Young Jane Young(29)

“Ruby,” Wes said. “Great name.”

“Thanks,” Ruby said. “I’ve had it all my life.”

“Seriously,” Franny said. “Why are you here?”

“I figured you’d be done shopping by now, and I thought I’d take you to dinner.” He kissed her again.

“You flew all this way to take me to dinner?” she said.

“Sure,” he said. “Why should you get all the fun?”

“This was supposed to be a girls’ weekend,” Franny said.

“I’m sure Jane doesn’t mind,” Wes said. “You don’t seem happy,” he said in a low voice.

“I am,” she said. “I’m surprised.”

“Well,” I said. “Ruby and I can amuse ourselves. Good to see you, Wes.” I shook his hand, and Ruby and I left.

We rode the elevator up to our room. “Awkward,” Ruby said when we reached our floor.

“I know,” I said.

“She could do better,” Ruby said. “She looks like a mean girl, but she’s so pretty and nice.”



Franny had the hotel room next to ours, and that night, we could hear them arguing through the wall. Mainly we could hear him. He seemed to be positioned closer to the wall or a connecting duct, and he had one of those voices that carried.

“Thanks for making me feel like shit when I was doing something nice,” he said. “Thanks very much for that. I needed that, FRANCES.”

She said something, but we could not make it out.

“You’re CRAZY!” he yelled. “You know that? I mean, you literally are.”

…

“You know what Audra said? Audra said I was crazy to marry you, considering your history. I have things I want to do with my life, and they do not involve having a crazy girl in it.”

…

“No, no, I do not accept that. I told her you were just a teenager, but Audra said —”

“I DON’T CARE WHAT AUDRA SAID!” Franny was finally yelling loudly enough for her voice to penetrate.

“You wanna know what else Audra said? Audra said it seemed weird that you were taking the wedding planner to New York City when you have four bridesmaids who would be happy to go dress shopping with you.”

“I LIKE THE WEDDING PLANNER!”

“You barely know her. And are you saying you don’t like my sisters?” he asked.

“I DON’T EVEN KNOW THEM!” And then she said something we couldn’t understand.

A second later, the door slammed. One of them had left.

“Jeez,” Ruby whispered.

We had both heard worse. People were often the worst versions of themselves in the months leading up to a wedding. Occasionally, though, the worst version of someone was the actual version of someone, but it was difficult to know if one was in that situation until after the fact. “Average,” I said.

“Unhappy brides are each unhappy in their own way,” Ruby said. “What did he mean by ‘Franny’s history,’ Mom?”

“That’s none of our business,” I said.

“We could ask her,” Ruby said. “I bet she’d tell us.”

“We could,” I said. “And she might, but it still wouldn’t be any of our business. The only past you have a right to know about is your own.”

“And the people you have to study for history class. You’re being so boring,” Ruby said. “I’m going to google it.” Ruby picked up her phone. “Frances – what’s her last name?”

“Lincoln,” I said.

“It’s too common,” Ruby said. “Is Franny from Allison Springs, or somewhere else?”

“Hey, Nancy Drew! Seriously, it’s none of our business,” I said. “Somewhere else, I think.”

“We could go on her Facebook,” Ruby suggested. “See who she knows.”

“You sound like a stalker or a mobster.”

“Fine,” Ruby said. She plugged in her phone. “I bet she had an eating disorder and she was in a mental hospital.”

“That’s not nice,” I said.

“I’m just, like, imagining what it might be,” Ruby said. “She’s very skinny.”

“Really?” I said. “I hadn’t noticed.” Of course I had noticed. At the dress store, the shopgirl had needed multiple clamps to get the sample size to stay up. Franny’s shoulder blades were as sharp as knives. When I kissed or hugged her, I felt as if I might break her. But Franny could have been naturally that way, who knew? It is foolish to speculate what is happening inside another human’s shell. In any case, I wanted my daughter to think that her mother didn’t notice the size of other women’s bodies because I wanted my daughter not to notice the size of other women’s bodies. I believed a mother must act like the woman she wanted her daughter to become.

“You seriously didn’t notice?” Ruby said.

“I seriously did not,” I said. “I’m not that interested in other women’s bodies.”

“You are seriously blind.” Ruby sighed. “Who’s Nancy Drew?”





NINE