The day Valentine Abernathy was to marry Cooper Smith would be one of Olympia’s biggest to-dos in nearly a century, an excuse for everyone in town to celebrate a big occasion if nothing else. Nobody could pretend that Valentine and Cooper were a perfect match, nor were they a well-suited one, nor a completely consensual one. But for today they would dress up in their best suits and brightest smiles and pretend that they were there to share in the happy union of a couple who loved each other.
The ceremony was to take place on the sprawling grounds if Rex and Harriet King’s faux antebellum mansion on a mild and sunny spring afternoon, perfect for the rapidly growing crowd roaming about the lawn in search of the best vantage point. Everyone in Olympia was in attendance, though they were a small number in comparison to the amount of people who had travelled across the state for the occasion. Most of them were Valentine’s admirers, and their presence, along with the vibrant bouquets of white and blue roses, must have sent a clear message to the poor groom that he was quite out of his depth.
The bride and her entourage were tucked away inside the house, using one of the guest bedrooms as a bridal suite. Valentine sat in front of a mirror, eyes closed and lips tight, while her bridesmaids –who were more attendants than anything else– attempted to make an already beautiful woman even more so. They curled her blonde hair, applied her rouge and lipstick, and generally sang her praises in hopes of mollifying her on an already stressful day. Cora, the flower girl for the ceremony, sat on the bed with her legs crossed observing their skittering and half-listening to their talk until she finally spoke up.
In Quotation Marks 