The upcoming court date had been weighing on her all summer: She sometimes wondered whether the anticipation of the possible punishment was worse than the punishment itself. As the weeks had rolled by, she’d been waking up in the middle of the night and finding it impossible to go back to sleep. It wasn’t that she was terrified of going to prison—she doubted that she’d be locked up—but she fretted that these crimes would follow her forever. Would she have to reveal her history to a college she might attend? Did she have to tell her future employers? Would she be able to get a job teaching? She didn’t know whether she’d attend college or even wanted to become a teacher, but the fear remained. Would this haunt her forever? Her lawyer didn’t think so, but she wouldn’t promise anything.And the wedding. It was easy for Will to ask her to come, to assume it was no big deal. But she knew that Susan didn’t want her there, and the last thing she wanted was to be some sort of distraction.
