The Wedding (40 page)

We'll meet here again one week from today, Delilah told her, rising from the couch with her giraffelike legs at odd angles, as Allegra tried not to stare at her. And I want you to promise me you'll do your homework.

Absolutely, Allegra said solemnly, accepting the album and the books and the checklists. There was even a video to select her cake from.

You're a dear, now off to go shopping. You have lots of work to do. She waved and was gone like a comic figure in a New York play, and Allegra just stood there, staring. Two minutes later, she walked to her office phone, and dialed her mother. She was in a meeting, as usual, but for once, Allegra told them to get her.

Allegra? What's wrong?

Are you kidding? Allegra said, sitting down at her desk. She looked shell-shocked.

About what, dear?

That woman. I can't believe you'd do this to me.

You mean Delilah? Everyone who's ever had her says she's fabulous. I think we'll be glad to have her.

You must be kidding. I can't do this, Mother. But at least Allegra was grinning at the absurdity of it all. The wedding was becoming more ridiculous every day. Maybe she and Jeff should just live together.

Darling, be patient. She'll help you. You'll like her. Her mother had obviously lost her marbles.

I've never in my whole life seen anything like her. And all of a sudden, Allegra couldn't stop laughing. She laughed until tears ran down her face, and Blaire started to laugh too. I can't believe you hired her. Allegra said through convulsive giggles.

She's very efficient, don't you think?

Just wait till Daddy sees her. And Mom she really had to laugh at the whole thing I just want you to know I love you.

I love you too. And it's going to be a beautiful wedding. That seemed so insignificant now, in the midst of everything else. All she really cared about was Jeff, not the wedding. And now they had Sam to think about, and her baby. What kind of wedding cake they had, or what color dresses for the bridesmaids, not to mention shoes, as Delilah had said, seemed totally unimportant.

And while she was still laughing over it, the phone on her desk rang again and she picked it up. It was Jeff. Good news, was the first thing he said.

I've had a totally insane morning and I think I can use some. She was smiling when she answered.

I'm free this weekend, Tony says he can hold the fort without me, and I just told my mother we'd fly out to see her. We can fly into Kennedy and go straight to Southampton. Allegra's heart stopped for the briefest of minutes. She had thought she was off the hook indefinitely. He seemed so busy with his movie. She was really pleased. We've been promising for so long, I don't think she even believed me. You can get away, can't you? He had noticed her silence; she was trying to adjust again to the idea of having to meet his mother. She wasn't sure why, but she still had the feeling that Mrs. Hamilton didn't like her.

For once, I don't see a single obstacle, she said, feeling somewhat disappointed. But no one was in crisis. Not even Carmen.

Don't say that too loud. We're leaving on Friday, he said solemnly. He wanted to introduce her to his mother.

I'll be there, she said, praying silently that this time nothing would happen to stop them, or his mother would never forgive her. She knew from Jeff how angry his mother had been the last time they canceled. But all Allegra could do was pray that nothing would happen, and steel herself to go with him. If nothing else, it was a weekend away together, and they both needed that desperately. The only problem was that Allegra suspected, long before they left, that nothing about their weekend would be relaxing. All she could think of was the face in the photograph he had shown her in the New York apartment, and the memory of it still scared her.

Allegra felt like she was walking on eggs all week before they went to meet his mother. She knew that Jeff would be furious if she couldn't make it. But by Thursday, nothing untoward had happened, and she heaved a sigh on Thursday night when they packed, and decided she had been apprehensive for nothing. No crisis had occurred to interfere with the trip, and she realized that she was foolish to be so nervous about meeting his mother. That was also what Jeff said. He told her constantly that his mother was going to love her.

They were both tired, after long weeks of pressure, but everything seemed to be going well for both of them, and all of Allegra's clients. Even Carmen had been a little better for the past few days. Her mind was at least occupied now that she'd started shooting the film. She was still terribly lonely without Alan, but she talked to him constantly, mostly on the cellular phone she carried around in the pocket of her dressing gown. She seemed to call him at all hours of the day and night. Even more than she called Allegra. Allegra had finally asked her to at least try not to call her too much at night. And Carmen had promised. Most of the time she called Alan instead now.

I can't believe we're actually going, Jeff said, as he set both their bags down in the front hall that night. They both had meetings in the morning, and they were leaving right after that. Southampton is great this time of year, he told her, but Southampton wasn't what she was worried about. It was meeting his mother that was still making her edgy, despite his reassurances.

She did her hair and her nails, and she planned to wear a navy linen Givenchy suit for the plane trip. She wanted to look respectable when she met her. She was even planning to tie back her hair. And when they went to bed that night, Jeff smiled at her, and talked about how much he had loved the Hamptons in the summer as a kid, and Vermont where they used to go when his grandmother was alive. They fell asleep like two children whispering at a slumber party, and Allegra thought she was dreaming when she heard bells. Something was ringing in the distance, and she had no idea what it was. Maybe church bells in Vermont, she mused as she half listened through the mists of her dreams, and then, suddenly, with a start, she realized it was the phone. She leapt out of bed, as she always did, so Jeff wouldn't hear it, but as usual, he was already awake before she was. And as she picked up the phone, she saw on the clock at her bedside that it was four-thirty in the morning.

If it's Carmen, tell her I'm going to kill her, Jeff said as he rolled over. There's absolutely no way to get any sleep in this house, as long as you're here. He was not amused, and Allegra spoke into the phone quietly, sure, as Jeff was, that Carmen would be on the other end.

Hello? Who is this? Allegra said, furious for the intrusion at that hour, and terrified it would be something that would keep them from leaving for New York.

It's Malachi O'Donovan, darlin', he said with a brogue and a belch. He was roaring drunk.

