Not Another Family Wedding

by Jackie Lau

  “Sounds good. My dad’s always up by eight, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

  He gave her a kiss on the cheek before heading out the door.

  Would things would ever be the same between them again?

  * * *

  When Connor had woken up and seen Natalie asleep beside him, her hair going every which way, he’d thought she was just as beautiful as she’d been the night before, and she was adorably flustered when he came out of the shower. So unlike her.

  Hmm.

  He drove the short distance to Howard and Judy’s house, and he exchanged a few words with Howard about the weather before the older man went upstairs to retrieve the suitcase.

  When Connor returned to the bed and breakfast, Natalie was out of the shower. She had a towel wrapped around her, and she was combing her hair.

  “Breakfast is really good here,” he said to fill the silence. “Yesterday they had ham and cheese soufflés. Since the room is for two guests, it shouldn’t be a problem that you’re eating with me today, even though you weren’t here the first night.”

  “Right,” she said, concentrating very hard on her hair.

  “We’re okay, aren’t we?” He hoped they were okay, and he hoped she’d be interested in another round after they’d gotten some sustenance.

  He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had such a good time in bed with a woman. He’d slept with a few women since his divorce, but not for a while now, and he hadn’t stayed the night those times. But he would have wanted to spend the whole night with Natalie even if they hadn’t already arranged to share his room. He’d liked going to sleep with her head on his shoulder.

  Interesting.

  “We’re fine,” she said, pulling her clothes out of her suitcase. She went to the washroom and closed the door.

  So she wasn’t going to undress in front of him.

  Well, that was unfortunate.

  * * *

  When Connor and Natalie went downstairs for breakfast, Seth and Simon were seated at a table for four by the window. Simon waved them over.

  “How are you two after yesterday’s exciting events?” he asked.

  Natalie sat down beside Seth, and Connor sat beside Simon.

  “I’m wonderful,” Natalie said, with more than a hint of sarcasm in her voice. “Just wonderful. Where’s the coffee?”

  “On the sideboard.” Seth pointed to the left.

  Connor jumped up to get coffee for the two of them. He knew how Natalie liked hers: a moderate amount of sugar and just a splash of cream. He placed her coffee in front of her and she smiled at him, which sent a pleasant hum through his body.

  He took a seat and turned toward Seth and Simon. “What did you two get up to last night after we left?”

  “Never mind that,” Simon said, leaning toward him. “What did you and Natalie do?”

  “Simon,” Seth said, “you promised you wouldn’t say anything.”

  “Speaking of that, where’s my five dollars? We made a bet, remember?”

  Seth glared at him.

  Simon looked at the rest of the table. “It was a very simple bet. Before we left the room this morning, I bet Seth that you two would come down to breakfast together.”

  Connor choked on his coffee. So did Natalie. At exactly the same time, as though they’d choreographed it.

  Simon held out his hand. “Five dollars.”

  Seth rolled his eyes and deposited a five-dollar bill in his husband’s hand. Simon kissed him on the cheek.

  “I don’t want you to get the wrong idea...” Natalie began.

  “The wrong idea?” Simon tilted his head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Please, enlighten me.”

  She gave him a look. “I didn’t want to stay at Mom and Dad’s last night because I figured there’d be a fight to rival the Baffin Island mist one, and I wouldn’t sleep a wink.”

  So she was going to pretend nothing had happened last night. This caused Connor a touch of disappointment, but he understood.

  “What on earth is Baffin Island mist?” Simon asked.

  “It’s a paint color,” Seth said. “Our parents argued about what color to paint the living room for a full week. It was awful.”

  “And yet,” Natalie said, “when it came down to it, I always thought they were happy together. But sometimes you can’t see what you don’t want to see.”

  A middle-aged woman wearing an apron approached the table. Macy was one of the owners of the bed and breakfast. “What can I get the four of you this morning? There are two options today. Blueberry pancakes and bacon, or spinach omelet.”

  “Pancakes,” Natalie said.

  “Pancakes,” Connor said.

  “My God.” Simon looked at Natalie, then Connor. “You’re already connected at the mind.”

