Carol laughed. “He’s not completely unreasonable.”
“Of course not. He built this house?”
“His crew did, yes.”
“Rebecca could hardly talk about anything else, she was so excited to see it.” Paul accepted the plates and forks from Carol and moved to the dining room.
She studied the younger man and smiled secretly. He was certainly handsome and well put together—his brown hair was stylishly cut, his clothes unwrinkled, and his watch expensive. He had a sort of nervous tension around him. She thought he was anxious about more than just meeting Rebecca’s father.
“What do you do for a living, Paul?”
“I’m a pediatrician. Is all of this stuff from Africa?”
Carol looked around the room. “Yes. Some of it is from when we finished Kenya, but there are items from Ethiopia and the Congo as well. A pediatrician? And you’ve known Rebecca for a year.”
Paul carefully placed the plates in front of each chair. “No, we’ve known each other for almost four years, but she wouldn’t give me the time of day until a year ago. I’ve been waiting the whole time.”
“If she’s anything like her mother, she’ll make you wait thirty-eight years,” Daniel said as he walked into the room, Rebecca on his arm. “You’re not going to do that to his poor boy, are you Becky girl?”
Rebecca smiled, blushing a pretty pink. “Oh, Mom, the house is beautiful. I can’t believe it. And did you see my room? Can you believe he kept all that stuff?”
Carol smiled dryly. “Yes.” She looked at Daniel. “Did you tell her?”
“Not yet.”
“Tell me what?”
“Do you have time to make a short trip to Mountain Grove?” Daniel asked.
Rebecca narrowed her eyes. “Why?”
“Just answer the question, kid.”
Rebecca looked at Paul. He just shrugged. “Yeah, we don’t have to be back for two weeks. We were going to take the time to shop for…what’s in Mountain Grove?”
“The church where we’re getting married,” Carol said.
Rebecca’s eyes widened. She looked from Carol to Daniel and back again. “Are you serious?”
“We’re finally ready,” Daniel said.
“Are you serious?” she repeated. “Are you really going to go through with it this time?”
Daniel laughed. “Yes. I’m sure of it.”
Rebecca squealed, wrapping her arms around Daniel in a tight hug before she hurried to her mother, her eyes shining. “I can’t believe you’re serious. We have so much to do! We need to buy a dress, and flowers, and you guys will want to go on a honeymoon, right? And invitations. And—” She clapped her hands together. “It’s going to be beautiful.”
Carol couldn’t help but laugh at Paul’s bewildered face. “You’re invited, too, Paul.”
“Um…thank you…”
Daniel held up his hand. “We’re not planning anything until we eat.”
Rebecca nodded, “Of course, of course. I’ve just been dreaming of this day for so long.”
“Calm down, sweetheart,” Carol said, “it’s not like it’s your wedding.”
Rebecca blushed again.
* * * *
With heavy eyes, Carol watched Daniel dress. “You know why she wanted to take us out for breakfast, right?”
Daniel knotted his tie. “Because she likes breakfast?”
“No.”
“Are you going to get out of bed?”
“I don’t know. I’m exhausted, and this bed is so comfortable. Did you know how comfortable this bed was?” she asked accusingly.
“I tested it before I bought it. Why does she want to go out to breakfast?”
Carol swung her legs over the side of the mattress, sitting up slowly. Either Daniel was incredibly oblivious, or he was living in denial. Shoot, why couldn’t it be both? “Do you know where my yellow sundress is?”
He pulled it out of the closet and tossed it on the bed. “We can get the rest of your clothes from the apartment this weekend.”
“I was thinking this afternoon.”
He shrugged. “Whichever works best for you.”
“I need to call Karen and tell her I won’t be coming in today,” she sighed, reaching for the phone on the nightstand.
“Is that going to be a problem?”
Carol snorted. “What’s she going to do? Fire me? Besides, it’s not every day you get to plan a wedding.”
