“I’m sorry. But, Cam, these things take a lot of planning.”
He turned to her, his face solemn. “Anne, I get that you want to help, and I know this is your business, but you don’t need to do it 24/7. And like I said, you need to let Laney do some of it herself. It’s her wedding.”
“I agree. And I am, but planning a wedding is complicated.”
He shrugged and turned his attention back to the TV. “Tell me when you’re done.”
“I’m done now,” she said and put a hand to his chin, forcing him to look at her.
He obliged, but he was still frowning.
“Come on now. Don’t be mad. This is important. This is our daughter.”
He sighed. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
“Kiss and make up?”
The frown disappeared. One kiss was all it took to make him forget about the action on the TV and switch his attention to the action on the couch, which started heating up pretty fast, clothes slipping off and Anne slipping into a horizontal position. It was nice to lie here and enjoy her husband’s caresses and kisses. She didn’t have to spend every second thinking about the wedding to-do list.
Except it was such a long one and they had so many things to check off. Crud, and when she was talking to Laney she’d forgotten to bring up the subject of “Wedding favors.”
Oh, no. Had she just said that out loud? Judging by the look on Cam’s face she had.
* * *
“Now, that’s funny,” Kendra said the next day as she and Anne perused dresses in Macy’s, looking for Anne’s mother-of-the-bride dress.
“Oh, yeah. Cam was laughing. I hope my marriage survives my daughter’s wedding.”
“Your marriage could survive a zombie apocalypse.”
Anne pulled out a champagne-colored dress with a nipped-in waist and pleated skirt. It was love at first sight. “I like this.”
“Oh, yeah. Try it on.”
She did, and the love affair grew stronger. “I’ll take it.” Oh, that everything would go as smoothly.
But it didn’t. It seemed that there was constantly something new to deal with, both at work and on the home front.
The bridesmaids finally got their dresses. So did the flower girls. When Kendra’s husband was supposed to be watching them, the girls put on the dresses and played wedding, which somehow resulted in Amy ripping her dress and Coral getting chocolate all over the bodice of hers.
Laurel Browne had two more meltdowns before her daughter’s wedding, and on the night of the actual wedding, the caterer was short-handed, the booze ran out and three of the goldfish on the dinner tables did the dead-fish float.
In the end, though, Laurel was so happy with the flowers, her daughter and her new son-in-law that she hugged Anne and thanked her. “Didn’t it turn out beautifully?” she gushed.
“Weddings usually do,” Anne replied sagely.
She reminded herself of that as she hurried around trying to cover all the bases for Laney’s upcoming nuptials. The invitations finally went out, but Laney continued to avoid some of the more minor details.
“Sweetie, you have to decide on wedding favors,” she told Laney during one of their many phone conversations.
“I don’t know,” Laney said, not for the first time.
“What about the bracelets?” Laney had talked about giving away some kind of bracelet since she liked making jewelry. Although now, even with the help of her bridesmaids, Anne doubted she’d be able to get them ready in time.
“No. I changed my mind.”
Nice of her to tell her mom. “Okay, then, what about the bubbles?”
“I think using all those little plastic bottles wouldn’t be very environmentally responsible. People might not recycle them.”
At this rate they’d never decide. “Okay, let’s go with the M&M’s with your names on them. Everybody likes chocolate.” And heaven knew Anne could use some right about now.
“I guess that’ll be fine.”
She guessed. “Is there something you’d rather have?”
“No, that’ll work.”
Her daughter’s enthusiasm was underwhelming. This was really beginning to bother Anne.
When she said as much to Cam, though, she didn’t get the support she wanted. Considering his earlier comments, she shouldn’t have been surprised.
“Like mother, like daughter,” he said.
Anne frowned at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He frowned right back at her. “It means that’s pretty much the reaction I’m getting from you about our anniversary. If you don’t want to do the cruise, Annie, just say so.”
“Okay, fine. I don’t want to do the cruise,” she said and then shocked both herself and her husband by bursting into tears. Oh, no. Where had this come from?
He was instantly apologetic, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her forehead. “I’m sorry, Annie. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
“It’s not you. It’s just that...”
“I know. You’re all caught up in Laney’s wedding.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to celebrate our anniversary,” she said with a sniffle. She did. Of course she did. “But I’d like to have the time and energy to enjoy planning it. I know you wanted to take a cruise, but I’d rather go up to the mountains and have a getaway, just the two of us, rather than be stuck on a boat with a few hundred—or thousand—other people.”
“Don’t tell me. Let me guess. To Icicle Falls.”
“That’s not as exciting as a cruise, is it?”
“I don’t need to go on a cruise.”
“But you want to.” He’d been the one to bring it up.
“Not that much. I thought you wanted it.”
“You suggested it. I agreed it would be nice to get away,” she said with a shrug.
He frowned and shook his head. “After twenty-five years, our communication should be better.”
Or she should say what she really wanted more often. But she hadn’t done that from the very start of their marriage. She’d set the pattern and, for the most part, they’d lived by it. Not that she didn’t enjoy the same things Cam did or that she had a problem going along with his ideas, especially when they were great, like those dance lessons they’d taken years ago.
