Page 88 of The Wedding Favor

Jolie shuffled back a couple of steps. Maybe I’d been a little too forceful there. “I just wanted you to know. Could you pass it on to her father? I’ve got to… go.” With a small wave, she turned and practically ran to safety.

“Hallie, let’s go,” I said.

She scurried over to me, her eyes wide. I stomped down the sideway to the car, Hallie half running to keep up with me.

“Iris, are you mad at me?” she asked.

I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and crouched down to her eyelevel. “No, no, I’m not mad at you. Can you tell me what happened today?”

“Okay,” she whispered. “All the other girls were talking about the pageant and I was real quiet and just ate my lunch.” She sniffled. “And then Audrina said in a really loud voice that I wasn’t signed up because I knew I wouldn’t ever win because I didn’t look like a pageant girl.”

“Okay,” I said calmly but inside, my anger was reaching levels it hadn’t in a while. “Then what?”

“She said her stepmom told her I’m not the right kind of girl for the pageant, that none of the dresses would look good on me because I was too big and didn’t look like all the other girls. I wanted to cry but then I remembered what you told me so I stood up and told her that wasn’t true because I could be pageant girl if I wanted to.”

“I said that?”

She nodded, her ponytail bouncing. “But Audrina said her stepmom said that it was a good thing I didn’t sign up because I would be an embarrassment. And I didn’t know what to say so I just ran into the bathroom so I could cry without her seeing me.”

“Oh, honey.”

Her face crumpled; tears filled her eyes. “I don’t want to be an embarrassment.”

My heart broke right there on the sidewalk in front of the Lutheran church. “Hallie, you are sunshine and light and don’t let anyone, anyone, dim your light, you understand?”

With a deep breath, I stood and turned away from Hallie so I could get myself under control. What was the level above rage? Because I think I was there. Make fun of me, I can handle it. But to speak about a nine-year-old this way? Oh, hell, no.

Call it luck or divine intervention but at that moment, Megan Tillman happened to walk into my line of sight. She had Audrina with her, and they were laughing at something, looking cool and breezy and not like they hadn’t just ripped a kid’s heart out.

“Yo, Megan,” I yelled.

Megan stopped and looked over at me, frowning.

“Hallie, stay here for a minute.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I gotta take care of something.”

I stalked across two rows of parked cars until I was a few feet from her. “We need to talk.”

“I only have a minute,” Megan said, moving several feet away from Audrina. I followed, staying right on her heels. “We have mani/pedi appointments.”

“Fine. I’ll be quick.” I tried to sound as calm as possible. I didn’t want to hit the woman (okay, yes, I did), I only wanted to get her kid to stop making fun of my kid. Not my actual kid but kind of my kid, at least for the summer. For these purposes, she was my kid.

“Well?” Megan crossed her arms. Over her shoulder, I could see Hallie on the sidewalk, using the collar of her shirt to wipe tears from her face. Another punch of anger hit me. Nobody made Hallie cry on my watch.

“I’m getting tired of Audrina making fun of Hallie for this stupid pageant. Tell her to knock it off.”

“Audrina is not making fun of⁠—”

“Oh, yes, she is.” I took a step closer. “I have a feeling you know exactly what I’m talking about, too.”

Megan had the decency to look mildly uncomfortable. “What exactly are you accusing her of saying?”

“That it’s a good thing Hallie hasn’t entered that stupid pageant. That she’d be an embarrassment if she did. Says she heard all that from you.”

Megan slid a hand down her high, bouncy ponytail. Along with the leggings and sports bra, it was clear she’d just come from the gym. “But all of that is true.”