Ashley was instructing the photographer to capture the cake from six different angles.
Across the room, Daniel smiled proudly at Grandma.
That was when I realized he knew absolutely nothing about what had happened when Ashley collected the cake.
I found Grandma standing near the dessert table, watching the celebration.
“It’s the best cake you’ve ever made,” I told her.
“I’m glad he likes it.”
She smiled, though her eyes still appeared weary.
Around seven-thirty, only minutes before the cake-cutting ceremony, I approached the head table carrying the wrapped gift.
“A little something for the happy couple,” I announced.
Ashley squealed.
“Oh, you didn’t have to!”
She ripped away the ribbon with a child’s Christmas-morning excitement, opened the box, and lifted out the silver frame.
“Aww, cute.”
Then she noticed the invoice.
If she apologized to Grandma and reimbursed me, the matter could be settled within minutes.
Otherwise, this wedding would become something she’d remember forever.
I watched her smile disappear.
Her fingers moved frantically as she tried to crumple the paper and conceal it inside her bouquet.
But Daniel was sitting beside her, and he noticed.
“What’s that? Ash? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
Her reply was unusually high and rushed.
“It’s nothing.”
“It’s an invoice,” I explained pleasantly. “For the cake. I reimbursed Grandma myself, since Ashley refused to pay her.”
Ashley snapped her head toward me.
“Why would you put that in our wedding gift?”
“I needed to know if you’d make it right. Instead, you tried to hide it.”
Then I turned and headed toward the cake.
