Joslyn’s hand flew to her mouth. The pictures on the placecards. It was so blantant. Her lips screwed up into a pout as she gnawed on her thumbnail.

Arnold heard the familar sound of tooth on nail. Tapping a meaty finger on his wife’s shoulder, he leaned in. “Take it easy, Josey.”

Joslyn lifted each placecard to peer at the pictures before slamming each one back onto the table. Her hands shook. Arnold glanced around the wide hall. Other people were beginning to stare.

“It’s that g.d. dog,” hissed Joslyn.

“Don’t swear at a wedding,” Arnold hissed back. Joslyn wheeled around to face her husband. “I didn’t! That’s why I said g.d.!”

Arnold wiped his sweaty palms on his pants. He hadn’t worn them in a year and they were squeezing his midsection. “Ok, honey,” he said, louder than necessary. “Looks like we’re at Table 13. Let’s take a seat.”

“Table 13. The crap table,” muttered Joslyn as her husband led her away.

The reception hall was beautiful. Vases of flowers towered over the tables. A band played old-fashioned swing music as smiling servers passed trays of bacon-wrapped shrimp. The floral arrangements were inflaming Arnold’s allergies, but he hoped they might distract his wife. “Look at these star-flower thingies, Josey! They got them all: the orange ones, the yellow ones, the white ones – “

“What in the heck are you talking about?” Joslyn scratched at her polyester lace sleeve.

“The flowers with the spikes sticking out of the middle!”

“Those are lilies.”

“Lilies,” echoed Arnold, ignoring his wife’s sneer. “Pretty.”

“That stupid dog.” Joslyn ground her teeth.

The bride and groom entered in a haze of pomp and pop music. Aleeseya rode on her new husband’s shoulders, all bleached teeth and jutting collarbones. The crumb-coat cake was cut to thunderous applause, and soon the nubile newlyweds fell into each other’s arms for the first dance.

At Table 13, Joslyn was fuming. “They could’ve acknowledged her. On the invitations. Her name, or a picture even. I just can’t believe they didn’t send anything. Not a sympathy card, not a payment, not anything. Not even an ‘I’m sorry’ text! I mean, how hard is a text?”

“What happened, Joslyn?” Arnold’s eyes widened. Cheryl was a neighbor of the bride’s parents. He didn’t want it getting back to them that Joslyn was making a big deal of the situation at the wedding. He looked askance at the young couple circling the tables. Surely they would arrive at Table 13 soon. Aleeseya could take the opportunity to say something, offer an apology. Heck, he thought. Maybe it could be part of the toast.

The salad course was served. When Joslyn took note of the sliced boiled eggs and tears sprung to her eyes. Cheryl simpered at her. “Weddings make me emotional too.” She dug around in her purse and handed Joslyn a tissue. “All the love.”

“All the hate, you mean,” Joslyn spat. “All the hate that has to be in a person’s heart to not acknowledge a person’s pain. And my beautiful, beautiful Pearl.”

“Oh no, who was Pearl?” Arnold looked daggers at Cheryl, willing her to stop this line of questioning.

“Her coloring was as golden as the May sunshine,” Joslyn dabbed at the corners of her eyes. “Truly, you’ve never seen anything like it. No one has.” Cheryl nodded sympathetically and took a sip of her drink. Joslyn poured the remainder of her drink down her throat. “They took her from me. They took her.” Joslyn lifted her glass again, surprised to find it empty. “I’m gonna get a refill.”

Arnold heaved himself up. “I’ll get it.”

Cheryl batted her eyes at him. “What a gentleman!”

The father of the bride raised an eyebrow as Arnold rumbled across the hall, two glasses in hand.

“Did we really need to invite them?” Gus asked his wife.

“She’s my cousin,” Beth said gently. “Besides, they’d cause a bigger fuss if they hadn’t been invited.”

Gus rolled his eyes. “Look at her. I can hear her from here. If I can hear her, I’m sure everyone else can too.”

