Rings and things
Two adults and five teenage girls overloaded even that house and Alex retreated to the garage for a few minutes peace. She grabbed his mail so she could read the flyers and a law enforcement supply catalog. Tucked among everything else was a thick cream envelope with engraved wedding rings on the flap. As it was addressed only to him, she couldn't open it, but she examined it as though it were forensic evidence. Postmark, handwriting, even a spot of what could be spilled coffee were all filed away in her mind as though she didn't know exactly what was inside the envelope.
Two weeks earlier she and her sister had poured over a display in a card shop until they found just the right invitations. Then the lettering. Then the text. At least they already knew the time and place. When that was all completed, they sat over the best coffee in town and finalized the guest list. They had to remind each other of who some of the people were. Alex knew one side of the list better than the other, but between them they knew them all. Some of them they'd known all their lives.
When she knew she couldn't sit alone in her car any longer, she gathered up the mail and went back into the house. She had to step over the girl's sprawled bodies to get to the kitchen so she could hand him the envelope. He looked it over with a raised eyebrow, taking in all the same details she had. Taking his expression as a request for an explanation, she sighed softly.
"It's an invitation to my parents' forty-fifth anniversary party."
279
Two weeks earlier she and her sister had poured over a display in a card shop until they found just the right invitations. Then the lettering. Then the text. At least they already knew the time and place. When that was all completed, they sat over the best coffee in town and finalized the guest list. They had to remind each other of who some of the people were. Alex knew one side of the list better than the other, but between them they knew them all. Some of them they'd known all their lives.
When she knew she couldn't sit alone in her car any longer, she gathered up the mail and went back into the house. She had to step over the girl's sprawled bodies to get to the kitchen so she could hand him the envelope. He looked it over with a raised eyebrow, taking in all the same details she had. Taking his expression as a request for an explanation, she sighed softly.
"It's an invitation to my parents' forty-fifth anniversary party."
279