I stared at him.
“I am not making anything.”
“You’ve been anticipating this conflict for months.”
“Because it happened.”
“You created a rule around a basic family photograph.”
“We created it together.”
“I agreed because I wanted you to feel secure.”
“Not because you believed it?”
He looked toward the lake.
“That isn’t what I said.”
“It is what you meant.”
“Natalie, please.”
“Did your mother arrange the photo?”
“Yes.”
“Did Celeste say it wasn’t on the list?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Did Rachel remind you?”
“She said something.”
“And you still posed.”
“It took thirty seconds.”
I laughed once.
The sound frightened me.
“It took twenty-one years for your family to produce a wedding portrait without the bride?”
He frowned.
“What does that even mean?”
“It means this wasn’t accidental.”
“You think my mother planned to wait until you left?”
“Yes.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Then why did she specifically request the one grouping we excluded?”
“She wanted her children.”
“And I became ‘that girl’ the moment she had them.”
His face changed.
“Did Rachel tell you that?”
“Yes.”
“Maybe Mom was stressed.”
“Of course.”
“Natalie.”
“There it is again.”
“What?”
“The explanation.”
He looked angry now.
“I’m not defending the phrase.”
“You are defending everything around it until the phrase becomes harmless.”
“I’m trying to prevent this from ruining our reception.”
“Your mother created the problem.”
“And you are choosing what happens next.”
The words landed heavily.
I realized then that Julian had learned conflict management from Eleanor.