Still, she did have a few dreams of her own, and maybe she should start sharing them more. She sighed. “If I was a rich woman, I’d buy a little cabin on a lake where we could go for weekends, or up in the mountains where we could hike, take the kids for Christmas. But I’d settle for a weekend somewhere quiet.” She smiled. “Of course, we could do that and a cruise.”
He dismissed her compromise with a wave of his hand. “Forget the cruise. I was trying to think of a big-ticket item you’d enjoy and that’s what I came up with. I don’t care what we do. I just want to give you something special for our twenty-fifth, something to make up for the fact that you never got your big, fancy wedding.”
“But I got you. That’s what matters,” she said, “and our daughter will get the big, fancy wedding.” She studied his face. “Are you disappointed?” Maybe he was; maybe he was simply trying to cover it up. Probably not, though. That was her modus operandi.
“Whatever you want. We can decide on something after we get the kids hitched.”
She took his face in her hands and kissed him. He was such a good man. “I know I’ve been...”
“Absent,” he supplied. “But I understand, and I’m sorry I was a jerk. You’re doing this for our daughter.”
In spite of the fact that their daughter didn’t seem to appreciate everything she was doing.
She wound up confessing as much to Roberta Gilbert when she made a day trip to Icicle Falls on the flimsy excuse of deciding where she wan
ted the flowers to go. Really, she just needed the R & R. There was something about seeing those mountains standing guard over the town that eased the stress from her mind and body. The quaint frescoes on the buildings, the hanging baskets and storefront window boxes filled with flowers made her smile. And visiting with Roberta was better than a shrink session.
“I sometimes wonder if my son-in-law would like a picture of me so he can throw darts at it,” she said. “He and Laney originally wanted to go to Las Vegas to get married.”
“It’s a popular place,” Roberta said diplomatically.
“I talked them out of it,” Anne admitted.
“If they wanted to do it that badly I doubt you could have.”
“My daughter always wanted a big, fancy wedding.”
“Most girls do.”
Anne set aside her teacup. “I plan weddings for a living. I shouldn’t be this stressed.”
“Oh, I’m not so sure about that,” Roberta said. “It’s different when it’s your daughter.”
“You’re right,” Anne said with a sigh. “I don’t think my husband understands that. He’s trying, but I don’t think he really does. I only want her to be happy.”
Roberta freshened Anne’s tea. “Of course you do. It’s what every mother wants for her daughter. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“I should be enjoying this a lot more,” Anne said and helped herself to a lavender–white chocolate scone.
Roberta chuckled. “My dear, I’ve come to the conclusion that anything involving a daughter is a mixture of pleasure and pain. However, you’ll both get through this, and as long as the bride is happy and comes away with good memories, that’s what counts. Sometimes a woman can get so sucked into all the wedding hustle and bustle, she forgets there’ll still be life after the wedding.”
Anne nodded. Roberta was so right.
“Go home, take a break and take a deep breath,” Roberta advised. “Everything will turn out exactly as it’s supposed to. We haven’t lost a mother of the bride yet.”
Anne couldn’t help smiling. She’d said as much to a few mothers of brides herself.
She decided it was time to follow Roberta’s advice. She called Cam. “I’m on my way home. I’ll pick up Chinese.”
“Works for me,” he said.
Three hours later she walked in the door with their premade dinner and found Cam had a bottle of wine chilling. “Everything set for the big day?” he asked.
She nodded. “Yes, it’s going to be fine, and I’m done stressing about the wedding. In fact, I think we should plan what we want to do for our anniversary.”
“Nope,” he said, pouring her a glass of pinot grigio. “Don’t need to. I’ve already got it figured out.”
“You have?”
“Most of it. I have a few details to work out, but don’t make any plans for the weekend after Laney’s wedding.”
Just like that he’d gone ahead and planned what they were going to do for their anniversary? Without asking her? She put down her glass and frowned at him. “Well, don’t you want my input?”
He picked up the glass and gave it back to her. “Now, don’t look at me like that. Trust me. You’re going to like this.”
She put the glass down again. “How do you know?” She was the planner, not him.
“I know,” he said, sounding both mysterious and cocky. He slipped his arms around her. “I know what you like,” he added and planted a kiss on her neck.
“Yeah?” He was doing a pretty good job of showing her right now.
“Yeah.” He touched his lips to her shoulder.
“Prove it.”
“If you insist,” he said and set about doing exactly that.
They abandoned the Chinese takeout in favor of satisfying a different appetite, and this time Anne didn’t worry about her daughter’s upcoming wedding. She did have one moment when she wondered if they’d ordered enough champagne, but she wisely kept that thought to herself.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Roberta, New and Improved
It was the second Saturday in June, a perfect day for a wedding with only a few wispy clouds floating in a blue sky. But no wedding was happening at Primrose Haus today. Thanks to a runaway bride, the wedding had been canceled.
This was such a rare thing Roberta almost didn’t know what to do with herself. Daphne suggested a play day.