“Is that why Rebecca wanted to go out for breakfast?” Daniel asked, inspecting his shoes and frowning. They looked fine to her, but he still scraped his thumbnail against imaginary dirt.
Carol merely smiled as she dialed the Reach Out office number from memory. Karen answered on the second ring, already sounding harried, despite the early hour. “Yes?”
“Karen, it’s Carol. I’m not going to be able to come in today.”
“What’s wrong?” she demanded. “Are you sick?”
“No, not sick.” Carol smiled slyly. “But I have to plan my daughter’s wedding.”
Daniel looked at her, perplexed. “Rebecca isn’t getting married.”
“Oh, um, congratulations. Will you be coming in at all this week?”
“Can you spare me?” Carol asked, twirling the chord around her fingers.
“I guess so. But if you could come in for a few hours this week, we’d really appreciate it.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Carol promised. “Thanks Karen.”
“Yeah.” The phone went dead.
“Rebecca’s not getting married,” Daniel repeated.
“Yes, she is.”
“Did she tell you? Because why would she tell you and not tell me?” He ran his hand through his hair, leaving it standing on end.
“She hasn’t told me anything yet. But I’m not blind and neither are you. She’s always touching him, she blushed every time you mentioned our wedding, she said she had something important to discuss. What do you think it could be?” Carol asked, laughing.
“But married? She’s too young for that.”
Carol rolled her eyes. “Just promise me that when she makes her announcement, you won’t freak out.”
He gaped. “Freak out? Why on Earth would I freak out?”
“Because you think she’s still six.”
He looked at himself in the mirror, touching the lines on his eyes. “Believe me, I know she’s not six anymore. What do you think? A double ceremony?”
“Oh, of course not. Rebecca will want her own wedding on her own day. Don’t even suggest it.”
“It was just an idea,” he grumbled, opening the door just in time to see Paul stepping out of Rebecca’s bedroom. “Good morning.”
Paul froze, his mouth hanging open, his hair mussed, and his shirt untucked. “I was just going to…brush my teeth…I just needed to get my toothbrush from Rebecca’s bag. I mean, it wasn’t in Rebecca’s bag…”
Carol peeked over Daniel’s shoulder. “I don’t see a toothbrush.”
“I must have forgotten it,” Paul mumbled, backing into the bathroom.
“I don’t know why he’s so nervous,” Daniel said, looking at Carol over his shoulder. “It’s not like he saw me cleaning my guns.”
“You don’t have any guns.”
Daniel winked. “He doesn’t know that.” He tapped his knuckles against Rebecca’s door. “Your boyfriend forgot his toothbrush.”
“Uh, thanks, Dad.”
Carol pushed his shoulder. “Go downstairs so we can dress in peace.”
He stole a kiss before heading downstairs. She watched him, her smile fading, until he was out of sight. It was easy to tease him and laugh at his confusion, but only because it masked her own terror.
Her little girl was about to get married.
She was about get married.
The words sounded alien. They didn’t make sense put together in that order. Rebecca was too young and Carol was too old. Married.
She dressed slowly, her limbs weighted. A par
t of her wanted to run into Rebecca’s room, and beg her to change her mind. Or beg her to convince Carol to change her mind.
Carol hoped she was wrong. She hoped they were just going to breakfast and talk about the house, and Carol’s work, and Daniel’s plans for retirement, and maybe Paul could tell them what it was like to work as a pediatrician.
She smiled as she buckled her sandals, already feeling better.
* * * *
Daniel and Rebecca dug into their waffles with enthusiasm, while Paul and Carol each picked at their eggs, pushing them around their plates. Carol noticed the sick look in Paul’s eyes, and imagined he saw the same reflected in hers.
“I was thinking we could drive up the Grove on Saturday,” Daniel announced.
“Saturday? Daddy, we can’t go on Saturday.”
He stirred sugar into his second cup of coffee. “Do you have other plans?”
“No, but we can’t get everything together by Saturday!”
“I’m sure it won’t be a problem,” Carol said softly.
