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Now I realize that lots of people cry at weddings. And I figure it’s because they are moved or touched. But the reason I was crying was because it all seemed so hopeless. And seeing my beautiful best friend in her too-tight dress, in a church that was mostly empty, with such a small wedding party…well, it just seemed so pathetic. And wrong.
    But I forced a smile as she got closer, and I’m sure she thought they were tears of joy as I held her bouquet and waited for Ben and her to exchange vows and rings. Their rings are very simple gold bands. Not cheap. But not fancy either.
    “Someday he’ll get me a diamond,” Natalie told me when we were doing manicures the night before.
    Well, for her sake, I hope that’s true. But after the reception, when we told them good-bye in front of the church and I watched them driving away in Ben’s little car…Well, I just felt sad.
    “They’ll be okay,” my dad told me as he came up and put his arm around me.
    I turned and studied him. “Really? Do you think so?”
    “Or not.” He smiled at me. “But things work out.”
    And so as we drove home from Natalie’s wedding, Itold him about the story his mother had told me when I was in Florida. I told him about how she and my dad’s father fell in love during World War II, how they planned to get married but didn’t. And how hard it was when he died and she was pregnant. But how she pretended to be a widow, and no one ever really knew.
    Dad nodded as he turned into our driveway. “I think I sort of knew that, Kim.”
    “Really? She said she never told you.”
    “I know. I guess I just suspected something.”
    “Does it bother you?”
    He just shook his head. “I can understand why she’d do that. Times were different then. Unwed mothers weren’t socially acceptable.”
    “Do you think times have changed that much?” I asked as we got out of the car.
    “In some ways.”
    “Do you think it would’ve been better if Nat and Ben hadn’t gotten married?”
    He turned and looked at me. “What do you think, Kimmy?”
    I didn’t answer, but I felt sure that we both knew what the other thought—and that it was the same.
    “Someday it’s going to be your wedding, sweetheart,” he said as we went into the house. “And we’re going to have us one big barn burner of a wedding!”
    “All right!”
    The radio was still playing in the kitchen, probablyfrom this morning. But it was on one of the oldies stations my mom liked to tune into. Then my dad bowed. “May I have this dance?”
    I held out my mossy green skirt in a curtsy. “Certainly.”
    And as my dad and I danced within the small confines of the kitchen, I promised myself that one day we would dance at my wedding. And, I promised myself, for the sake of my mom and my dad—and for myself—I would do it right. And that means doing it God’s way.
    Dear Jamie,
    My older sister is sixteen and doesn’t even have her driver’s license yet, but she’s been sneaking my mom’s car out at night. She bribes me by giving me rides sometimes, but I’m starting to get scared that we’ll get caught. I can’t believe my mom hasn’t figured this out yet, and I’ve almost told her a couple of times, but then my sister would probably kill me. What should I do?
    Stuck
    Dear Stuck,
    You’re in a hard place. But if you consider the consequences, it might be easier to do the right thing. For instance, if your sister got into a wreck, she would, at the very least, be in trouble with the law and probably lose her right to legally drive for a long time. And at the very worst, someone could get seriously hurtor even killed. There’s a reason that people have to be tested to get a driver’s license. But besides that, what about your mom? How would she feel knowing that her children are doing something like this behind her back? What do you think you should do? I think you already know the answer. And, sure, your sister might get mad at you, but she won’t kill you.
    Just