Authors: Kate Vale
Lauren laughed
and pulled out two dresses, holding one up to Gillian. “With Mo? I thought you said he never shuts up.”
“That’s w
hen we’re walking. Dinner tends to be different.” Gillian returned both dresses to the closet and reached for another one.
“
I thought you said he did most of the talking that first time.”
Gillian chuckled. “
I guess I forgot.”
“
You talk when you walk. Pretend you’re walking and you’ll be fine. You worry too much.”
“About what, Mom?” Quinn’s voice sounded from the
hallway.
“The good doctor Mo
has asked your mother to dinner,” Lauren announced. “Again.”
“
Another date?” He took a seat on the bed and grinned when Gillian frowned at him.
“It’ll probably be a disaster.
You know how second dates are. A real let-down after the first.”
Quinn laughed. “It can
’t be any worse than that guy at the rafting park. Herb-what’s-his-name.”
“
Mr. Octopus. Please, Quinn. Let’s not go there.” Gillian slumped down on the bed next to him. “What do you think? Lauren says this red dress is perfect, but I think it’s too low-cut. What about the green one, with the high collar?” She pointed to the two dresses Lauren was holding.
“You look better in red, but
Bianca’s better at things like that. Why don’t you ask her? She should be here in a few minutes. She had to stop at the event planner’s office.”
“Ah, so the wedding is on again?” Lauren asked. “Not that it’s any of my business.”
Quinn laughed. “But you still want to know.”
“Of course. You
are
going to send me an invitation, aren’t you? After all, I’ve been your neighbor since you were a little tyke.”
“
Mom’ll make sure you’re on the list.” He rose from the bed. “Is dinner ready? I’ll chill the wine. Come on back down after you two solve the fashion question.”
Gillian stared at the two dresses. “Okay. I’ll wear the red one. It’s been ages since
it’s been out of the closet. Maybe it won’t even fit.”
“Try it on and see.”
Lauren slipped the green dress onto a hanger.
“I need to go down and
put dinner on.”
“An excuse
, Gilly.”
Gillian dropped her voice to a near whisper.
“And the kids are going to talk wedding stuff. Finally. Now that Bianca’s all better. Ectopic pregnancies are nothing to fool with, I discovered. I’ve been meaning to ask her if it means she can’t have children, but I’m not sure I should. Maybe it’s too personal a question, since we don’t really know each other that well.”
“Or it could be
just the kind of question that lets her know you care about her, want to get to know her.”
“
Maybe. I’m hoping she’ll tell me what the doctor said.” Gillian motioned toward the bedroom door when she heard Quinn talking to Bianca. “She’s here. I need to go.”
Lauren nodded and walked down the stairs with Gillia
n. “I’ll talk to you later. You can fill me in on all the nitty-gritties. Your second date
and
the wedding plans.”
Chapter
10
“Okay, kids. What’s
the news?” Gillian passed the rice pilaf to her left and motioned for Bianca to start the salad.
“We’v
e decided to get married next month. No more waiting,” Bianca replied. “Our contraceptive failure was a wake-up call.”
So now
she’s going to tell me what happened?
“And?”
“The doctor says we can still have a family,” Quinn replied. “In case you were wondering.”
How well he reads me.
Gillian recalled how thrilled she’d been to learn she was pregnant, and how disappointed when she’d been unable to get pregnant again.
Good thing, as it turned out.
Owen’s behavior had threatened their family’s well-being. Having to raise two children alone would have been so much harder.
“That’s good to know,” she acknowledged. “You said you want to get married next month. Is this going to be a big shindig or a quiet family affair?”
Quinn gave Bianca a loving peck on the cheek. “Smallish wedding. We’d like to have it at Overlook Park, the one on the bluff with the spectacular view of Lake Washington. It hardly ever rains in August, and if it does, there’s a covered pavilion we can reserve.”
Gillian took the meat platter from Bianca.
“You’ve already looked into it?”
Quinn spoke up.
“She did. Right, baby?”
“I reserved the pavilion for both the wedding and the reception, but when I spoke to the person in charge, I made clear that we wanted to have the wedding outside, as long as it was sunny. She agreed it would be perfect. Now, all
we have to do is rent the chairs and call the minister.”
Gillian gave a little sigh.
So different from when I got married, when the bride’s family handled everything.
Now, the young couple was doing it all. “What do you want me to do—since it looks like you’ve already decided things?”
Quinn chuckled. “What would you
like
to do? Now that you’re home and don’t have to go to work every day?”
