Chapter 1 - The Snip
The first thing I felt was someone yanking my braid. The second was the cold scrape of metal near the back of my neck. Then the sound.
Snip.
I spun around so fast I nearly lost my balance.
My mother-in-law, Denise, stood behind me in the middle of my own wedding reception. In one hand, a pair of silver scissors. In the other, my braid — the one that had fallen almost to my waist that morning, threaded through with tiny white flowers I'd picked out months earlier.
My braid.
For several seconds I couldn't speak. Neither could Owen. He stared at his mother like he'd never laid eyes on her before in his life.
"What did you do?"
Denise actually smiled. "Honey, it's a family tradition. In our family, the bride's hair gets cut at the wedding."
The restaurant went dead silent. Nobody laughed. Nobody nodded along like they'd ever heard of such a thing.
I reached back and felt jagged, uneven ends brushing my neck. "You cut my hair, Denise!"
"It's only hair, Vera. It'll grow back."
Owen stepped toward her. "Mom, what were you thinking? How could you do this?"
Denise lifted the braid like it proved something. "I was welcoming her into the family, Owen. That's all."
I looked around the room. Owen's aunt looked horrified. One of his cousins was openly shaking her head. Even Priscilla — Denise's closest friend — had gone pale.
"Who else had this done at their wedding?" I asked.
Denise's smile slipped.
I turned to his aunt. "Did anyone cut your hair?"
"No."
His cousin didn't even wait to be asked. "Never."
I turned back to Denise. "So whose family tradition is it exactly?"
She didn't answer.
Owen looked at me, then at his mother. "I need ten minutes."
I caught his wrist. "Where are you going?"
His face had gone frighteningly calm. "To bring someone in who should've been here from the start."
May you like
Then he walked out. I had no idea what that meant.
But judging by the look on Denise's face, she did.
