Chapter 4 - A Seat at the Family Table.
Judith entered the vestry without waiting for permission, and Thomas came in behind her.
Their expressions matched the careful seriousness they had worn during every family crisis Anna could remember.
Judith looked at Noah first.
"There is no reason to involve vendors in a private family misunderstanding."
Noah slipped his phone back into his pocket without unlocking it.
"That depends on what the misunderstanding is."
Thomas stepped between Emily and the desk.
"This day has cost everyone a great deal of time and money."
Margaret gave him a cool look.
"Money is not the problem standing in this room."
Thomas ignored her.
"Anna, tell them you don't care about the photographs."
Anna stared at him.
There it was again.
Not a question.
An instruction disguised as reason.
"I care that my sister tried to hide me."
Judith closed her eyes briefly.
"Nobody tried to hide you."
"She told me to sit in the back."
"Because she was overwhelmed."
Emily seized the opening.
"Exactly."
Anna looked at her mother.
"Why are you explaining her words instead of listening to mine?"
Judith had no answer.
Noah turned toward Emily.
"We're pausing the ceremony."
Emily's face drained of color.
"For how long?"
"Until I know who I'm marrying."
She stared at him as if he had broken some invisible rule.
Outside, the organist began playing soft instrumental music to fill the delay.
The sound made the situation feel even stranger.
Margaret opened the vestry door.
"The guests need refreshments, and nobody needs a public spectacle."
She looked at Noah.
"Move everyone to the reception hall while you decide what comes next."
The wedding coordinator handled the transition with professional speed.
Within twenty minutes, guests were crossing the covered walkway to the adjoining reception hall, where candles already glowed beside tall arrangements of white roses.
Anna expected to slip quietly into a corner.
Then she saw the seating chart.
Her name was not at the Mercer family table.
It was printed on a small card at Table Nineteen near the service doors.
The family table was Table Two.
Emily's college roommate sat there.
So did a lifestyle influencer Anna had met once.
Anna felt a strange calm settle over her.
The aisle had not been an impulsive mistake.
It was part of a plan.
Margaret approached behind her and read the chart.
"Who arranged this?"
The wedding coordinator, a young woman named Claire, looked uncomfortable.
"The bride approved the final seating yesterday."
Anna almost laughed.
Judith appeared beside them.
"Table Nineteen is quieter."
Margaret turned.
"Is that the official explanation?"
"Anna prefers space."
Anna finally interrupted.
"Stop telling people what I prefer."
Judith's mouth tightened.
A few nearby guests turned away from their cocktails.
Anna pointed to Table Two.
"I was told all month that I was sitting with the family."
The coordinator looked at her tablet.
"You were."
Everyone looked at her.
Claire swallowed.
"The change came in this morning."
Emily had just entered the reception hall.
She heard that sentence.
So did Noah.
Margaret walked to Table Two, lifted the influencer's place card, and handed it to the coordinator.
Then she took Anna's card from Table Nineteen and placed it beside her own.
"There."
Her voice was crisp.
"The family table has been corrected."
Emily stared across the room.
May you like
Noah stared at Emily.
And Anna realized the wedding had become a map of every place her sister had tried to erase her.