  “Stop it,” Seth said. “There are only two options, and clearly pancakes and bacon is the sensible choice.” He turned to Macy. “I’ll have pancakes, too.”

  “I,” Simon began, lifting his nose in the air, “will have the spinach omelet. That’s the healthier choice.”

  “Three pancakes and one omelet,” Macy said. “Coming right up.”

  When she left, Simon turned to Seth and said, “I don’t know why you have a problem with Natalie and Connor being together. He seems perfectly nice, and it’s been years since Natalie brought anyone home, hasn’t it?”

  Connor tried to remember her past boyfriends. Which one might she have brought back to Mosquito Bay?

  “Just to be clear,” Natalie said, “Connor and I are not together. A straight man and woman can sleep in the same room without anything happening.”

  “That’s true, that’s true,” Simon said, nodding his head. “Very good point, Natalie. But even though you’re a bit grumpy—as you usually are in the morning—you have a healthy glow about you, despite everything that happened yesterday.”

  Natalie contorted her face in an odd way, as though trying to get rid of her healthy glow. Connor stifled a laugh.

  Simon was right. She did look good this morning, even when her face was all pinched up.

  “I do not have a healthy glow,” she insisted.

  “Oh, but you do,” Simon said. “Don’t you think so, Seth?”

  Seth was looking out the window. He merely grunted.

  Simon sighed. “He’s in a bad mood because he heard you two having sex last night.”

  “What?” Connor and Natalie said at the same time.

  “Apparently, hearing your sister having sex is a very horrible thing. I don’t have any siblings, so I wouldn’t know.”

  “I’m not sure why I’m asking,” Natalie said, “but what, exactly, did you hear?”

  “Nothing.” Seth scowled. “We heard nothing.”

  “You’re so charming, husband of mine.” Simon reached over and patted his hand. “We didn’t hear much, to be honest, and we were both high at the time. But when we were in the hallway, fumbling with our keys, we heard Natalie cry out from the room next door, as well as a few creaks of the bedsprings. Nothing more.”

  “Dear God.” Natalie covered her face with her hands. “I’m going back to the room.”

  When she started to stand up, Connor reached for her wrist and pulled her back down. “Now, now, after all the work you did last night, you need a good meal.” He couldn’t resist teasing her.

  “You were on top the whole time, so...” She clamped her hand over her mouth as she realized what she’d said.

  Simon slapped the table and laughed.

  Seth, on the other hand, did not look amused.

  Natalie sat back down. “I’m only staying because there’s bacon. If there wasn’t bacon, I’d already be upstairs.”

  “Anyway,” Simon continued, “we knew you were staying with Connor last night, and we knew there was some, shall we say, hanky-panky—”

  “No, we shall not say that,” Seth grumbled.

  “—so it was just a question of whether you’d actually make an appe
arance at breakfast this morning. Seth figured you wouldn’t risk running into us, but I knew otherwise, and now I’m the proud owner of a crisp five-dollar bill.” Simon pulled the bill out of his pocket and held it up.

  “I thought this weekend couldn’t get any worse,” Natalie muttered. “Wow, was I wrong.”

  “Oh, come on, it hasn’t been that bad,” Simon said. “Sure, your parents are getting divorced, but you had good sex last night, didn’t you? It certainly sounded like you were enjoying it... Why Natalie, are you blushing? I’ve never seen you blush before.”

  As entertaining as this was, Connor figured he’d better put an end to Natalie’s misery. “Simon, you said something about getting high last night?”

  “Much better,” Seth said. “We’ll talk about drugs instead.”

  “We indulged in some of Iris’s weed,” Simon said. “Man, she sure can roll a good joint.”

  They stopped talking as Macy approached with four plates of food. She set the omelet in front of Simon and pancakes in front of everyone else.

  “Thank you. This looks delicious.” Simon snagged a slice of bacon off Seth’s plate.

  “Hey!” Seth glared at his husband. “If you wanted bacon, you should have ordered the pancakes. No stealing my food.”

  “I can’t imagine you’ll finish that, not after all the Cheetos you ate last night.”

