Christmas Wedding (2 page)

“
Yes,” I said. “It is easier. And having Jon to love and to love me has made me happier than I ever dreamed possible.”

Melanie brightened. “Good. OK, now let’s look at the paper again.” She retrieved today’s issue of The New York Times from the empty chair. She flipped The Times open to the wedding section.

“
And here we are,” she announced cheerfully. “Cam and I in The New York Times wedding section. I can’t believe it. Do you know how hard it is to get in The Times? But my sweetie pie pulled some strings and we’re in. And in color too. Oh, I know, the four of us made the Wilmington paper and the Savannah paper, but The New York Times, well, that is celebrity status.”

“
I’m happy for you,” I said, not caring about such things as much as she.

She stared at her picture critically. “I look OK, don’t I?” she asked again.

“
You look sensational, better than any New York deb,” I assured her.

“
Cam is considered one of the TV industry’s most eligible bachelors, so that helped. And he knows important people. And I’m sure it helps that his mother is Nelda Cameron. I’m going to have this announcement framed.”

“
Not if you keep handling it,” I said.

“
Oh, this isn’t the only copy I’ve got. There is a pristine copy in my car. And Cam bought a bundle. Now let’s review the logistics one more time. Aunt Ruby and Binkie are going to pick up Kiki and Ray at the airport this evening.”

She looked at her watch. “They should be leaving about now. Surely Aunt Ruby hasn’t forgotten to do that.”

“
Melanie, stop worrying. Aunt Ruby is very reliable. And so is Binkie. If they say they are going to do something, they’ll do it.”

Aunt Ruby is our deceased mother’s older sister, and Binkie is UNCW Professor Emeritus Benjamin Higgins, her husband of one year. They had been sweethearts as children and only rediscovered each other last year. They had never married until they found each other after a lifetime spent apart. Now they are happy to be spending their golden years as husband and wife.

“
OK, then,” Melanie said, checking off that item on the list she carried around in her wedding planner. “They will deliver Kiki and Ray to The Verandas where they have reservations. Aunt Ruby and Binkie will act as their hosts, showing them around town while we are busy with other pressing details. You haven’t forgotten that we have a final fitting with the seamstress tomorrow. And then on Wednesday we will all go out to the airport to meet Nelda. She’s flying in from Rome, you know.”

“
Oh, look,” I called. “There are the boys now.”

Jon and Cam were crossing the street toward us. Jon is tall, broad-shouldered and lean-waisted, with golden blonde hair and warm brown eyes. He has this little swagger when he walks, but just a little one that he is totally unaware of. He doesn’t know how sexy he is, or how good looking. And I plan to keep it that way. But golly gee whiz wow, to quote my favorite movie character Holly Golightly, he sure makes my mouth water.

Melanie and I refer to them as “the boys” although they are certainly not “boys.” Jon is thirty-four, the same age as Melanie. And Cameron Jordan, CEO of Gem Star Productions, recently celebrated his fortieth birthday. Melanie had pulled out all the stops on that birthday party. Melanie never does anything half-way. My sister is one high-energy lady.

“
Hello, sweetheart,” Cam said, dropping into the chair next to Melanie and brushing her lips with his own.

Jon gave me a hug and joined me, reaching for my hand and giving it a little squeeze. His face lights up like a Christmas tree when he sees me, but his eyes said it all: I can’t wait to get you alone.

“
Ah, the wedding planner notebook is out and open and she’s got her pen poised in her hand. She is going to work you to death, Ashley,” Cam teased.

“
You too,” Melanie laughed and punched him lightly on the upper arm. “We’ve got your mother coming. I want everything to be special. Let me tell you what your jobs are for the week.”

“
Later, later,” Cam laughed. “Right now, I need a nice cold beer.”

“
Me too,” Jon said, and signaled a passing waiter.

While he placed their order, Melanie said to Cam, “What are you two up to? You both look like Cheshire cats. All smug and secretive.”

“
We’ll never tell, will we, Jon?” Cam said jokingly.