“Not a problem? I suppose if we go into San Francisco and hit the shops, we can find something. I need the right dress. Paul, do you have a suit? Oh, Dad, do you have anybody for your best man? Maybe Paul could stand with you. Wouldn’t that be nice?”
Daniel grunted.
Carol’s head began to ache.
“Besides,” Rebecca continued, “how can we expect people to make it up to the Grove with such short notice? I’m sure I’m not the only one interested in seeing you guys finally get married! I’m sure there are people with money riding on the outcome,” she joked, shoving another piece of waffle into her mouth.
Daniel grunted again.
“I think all we need is a ring and a minister,” Carol said.
“We can shop for a ring when we look for a dress.”
“I have a ring,” Daniel said mildly. “And a suit, too.”
“I’m sure I have a dress,” Carol added.
“Oh, Mom, you can’t use one of your old dresses to get married in. I mean, it’s not like you get married every day, right? Oh, I know! We need to hire a photographer. I bet he could take some lovely black and white photos in that old church. With roses.”
“Yes, that does sound lovely,” Carol said, rubbing her forehead.
“Okay, so we need a caterer, a florist, a photographer, a baker, invitations, and a dress.” Rebecca worried her bottom lip. “We could probably contact the florist and the photographer today…well, we’re going to have to, I guess. All of the good ones are probably booked but that doesn’t mean we can’t find some halfway decent people, if we look hard enough. Paul can go home with Dad, and we can just head into San Francisco after breakfast. How does that sound?”
“No.”
They all froze, staring at Carol.
“Mom?”
“Are you okay?” Daniel asked under his breath.
“Look, Rebecca, I appreciate what you want to do, but I don’t…I mean, all of that stuff isn’t necessary, is it?”
Rebecca leaned back against the booth, her face falling. “Oh, okay, I see. I just thought, you know, that you’d like the typical wedding stuff. That’s all.”
Carol looked from Rebecca to Daniel, seeing the disappointment in her eyes and the confusion in his.
“We can put it off a week,” Daniel said. “Go up there next Saturday. Would that give you more time?”
“That isn’t necessary,” Carol said.
“I think a photographer and a florist would be great,” Daniel said. “I don’t care who’s there, as long as you and your mother show, but if you would like to put together a guest list, I’m sure that will be fine.”
Carol touched his arm. “Daniel.”
He wiped his mouth with the corner of his napkin and stood. “I think I left my wallet in the car. Carol, why don’t you come and help me find it?”
She smiled, then stood, following Daniel out of the restaurant. He walked with a calm, unhurried gate to the car, twirling his key ring between his fingers.
“I think you should just let her plan the wedding if that makes her happy,” he started.
“You spoil her. You always have.”
He flinched at her tone. “It’s not about spoiling her. She’s trying to do something for you.”
“If she wants to plan a wedding, she can plan her own.”
“She never said she was getting married.”
“It’s just…so much. I just wanted to marry you. I could be happy driving down to the courthouse today. I wasn’t worried about a million little details.”
“For once.”
“Am I being unreasonable?”
“A bit.”
She sighed. “You’re right.”
“Look, I don’t care how or where we get married, Carol. But Rebecca has obviously been waiting for this for years, if not her entire life. Is there any reason we can’t let her have her fun?” He wrapped his arm around her and kissed the top of her head.
“No. No reason.”
“Great. Good. Let’s go in and finish our breakfast.”
She took a deep breath. She had been unreasonable. When they returned to the table, she was smiling, and Rebecca’s eyes looked puffy.
“I’m sorry,” Rebecca said as they seated themselves.
“No, you didn’t do anything wrong,” Carol said. “I’ve just been under a lot of stress.”
“I understand about stress,” Rebecca said. “You know, I’m starting a practice with Paul next year and—”
Carol leaned over the table. “You are? I don’t remember you mentioning that.”
“Well, actually, we wanted to talk about it this morning,” Rebecca said with a shy smile.
