The wedding PRESENT

A marriage was a time for joy – so why was Rowena feeling so ungenerous?

- Valerie Bowes

Auntie Linda? Getting married at her age? I don’t believe it!’

Rowena was surprised at the stab of jealousy that pierced her when her mother told her the news. She knew she sounded grudging rather than incredulous and tried to mend matters by being over-hearty. ‘Well, good for her.’

‘I couldn’t believe it either. I didn’t know quite what to say when she phoned me.’ Susan tried to imagine her sister-in-law as a blushing bride and failed. Linda had always seemed more interested in her career than in men.

‘Who’s she marrying?’ Rowena decided she’d better ask, although she really couldn’t get her head around the thought.

‘Her chap’s called Owen. I’ve only met him once, but I thought he seemed very nice.’

Linda had always been there in the background at family get-togethers, buttering bread for sandwiches, or shepherding the younger ones away from barbecues.

But Rowena had never really clicked with her. They just weren’t on the same wavelength – although it was difficult to see why not. Linda didn’t embarrass her by trying to be uber-cool, or thinking she could dance, or by asking the sort of questions that made Rowena want to curl up like a salted slug. She didn’t produce a series of potential boyfriends that were either way too young or too nerdy. In fact, she didn’t produce any boyfriends at all.

Rowena could understand (up to a point) that her aunt might want to get married at nudging 70 and have someone to look after her in her old age, but why did someone want to marry her? Unless he was thinking along the same lines.