Melanie glanced back down at her notes in the wedding planner. “How many brides get the famous Nelda Cameron at their weddings?” she asked.

“
Only one that I know of,” Cam said, teasingly.

Melanie gave him a soulful look. “I just want everything to go smoothly.”

He hugged her. “Everything will be perfect. She’ll take one look at you and fall madly in love with you the same way I did.”

I studied the pair of them, and thought to myself, I sure hope he’s right. But how often does a mother take one look at the woman her son is sleeping with and fall madly in love? Doesn’t happen. The woman has got to prove herself first; prove that she is worthy.

3

“
Now ain’t this house grand!” Kiki exclaimed. “This place is palatial. Melanie done good for herself, kiddo.”

On Monday, after our final bridal fittings, and trying on the lace jackets that we’d had designed and sewn to cover our arms when we were outside, I picked up Kiki at The Verandas and brought her out to Melanie’s newly restored lodge to show it off.

“
Say, Ashley, do you remember that one-bedroom apartment on lower Fifth Avenue that we shared with two other girls back in our Parsons’ days?”

Kiki and I had been roommates when we were students at Parsons School of Design in New York City.

“
How could I ever forget? A pull-out sofa in the living room for the other two girls. You and I were lucky enough to share the tiny bedroom, two twin beds pushed against the walls and still there was barely space to walk between them. I remember keeping my clothes in my trunk at the foot of the bed because there simply wasn’t closet space. And forget about a dresser.”

Kiki was trembling with laughter. “I remember that well. We used to kid you and ask you when you were hopping on the train.”

“
Still, I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything,” I mused aloud. After earning my BFA at Parsons, I’d returned south to get a Master’s degree in Historic Preservation from the Savannah College of Art and Designe. Then I’d come home for good, to take up my profession of old-house restoration.

“
Come on,” I said to Kiki, “let me show you around inside.” We strolled on flagstones through the great arched entrance into a reception hall that extended past a broad oak staircase and led back to the waterway side of the house.

“
Here’s the lowdown on this house, Kiki. It’s an old hunting lodge that was built during the Gilded Age when gentlemen acquired hunting preserves and constructed lodges as retreats for themselves and their buddies. Then they’d get drunk as skunks and shoot at anything that moved.”

Leading her into the drawing room, I pointed to the upper portion of immensely high walls. “There were buck heads mounted up there. I took a great deal of pleasure in removing them. A barbaric tradition.”

We strolled to the center of the huge drawing room. “Melanie bought this house from a friend of hers from their pageant days, Crystal Lynne, recently widowed. She’s one of the bridesmaids. You’ll get to meet her at the bridesmaid’s dinner.”

“
Wednesday night, right? I’ll be there with bells on.”

“
Yes, Wednesday. How are you getting along with Aunt Ruby? She’s looking after you and Ray, isn’t she?” I asked, mindful of Melanie’s suspicions that Aunt Ruby was not behaving like herself.

“
She’s a grand lady, that aunt of yours. She and Ray were driving the singer to the church so she could practice Ave Maria with the pianist there. You remember how Ray loves the opera.”

“
Oh, good,” I said, relieved that the plans were proceeding on schedule.

“
Kiki, you should have seen this place. Falling apart. Holes in the roof that let in rain. Anybody with a truck and a screw driver would drive up that lane, and raid the place of irreplaceable valuables. It has taken Jon and me and our general contractor Willie Hudson and his crew almost a year to bring things back to close to their original state. Better, actually, because we don’t use dead animals as decorative accessories.”

“
You did a splendid job, gal friend, and I’m proud of you. The style reminds me of the Biltmore House,” Kiki said.

“
It’s supposed to. Melanie and I made countless trips to Asheville to tour Biltmore and get ideas. You aren’t allowed to photograph the interiors, but every time the guard looked the other way, Melanie would sneak in a shot. When she got caught, she’d just give him that megawatt smile of hers and say sweetly, ‘I’m so sorry, officer, I won’t do it again.’ And she didn’t. Not until his back was turned.” I laughed, remembering my sister’s audacity.