“Maybe instead or planning out my wedding, we can discuss yours! We’ll have more than a week to talk about it at least. What are you thinking? A year engagement? Longer? Two years can be a good period, from what I understand.”
“Mom, wait—”
Paul coughed, shifting in his seat. “Ms. Thorn—”
“Do you have a ring yet?”
“Mom, we’re not getting married.”
Carol’s smile froze on her face. “What?”
“We’re not getting married. We’re starting a practice together.”
Daniel arched his eyebrow. “So you aren’t seeing each other?”
“Oh, we are. But we don’t see the point in getting married.” She shrugged, fidgeting with her napkin. “I mean, you guys have been together for almost forty years, and you never got married.”
Carol exchanged a worried look with Daniel, but she didn’t know how to respond. None of her options seemed like a good idea. She couldn’t very well tell Rebecca she was making a mistake without looking like a hypocrite. At best, they’d fight. She didn’t want to think of the worst-case scenario.
Daniel saved her from responding by pointing his fork at Paul. “Have you ever been to Idaho?”
“Um, no, I can’t say I have.”
Carol and Rebecca both studied their plates as Daniel told Paul about Mountain Grove at great length. Carol didn’t even hear him, focusing instead on the discussion she planned to have with Rebecca.
* * * *
“The dress looks beautiful on you,” Rebecca insisted as she walked a slow circle around her mother.
Carol grimaced as she studied herself in the mirror. The white dress hung off her shoulders, exposing her freckled and aging skin. The layered skirt ended about four inches above her knees, ballooning out around her thighs and making her hips look huge. The breast was studded with rhinestones, designed to draw eyes directly to her cleavage. “This isn’t going to work.”
“But Suzy insisted it’s the latest fashion.”
“Who is Suzy?”
Rebecca pointed to the short girl behind the counter. “Her.”
Carol shook her head. “This dress was made for somebody like her. I want something a bit more…elegant.” She shuffled to the changing room, tugging at th
e skirt.
She struggled with the dress, finally freeing herself from the stiff material. She shook her head, imagining Daniel’s horrified face if he entered the church and saw her waiting for him in that monstrosity.
“Mom? I think I found something,” Rebecca said, knocking on the door.
Issuing a deep breath, Carol opened the door to accept the latest attempt. She had expected something else thirty years too young for her, but the dress was beautiful. She pulled it on, calling Rebecca to come in and zip it for her.
“It looks fabulous,” Rebecca breathed.
Carol nodded. The simple, off-white sheath accentuated her figure, which she still took pride in, and the top had a simple pattern of lace that added an extra touch of class. She thought Daniel would adore it.
“We could put your hair up like this,” Rebecca murmured, lifting Carol’s hair above her shoulders. “I think this is the one.”
“I think you’re right.” Carol smiled and twirled.
* * * *
Twenty minutes later, Carol and Rebecca decided to split a celebratory pretzel and cola in the mall’s bustling food court. Carol waited until Rebecca had a large mouthful of the salty bread before launching into her prepared speech.
“I think you might be making a mistake.”
Rebecca stopped chewing, looking at her mother with quizzical eyes.
Carol pressed forward. “I realize I don’t know your reasons for not marrying Paul. And I know it’s none of my business. You’re an adult woman, not my little girl, and you have the right to make your own decisions. But I think we should talk.”
Rebecca swallowed with an audible gulp. “I don’t think we have anything to talk about. You’re right, it is none of your business.”
“Is there any particular reason you don’t want to get married?”
“Is there any particular reason you care?” Rebecca shot back, sounding eerily like her fifteen-year-old self.
“I care because you’re my daughter. I care because it matters.”
Rebecca snorted. “How much could it matter? Would your relationship with Dad have been different if you got married forty years ago?”
“Yes.”
Rebecca blinked, clearly surprised by Carol’s honesty. “What do you mean?”
“Everything would have been much different if I had married him forty years ago. Different for all of us.”
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