Lilac Avenue (33 page)

“Do you have any liquor?” Maggie said. “I think I may need a drink soon.”

Hannah came running in, breathless.

“There’s so much going on right now!” she said. “What’d I miss?”

“Nothing,” Maggie said. “What’s in the bag?”

“Donuts,” she said. “Left over from this morning; your mom gave them to me.”

Claire and Maggie both declined. Claire’s stomach rolled at the thought of eating the greasy, sugary dough.

“You know, I’m nervous about marrying Scott,” Maggie said. “But I’m scared to death to face my mother.”

“I think she’ll be happy for you,” Claire said.

“I think she’ll probably slap the snot out of all of us,” Hannah said.

“Probably something in between those two,” Maggie said.

“You look beautiful,” Delia said to Claire as she entered the bathroom. “I’m keeping the kitten in the mudroom until we leave.”

Claire was putting the finishing touches on her makeup, now that Maggie, Hannah, and Melissa were ready.

“Thanks, Mom,” Claire said. “I think we should leave in thirty minutes; that way, when Hannah smears her lipstick and rips her dress we’ll still have time to fix it.”

Delia closed the door and sat down on the edge of the tub.

“What’s up?” Claire asked.

“I asked Doc not to come to the wedding,” Delia said.

“That’s sad, but understandable,” Claire said. “I’m sure Doc was fine about it.”

“He was,” Delia said. “He’s a very kind, compassionate man.”

Claire turned around and leaned back against the sink.

“Dad seems like he’s taken a downward turn,” Claire said. “A steep one.”

“It’s so scary,” Delia said. “What if he lives for another twenty years? What about when he doesn’t recognize us?”

“We’ll get through it,” Claire said. “I won’t let you go down with the ship.”

“I appreciate that,” Delia said. “I don’t know what I’d do without you here.”

“Well, this is the new normal,” Claire said. “We’ll just have to see what each day brings and then deal with it the best we can.”

“Are you going to be happy here?” Delia asked. “I don’t mean with things the way they are with your dad. I mean are you disappointed about what you gave up to come home?”

“I was leaving my job with Sloan, anyway,” Claire said. “I might have gone back to California and sunk all my money into a business that failed. I might have waited too long for a man who
ultimately wouldn’t choose me. Who knows what would have happened? All I know is that after I came back, I realized how homesick I was for this town and everybody I love. I wish there were some better shopping opportunities, but let’s face it, how important is Armani Privé in Rose Hill?”

“You belong here,” Delia said. “This is your home, where your roots are. Rose Hill is still a good place to raise a family.”

“I’d love to find someone to marry and have a child with before it’s too late,” Claire said. “I might be able to do that here, but if not, I’ll just have to find a way to be happy without it.”

“I’d love to see you settle down with Ed,” Delia said. “He’s such a good man.”

“That might work out or it might not,” Claire said. “Ed’s a great guy, but he’s also still married to Eve. I’d like him to be free and clear before I go too far down that road.”

“Are you thinking about opening your own beauty shop?”

“Actually, Ed may have found me a job at the college, working in the theater department. It sounds like fun, and it’s certainly something I know how to do. I guess it depends on the boss.”

“That would be wonderful,” Delia said.

“I just don’t want to make the same mistakes I’ve made before,” Claire said. “With bosses, jobs, or men. I’m trying to be more aware that when a situation feels familiar, I may be about to do something foolish.”

“I just want you to be happy,” Delia said. “And I’d rather you stay single than settle for anybody just to have somebody. I hope you can work at something you enjoy doing instead of just some job to make money.”

“That would be ideal, but I may have to do something I don’t care about that gives me health benefits while I look for something better,” Claire said. “Meanwhile, let’s go get these two married.”

“Thank you for helping make that happen,” Delia said. “If ever two people belong together, Maggie and Scott do. It took your intervention to get them moving in the right direction.”

“Maggie looks great, doesn’t she?” Claire said.