“Not an apology, not anything!!” Joslyn yelped. Beth winced. Joslyn was getting awfully loud. “And they killed her! My baby!!”

Cheryl gasped. She reached an hand out to steady Joslyn’s glass.

“Uncle Arnold!” Aleeseya flashed a brilliant smile as she approached the Table 13 with her new husband. Arnold raised his head from his hands.

Joslyn lurched forward and grabbed a fistful of silk. Aleeseya stumbled as Joslyn yanked on the wedding dress. “You! You will pay for what that beast did to my baby! You let it out without a leash and it mauled my Pearl!”

The entire room was staring now. “That’s it.” Gus stood up and slammed his chair on the floor. He marched over to Table 13.

“The entrée is served!” The amplied voice of the head chef rang out over the room. Two immaculately-clad servers brought forth an enormous silver platter.

“My baby,” wailed Joslyn, sinking to her knees. Arnold stumbled out of his chair and put a meaty hand under her arm. He pulled with all his strength, but he couldn’t haul her up.

“We wanted to apologize for Xander’s little mistake,” Aleeseya said brightly. She motioned to the bandleader, who brought the microphone. She took it in her manicured hand and turned to the crowd. “Our little fluffer-pup, Xander, was a naughty little dude last month. Aunt Jos and Uncle Arnie had us over for dinner to give us their gift. We couldn’t leave Xander at home. I mean, look at how cute this baby is!” Aleesya reached over the prone Joslyn and snatched up a placecard. “Isn’t he the cutest?” A collective sigh washed over the room as the guests gazed at photos of the dog on their own placecards. Aleesya’s laugh was amplified in the air.

“Anyway, Xander made an oopsie. He got out and…” She leaned her blushing cheek on her husband’s broad shoulder. “He maybe ate…” That smile again. So arresting. So sweet. Tears of nostalgia graced the corners of Cheryl’s eyes to see it.

“He ate Aunt Joslyn’s chicken.” Gentle laughter broke out among the guests. “He’s a dog, you know?” Aleeseya brushed a curl from her brow. “He can’t help his instincts and it’s really not our job to control him.” The guests murmurred in agreement. “But hey, we were really sorry about it. And, we wanted to give Aunt Joslyn credit! It was a really good chicken.” She gestured to the servers still holding the tray aloft. “As a special treat, a little bite of Aunt Joslyn’s prize chicken is on each of your plates!”

Applause broke out across the big hall. Arnold looked at his wife in horror. There was no way he was going to be able to drag her out of the room. The ruffled polyester dress was so slippery that he couldn’t get a good grip.

Joslyn lifted her tear-stained face, black eyeliner and mascara tracing rivulets down her cheeks. Her mouth fell open and she yanked her arm from her husband’s grip. Arnold covered his ears.

The guests were beginning to stand. Joslyn gazed around. The applause thundered in her ears. Mouths stretched into wide grins as the guests began to tower over her. Joslyn could think of nothing else to do. Pushing against the hard floor, she heaved herself up. The servers were now standing next to her, and the smell of chicken chevre Florentine wafted through the air. Joslyn grabbed the napkin from the chair and swiped at her eyes. Everyone really was standing up. Every last person. On their feet, applauding. For Pearl.

For her.

Joslyn burst into a grin. She raised her arms, clasping her hands together like a winning prizefighter. People continued to clap. With a flourish, Joslyn grasped the edges of her skirt and took a bow. She turned to one of the servers who stumbled at the sight of her make-up smeared face. Surveying the plated entrees, her eyes rested on one with gravy swirled in the shape of miniature hearts. This plate was obviously for the bride. Joslyn saw the tiny bit of chicken speared by an artisanal toothpick. Before the server could stop her, she seized it up and popped it into her mouth.

Grabbing the microphone from Aleeseya, she beamed at the crowd. Swallowing hard, she said,

“Delicious.”