Read Online Sweet Carolina Morning by Susan Schild - Free Book Online Page B

kept referring to herself as the wedding planner—was taking her to look at a few possible venues. Kate was thrilled about Linny and Jack’s wedding, but she’d only been a bride once. This being Linny’s third trip down the aisle—and at this age—the bride-to-be was less thrilled.
    She picked up a triangle of cold toast and nibbled it, feeling the sadness she’d been fighting for several days now. Her past was haunting her: the tragedy of losing Andy, the mistake she’d made with Buck. Pushing back her hair, she remembered the gray ones she’d spied in the mirror that morning. Meeting Jack now was a miracle, but she wished she were twenty-five and not skidding toward forty so she could have shared her youth with him. Their whole lives could have unfolded instead of being spliced together now. She shook her head and took a sip of cold coffee. Wistful, sad, regretful: that wasn’t how she was supposed to feel about her wedding.
    When she spied Kate crunching up the driveway in her Honda, Linny corralled up the dogs to put them in their crates, slung her purse on her shoulder, and ran outside. Pasting on a smile, she slipped into the passenger seat and leaned over to give her sister a peck on the cheek. “Good morning, sweets,” she called out, trying to sound cheerful. “How are you?”
    â€œI didn’t throw up today. It was great,” Kate enthused. She tapped her finger on her phone, resting on the seat between them. “Remind me Mama’s calling from the cruise at eleven. I think they’re in Grand Cayman today.”
    â€œI will,” Linny said. “I hope they’re having a ball.”
    â€œI do, too,” Kate agreed and put the car in gear. “Was last night terribly romantic?” She pressed a hand to her chest, looking dreamy. “Tender looks, exultant announcement, followed by deep bonding with Jack’s mom and dad?”
    Linny gazed out the window for a moment, then said flatly, “The evening was odd, and there was no deep bonding.”
    Her mouth a perfect O, Kate braked and the car skidded to a stop. “Why not?”
    Haltingly, Linny explained and summed it up, “So Jack hadn’t told them we’re in love, nobody in that family communicates real well, and his mother is besotted with his ex-wife.” She picked at a cuticle and looked out the window. “I’m starting to wonder if Jack is over Vera.”
    â€œOf course he is,” Kate said staunchly. “Jack adores you and you’ll win over his parents.” She resumed driving. “This is just a hiccough. Couples put way too much pressure on themselves about the engagement and wedding going off without a hitch, and most of the time they don’t.” She gave a modest shrug. “Both of ours went beautifully, but we just got lucky.”
    Linny looked at her to see if she was joking, but Kate had a fond smile on her face as she tooled down the road. Which was more beautiful, she wondered? The oyster roast engagement party when Jerry’s wild buck of a nephew crashed his ATV into the porta-potty while the minister’s wife was using it and Jerry’s uncle Earl ate his first-ever shrimp and went into anaphylactic shock? Or was it during the wedding toasts when Jerry’s daddy tried to convert bewildered wedding guests with tent revival type preaching about the evils of fornication? “Beautiful and memorable,” she murmured.
    â€œMemorable is right,” Kate broke into a grin but she waved a hand dismissively. “We had a few hitches, but they kept things lively.”
    Linny thought about it for a moment. “The main thing I recall is how Jerry looked at you: like he couldn’t believe how lucky he was.”
    â€œThat’s how Jack looks at you,” Kate insisted. “Give it a few days, talk with him, and let him break it to his parents any way he wants. Things will be fine.”