  “Cheetos?” Natalie perked up. “There were Cheetos? Why didn’t I get any?”

  Her enthusiasm for Cheetos was rather cute. Connor recalled the last time they’d gone cross-country skiing together and how she’d used chopsticks to eat her post-skiing Cheetos. Now it was easy to imagine himself feeding her Cheetos and then kissing her.

  “After we smoked up,” Simon said, “Seth insisted we stop at the gas station to get some. We still had half a bag left when we got back to the room. I didn’t think you’d be interested, however, seeing as you seemed to have better things to do, what with all the moaning and—”

  “Thank you,” Natalie said. “I know exactly where this is going. Again.”

  He laughed. “Alas, I think Seth finished the rest of the bag before we went to sleep.”

  “You have a terrible memory,” Seth said. “You’re the one who finished the bag.”

  “Did not,” Simon protested.

  Seth rolled his eyes. “Yeah, sure. Say whatever you want, but that doesn’t make it true. There were still Cheetos left when I went to bed.”

  “Crumbs! Orange cheese dust! Not actual Cheetos.”

  “That’s not how I remember it.”

  “You two argue all the time,” Natalie said.

  “We do,” Simon said. “Next thing you know, we’ll be getting a divorce.”

  Seth shook his head. “That’s not funny right now.”

  Simon began cutting into his omelet. “Don’t worry, Natalie. This is all happy bickering. We’re not getting divorced. It’s our tenth anniversary in September.”

  “Congratulations,” Connor said.

  “Thank you. We’re planning to go to Spain.”

  They were quiet for a minute as they focused on their food. The pancakes were indeed delicious, as was the bacon—how could you go wrong with bacon?—and Connor certainly had an appetite after last night. He knocked his foot against Natalie’s under the table, and when she smiled at him, warmth bloomed in his chest.

  “We’re supposed to go to Mom and Dad’s for brunch tomorrow,” Seth said, “and watch Rebecca open her gifts. Do you think that’s still happening?”

  “I don’t know.” Natalie sighed. “I assume something will happen, but maybe just one of them will be there.”

  “Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter—what will we do now?”

  “I feel stupid worrying about such things, but I can’t help it. Everything has always been the same—Mom and Dad together in Mosquito Bay. It doesn’t make a big difference in my day-to-day life, but it was nice.”

  Simon nodded sympathetically. “We only come to Mosquito Bay once or twice a year, but your family...they really are my family. I’m lucky to have such great in-laws.” He reached across the table and squeezed Seth’s hand, then surreptitiously reached for the bacon. Seth hit his hand out of the way before he could snag any.

  “We’re glad to have you, too,” Natalie said, which seemed uncharacteristically sentimental of her.

  Simon turned to Connor. “I don’t have any family in Canada aside from my parents, and they weren’t happy when I told them I was gay.” He released an unsteady breath. “At first, they refused to come to our wedding, but Ngin Ngin called my mother, and they had a long, loud argument in Cantonese. Ngin Ngin told her how she’d always regretted not going to her son’s wedding and convinced her to come, promising we’d have a banquet at a Chinese restaurant.”

  “Ngin Ngin was uncomfortable with me marrying a man at first, too,” Seth said, “but she fell in love with Simon.”

  “Of course,” Simon said. “Because who wouldn’t fall in love with me?” He and Seth shared a smile. “My parents still haven’t gotten used to the fact that I married a man, but your parents have always been supportive. Your white grandmother and Dennis, however—I could do without them. And Louisa always causes a scene.”

  “I wish Rebecca hadn’t invited them,” Seth said.

  “Same,” Natalie agreed. “But you know Rebecca. She wants everyone to get along. She would hate the drama of not inviting a few family members to her wedding.”

  “Speaking of Rebecca...” Simon looked at his watch. “It’s nine o’clock. Do you think she’ll make it down to breakfast? Or do you think she has better things to do upstairs? I’m pretty sure the Superior room has a Jacuzzi and—”

  “Stop it.” Seth gritted his teeth. “Haven’t we been over this already? I don’t want to think about my sisters having sex. Not Natalie, and not Rebecca.”

