Scarlett Rose's Arc

Chapter 43 of 57

Scarlett stepped onto the runner and heard the music shift into its last verse. Rose held the train behind her. They took three steps and Rose stopped. Scarlett felt the hand on her train go tight. She turned her head. Rose was crying without sound, her mouth open, her feet planted on the white cloth. "Rose." "I can't move," Rose whispered. "I'm sorry. I can't." The song was thirty seconds from ending. Scarlett could see Clayton at the end of the aisle, hat in his hand, waiting. Guests were beginning to turn their heads. Maya glanced at the musician and lifted one finger, asking for time the song did not have. Scarlett looked at her sister. Rose had driven her here. Rose had zipped the dress. Rose had given up the turquoise studs still warm in Scarlett's ears. Rose was frozen because eleven years of watching Scarlett wait for this man had finally arrived at the aisle, and her body would not carry it forward. Scarlett shifted the bouquet to her left hand. She reached back and took Rose's wrist. "Look at me," Scarlett said. "Not at him. Not at them. At me." Rose looked. "You are not walking me to him," Scarlett said. "We are walking. You and me. Same as the truck. Same as the kitchen. One foot." Rose shook her head. "I'll ruin it." "You're the reason there is one," Scarlett said. "Move with me." Scarlett stepped. She pulled gently on Rose's wrist. Rose's foot came off the cloth and landed again. The train slid forward. The music held on its last long note as the musician stretched it, reading the room. They walked. Slow at first, then steady. Scarlett kept her hand on Rose's wrist the whole way. Rose kept her hand on the train. The purple and blue ribbons moved above them. The silver curtains caught the light. Scarlett did not look at Clayton until the last five steps, because she did not want to leave her sister early. At the platform, Rose lifted the train clear and set it down. She squeezed Scarlett's fingers once and stepped back into the front row. Her face was wet. She was smiling. Clayton took Scarlett's hand. His palm was warm. He looked at her ears, then at her face. "You made it," he said. "We made it," Scarlett said. Maya opened the folio. The sealed envelope with Clayton's name sat on top of her pages, waiting for after. Maya set it aside and began. Behind them, Rose sat down hard in her chair and pressed both hands to her mouth. Scarlett heard the small sound she made and did not turn. She had gotten her sister down the aisle. Now she had a man to marry, and a deed to hand him, and two names to say out loud in front of everyone she knew.