Chapter 5 - The Children at Table 19
The ceremony was beautiful.
Victoria walked beneath the oak trees in a lace gown while a string quartet played softly. Nicholas looked emotional as she approached him, and for a few minutes Jenna allowed herself to remember the brother he had once been.
She hoped marriage might make him gentler.
She hoped Victoria’s honesty might eventually reach the part of him hidden beneath ambition.
After the vows, guests moved toward the reception lawn.
Jenna waited until most people had taken their seats before approaching Table 19.
Four boys were already there.
Two were Victoria’s young cousins. One was the son of a business partner. The youngest, a serious six-year-old named Leo, wore a bow tie that seemed determined to rotate sideways.
He looked at Jenna’s place card.
“Are you a kid?”
“Not recently.”
“Why are you sitting here?”
Jenna pulled out her chair.
“I was told this is the most creative table.”
Leo considered the answer and accepted it.
He pushed a coloring sheet toward her.
“We’re drawing things that could beat a dragon.”
The first child had drawn a knight.
The second had drawn a larger dragon.
The third had drawn what appeared to be a tank with wings.
Leo’s page was empty.
“What beats a dragon?” he asked.
Jenna picked up a green crayon.
“That depends on what the dragon is afraid of.”
“Dragons aren’t afraid.”
“Everyone is afraid of something.”
“What are you afraid of?”
The question was so direct that Jenna almost gave him an adult answer.
She could have said spiders.
Flying.
Deep water.
Instead, she told the truth.
“Being invisible.”
Leo frowned.
“But I can see you.”
Jenna smiled.
“Then I suppose I’m safe at this table.”
Across the lawn, Nicholas sat beside Victoria beneath the main canopy. He laughed with executives and occasionally looked toward the entrance.
He was waiting for Emmett.
At Table Three, a place card bearing Emmett Stewart’s name sat beside Victoria’s father.
Nicholas had arranged the seat personally.
Dinner began without him.
The first course was served.
Then the second.
Nicholas checked his phone repeatedly.
Jenna helped the children build a castle from sugar packets.
During the main course, Leo accidentally knocked over his water glass. The water spread across the table and soaked several coloring pages.
He looked terrified.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s only water,” Jenna said.
A nearby coordinator rushed over with napkins.
Nicholas saw the commotion.
He crossed the lawn quickly, his expression tight.
“What happened?”
“An accident,” Jenna said.
Nicholas looked at the wet tablecloth.
“The photographer is taking reception shots.”
“The tablecloth will dry.”
He turned to Leo.
“You need to be more careful.”
Jenna’s chair moved back sharply.
“He is six.”
“And this is a formal event.”
“It’s still only water.”
Nicholas looked at her floral dress, the scattered crayons, and the sugar-packet castle.
“This is exactly why I needed you away from the important tables.”
The children became silent.
Jenna stood.
“Go back to your guests.”
“Lower your voice.”
“I am speaking quietly.”
“You’re making a scene.”
“No, Nicholas. I’m cleaning up water.”
His face tightened.
Before he could respond, one of the groomsmen hurried toward him.
“Emmett Stewart just arrived.”
Nicholas’s anger vanished instantly.
He straightened his jacket.
“Please,” he whispered to Jenna. “For the rest of the night, don’t ruin this for me.”
He walked away without waiting for an answer.
Leo watched him go.
“Is that your brother?”
“Yes.”
“He’s not very nice.”
Jenna sat down again.
“He has forgotten how to be.”
“Can people remember?”
Jenna looked across the lawn as Nicholas hurried toward the stone path.
“Sometimes,” she said. “But first, they have to realize they’ve forgotten.”
A hush moved through the reception.
May you like
Emmett Stewart had arrived.
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