Laurie goes wedding dress shopping, accompanied by her mother and Sarah. Laurie is excited about her wedding but thinks, “What I’d really love, if they cared to listen to me, is a small wedding—and unlike most people who say that, I really mean it” (227). Laurie has continued to see Jack following the breakup. While Sarah seems fine and has even started to go out with Luke, Laurie is concerned about Jack. Laurie is glad to see Sarah happy and “proud of how she’s refused to sink into self-pity” (230), especially with Laurie’s wedding approaching.

Laurie tries on her first wedding dress and is shocked to see herself as a bride in the mirror. The saleswoman assures her that the shock is normal, but Laurie is suddenly desperate to get out of the dress. Laurie recovers on her own at home and tells herself, “It’s not that I don’t love Oscar or that I don’t want to marry him. […] It’s just crushing to know that it’s still here, like a muscle reflex. That when someone says, ‘the man you’ve always dreamed of’, I think of Jack O’Mara” (233).