“
I could handle the invitations, maybe even create them.” She thought of the sketch of two clasped hands, which made her think of Cammie’s request for the hands as notecards. “If you have a list, I could work on that. Have you ordered them already?”
Bianca
replied breezily. “No need for you to
make
them. The cards should be here by next week. But it would be wonderful if you could address them.”
I guess she must think I draw like a child.
Gillian gave a little sniff of disappointment. “Then that’s what I’ll do. Anything else? The cake? What about your colors? Will your parents be coming for the ceremony?”
Bianca’s fork clattered onto her plate
and her mouth turned down at the corners. “My mom is coming and my dad wants to come, but my mom doesn’t want him to. I’m trying to figure out how to have both of them here without creating a scene.”
Oh dear.
At least Owen would never have done that.
If he were still alive. Gillian glanced in Bianca’s direction. “You want your father to walk you down the aisle?”
“
Of course. But my mom will probably try to scratch his eyes out. Assuming he’ll even come, knowing she’ll be here.” Bianca wiped her cheek.
Is she crying?
“Let me call your mother and ask if she would help me make your father comfortable, since he won’t know very many people. Didn’t Quinn say your mother used to live here, somewhere near Seattle, but your dad hasn’t, for years and years? After all, it’s
your
day, not theirs.”
“Would you?” Bianca reached over and
grasped Gillian’s hand. “You are
so
understanding.”
“I
t’s the least I can do. Maybe if your mom stayed with me, here at the house, and your father got a hotel room… ”
But what about the reception and the rehearsal dinner?
“He could stay at our place,” Quinn offered.
“Oh, no. That would never work. If Mom knew he was with us, she’d have a hissy fit. I think he should stay at a hotel.”
“Let me talk with your mother. Then we can decide where to put up your father.
Perhaps at Quinn’s hotel? Where does your dad live?”
“London
, England.”
“Oh. So he’ll be flying in.”
Bianca nodded and took the vegetable platter from Quinn. “My mom, too. But she’s only three hours away.”
“
Of course.” Gillian watched as Bianca slid two asparagus spears onto her plate. She was passing the food, but mostly playing with the small amounts of her plate.
Bridal nerves?
“Eat, dear. You have to keep up your strength. Get it back, I mean. After the surgery and all.”
Bianca gave her a quick smile before bursting into tears. Quinn stood up, pulled his fiancée into his arms and hugged her tightly. “We’ll get it figured out, hon. We will. Mom will help.”
If only I could.
Where was that lawyerly assertiveness she’d always seen in Bianca? The girl seemed barely able to stand on her own feet tonight and now tears were gushing.
Quinn gave her a pleading look as he mo
uthed, “Help me.”
Gillian rose from her chair. “I think we’re about done. Why don’t you two sit in the fami
ly room while I clean up? Do you like chocolate, Bianca? It’s always been one of my favorite foods when I’m not feeling very strong.”
Bianca seemed to moan, but she nodded and allowed Quinn to walk her into the family room, where she collapsed into the overstuff
ed love seat.
Oh dear. A wedding with in-laws at each other’s throats.
This news did not bode well. Would she hear from Matt’s office about the trust before the wedding? Somehow, if that was done, she could at least put that part of her life to bed.
The next day Gillian texted Quinn and asked him to call her.
Sooner than she’d expected, he responded. “What did you want, Mom?”
“Well, Bianca didn’t say, but I was wondering if you could give me some details about her ectopic pregnancy. Did she go back to work today?”
“Of course. You know how she is about work. It’s her life. And she wants to impress her senior partners.”
“But she just had surgery last week!”
“Yes, well, she said she’d come home early if she needed to, but I really don’t expect her to.”
“Hmm. What did the doctor say?”
“He explained she was at greater risk
for pregnancy because she was on the mini-pill. It seems it isn’t as good as we thought at preventing pregnancy.” He gave a little chuckle. “We had to learn the hard way.”
“Does this mean you’ll be using some other method now?”
“Yep.”
“How long do you think it will take for her to recover?”
“Knowing her, she probably considers herself there already. But the doctor said she’ll probably be herself again within about a month. That’s why we scheduled the wedding when we did—so she’s fully healed by then.”
“Speaking of the wedding, I was reading a
n old book the other day—” Gillian ran her fingers over the frayed book jacket— “and it says the mother of the groom only has to do three things: show up, shut up, and wear beige.”
Quinn laughed. “
When was it printed? It doesn’t sound like something you’d agree to.”