“Beautiful,” Delia said. “And there’s not a cloud in the sky today.”

“I need to remember to take my phone,” Claire said. “Don’t let me forget it.”

“Please leave it, sweetie,” Delia said. “Everyone you care about is
going to be at the church. Just for today, let’s make the people who are here more important than the people who aren’t.”

It was di
fficult, like pulling-out-an-IV difficult, but when the bridal party departed for the church, Claire left her phone behind.

Scott, Ed, Patrick, and Sam were already at the church. While Scott paced the side aisle, his best man, Ed, texted with the publisher in Pendleton. Meanwhile
, Sam and Patrick were playing paper football on the wooden seat of the front pew.

“Got the rings?” Ed asked.

“Here,” Scott said, as he pulled them from his inner jacket pocket. “You better hold onto them.”

“Is this your dad’s ring?”

“Yeah,” Scott said. “We’re using my dad’s ring and Maggie’s Grandma Rose’s ring.”

“That’s a nice touch,” Ed said. “I’m sure that will mean a lot to Maggie’s father.”

“Who’s watching your dad?” Scott asked Patrick.

“Sean’s got him,” Patrick said. “Don’t worry. I watered down everything he had today. He’ll be fine but not too fine, if you know what I mean.”

Father Stephen came down the aisle, dressed in his long, flowing, white formal occasion robe. He was a tall, distinguished-looking man with a full head of gray-and-white hair, and a matching beard. He wore wire spectacles that, combined with the robe, made him look like a wizard from a J.R. Tolkien book. He smiled at Scott and shook his hand.

“How are you?” Father Stephen asked. “Nervous?”

“Not too bad,” Scott said. “I know if Maggie changed her mind, Claire would call. She wouldn’t let me get stood up at the altar.”

“I’m not worried at all,” Father Stephen said. “Getting Mary Margaret to make a commitment has never been an easy thing, but once she’s made one, she always follows through. Now, I
would
be nervous if we were actually baptizing Sammy Campbell.”

Sam laughed
, and nodded in agreement.

Sister Mary Marg
rethe came in, waving a handful of sheet music.

“I need to practice,” she said. “You will kindly leave the sanctuary while I do.”

“You boys come with me to my study,” Father Stephen said.

As they went down the hall to the sounds of Sister Mary Margrethe warming up on the piano, Sam turned to Patrick.

“That sounds like Motown,” he said.

When the bride and her bridesmaids arrived, they went downstairs to the ladies lounge in the basement. Claire hustled Maggie past the doorway to the fellowship hall, where Bonnie and Alice were setting up the wedding cake. Luckily Maggie was too focused on holding up the skirt of her dress to notice. Delia got them settled in the lounge, and then excused herself to join Bonnie in the hall.

“Hannah,” Claire said. “What is that?”

Hannah had pulled something sparkly out of her backpack.

“A tiara,” Hannah said.

“We talked about this at Starlina’s,” Claire said. “It wouldn’t look right for one bridesmaid to wear a tiara and not the others. You agreed.”

“That’s why I borrowed three,” Hannah said, and pulled out two additional tiaras.

“Oh, goody,” Melissa said.

Melissa grabbed one and immediately went to the mirror in the bathroom to try it on.

“I love it,” Melissa called back to them. “When I was little I had me a
pink plastic one I wore all the time.”

“Maggie,” Claire said. “You’re the bride; you get to decide.”

Maggie was fussing with her veil.

“I don’t care what you wear,” she said. “They’re all going to be looking at me, anyway.”

“Ha!” Hannah said. “Victory.”

“Bridezilla,” Claire muttered.

“More like Mothra-of-honor,” Hannah said.

Claire accepted the tiara Hannah handed to her, and looked at it. It wasn’t that bad. If she had to adjust her hairdo somewhat, at least she had time.

