The Morning Before Her Wedding

Chapter 1: one last time

# The Morning Before Her Wedding

The first sign that something was wrong was a second ring.

It appeared on Elena’s mother’s hand three days after Elena became engaged. Two silver bands sat together on her fourth finger, both slightly too large, turning whenever she lifted her coffee cup.

Elena noticed them in the corner booth of Miller’s Café, where the tables were covered in chipped white laminate and the air always smelled of fried onions, burnt coffee, and the lemon cleaner used on the floors.

Her mother, Diane, held out her hand before Elena had finished removing her coat.

“Look,” she said.

One ring had a cloudy blue stone. The other was a thin band set with tiny clear crystals.

Elena smiled because smiling was what she had learned to do when she needed a few seconds to understand something.

“They’re pretty.”

“Jack couldn’t decide which one suited me,” Diane said. “So he bought both.”