“We can start by going over to Bavarian Brews and getting a latte,” she said.
“I can’t remember the last time I did that,” Roberta confessed. She also couldn’t remember the last time she and her daughter had gone out and done something fun, just the two of them. It seemed that for the past few years, Roberta had been too busy most weekends to get away, and whenever Daphne had come up to visit, she’d either been with Marnie (always a good thing) or a man (never a good thing).
Bavarian Brews was packed with locals chatting or texting on their cell phones, and tourists wearing novelty hats from the hat shop and armed with digital cameras, ready to shoot pictures of the town’s colorful main street and the surrounding scenery. The place was fragrant with the aroma of freshly brewed coffee, and looking at the different concoctions the baristas were making with various combinations of chocolate, coconut and caramel made Roberta’s mouth water.
Del Stone and Ed York were there, and after picking up tall orders of coffee, they stopped by to say hello. Del once more thanked Roberta for giving his little girl such a great wedding. “I’ll wager you’ll be hearing from Representative Wattle. His daughter just got engaged. I told him he couldn’t pick a better place.”
“Thank you, Del. That’s very sweet of you.” Del would have her vote in the next election, whether or not those potholes on Pine Street got fixed.
He elbowed Ed. “You and Pat should’ve done it up right and gone to Roberta for your wedding.”
Roberta couldn’t have agreed more, especially considering how many years they’d all known one another and how much business she’d given both of them. She’d hoped to get invited to the wedding.
“Pat’s daughter insisted on us getting married at her house. It was a small wedding, just family.”
At least it wasn’t a case of not making the cut. “You have to do what your children want,” Roberta said. “I’m happy for both of you,” she added to show there were no hard feelings.
“I feel pretty lucky finding a woman like Pat,” Ed said. “What they say is true—love is better the second time around.”
She’d have to take his word for it.
“After my first time around, I’d sure hope so,” Del said heartily.
Roberta shook her head at Del. “You forget I’ve met your wife.”
He smiled good-naturedly, then wished them a nice morning as he and Ed moved off to stake out a table by the window, which offered a view of the street and its various shops as well as Sweet Dreams Chocolates, the town’s pride and joy and source of all things chocolate.
“Mother, have you ever thought about dating?” Daphne asked when they settled at a table with their lattes.
“Oh, goodness, Daphne. Why would I want a man at this point in my life?”
Daphne shrugged. “Companionship?”
“I have plenty of companionship with you and Lila and my friends at the chamber of commerce. Besides, no real man ever measures up to the ones in my Vanessa Valentine books. You’ve learned that firsthand. Although there may be a few out there who come close,” she mused, seeing Hank walk up behind Daphne. A shame they hadn’t met earlier, before they’d both messed up their lives.
“Hello, ladies,” he said, making Daphne jump.
Roberta would’ve liked to shoo him away, but that would be rude, so she forced herself to ask, “Would you care to join us?”
“Don�
��t mind if I do.” He seated himself next to Daphne, whose face was suddenly flushed. “I’m surprised you’re not at Primrose Haus getting ready for a wedding.”
“The wedding got canceled,” Roberta explained.
“Uh-oh. Did the groom have cold feet?”
“Nope, the bride did,” Daphne answered. “She’d been married before. She probably decided not to jump off the cliff again.”
“You can’t fly if you don’t take a leap,” said Hank.
Roberta could see where this conversation was going, right into three’s-a-crowd territory. What to do? Her first inclination was to stay at the table like a two-legged guard dog, make sure Daphne didn’t do anything foolish.
But she’d resolved not to interfere in her daughter’s life or tell her what to do, and Daphne had assured her she wasn’t going to rush into anything, that she was learning to be happy on her own. Was it really so foolish to have coffee with a nice, hardworking man, a man who, like Daphne, had gotten a raw deal on love? Anyway, if the two of them were going to wind up together eventually, there was nothing Roberta could do to stop it.
So, no guard-dogging. “I think I’ll go back to the house. My foot is hurting.” Actually, her foot felt pretty good these days. She was off the heavy-duty painkillers and down to ibuprofen, fitting in her morning walks again. She hadn’t taken a walk yet today. Maybe she’d do that.
Daphne nodded and began to get up.
Roberta waved her back down. “Stay put, darling. Finish your latte.” Start your new life.
“We were going to spend the day together,” Daphne reminded her.
“We can do that tomorrow.” Then, before Daphne could say anything more, Roberta slipped out of the coffee shop.
It was around ten in the morning and by now downtown was buzzing with visitors checking out the various shops. It made Roberta happy to see so many people in town. She could remember when she’d first arrived and the place was almost a ghost town. Thanks to the cleverness and hard work of its people, Icicle Falls had come back to life in a big way.
She caught sight of a couple around her age, holding hands as they entered Gilded Lily’s women’s apparel. Their easy familiarity suggested they’d been married for years. The woman had probably said, “Look at that cute dress in the window,” and he’d most likely replied, “Why don’t you go try it on?”
A Wedding on Primrose Street (Life In Icicle Falls Book 7) Page 25