A Wedding In December. Sarah Morgan

sat for a moment, then walked to the window. It was dark outside, but the moon sent a ghostly glow across the village green.

      In the summer it was the venue for cricket, and in the winter the trees were decked with tiny fairy lights paid for by the village council. There had been an outcry at proposals to divert traffic through the center of the village.

      Maggie guessed they didn’t have those problems in Aspen. Nobody was likely to have to fight the demise of the local bus service, or the plan to only open the library two days a week.

      Unable to see an alternative, she picked up the phone and dialed Nick’s number.

      It rang and rang, but Maggie persevered. Nick’s ability to sleep through anything was something that she’d both resented and envied when the children were young. It had been Maggie who had dragged herself from the bed every half an hour when Rosie was tiny, and Maggie who had borne the brunt of the asthma attacks even when Nick was home between trips.

      Eventually he picked up the phone with a grunt. “‘lo.”

      “Nick?”

      “Maggie?” His voice was rough with sleep and she could imagine him shaking himself awake like a bear waking from hibernation.

      “You need to call Rosie.”

      “Now? In the middle of the night? What’s wrong?” To give him his due, he was instantly concerned. “Is she in the hospital?”

      “No. She has news.” Should she tell him or leave Rosie to tell him herself? In the end she decided to tell him. Nick tended to be blunt in his responses and she didn’t want him spoiling Rosie’s moment. “She and Dan are getting married.” She heard the tinkling of glass and Nick cursing fluently. “Are you all right?”

      “Knocked a glass of water over.”

      Nick was a professor of Egyptology, ridiculously intelligent and endearingly clumsy with everyday items. At least, Maggie had found it endearing in the beginning. It had become less endearing as the years had passed and he’d broken half her favorite china. She used to joke that he was so used to dealing with pottery fragments he didn’t know how to handle an entire piece.

      “She and Dan are getting married in Colorado at Christmas.”

      “This Christmas? The one happening next month?”

      “That’s the one. Dan’s family own a luxury resort. I’ve forgotten what it’s called.”

      “Snowfall Lodge.”

      “How do you know that?”

      “Rosie mentioned it when she told me about her plans for Thanksgiving. Goodness. Married. I didn’t see that one coming. Our little Rosie. Always doing the unexpected.” There was a pause and she heard rustling in the background and the click of a light switch. “How do you feel?”

      Sad. Lost. Confused. Anxious.

      She wasn’t sure how many of those feelings could be attributed to Rosie’s news.

      “I feel fine.” That was as much of a lie as letting Rosie think Nick was in bed with her. “It’s Rosie’s life, and she should do what she wants to do.”

      “What about Christmas? I know how important it is to you.”

      “We’ll still be having Christmas, just not at Honeysuckle Cottage. The wedding is planned for Christmas Eve.” She didn’t quite manage to keep the wobble from her voice.

      “Are you going to go?”

      “What sort of a question is that? You seriously think I wouldn’t attend my daughter’s wedding?”

      “I hadn’t given it any thought at all until two minutes ago when you first mentioned it. I know how you love Christmas at the cottage, and how much you hate flying. I know pretty much everything about you.”

      She thought about the file she’d left open on the kitchen table.

       He didn’t know everything.

      “If my daughter is getting married in Aspen, then that’s where I’ll be, too.”

      “How? I’ve never managed to get you on a plane. Not even for our honeymoon.”

      “I’ll find a way.” She could do a fear of flying course, but that felt like a ridiculous waste of money. Alcohol would be cheaper. She didn’t often drink, so a couple of gin and tonics should do it. “We can sort out details later. She wants you to call her back so that she can tell you in person.”

      There was a pause. “Where does she think I am? What did you tell her?”

      “That you were out walking because you couldn’t sleep.”

      His sigh echoed down the phone like an accusation. “This has gone on long enough. We should tell them, Mags.” He sounded tired. “They’re not children anymore. They deserve to know the truth.”

      “We’ll tell them when the time is right, and that time isn’t when your youngest daughter calls all excited to tell you she’s getting married.”

      “All right, but we tell her before we arrive in Colorado. We’ll call her together next week. We’ve been living apart for months now. It’s time to tell both girls that it’s over.”

       Over.

      Maggie felt her throat thicken and her chest hurt.

      It was because it was the middle of the night. Things always seemed worse at three in the morning.

      “I’d rather tell Katie in person, but she’s elusive at the moment. Have you heard from her lately?”

      “No, but that isn’t unusual. You two have this mother-daughter thing going on. You’re the one she always calls.”

      But Katie hadn’t called. She hadn’t called in a while.

      Did that mean she was busy, or that something was wrong?

      “I’ll try calling her again. She usually does nothing but sleep and eat over Christmas. Traveling to Aspen might be difficult for her.”

      Difficult for all of them.

      A sister who didn’t believe in marriage, and parents who were divorcing.

      What sort of a wedding was this going to be?

Katie

      “That’s it, Sally. All done.” Katie removed her surgical gloves and stood up. The stitches were neat and she was satisfied she’d done the best possible job. There would be a scar, but Katie knew that with or without a scar Sally would never forget tonight. “Is there someone we can call for you?”

      The woman shook her head. There was bruising and swelling on her left cheek and disillusionment in her eyes. “I never thought this would happen to me.”

      Katie sat down again. Her shoulder ached from sitting in one position for too long and she rolled it discreetly to try to ease the discomfort. “It can happen to anyone. It’s not about you. It’s about him. It’s not your fault.” It was important to say the words, even though she knew she probably wouldn’t be believed.

      “I feel stupid. I keep thinking I must have missed something. We’ve been together for two years. Married for four months. He’s never done anything like this before. I love him. I thought he loved me. We met when I started a new job and he swept me off my feet. He seemed perfect.”

      Katie shivered. “Perfect” wasn’t normal. What human being was perfect? “I’m sorry.”

      “There were no signs. No clues.”

      “Perfect” might have been