“Oh, no. No presents!” Riley exclaimed. “I thought Mom told you.”
“She did,” said Riley’s cousin Melanie, “but we figured you ought to at least get some cool stuff out of this.”
More guests came with more presents and the same attitude.
“I feel guilty,” Riley told her mother.
“Don’t,” Mom said. “Think of it as an early Christmas.”
Soon the room was full of people, some milling around visiting in groups, others finding their seats at the tables.
“This is quite the party,” Mrs. Wooster said, resplendent in a sequined gown resurrected from the early sixties and a purple boa. “I hope you’re going to toss the bouquet. I feel lucky.”
Jack and his grandma showed up next. “Aren’t you lovely!” exclaimed Margaret, taking Riley’s hands. “Isn’t she lovely, Jack?”
Jack looked her up and down appreciatively. “She sure is.”
Margaret leaned over and whispered in Riley’s ear, “You know, he’s not seeing anyone.”
It was rather a loud whisper and judging by the grin on Jack’s face, Riley knew he’d heard. She smiled back at him and said, “What a coincidence. I’m not, either.”
“Yeah, what a coincidence,” he said, and the look he gave her set her nerve endings tingling.
Grammy with her nose for potential romance joined them. “And who is this?”
Riley introduced Jack and his grandma, who was happy to tell Grammy the story of her life.
“A dancer. You’ll have to show me some of your moves on the dance floor,” Grammy said.
“This could get embarrassing,” Jack whispered. “You may be sorry you invited us.”
“I don’t think so,” she said and he smiled again.
“I’ll just have to distract you by dancing with you.”
That sounded like an excellent idea.
Noel entered a moment later, dazzling in her green velvet bridesmaid dress and towing a handsome, supersized man in a black tuxedo. The no-longer-evil house-flipper.
“This is Ben,” she told Riley, stating the obvious.
Ben seemed at a loss for words. Hardly surprising since he didn’t know her and here she was, a bride without a groom, running around in her wedding dress. He did manage a smile and a “Thanks for having me.”
“Thanks for coming. Any friend of Noel’s is a friend of mine.” If the look he and Noel exchanged was any indication, she wouldn’t be surprised if her friend beat her to the altar.
Seniors arrived by the busload. Literally. Riley felt a rush of happiness as she saw the delighted expressions on so many faces.
“This is quite the shindig,” Grammy’s friend Felix said to her. “I hope I’m going to get a chance to dance with the bride.”
“I think that can be arranged,” Riley told him.
Soon the tables were filled with celebrants all dressed to the nines, and Riley sat at the head table with her parents and sister and brother and their spouses. Baby Mikey was at home, safe from germs, with Georgia watching over him. Riley suspected Jo wouldn’t stay long, but she was grateful to have her here, even if it was just for a little while. The way she and Mike were smiling at each other and holding hands, they could have been the bride and groom at this party.
Lizbeth Parker had made it, too, and was present with her photographer, who snapped pictures while she interviewed the various guests. She stopped by Riley’s table and interviewed Mom and Dad and Harold and Grammy.
Then Lizbeth approached Jo, who shook her head and refused to comment, saying only, “You’ll hear what I have to say soon enough.”
Soon enough came after dinner and before the cutting of the cake. Jo had already informed both the bride and the stand-in maid of honor that she was going to give the toast. “I claim the right as sister and almost matron of honor, which I would have been if I hadn’t gotten pregnant.”
She’d said it with a smile and Noel had been more than happy to hand over that duty, confessing that the thought of having to give a speech in front of all those guests just about had her in hives.
So, after the meal was finished and the champagne for toasting had been poured, Jo took the microphone and took center stage. “Of course, you all know why we’re here. We’re celebrating the fact that my sister is still single. So if any of you handsome men are in the market...” She paused long enough for everyone to chuckle. “Seriously, it’s hard when you think you’ve got your life all figured out, when you’ve made plans and those plans don’t happen. When you think you’ve found the love of your life and it turns out that maybe he wasn’t, after all.”
Here was a cheery little speech. Riley’s eyes began to fill with tears.
“But that didn’t keep my sister down,” Jo continued. “She’s Helium Woman and she was born to rise above her circumstances. And she’s done that with grace and class. This may not have been the party she originally planned, but I’d say it’s still a raving success.”
“Hear, hear,” called out Grammy, and everyone cheered and applauded.
“So here’s to my sister, my hero. I can hardly wait to see who the real love of your life turns out to be. To Riley.”
The tears were spilling over, but these were the happy kind. Riley blew her sister a kiss as Jo saluted her with her champagne glass.
“To Riley,” everyone echoed.
The hero of the hour. Wow.
Not to be outdone, her brother took the microphone next. “As usual, my sister stole the words right out of my mouth,” he teased, looking in Jo’s direction. “But I want to add my two cents.” He turned to Riley. “You look great, sis. Next time we’re all doing this you’ll be with the right man. Whoever that will be, he’s gonna be one lucky son of a...gun,” he finished, seeing Mom’s warning frown. “You’re really something.”