  Natalie’s cheeks flushed. She sent Simon a glare, though it seemed like she was trying to hold back a smile.

  Connor couldn’t help touching her hand. “You’re adorable.”

  “Aw,” Simon said, pressing a hand to his heart.

  “When was the last time someone called Natalie adorable?” Seth asked. “I’m not sure it’s happened before. Personally, I’m more likely to go with ‘cranky’ or ‘pain in my ass’ when describing my sister.”

  Natalie stuck her tongue out at him.

  Connor was getting himself a second cup of coffee when Iris and Ngin Ngin walked into the breakfast room and sat down at the table next to theirs.

  “Natalie,” Ngin Ngin said. “Why are you here? You weren’t here yesterday.” Her face lit up. “Ah. You stayed with Connor last night, not with parents. Very good. You trying to make a baby?”

  “Ngin Ngin!” Natalie groaned. “Please.”

  “You’re so much fun to tease,” Ngin Ngin said. “When you were a little girl, I didn’t see you much. Plus, very little English. But now, I make jokes!”

  Natalie looked like she wanted to sink into the floor.

  Iris grabbed a cup of coffee then came back to the table. “Ngin Ngin, you want coffee?”

  She shook her head. “Want to sleep in car. Won’t sleep if I have coffee.”

  “Good idea. I don’t need you bugging me about my drug habit on the drive to Toronto.”

  “You’re going back to Toronto today?” Connor asked.

  “You have a drug habit?” Seth asked.

  “We’re heading back as soon as we finish breakfast,” Iris said. “Don’t worry, I’m not a drug addict. Ngin Ngin is just disturbed that I smoked pot last night. I told her I do it about once a month, and she was aghast.”

  “Men don’t want women who are drug addicts.” Ngin Ngin pointed her finger at Iris. “Now you are the last grandchild without boyfriend or husband. I will focus all attention on you.”

  “I can’t wait,” Iris muttered.

  “What about me?” Natalie asked. “Connor is just a friend.”

  He couldn’t help feeling a f
licker of disappointment at those words, even though he’d heard them many times before.

  “I don’t believe you.” Ngin Ngin shook her head. “You are more than friends, and I’m happy about that. But still upset about Howard. Maybe if I went to his wedding, if I approved of Judy from the beginning, he would have happier marriage?”

  “Don’t blame yourself,” Natalie said. “That was forty years ago. You’ve been supportive for a long time.”

  “I like Judy. She’s a good daughter-in-law. But Judy’s mother?” Ngin Ngin shook her head. “Awful woman. And Louisa? She drinks too much.” She turned to Iris. “You see? Men don’t want women with drug problems. That’s why Louisa has three divorces.”

  “But she got three men to marry her,” Iris pointed out.

  “I know. Do not understand.”

  Natalie drained her coffee then stood up. “Time for us to head upstairs.”

  Simon imitated the noise of bedsprings squeaking, and she rolled her eyes.

  “See you soon,” she said to Seth and Simon before hugging Ngin Ngin and Iris. “Have a good trip back to Toronto.”

  * * *

  Back in the room, Natalie gasped as Connor pressed her against the door and kissed her. Her arms wound around his neck, and she kissed him back. She couldn’t help it. God, he tasted good—maple syrup and bacon—and she loved the feel of his body around hers.

  He tried to make the sound of bedsprings squeaking, though he wasn’t quite as good at it as Simon.

  She chuckled. “I can’t believe they heard us.”

  “You know what I realized at breakfast?”

  “I’m almost scared to find out.”

  “You’re cute when you’re pissed off.” He never would have said that to her before. “When everyone was teasing you about me...” Instead of finishing that thought, he covered her mouth with his and slipped his tongue between her lips.

  Yeah, she really liked this kissing business. But...

  “I should be going,” she said.

  “Where?”

  “To see my friend Kara. I told you about that on the drive down, remember? You’re welcome to come with me, but you should be warned: she has three children, ages two, three, and five.”

  “I’ll stay here. Maybe walk around town, see the sights.”