me today. This whole awful year, really. I wouldn’t have made it through without them.
What God has joined together, Dad says from the stage, no one can separate.
As I look around at the smiling faces of my best friends, I know it’s true.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Anne Dayton is the pen name of Beth Adams. Beth graduated from Princeton and has her MA in Literature from New York University. She lives in New York City.
May Vanderbilt is the pen name of Alison Presley. Alison graduated from Baylor University and has an MA in Fiction from Johns Hopkins. She lives in San Francisco. You can find out more about Alison at her website: www.alisonpresley.com.
Together, they are the authors of Emily Ever After, Consider Lily, The Book of Jane, How Dolly Parton Saved My Life, and the four-book Miracle Girls series.
The Miracle Girls series includes: The Miracle Girls, Breaking up Is Hard to Do, A Little Help from My Friends, and Love Will Keep us Together.
