Chapter 5 - The Photograph Emily Wanted.
The reception hall filled with the uneasy sound of guests pretending the afternoon was still normal.
Servers poured sparkling water and champagne.
The quartet resumed near the dance floor.
Nobody announced whether there would still be a marriage ceremony.
Anna sat at Table Two beside Margaret and wished she were invisible for an entirely different reason now.
Margaret did not crowd her with questions.
That kindness made Anna trust her more.
Across the room, Emily stood near the floral arch speaking urgently to her maid of honor.
Noah remained by the windows with his best man.
He had not gone near her.
A man with two cameras hanging from his shoulders approached Anna's table.
Anna recognized him as Ben, the wedding photographer.
"Ms. Mercer?"
"Anna is fine."
He glanced toward Emily before continuing.
"I owe you an apology."
Anna's stomach tightened.
"For what?"
Ben removed a folded sheet from his jacket pocket.
"I was given a family-photo list."
Margaret's expression sharpened.
"May I see it?"
Ben handed it to Anna instead.
The page contained dozens of planned combinations.
Bride with parents.
Bride with college friends.
Bride with groom's family.
Bride with cousins.
Bride with childhood neighbors.
Anna's name appeared once.
At the bottom, beside a note written in bold letters, it said: OPTIONAL PRIVATE PHOTO AFTER MAIN SESSION.
Another line followed.
Keep wheelchair outside center frame when possible.
Anna read the sentence twice.
The room around her seemed to become muffled.
Ben spoke quickly.
"I should have questioned it when I received it."
"Who sent it?" Margaret asked.
"Emily emailed it three days ago."
Anna folded the paper carefully.
Across the room, Emily was watching them.
Their eyes met.
Emily immediately started walking over.
"Ben, I need you near the cake table."
He did not move.
"I was apologizing to Anna."
Emily's smile appeared again.
"For following instructions?"
Noah crossed the room before Ben could answer.
"What instructions?"
Anna did not want to hand him the page.
Some part of her still felt responsible for protecting Emily from the consequences of Emily's own choices.
Margaret gently touched Anna's wrist.
"You do not have to protect anyone from the truth."
Anna gave Noah the sheet.
He read it in silence.
Emily's composure cracked.
"It's standard photography planning."
"This isn't standard," Ben said.
Emily turned on him.
"You said you could work around mobility equipment."
Ben looked stunned.
"I said I could make sure everyone was comfortable and visible."
Noah lowered the paper.
"Why would her wheelchair need to be outside the center frame?"
Emily looked around at the nearby guests.
"Can we not do this here?"
Anna almost smiled at the irony.
Noah's voice remained quiet.
"You made it here when you stopped her in the aisle."
Judith hurried toward them.
"Enough."
She reached for the sheet.
Noah pulled it back.
Thomas followed closely behind her.
"This has gone too far," he said.
Margaret looked at him.
"I agree."
Thomas nodded as if she had sided with him.
Then Margaret finished.
"It went too far before Anna ever arrived at this church."
Judith's face changed.
Anna noticed it immediately.
It was the same fear she had seen at the vestry door.
Then Ben cleared his throat.
"There's something else."
Emily went completely still.
Ben looked at Anna.
"The bride asked me yesterday if I could remove you from the background of certain photographs after the wedding."
Noah's face hardened.
But Anna barely heard him breathe.
Because her mother whispered one word under her breath.
"Emily."
May you like
Not in surprise.
In warning.
