I Waited Until Rehearsal Dinner

around the table. Her heel slipped on the marble. One hand hit the edge of a bread plate and sent it spinning. It cracked on the floor with a sharp little gunshot sound.

Dad caught her elbow before she reached me.

“Emily,” Mom said, and this time it came out thin and scared.

I gave Paula my name, the last four digits of the first card, and said, “I’d continue reading …