“Rachel will find someone, Mom, don’t worry. We know this is coming from a place of love. But you don’t have to worry so much.”
“Besides, I thought you wanted me to marry Christopher Butkus anyway.”
Her eyes flashed and I regretted my words instantly.
“If you can’t take a relationship seriously, then you don’t deserve Christopher Butkus.”
“Ouch, Mom.”
Jane stopped rubbing her back, looking affronted. “Isn’t that a bit harsh?”
“No.” Mom leaned forward, wagging a finger in my face. “Rachel, you need to learn. Everything is a joke to you. Well, some things are serious. Some things can’t be laughed off. Ending up old and alone is one of those things. Life is not full of opportunities. If you can’t take a chance when it’s presented to you, if you can’t take one single thing seriously, well then, you don’t deserve someone as wonderful as Christopher Butkus.”
A ringing silence followed this speech, in which the assistant bustled over with paper cups of grayish tea.
“Weddings can be emotional.” She kept her eyes lowered as she handed us the cups. “They bring out so many hopes and dreams, regrets and memories. Very normal, very normal.” She hurried away again to the safety of the front desk. I gazed after her, full of stunned admiration. What a professional.
“Mom, I think you’re being a little unfair,” Jane whispered. “Rachel does try. This guy just wasn’t right for her.”
“Well, neither is Christopher Butkus. I don’t want him hurt,” Mom said crisply.
“What?!”
“If this is what you do to men—mess around with their hearts, dump them after mere weeks—I don’t want you anywhere near him.”
“I…”
“Mom, shouldn’t you be more worried about Rachel’s feelings?”
“Oh no. No, no. I know what she’s like. I was just the same before I married your father. All fun, no commitment. Breaking hearts left and right.” She sniffed. “Just know that there is a ticking clock. The good men get snapped up. If you don’t play your cards right soon, you’ll end up picking through the divorcés in a few years’ time.”
I exchanged a look with Jane over Mom’s head. We both pressed our lips together, trying not to laugh. The assistant seemed to think it was safe to return; she lifted her eyebrows at Jane, gesturing to the dress she had on.
Jane shook her head. “Let’s try the next one.”
With a relieved sigh, the assistant closed the curtain again.
Mom gazed away from me, out the window. I watched her profile, still fighting back a laugh. Though her flair for the dramatic did, at times, make my life a living hell, I rather liked her opinion of me. Rachel Weiss, Breaker of Hearts, Slayer of Fuckboys.
And on the bright side, my breakup with Stephen seemed to have finally put the whole Christopher Butkus thing out of her mind.
CHAPTER 13
THREE DAYS LATER, Iawoke to a mysterious message from Sumira. She had just spent an hour talking to Amy and apparently thought that I needed to reach out to her. So I sent a message to the group chat.
Rachel Weiss 7:37 AM:
Hey Ames, what’s up? Everything OK?
Sumira Khan 7:40 AM:
No, you need to message her separately. She muted the group chat a while ago.
Eva Galvez 7:42 AM:
What? Why would she mute the chat?
My blood chilled. Amy had muted the group chat? How could she? And why hadn’t I noticed?
