Page 51 of Mountain Dreams

“Looks delicious, honey,” Brian said.

“How come we didn’t inherit your culinary skills?” Debbie said.

“Practice makes perfect.” Liz smiled at her daughters. “And none of you wanted to practice.”

Everyone laughed.

For a few moments, Maddie forgot her reason for being there. It felt like a typical family dinner full of smiles and laughter. She dreaded the moment their moods would shift to dismay and possibly tears—and that she’d be the cause of it.

She waited until their plates were nearly empty, or in her dad’s case, until he was on his second helping, and then she cleared her throat loudly enough to garner their attention. Everyone looked at her expectantly.

“I have some news.”

“Is it about the wedding?” Liz asked.

Maddie nodded, trying to gather strength.

“Mads, are you okay?” Sara had always been the sensitive one, and she seemed to pick up on Maddie’s distress before the rest of them.

“Not really,” Maddie replied.

“What’s wrong?” Debbie asked, setting down her fork.

Her dad stopped eating his second helping and followed suit.

Maddie glanced around at her family and said, “The wedding’s off.”

She’d expected them to be shocked or, at the very least, surprised, but they looked more concerned than surprised, except for Brian.

He looked at his wife and daughters and said, “What’s going on? What’d I miss?”

“Oh, honey. I’m so sorry,” said Liz.

Sara gave her a side hug. “Me too.”

Debbie said, “I had a feeling about this.”

Maddie looked at her with shock. “You did?”

Debbie nodded. “Things felt off ever since you got engaged. I could tell something was wrong.”

Liz sighed and nodded.

“You too, Mom?” Maddie implored.

“Yes, but I didn’t want to say anything in case we were wrong.”

“We?” Maddie glanced at her mom and sisters, skipping over her dad because he’d obviously been left out of the loop.

“Am I the only one who didn’t see this coming?” Brian asked.

“Yes,” Debbie and Sara replied.

Liz patted his hand. “Your sisters and I were worried about you, but we didn’t want to pry.”

“We thought it might be a classic case of cold feet,” Debbie said.

Sara nodded. “That happened to someone I know, only she waited until a week before the wedding to call it off.”