Don't call me at this hour, Mai. It's four-thirty in the morning.

Well, top of the mornin' to you, m'dear. And wouldn't you know that I'm in jail. They said they'd let me call my lawyer. So here I am, and now you be a good girl and come bail me out of jail.

Oh, for heaven's sake. Another DUI? He collected Driving Under the Influence charges the way other people did tickets, and she kept warning him that one of these days he'd have to stay in jail. And lose his license. But so far, he had pulled every string he could, and he had been extremely lucky. His frequent stays in rehabs made them overlook his record, but Allegra was sure that this time his license would be pulled. This is really bullshit, she said.

I know, I know. I'm sorry. He sounded contrite, but he also expected her to come and bail him out. After all, she was his lawyer.

Is there anyone else who can come and get you, Mai? I'm in Malibu, and it's the middle of the night. Jeff was right. If she hadn't answered the phone at that hour, he would have just had to wait until the next morning for her to call. But she had answered, and now he expected her to come and get him. It was difficult getting out of it, and he was insistent that he wanted her to come down immediately to bail him out.

All right, she finally said. Where are you? He was in Beverly Hills. He'd been driving on the wrong side of the street down Beverly, and they busted him with an open fifth of Jack Daniel's between his legs, and a bag of grass in the glove compartment of the car. He was just lucky they hadn't found more, but they hadn't looked that hard either. The officers who had arrested him knew who he was. I'll be there in half an hour. She put down the phone, and looked at Jeff's still form. He looked as though he was asleep again, but she could sense that he wasn't. And as she started tiptoeing out of the room, she discovered that she was right.

If you don't make that plane today, Allegra, there won't be a wedding, he said calmly from under the covers, and she stopped to look at him with a worried expression.

Don't threaten me, Jeff. I'm doing the best I can. I'll be there.

Just see that you are. He didn't say another word then and she went to put on jeans and a white shirt. And as she drove down the Pacific Coast Highway, she was furious with all of them. Malachi O'Donovan, who thought he could do anything he wanted, and then expect her to bail him out. And Carmen, who used her as a crying towel day and night, and Alan, who kept calling her and asking her to take care of his wife, and even Jeff, who got so annoyed at all of it sometimes, as if he didn't have his moments too, between getting up at three A.M. SO he could be at the set before anyone else, or having to rewrite his screenplay night after night. Everyone expected her to be understanding, and to do just what they wanted. It was beginning to drive her crazy, and for some reason she was maddest of all at Jeff. Of course she would be on the plane ' she hoped ' unless Malachi had really pulled a major stunt. And even now, she'd have to deal with the tabloids. God, she was getting tired of that too. They all expected her to get them out of their jams, as though she had been born to solve their problems.

She slammed her car door when she got to the Beverly Hills police station, and when she went inside, she saw an officer she knew. She told him why she was there, and he nodded. He went inside to check, and a few minutes later he came out with Mai. She had to post bond for him, which was no problem, and this time he had to leave his driver's license with them. They gave him a court date, at which he had to appear, and Allegra was relieved to see it wasn't for another month, and then, with a stern expression, she drove him home. He reeked of booze, and he kept trying to kiss her to thank her for getting him out of jail, but she told him firmly to behave. His wife was asleep when they got to his house, and Allegra wondered why he hadn't called her. But as soon as his wife started shrieking at him when she heard what had happened, Allegra understood why he had called her instead.

Rainbow O'Donovan almost threw him into their bedroom, and she screamed at him so loudly, she must have woken up the neighbors. A few minutes later Allegra was on her way, and she was back at her own house again by seven. Jeff was in the shower, there was coffee on the stove, and she poured herself a cup, and sat down on their bed. She was absolutely exhausted, but she had a lot of nights like that one. That's what Jeff was complaining about, and she knew he wasn't wrong. But there wasn't much she could do about it either, and she needed him to understand.

He was drying his hair when he came out of the shower, and he was startled when he saw her. He hadn't heard her come in and it was easy to see how tired she was as she sat there.

How did it go?

Great. They took his license away, she said with a soft moan as she lay down on the bed, and he came over and sat next to her.

I'm sorry I got mad last night. I just get so tired of people pulling at you sometimes. It's as though they want to eat you up. It's not fair.

It's not fair to you either. I'm going to have to establish better boundaries. I realized when I took him home that he could have called his wife. I think he was afraid to.

Make them afraid of you, Jeff said, and leaned over and kissed her. He had to be at the studio within the hour, and then they were leaving on a two o'clock flight. You'll be okay? he asked as he left.

I'll be fine, she reassured him.

I'll pick you up at noon.

I'll be ready, she promised.

She got to her office at nine o'clock, with their bags in the car, and Alice had a stack of messages and paperwork for her. She got through all of it, and was just putting her files away, when Alice came into her office holding the latest copy of Chatter.

Please don't tell me I'm going to care about what that says, Allegra said, almost cringing. If it was going to upset one of their clients, maybe she'd never get out of town after all.

Alice set it down gingerly on her desk as though it might burn her, and Allegra could see why. The photographs were awful and the headline wasn't pretty. Carmen was going to go wild when she saw it.

Oh, shit, Allegra said, looking up at her secretary. I'd better call her. She had the phone in her hand when the operator buzzed her. Miss Connors was on the line. The operator didn't say she was hysterical. But Allegra knew it the minute she heard her. I just saw it, she said calmly. I want to sue them.

I don't think that's smart. But she could understand how she felt, and she knew Alan would be livid too. The paper said that Carmen Connors, Alan Carr's new wife, had gone to Europe for an abortion. And there were some grim photographs of her leaving the hospital. She looked as though she were sneaking out, but she was actually doubled over.