After She Said 'I Do'

Off to Town

The truth was—Emily did forget. After the previous night with Sue, everything that had been planned for the following day completely vanished from Emily's brain. She had wondered if Sue also forgot because now they were waiting on her to arrive so they could take the carriage into town. The Dickinson women were all waiting outside for a few minutes until Sue finally crept out of the Evergreens and made her way over to them. Emily watched her intently, swallowing quietly. Sue had always made her nervous, but she was exceptionally nervous being around her and her family together. She never knew whether or not Austin told anyone else in the house about Emily and Sue's prior relationship. She assumed Lavinia would have said something to her if he had told—so she assumed that they were completely unaware.

"Good morning, ladies." Sue said, smiling as she approached the three of them. "So sorry that I'm late. I—uh, well, didn't get much sleep last night."

Sue's gaze quickly turned to Emily after she said this and then back to Mrs. Dickinson and Lavinia. Emily's heart started pounding—her body feeling hot.

She cleared her throat and was about to say something, but Lavinia cut in. "I totally understand. I was up late, too, knitting a sweater for my cat. I started and finished in one sitting."

Sue nodded, "That's one spoiled cat, huh? Impressive!"

Lavinia looked like she felt accomplished, "I've been improving."

There was a quick silence before Mrs. Dickinson spoke, "Well, shall we get going then?"

They all nodded and made their way into the carriage that was waiting on the dirt road that divided the two homes. Mrs. Dickinson got in first, followed by Lavinia, Emily and Sue. The girls sat on the same booth while Lavinia sat with her mother. As soon as they were settled, the carriage was off headed into town.

Emily hadn't spoken a word since Sue had arrived. She didn't really have the chance. She was still trying to act normal, or as 'normal' as Emily Dickinson knew she could be, while she was with Sue around others. It was definitely easier when Austin and Sue weren't married and quite frankly, when Sue and Emily had broken it off for a while. It was easy for Emily to think she hated Sue, because their relationship had been pretty much nonexistent for a while. So naturally, when she was with Sue around others during these time frames, it hadn't been so difficult for Emily to brush off their relationship and keep it hushed. But now—Sue was all Emily could think about. And she had hoped it was the same way for Sue. She knew that she loved her and they both felt this strongly for one another, but the reality of it all is that Sue is still with Austin, and always will be.

The affair was exciting for Emily, though. She always liked a challenge, but Sue wasn't much of a challenge as of late since it seemed like they both had each other wrapped around their finger. Emily would do anything for Sue and Sue the same for her. They had been so hyper focused on one another that everyone else in their life seemed to not exist. When they were together, it was hard to be focused on anyone else around them, but they did their best.

Mrs. Dickinson and Lavinia were in their own conversation across the carriage in their booth while Emily and Sue sat in silence until one of them finally spoke up.

"You look very pretty today." Sue said softly, looking at Emily before casually glancing at the booth across from them to make sure the ladies weren't paying attention to their conversation. She looked back at Emily when she realized how invested the ladies were in their conversation.

Emily smirked and shook her head slightly before turning her head to look at Sue. "What? I don't look pretty every day?"

"Eh, you have some off days." Sue teased and the girls both chuckled.