“
I look terrible in beige, so that’s out. Seriously, I want to know what you want me to do. Have you and Bianca asked her parents, even though they’re divorced, to do anything, or are you two handling all the details? You know I’m willing to do more than just address the invitations.”
“
Bianca talked to her mom this morning and she really isn’t into doing much of anything. Since the wedding’s not where she lives and she doesn’t know any caterers here. That sort of thing.”
“I see. Well, how about if
I
host the rehearsal dinner? There will be a rehearsal, won’t there?”
“I guess so. But you have to make sure her folks don’t sit next to each other. Bianca’s really freaked about what her mom might do.
She and her mom never really got along very well, and having the wedding here instead of where she lives kind of put her nose out of joint. Trudi’s, I mean.”
“Have you met Bianca’s mother?”
“A couple of times. She’s kind of hard to get to know, not all that relaxed about things. Not like you.”
Gillian smiled at that.
I’m relaxed? Since when?
“I wish Bianca had been more interested in my doing a special sketch for your wedding invitations. Did I tell you
Cammie’s Closet
wants to carry my note cards? She asked to see some of my watercolors, too.”
“That’s
good news. You’re going to have your own business now, selling your pictures?”
“Maybe. But back to the wedding.” She was about to ask another question when Quinn spoke up.
“I’ve got to go. I’ll have Bianca call you tonight about all this. I’m just trying to stay out of the way.”
“I understand.”
Gillian sighed and put down the phone. So many questions flitted through her mind. Only a month before the wedding. She would step in and help—as much as Quinn and Bianca would let her—and make a point of checking the seating.
If only she knew her soon-to-be daughter-in-law better. Maybe
Bianca had inherited her mother’s standoffishness. Gillian had assumed it was part of Bianca’s professional presentation of self. Self-contained, assertive, lawyerly behavior. So unlike Quinn’s friendly demeanor, making sure the guests at the hotel he managed were happy, had all their needs met. A kind of human golden retriever.
Gillian booted up her computer, eager to check out the wedding venue again. After surfing different wedding sites for ideas about how best to arrange the rehearsal
dinner, she checked her email. A new message from someone called Burton.
Ms. Fabulous
, hello. I see that you are on this dating site. I’ve been on here for the past year, but have rarely found anyone I was interested in. Until now. You.
Are you musically inclined?
When I was in high school and college, I played the clarinet. Not that I was ever in a league with Benny Goodman, someone your parents or grandparents might have enjoyed, or Richard Stoltzman, whose work I admire.
I was wondering if you might
want to meet. Maybe over coffee?
Burton
Gillian looked at her calendar.
Burton
:
I’m really busy right now, helping my son and his fiancée with their wedding. Perhaps after it’s over.
Fab
She closed her laptop after printing off the questions she planned to ask Bianca, and returned to the kitchen to make lunch.
That evening
Bianca called. “Ms. Griffiths, Quinn said you wanted to talk to me.”
“Please c
all me Gillian. We’re almost family.” She paused and smoothed the paper with all her questions neatly marching down the page. “I was wondering if you could tell me a bit more about the wedding, what you’d like me to do. That sort of thing.”
“Oh. Well. Okay.”
“I’ll start with an easy question. Have you picked colors? So I’ll know what color of dress to wear.”
“Hmm. Whatever you want to wear is fine. I’m going with an off-white dress.”
“What about your attendants? What color will they be wearing? And your mother?”
“
I’m not having any attendants. We just moved here. I don’t really know many people yet, at least not well enough to ask them to stand up for me, and my friends in California won’t be coming.” She paused. “Too busy.” She paused again. “You’re probably wondering about my mother.” Bianca’s voice took on a cooler tone. “She’ll probably pick something really bright. That’s her style.”
“Bright?”
Does she mean loud?
“Then if I wear something toned-down, you’d prefer that?” Gillian thought of the dark green dress in her closet. Or the pale blue one of cocktail length with a darker jacket.
“You usually dress more conservatively than my mom, so I’m sure whatever you pick would be fine.”
“I see. W
ill you let me host the wedding rehearsal dinner? I’d like to. Maybe Quinn didn’t tell you. He said there would be a rehearsal and I thought after it was over, we could have a nice dinner. Just the wedding party. Immediate family.”
“Which will probably be most of the people who attend.”
Oh, dear.
“I could invite more if you’d prefer.” Gillian felt like she was treading through a minefield, not sure where to go next with her questions lest an explosion disrupt the conversation.
“Let me get b
ack to you about other people. I’m inviting the partners at my law firm and some of the associates I work with. And Quinn’s friends, of course. But I was thinking they would only be invited to the wedding.”