Thirty-Six Wedding Lanterns All For My Younger Sister Chapter 06
The night before the wedding, the whole family gathered around Chloe in the living room. A gold “Bride” sign hung on her bedroom door.
She glanced at my bare door and asked, “Why didn’t you put one up for Maya?”
The mood in the room immediately cooled.
My brother sighed and sank back into the couch.
“She hasn’t been home in days. At this point, I’m starting to wonder if she’s even planning to go through with the wedding tomorrow.”
Mom rolled her eyes toward my room.
“Why should we bother? She obviously doesn’t care about her own wedding, so why should we be the ones worrying about it?”
Dad, usually so strict, said nothing. He simply stared at my bedroom door.
“That doesn’t sound like Maya. She’s never been this irresponsible before. Something feels off.”
My brother unscrewed the cap of his water bottle.
“Dad, stop worrying. She’ll be back tonight. I guarantee it.”
“Remember senior year of high school? She got into a fight with the family and ran off for three days, but she still came sneaking home in the end.”
—
“She’s not a kid anymore. You really think she’d miss something as important as her own wedding?”
Dad opened a drawer and pulled out a spare gold “Bride” sign. Then he slowly walked over to my bedroom.
“Maya has done a lot for this family over the years. Forget it. We won’t hold this against her. Let’s put one up. She’ll be happy to see it when she gets home.”
He opened my bedroom door and brightened when he saw that the once-bare room had finally been decorated for the wedding.
“Well, would you look at that. You did a nice job in here.”
Mom walked over and nudged him aside.
“All right, that’s enough. She’s still our daughter. Of course I wasn’t going to leave her with nothing.”
Chloe pouted, her expression darkening slightly.
“Mom, you still care more about Maya.”
Mom immediately pulled her into her arms.
“If we didn’t make some effort for her wedding, I was afraid she’d stop giving us money afterward.”
“But you’ll always be the one Mom and Dad cherish most.”
Dad nodded.
“Exactly what I was going to say.”
My brother shot Chloe a knowing look.
—
“You already know where you stand with me.”
Only then did Chloe look satisfied and go back to her room. The rest of the family, reassured, headed off to bed as well.
Sometime during the night, a gust of wind rattled one of the living-room windows shut.
Mom woke with a start. She checked the time on her phone and muttered, “It’s two in the morning, and that brat is only just getting home.”
She kicked Dad lightly.
“Your older daughter is back. Go check on her. Tell her I hung her wedding dress in the closet and she needs to try it on herself.”
“She’s getting married tomorrow and still isn’t in any hurry. If it doesn’t fit, that’s not my problem.”
Dad rubbed his eyes and walked toward the front of the house, peering outside.
But I wasn’t there.
“Are you sure you heard her come in?”
He didn’t turn on the lights. He just kept staring toward the front door.
For a moment, he thought he heard me call, “Dad.”
He froze.
“Maya?”
He called again, “Maya?”
—
But when he looked more carefully, there was no one there.
Mom reluctantly got out of bed and switched on the light.
“You can’t even handle one simple thing. What good are you?”
“She didn’t turn on a light, and neither did you—”
The instant the room lit up, Mom stopped cold.
Chloe and my brother woke up too.
“So she’s back. Did you really have to wake up the entire house? Maya, you are seriously—”
My brother’s voice died away.
There were only four people in the house.
Chloe pushed open my bedroom door.
“Mom, Maya isn’t here.”
No one answered.
Dad was the first to move. He hurried into my room, opened the closet, and pulled out the suitcase I usually took on business trips.
“She didn’t take anything with her?”
“Is she getting married tomorrow or not?”