Claire looked in the mirror. She had chosen the above-the-knee-length, sheath-style dresses in pale coral-colored satin from the small ready-to-wear selection at Starlina’s. Of those available, they were the least garish color, and the most likely to flatter all three bridesmaids’ very different figures: Hannah, tiny and flat-chested; Melissa, petite, but with a knockout curvy physique; and herself, tall and skinny, with a modest bust. Hannah’s dress was actually a size meant for a Jr. bridesmaid, as there was no way to easily alter a regular size dress to fit her.

“I look like Little Miss Appalachia Grand Supreme,” Hannah said. “I just need a sash.”

With her tiara on, Hannah did indeed look like a children’s pageant contestant.

All three bridesmaids gathered at the wide mirror over the line of sinks, and leaned forward to adjust their tiaras.

“Look at us,” Hannah said. “We’re so pretty. We look like the Supremes.”

Hannah did some Supreme-like moves and sang a few off-key bars of “
Stop in the Name of Love.”

Just as the bridesmaids returned to the outer room, Bonnie came into the lounge with a cat-who-ate-the-canary grin on her face. Hannah’s mother Alice and Delia were right behind her.

“Mary Margaret,” Bonnie said. “You look beautiful.”

“Mom,” Maggie said. “I was … I mean, this was all a surprise. Claire and Hannah did everything and I just showed up. I would have told you if I had known beforehand.”

Bonnie had tears in her eyes as she adjusted Maggie’s veil and smoothed her skirt.

“Shush,” she said. “Let me look at you. Beautiful. Just beautiful.”

Maggie looked at Claire with wide eyes. Claire imagined her thoughts: her mother was being too nice! Who was she and what had she done with the real Bonnie Fitzpatrick?!

“I may faint,” Aunt Alice said to Hannah, who was twirling. “I don’t think I’ve seen you wear makeup since your own wedding.”

“Don’t get used to it,” Hannah said. “How do you like my tiara?”

“Some girls just weren’t meant to dress up, I guess,” Alice said. “You don’t look like yourself.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Hannah said as she rolled her eyes. “How’s your head?”

“It hurts,” Alice said with a deep sigh. “But I didn’t want to disappoint Maggie.”

“Maybe you need to get an MRI,” Claire said. “It’s not right that your head should hurt all the time like that.”

Claire saw Bonnie and Delia trade amused expressions.

“Oh, I’ve had those. I’ve had every test you can imagine. Allergy tests, PET scans, CT scans; you name it and I’ve had it. They can’t find anything wrong,” Alice said. “There’s nothing they can do.”

“What she needs is a psy
chiatrist,” Hannah said quietly, “or a padded room.”

“Melissa,” Bonnie said. “Don’t you look like a princess? Delia, look at our Melissa.”

“She’s lovely,” Delia said.

“You’ll be next,” Alice said to Melissa.

“Ha!” Bonnie said. “You’ll need a rope and a bridle to get my son down the aisle. More’s the pity; you’d make a beautiful bride.”

Melissa smiled but then frowned a little and looked worried.

“What about you, Claire?” Aunt Alice asked. “I imagine your mother’s given up on you.”

“Claire’s fine the way she is,” Delia said. “She doesn’t need another man to look after. Her father’s quite enough for both of us right now.”

Claire found herself wanting to intercept all the little hurts, intentional and unintentional, that the mothers were casting over the bridal party. She just couldn’t think of a polite, kind way to tell them to leave. She caught her mother’s eye and grimaced.

“Let’s leave these girls to primp,” Delia said, in an attempt to gather up the aunts and herd them toward the door.

Claire gave her mother a grateful look.

“See you upstairs, sweetheart,” Bonnie said to Maggie. “You’ve made me so proud today.”

Bonnie patted Maggie’s cheek and smiled at her so sweetly. Then, as if she suddenly remembered who she was, she said, “Remember to listen carefully to Father Stephen, Mary Margaret. We don’t want you to get the words all wrong and end up not married.”

The mothers left.

Maggie said, “I need to sit down.”