Chapter 2

Another aunt, Deborah Coleman, responded too. "Jeff, leave a seat by the door for your Uncle Tony. You know his legs hurt."

And Jeffrey replied instantly. "No problem! I'll save him the seat right behind the driver. It's the most spacious seat in the car!"

Then Aunt Pam, Pamela Hawthorn, sent a stuttering voice message. "H-hey Jeff, I get motion sickness. Leave me a seat by the window, will you?"

That was then followed by a message from a distant cousin. "Jeff, your Granduncle Dwayne lives in Westbrooke. Could you swing by and pick him up on the way? The old man has trouble getting around."

"No problem! I'll redraw the route. It's just a couple of streets away."

Not one word was directed at me, but I took a screenshot of every single message.

At 8:00 pm, the doorbell rang. Standing at the door was Aunt Mindy, in a navy blue suit, with a box of pastries in her hand.

"Chrissy, how's your mom been lately?"

"She's alright."

"You should go back and visit her more often," Aunt Mindy said, setting the pastry box down on the coffee table and sitting in the center spot on the couch.

Patting the space beside her, she said, "Here, have a seat. I'd like to have a word with you."

But I remained standing. "Aunt Mindy, you're here about Jeff and the car, aren't you?"

Her smile faltered. "You've always been a sharp one ever since you were little.

"Jeff was out of line, and I'm here to apologize on his behalf. He should have asked for your permission before borrowing anything from you. Instead, he just went ahead and sent out the invitations. I gave him an earful about it for half an hour last night.

"But the thing is, the invitations have already gone out, the restaurant has been booked, and all the bride's relatives have been notified. If you say no now, it's not just about embarrassing Jeff. There are the relatives on the bride's side to consider too.

"His mother-in-law, Rosalie Twain, was just talking about that car in the family group chat yesterday."

She pulled out her phone and held it up in front of me. "Have a look at this."

In a group chat named "The Chapmans", a contact that went by the name Rosalie had posted a message.

"I heard from Jeff that the bridal car will be a Toyota Crown, and that it's an original import from the '90s. None of the relatives on our side have ever seen one. We'll have to get a good look at it when the day comes!"

Below it, there was a string of replies from the bride's relatives.

"I've heard about this car for ages! It's way rarer than a Mercedes or BMW!"

"Jeff's really got some pull, being able to borrow a car like this."

"With a bridal car this impressive, the wedding itself is bound to be just as grand!"

Aunt Mindy set her phone down on the coffee table. "See? All the relatives on the bride's side are waiting to have a look at the car! If you say no now, it's not just an embarrassment to Jeff, but more so an embarrassment to Jeff's mother-in-law, Rosalie!

"Do you think you can shoulder the responsibility if the marriage were to fall apart over a car? This has gone way beyond just Jeff now. It's about two families—"

"Aunt Mindy," I said, cutting her off. "Two years ago at Thanksgiving, Jeffrey called me a bastard in the family group chat. He said I wasn't even really a part of the family. Did you see that?"

Aunt Mindy's smile faded a little.

"Well, I saw it," I said. "But you? You didn't say a thing about it. You just sent a bunch of clapping emojis to celebrate Thanksgiving. And today, you come talking to me about being a family? Why didn't you mention anything about being a family when he called me a bastard in the group chat two years ago?"

She didn't respond. Instead, she pushed the box of pastries a little closer toward me.

"Chris, let bygones be bygones. Jeff was young and impulsive back then. A couple of drinks was all it took for him to run his mouth with all kinds of nonsense."

"He wasn't drunk. He typed every word, and every sentence had perfect punctuation. He even tagged everyone in the group chat. Why shouldn't I hold it against him? Aunt Mindy, if you came today to persuade me to lend the car, you can go back now."

I stood up and said, "I won't be lending the car."