CHAPTER 4
Queens, NY
Seven days later, Emma flips through pictures in a bridal magazine as she eats a quick breakfast bar before work.
Matt looks over her shoulder as he reaches for a coffee cup. “Should I be seeing pictures of wedding dresses? Isn’t there some sort of rule against that?”
She giggles, taking a bite of the bar. “There is a tradition in some circles that says you shouldn’t see the bride in her wedding dress before the wedding. I haven’t heard of the picture rule. I don’t think that’s a thing.”
He begins to brew a cup of coffee and turns back to the pictures in the magazine. “You really don’t need to be looking at these. I can tell you exactly what kind of dress to wear.”
She closes the pages, looking at him. “I can’t wait to hear this.”
“You just need something with a slit up to here and a cut down to here with an open back.”
“You just described lingerie.”
He shrugs. “I don’t care what you call it. I’m just saying it’s all you need to wear.”
She laughs, throwing her phone into her bag and reaches for her Yeti mug of coffee. “Let’s just leave me in charge of finding the wedding dress.”
“Then that leaves me in charge of finding the lingerie.”
She kisses him and slings her bag over her shoulder, throwing the magazine onto the coffee table with a couple other wedding magazines she bought this week. “See you tonight. Love you.” She walks to the door, waiting for it.
“Love you too.”
She smiles and closes the door. Brandon is waiting at the front door of the apartment building today. “You look tired,” she says.
Brandon slings his backpack over both shoulders. “Yeah.”
“What’s up?”
They keep up a quick pace to make it to their trains on time. “Another round.”
Emma shakes her head. He and Rick sometimes act more like children than adults. “What is it this time?”
“He wants to go to some new club that’s opening tonight, and I told him I was tired. I just want to stay in. He said he would go without me, and I know what that means.” He looks over at her as they walk. “You know what that means.” Rick has a hard time being faithful, and Brandon has been hurt more times than he can count. “I told him that relationships shouldn’t be like this. Something is out of whack.”
She sighs. “It’s the craziness in the world. Everything’s out of whack.”
Brandon dodges an upcoming group of people and picks up his pace to catch up to Emma. “You’re not helping.”
“Just saying that everything is crazy. It’s not just you two.”
They run down the stairs to the subway and Emma’s phone rings. She waves good-bye as she and Brandon go in different directions toward their trains.
“Hi, Mom!” she says, answering her phone.
“I know you’re running off to work, but I’m going to send you a link for a barn nearby that has been converted into an event space. It’s really cute and it books up fast for weddings.”
It sounds great, but Emma can already hear Rick’s snide comments about her and Matt getting married in a barn. “Sounds awesome! But you don’t have to think about my wedding until Sarah is off on her honeymoon.”
Her mom scoffs. “I can do both. Besides, it keeps me busy.”
Since her dad died, Emma has worried about the quiet days inside her mom’s home. With the exception of when Sarah has been home from college, her mom has come home from work and spent most evenings and weekends alone. “I’ve been looking at wedding dresses and have something in mind,” Emma says.
“I can’t wait to see some pictures. Love you, Em!”
“Love you, Mom. Talk to you later.”
Carrie is on the phone and waves to Emma as she walks into the therapy room. Emma puts her bag in her locker and looks over her schedule. It’s a busy morning, but it includes seeing Mrs. Ramos before lunch, and she can’t wait to tell her about her engagement.
Elliott stands near the back of the mourners at the cemetery in Midtown, wearing a black suit, tie, and yarmulke. He’s here for his longtime friend, Simon, whose mother died after a lengthy battle with leukemia.
Elliott and Simon are both twenty-four, went to the same university, and have worked together at the same brokerage firm for the last two years. Elliott is the only Jewish co-worker to take time off today to attend the funeral. There are other Jews at the office, but none of them are close to Simon. Simon’s family secured this plot for his mom in the Jewish section of the cemetery when her fight against the disease took a turn for the worst.
Elliott is thinking through his day, wondering what time he’ll get back to the firm and how late he’ll have to work, when he notices across the drive that winds through the grounds that another burial is taking place in the Gentile section.
Emma’s face stretches into a huge smile when she sees a small white bag in Mrs. Ramos’s hand. “You really are spoiling me, Mrs. Ramos.”
“Just a Cuban sandwich for later,” Mrs. Ramos says, handing it to her.
“I didn’t pack a lunch today, so this is perfect! Thank you so much!” Emma sets the bag on the window ledge behind her as Mrs. Ramos sits on the end of the therapy table. “So…how’s the knee feeling since our last session? Still getting ready for the Olympics?”
Mrs. Ramos smiles. “It’s good. It’s coming along. Healing has a lot to do with attitude, right?”
“Absolutely!” Emma then leans over, whispering to her. “That’s why you’re one of my favorite patients. You come in with the right attitude.” Speaking louder again, she puts her hand on Mrs. Ramos’s knee. “Okay, can you do twenty extensions?”
“I’ll do twenty cartwheels if you’d like,” Mrs. Ramos says, extending her leg. “So how’s that cute boyfriend of yours?”
Emma has been waiting for the question and here it is, as if on cue. “Well, he asked me to marry him,” she says, grinning.
Mrs. Ramos stops the extensions and looks up at her. “Isn’t that wonderful! What a journey you’re about to go on. And your mother is thrilled?”
“She is. She likes Matt. I think she secretly wanted us to get married a long time ago.”
“When’s the date?”
Emma puts her hand on Mrs. Ramos’s knee, indicating for her to start the extensions again. “That depends on the venue.”
Mrs. Ramos chuckles. “Venue. When we got married everybody looked for a church. Neither Miguel nor I had ever stepped foot in a church except on Christmas and Easter, but for my Puerto Rican family it was a huge thing! ‘You must get married inside a church and before God!’” She stops the extensions and smiles. “Weddings are so exciting, but that’s the easy part, you know? It’s harder being married.”
Emma smiles. “I know. My mom and dad always said that.”
Mrs. Ramos looks at her with those kind eyes and soft smile. “Miguel and I are still married because we both found the Lord.” She giggles, raising her hand. “I know. He wasn’t lost, but we were. We knew about God and Jesus because we went to church on Christmas and Easter, so we said we knew him, but we didn’t. He saved our marriage forty years ago.” She squeezes Emma’s hand. “I hope that you and Matt will come to know him too. If you ever have any questions, I’m always so happy to tell people about Jesus.”