Girls in White Dresses - JENNIFER CLOSE [0]
Published by Alfred A. Knopf
Copyright © 2011 by Jennifer Close
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf,
a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.aaknopf.com
Knopf, Borzoi Books, and the colophon are registered trademarks of
Random House, Inc.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Close, Jennifer.
Girls in white dresses / by Jennifer Close.—1st ed.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-307-70041-4
1. Women—Fiction. 2. Chick lit. I. Title.
PS3603.L68G57 2011
813’.6—dc22
2011003397
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents
either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used
fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead,
events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Jacket image by Mayer George Vladimirovich / Shutterstock
Jacket design by Abby Weintraub
v3.1
TO M&D
with love
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
The Rules of Life
Summer Sausage
JonBenét and Other Tragedies
The Peahens
Blind
An Animal Called Ham
Cigarettes at Night
Black Diamond, Blue Square
The Day They Captured the Pigeons
The Showers
Hope
Little Pigs
Placenta
Button
Jesus Is Coming
Flushing Willard
Until the Worm Turns
Acknowledgments
A Note About the Author
Reading Group Guide
Isabella’s sister, Molly, was married with ten bridesmaids in matching tea-length, blue floral Laura Ashley dresses. It was, Isabella believed, the most beautiful wedding anyone would ever have. She was twelve.
“More beautiful than Princess Diana,” her mother told Molly that morning as she helped her get dressed.
“I need more bobby pins,” her sister replied.
Isabella sat on the bed with her hair in a tight French braid. Early that morning, the hairdresser had teased and twisted her hair back, stuck baby’s breath in it, and sprayed it with an entire can of hairspray. From the side, it looked like a plant was growing out of her head. She kept touching it lightly to make sure the braid was still there, and every time she did, she was surprised at the crispiness of her hair.
“Isabella,” Molly said. “If you keep touching your hair, you’re going to ruin it.” Isabella put her hand in her lap and watched Molly fluff her own crispy hair. Molly stared at herself in the mirror until her face got white. “I feel funny,” she said. “A little sick.”
Isabella walked downstairs, where she saw her mom running around like a crazy person and her dad walking briskly and trying to look busy so he wouldn’t get yelled at. “Molly thinks she’s going to throw up,” she announced. Her mom took the stairs two at a time to get to Molly. Her dad gave her a little smile with no teeth, and continued his pacing.
The Mack family had been getting ready for this wedding for over a year. It was all they talked about, all they thought about. It was getting tiresome. Isabella’s parents wanted everything to be perfect. They’d had the trim on the house repainted and the garden redone. “What’s the point?” Isabella asked. “No one’s going to see the house.” Her parents just shook their heads at her and Molly rolled her eyes.
Isabella’s mother and father went on a diet. They walked every morning and ate fish for dinner. When Isabella’s dad ordered a steak or put butter on his bread, her mom would shake her head and say, “Oh, Frank.”
“What’s the difference?” Isabella asked. “No one’s going to be looking at you guys.” As soon as she said it, Isabella felt bad. She hadn’t realized how mean the words sounded until they were out of her mouth, which had been happening a lot recently. It surprised Isabella, how nasty she could be without even trying.
Isabella’s mother hung the wedding picture in the front hall. It was the first thing people saw when they walked into the Mack house. If you looked at it quickly, it was just a blur of blue dresses and big hair. As the years went by, it began to look like something you would see in a magazine, in an article titled