Excerpt of The Wedding Sisters by Jamie Brenner

Eight Months Before the Wedding

Chapter One

It was an all hands on deck kind of night. At least
that’s how it felt to Meryl. Unfortunately, judging by
everyone else in her family, she would be doing the heavy
lifting alone.

It was only noon, but in her nervous excitement, Meryl
couldn’t wait to put out the good dishes. She hated to
put too much pressure on this dinner, but she felt an
overwhelming sense that everything had to be absolutely
perfect. She couldn’t help but fuss.

“Remember, honey, it’s not about you,” Hugh had said on
his way out the door earlier that morning, a comment that
both rankled her and served as useful caution.

“I’m doing this for Meg,” she had responded in a huff. He
had kissed her on the forehead with a knowing smile,
squeezing her hand.

They were finally meeting the parents of the man her
daughter was going to marry. Meryl had read up on them in
The New York Times and Vanity Fair, even seen them on
CNN, but that had only served to put her ill at ease.
They’re just people, she reminded herself. And we’re
going to be family.

She dialed her mother’s cell phone despite knowing she
wouldn’t answer. At eighty-six, her mother did not
embrace technology and had yet to ever answer – and she
made no apologies for it. Still, Meryl felt more
comfortable knowing she had one, though in that
particular moment it served only to increase her
frustration.

“Mother, it’s me. I just want to make sure you’ll be
ready for me to pick you up at three for the dinner
tonight? Please. It’s important to us.”

She hesitated, wondering if she should sign off with “I
love you” or “Looking forward to seeing you.” But that’s
not how they spoke to one another, and it would seem odd
to tack it on now – desperate. Like Meryl needed her
there tonight. Except, she did. Meryl hoped beyond hope
that, for just one night, they could seem like a normal
family. If not for her own sake, then for her daughter’s.

That was the thing about weddings: they forced family
members to deal with one another, like it or not.

Meryl drew back the dining room curtains and gazed out at
the East River. The view was the best thing about their
apartment, her favorite part of her home of the past
twenty years. She always found it so calming. Meryl
couldn’t imagine living anywhere in Manhattan without a
view of the water. But then, there had been a time when
she couldn’t imagine the girls being grown up and gone
from the nest. And now it was normal not to see them for
weeks at a time. More and more lately, it was as if Meryl
needed an excuse to see them – to tear them away from
their very busy lives.

She missed them.

Meg, Amy, and Jo. Named for the heroines of their
father’s favorite Louisa May Alcott novel, the much-
cherished novel that had set the course for his entire
professional career – and their romantic life, if she was
being honest.

Carrying the names of literature’s most beloved sisters
was a lot to live up to, but Meryl felt that her girls
did the originals justice. They had equally as distinct
personalities – Meg, the easy daughter. Amy, endlessly
dissatisfied. And Jo, the rebellious tomboy with the
world’s biggest heart.

Meryl found it infinitely fascinating to watch them clash
with and complement one another as they grew up, in a
constant primal dance of love and hate, envy and
unconditional love. Meryl was an only child, and she took
immense joy in bearing witness to sisterhood. She had
often felt lonely as a child, much the way she did now.

If only it wasn’t so difficult these days to get them all
in one damn place.

She used to be able to rely on Amy to show up regularly.
Amy, who still craved Meryl’s undivided attention. But
even that was coming to an end; a few weeks ago, when
Meryl invited Amy and her boyfriend to their standing
Sunday night dinner, Amy begged off, saying she and Andy
were staying an extra night in East Hampton. They never
rescheduled.

Amy’s boyfriend was the son of fashion designer Jeffrey
Bruce, and Amy was living what – at least to Meryl –
seemed to be a very glamorous life working for the
company and traveling the world for industry events. Yet
despite all of it, Meryl knew Amy was still playing
catch-up to her older sister, Meg.

Meg, Amy felt, was the favorite, the perfect daughter,
the one for whom everything came too easily. At the same
time, Amy secretly worshipped her. It was a dynamic Meryl
had hoped would change as Amy grew older and more
confident — when she created an identity for herself
outside of being one of the Becker sisters. But so far,
no such luck.

Lately, Meryl felt something close to panic. She knew it
was irrational, but she felt motherhood slipping away
from her. And what was she if not a mother? Was this how
it would be from now on? An occasional phone call. Seeing
the girls here and there, a family dinner maybe once a
year? Unfortunately, she made the tactical error of
expressing her disappointment to Amy one night, to which
Amy scoffed and said, “Oh please, Mom. It’s not like you
even really cook.”

This wounded Meryl deeply in ways she couldn’t fully
pinpoint. True, she didn’t cook – but wasn’t it about
spending time together?

Her cell phone rang. Meg.

“Hi Mom! Where are you?”

“Home, sweetheart. Where are you?”

“Just got into the city.”

“I thought you couldn’t leave D.C. until late this
morning?”

A pause. “We didn’t. But instead of driving, Stowe’s dad
brought us in the helicopter.”

“Well. That’s one way to beat the GW bridge traffic!”
Meryl laughed, trying to make light of it, but the truth
was she was uncomfortable with the prominence and
extraordinary wealth of her soon-to-be in-laws.

Meg’s fiancé, Stowe Campion, was the scion of a
Philadelphia steel dynasty. And his billionaire father,
Reed, was a Republican senator in Pennsylvania.
Republican!

“Reed has a last minute work event tonight,” Meg added
sheepishly. “Tippy wants to meet up with him after
dinner. Is it okay if we come little early?”

“Wait – Reed isn’t coming tonight?” These people were
unbelievable. A work event was more important than
meeting the parents of their future daughter-in-law? They
had a wedding to discuss, for god’s sake. It was bad
enough that the Campions had rebuffed every overture
Meryl had made during the last year. She understood they
were busy. But this? Well, it was what her mother would
call “insult to injury.” And for once her mother would be
right.

“I’m sorry, Mom! I am. He feels really badly and we’ll
definitely see him another time. But for tonight, a
little earlier… okay?”

“No problem,” Meryl said, trying to sound nonchalant. Her
timeline was now officially screwed up.

And she still had to pick up her mother – never an easy
feat.