"I got married already," I blurted through the spit and sobs. Mom didn't say anything. Or move. My chest chuffed up and down like a freight train trying to stop too fast. Her hand came off my shoulder. "What?"

After a surreptitious Wednesday elopement, Julie almost makes it to the Saturday ceremony without her mother finding out. But taking matters into her own hands comes at a price: the added stress of deception, guilt, and ultimately having to face the disappointment and hurt caused by her decision. Will Julie prove to be just one more link a line of broken mother-daughter relationships, or could the truth set her--and her mother--free after all?

Maria Keffler lives in Arlington, Virginia, with her husband and three kids who all wish they were only children. She blogs about things like tarantula-milking lawyers and the savagery of familial relationships at www.wastingmyeducation.blogspot.com, and is presently learning how to cook without the smoke detector finding out about it.