In the Eye of the Beholder

By Pumpernickel Muffin

Prologue: A Wedding

Libby Folfax rested her head in her hand and glanced out the window. The gentle draft in the church blew the skirt of her dress around her ankles. Distantly, she heard the sound of an organ playing, the unmistakable tune of "Here Comes the Bride" winding through the hallways. She really didn't want to be here.

Today was supposed to be the happiest day of her father's life. He was finally getting married again, after years of being alone. She should be there supporting him, but she just couldn't bring herself to fake happiness for his sake. Libby despised the woman who was to become her stepmother. She was vain, had a mean streak a mile wide, and the most obnoxious laugh Libby had ever heard. Images of forced mother-daughter time floated through her mind, and she shook her head to dispel them.

She sighed. "I wish I could be with you, Mama," she whispered. "This woman will never be able to love me like you do." Libby tucked a braid behind her ear and shifted a little, so as to get a better view of the church grounds. The thin light struggled to shine through thick clouds and a rising bank of fog. A faint breeze rattled the early spring leaves on the trees. Beyond the scarce wood, the gray water of Lake Retroville rippled and washed up against the narrow shore.

If things had gone differently three years ago, she might not be in this mess.

Deciding to stop feeling sorry for herself, Libby stood up straight and headed towards the door. She felt the chill of the air hit her skin and raise goose bumps. She padded through the damp grass towards the lake, intent on missing the entire ceremony. It was bad enough she would have to live with this new woman until college; she didn't need to memories of her father kissing that thing to give her any new nightmares.

Libby took off her ballet flats and dipped her toes in the water, gasping a little at the sharp cold. At least after this wedding she would get two weeks of peace before she had to live with her "new mommy." She raised her hand to the chain around her neck, and pulled the locket out of her dress. Normally she wasn't into old-fashioned things like secret lockets, but since her mother had given it to her, she couldn't leave it in a drawer to collect dust. She knew that there was a picture of her and her mother in there, on her ninth birthday, before her mother had gotten sick. If only she could open the darned thing! The locket held the most recent picture of her mother, still looking like she could do the job of mothering.

All the new pictures of her mother were so depressing. She looked defeated, tired, and as if she might fade away at any minute. Libby blinked to keep the tears inside. She didn't want to cry over her mother. At least she was still alive…for now. Libby would not allow herself to cry until the day her mother finally passed on. Until then, whenever she felt she might break, she could hop a Greyhound, go to her mother's home, and remind herself of why she had to stay strong, as strong as her mom.

The cool breeze flew in from the lake, carrying a light mist on its tail. Libby closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Tomorrow she would be off to visit her mother while her father and his wife flew to the Canary Islands for their honeymoon. She wasn't sure when she would be able to see her mother after this trip. The sicker she got, the less Libby was able to see her, and she knew her father would want her to bond with that new woman.

Once again, she reached up to the locket around her neck. Her mother would never look as healthy again as she did in the locket's photo. Maybe it was right that Libby could no longer open the locket to see inside. If she spent too much time looking at what her mother once was it would hurt too much to see what she was now.

"Just one more night. Then I can see you again Mama." She squeezed the locket and smiled. Hearing a rustling behind her, she turned and saw her grandfather making his way through the trees to where she was.

"It's awful cold out here, Libs," he said. "Don't you think you ought to come inside and warm up a bit?"

"But she's in there, Grandpa Jack," Libby whined.

"And she means a lot to your dad, but not as much as you do. He won't let the ceremony start without you." Grandpa Jack reached out his hand towards her and waited patiently for her to stand up. When she didn't, he put his hand back by his side and sat down in the sand with her. "Your dad isn't trying to replace your mama, you know. He just wants to have someone to share his life with again. He's been lonely since the split, and—"

"And I should be happy he found someone he loves yadda yadda yadda, I know. I'm glad that she and Dad love each other, and I know she makes him happy, but she just doesn't sit right with me. I don't think she likes me Grandpa." Libby swirled her toes in the frigid water and watched the waves spiral out before smoothing into a clear, still mirror in the distance.

"You don't like her very much either. Why should she like someone who pushes her away all the time?"

"I don't push her away."

"Yes you do, just admit it. You avoid her like the plague, even on your father's wedding day. I'm not saying you need to be her best friend, but you could at least try being a little more civil towards her." Grandpa Jack looked sidelong at her. "Now whadaya say we head in there and let the show go on? The organist never showed up; apparently his father had a heart attack. Your cousin Adele has been playing a lousy recording of that bride song . on her iPod for forty minutes. I bet you and I could do better."

Libby looked up at him and smiled. "Let's do a blues version."

"Blues, eh? I like the sound of that." He began walking and mimed playing the organ. "Nanaanana. Here comes the briiiiide! Nanaanana. Aaaalll dressed in whiiite…"

"Nanaanana. Here coooooommmes the briiiiide."

"Nanaanana."

"With the groom by her siiiii-ii-iiide." Libby and her grandfather continued singing and dancing all the way into the church, where they took their places at the organ and played in tandem during the ceremony.

As Libby watched her father exchange vows with her new stepmother, she couldn't help still feeling a little nagging in the back of her mind. She didn't think that she would ever get along with Georgia, but she hoped that whatever problems arose between them would be few and far between, for her dad's sake.