Nothing but Gossip (28 page)

For the guests, the wedding was just the beginning of an evening of sheer fantasy: what we all would do, if we could.

Katharine’s florist, that divine genius
Kenny Wallace
, must have stripped an entire forest to provide the gigantic bouquets of aspen leaves, which were at their absolute peak of color. Thousands of candles. Unlimited caviar and champagne. A stupendous dinner prepared by New York’s unparalleled
Daniel Proust
and nonstop music from
Bob Hartwick
and his full sixty-piece orchestra.

And the guests themselves were as glittering as the occasion. All of Old Roundup was there, including
Mercedes Rutherford
, who reports her company’s Siberian venture is off once and for all, and her escort, presidential candidate
Duke Fletcher
 … looks like there could be something serious going on there. Mercedes looked remarkably well considering her brother-in-law had strangled her almost to death only two days before. Ah, the wonders of makeup for concealing all manner of things. And
William Hewitt
was there with his fiancée, our favorite rodeo
superstar,
Miami McCloud
, who, just in case you’ve forgotten, used to be a Texas high school football star before that doctor in Montrose, Colorado, turned her into one of Wyoming’s prettiest gals. It appears William’s mother, the formidable
Victoria Hewitt
, has given her blessing for his and Miami’s nuptials, which are scheduled for Christmastime. I hope Miami’s doing some serious planning, if she ever hopes to top this affair. Watching her and Alida Jerome chat was worth the price of admission.

A contingent of Roundup’s finest, including
Chief Jack Lewis
, was on hand, as was the Commandant of Fort Hickock,
Brigadier General John Taylor
, whose arm bridesmaid Pitty-Pat Palmer (Texas)—now divorced from number three—never let go of once the ceremony was over. The general has replaced Richard Jerome as Wyoming’s most eligible bachelor. Another also-ran in the Lilly Bennett Stakes (if you choose to believe the gossip) was Chief Justice of California’s Supreme Court,
Wink Harrison
, whose wife,
Jayne
, never took her razor-sharp eyes off hizzoner the whole time.

Joan Chamberlain
—not there with estranged husband number five,
Dickie
, who attended with a dishy young thing—left the dance floor long enough to tell me she had done her best to grab Richard herself.

Televangelist
Johnny Bourbon
and his wife,
Shanna
, were locked deep in conversation with our own Perry Mason,
Paul Decker
, probably discussing Decker’s latest
client, truck tycoon, ex-golfer, and all-round bad boy
Wade Gilhooly
, whose recently late wife,
Alma Rutherford Gilhooly
, was expected to bequeath a bundle to Johnny Bourbon’s Christian Cowboys. Don’t look now, Johnny, but a little birdie told me she’s left the whole caboodle to the National Rifle Association. Why is no one surprised?

Nobody wanted the party to end, but at eleven o’clock, after a final toast by Elias Bennett, and after Lilly had tossed her bouquet to a tall redhead who’d been tending to him all evening, the newlywed Jeromes kissed their families and friends good-bye, climbed into the family’s navy-blue helicopter, and headed off to spend their wedding night at the Grand. By the time you read this Sunday morning, they will be on their way to a friend’s chateau in Burgundy—nonstop on the family’s navy-blue Gulfstream-Five—and a well-deserved rest from this exhausting ranch-style life.

One last note … As I stood there watching the chopper sail away into the stars, a familiar voice behind me said, “Story of my life. I never even got to meet her. One of these days I’m going to get the girl.”

It was
Robert Redford
.

For the other men in my life—
Nelson, Nick, and Harry

By the same author

TRAMP
CURTSEY
BAD MANNERS