“
I just love that sister of yours,” Kiki said. “She knows that charm will get you pretty much anything you want out of people.”

Kiki’s sense of admiration was not returned by Melanie. Melanie thought Kiki was “strange” and if truth be told, Melanie was rather intimidated by Kiki. Melanie is not intimidated easily. But indeed, Kiki was no ordinary woman. She was larger than life, actually. A really big woman, not fat, just big. Big bones and plenty of muscle on those bones. Huge, animated black eyes that crackled with life and joy. A large full mouth that was always laughing. And the outlandish way she dressed! Bold patterns and colors. But they suited her. There was no missing Kiki. She stood out in any crowd, and had gone on to become a successful celebrity decorator.

Melanie felt overwhelmed by her. But Kiki persisted in loving Melanie.

“
Are you waiting until after the wedding to furnish this room?” she asked. “Those marble fireplaces are totally impressive. And just look at those Christmas trees, they must be twelve feet high.”

“
We’re going to hold the reception here,” I said. “And we’re making the most of the Christmas theme.” Three beautifully decorated trees filled three of the corners.

“
The herringbone parquet floor will be perfect for dancing. The DJ will set up over in that fourth corner. Our deal with an orchestra fell through. But Melanie found a super DJ service out of Raleigh called Celebrity DJs. Very experienced, very professional.”

“
Sounds cool,” Kiki said, strolling around the huge room and taking it all in.

“
Yes, they helped us select the music, then they arrange it all so that one song segues into the next. Blending, I think it’s called. And the DJ acts as the Master of Ceremonies as well.

“
But to answer your question about the furnishings, we’ve purchased just about everything for this room. It’s all in storage until after the honeymoon. And Kiki, we shopped locally. There’s a nice little antique district on Castle Street. I’ll take you out there if time permits. If not, you can walk over from The Verandas. And we found gems at The Ivy Cottage, a huge consignment shop.

“
For the reception, Colin designed round tables for this room. There will be fifteen tables that seat ten each, so one hundred and fifty guests. Melanie wanted to invite everyone in town and set up tents on the lawn. But Colin persuaded her to trim the guest list to one hundred and fifty so that a place on it would be coveted.”

“
Clever! Now you know why he is so in demand,” Kiki chimed in.

I went on, “The head table will be over there. Our color scheme is red, white and gold. The tables will have floor-length white brocade cloths. The chairs are gold and they will have garlands of red roses draped across the backs. The entire reception décor is ‘so Colin.’”

“
He’s the best,” Kiki agreed.

“
The centerpieces will be red rose bouquets atop little trees. The china will be red with gold. Gold vermeil flatware. And gold rims on the glassware.”

“
Sounds divine!”

“
It will be. But we almost had a catastrophe. Melanie and I were watching Platinum Weddings on TLC. They featured a half million dollar wedding. Well, soon Melanie began berating herself because she had not selected jeweled table cloths and a twelve-piece orchestra plus a string quartet.”

“
Those weddings are over the top,” Kiki said. “Absolutely grotesque.”

“
That is exactly what I told her. I said, ‘Melanie, those kind of weddings run counter to everything Colin stands for. You were so thrilled to get him to design the wedding. Colin is known for his understated elegance, for weddings and parties where people are the focal point, not some rhinestone embossed table cloth.”

“
So what happened?” Kiki asked.

“
Well, she wasn’t convinced. So I said to her, ‘Melanie, are you aware that fifty percent of the world’s population lives on two dollars a day? Given that, doesn’t a half-million dollar wedding sound like the height of insensitivity?

“
She saw the light then. Still, this is all really more than Jon and I ever wanted. This is Melanie’s dream. Did you see the Sunday Times yesterday? Melanie and Cam made the Wedding page. Melanie is beside herself with excitement.”

“
Well, hey, don’t knock it. Most brides would kill to get their picture in the Sunday Times,” Kiki said.