“Amen to that,” called Grammy.
Her father was the last to speak. “No man likes to see his daughter suffer, and I know this has been hard on you, Riley. But as your sister said, you’ve risen above your circumstances and I couldn’t be more proud. We all are. We love you,” he finished and raised his glass to her and once again everyone applauded.
Who knew being rejected would turn out to be such a good thing? Except all these wonderful speeches were going to end up ruining her makeup.
She stood and grabbed the microphone before anyone else could catch speech fever. “Thanks, family, for those kind words. That’s enough already, though. You all are making my head swell. I threw this party because—what can I say?—I didn’t want to waste such a nice dinner.” Everyone chuckled and then she surprised herself by adding, “You know, I was so into planning the perfect wedding I almost forgot it’s more important to have the perfect life. You can’t do that if you’re with the wrong person. In fact, I’m not sure you can do that with any person if you’re not happy with yourself first. Well, tonight I’m pretty happy just being me, so I think I’m onto something.”
The crowd burst into applause, confirming that, yes, indeed, she was. Everyone was happy and her heart was full. Did it get any better than that?
Maybe it did when you included a groom. The right groom. But for now this was enough.
“I’m so glad you could all join me and I hope you have a wonderful time. We’ve got plenty of cake and lots of champagne and I want to see it all gone by the end of the night, so enjoy. Now, let’s dance.”
“I claim the first dance,” her father called out, walking out onto the floor to join her.
The DJ played “What a Wonderful World,” and as she smiled up at him she was struck by how true the words were. It really was a wonderful world when you lost the self-pity shades and opened your eyes to everything around you that was good.
“Looks like you’re doing okay,” Dad said.
She smiled. “I am. I’m going to be all right, Daddy.”
“I never doubted it,” he said.
The music ended, Dad bowed over her hand to much clapping and hooting, and Harold took his place as the DJ started the only other song she’d requested, Bruno Mars singing “I Want to Marry You.”
Most of the guests got it, but after the song was over Grammy approached her, very concerned. “What a thoughtless thing to play! You shouldn’t pay that man and I’m going to give him an earful.”
“It’s fine, Grammy,” Riley said. “I asked for it. It was a joke.”
Grammy frowned. “Some joke.”
“Okay, everyone,” the DJ said, “we’re going to do the Electric Slide.”
The staple of all weddings. Riley knew it would put a crowd on the dance floor. It did indeed, and many of them were from the senior center.
“That’s my song,” Grammy said and hurried to join the others.
Riley saw that Jack’s grandmother was out there, too, and once the music started she proved that she still had the moves even if they were slow, shimmying with her walker as the others moved around her. Grammy, queen of the senior center’s line dancers, was right next to her, and the two women exchanged smiles. Oh, yeah, we’re good.
When it was time to cut the cake she let her niece do the honors and feed her a bite.
After that, the DJ played “Better When I’m Dancin’” by Meghan Trainor and they all hit the dance floor again. Meanwhile, Lizbeth Parker made notes and her photographer happily recorded everything for posterity. Or at least for the Whispers section of the paper.
“Look at you,” Jack said when the music slowed down and he pulled her away from the cake and onto the dance floor. “You’re not exactly the picture of a jilted bride.”
“I’m having fun.”
“I can see that.” He drew her closer and started them swaying. “Me, too. This is the coolest non-wedding reception I’ve ever been to.”
She cocked an eyebrow. “How many have you been to?”
“None. But I can’t imagine anything being as good as this. You’ll have a hard time following it when it comes to the real thing.”
Her smile faltered slightly. “If there ever is a real thing.”
He lowered his face, kissing close and whispered, “There will be. Your brother was right. You really are something.” Then, before she could form a reply, he kissed her. What a kiss it was, hot enough to melt the frosting off her lips. “You taste like cake,” he said with a grin.
“That may be all the cake you get. It’s going fast.”
“Well, then, I’d better have a second helping.”
The second helping was even tastier than the first.
The dance ended and old Andy from the golf club was on hand to tap Jack on the shoulder. “Here, sonny, let someone with a little more experience show you how it’s done.” He spun Riley away and dipped her, and two of the older women standing nearby sighed.
“Don’t hog him all night, young lady,” said one.
They didn’t need to worry. Andy never got another chance, not with Jack monopolizing her.
The gang from the nursing home left around nine, and Riley sent all the women home with carnations. By ten o’clock many of the seniors were starting to wear out.
“It’s getting past my bedtime,” Mrs. Wooster said to Riley. “When are you going to throw the bouquet?”
“Right now,” Riley said and was glad she’d had the florist go ahead and make her a small bouquet of red roses.
The DJ made the announcement, and cousins and friends, including Noel, gathered for the time-honored custom. Grammy and Mrs. Wooster were both there, too, trying to nudge each other out of the way. With all their nudging, they missed the big moment and Noel caught it. Blushing furiously, she glanced at Ben Fordham.
So did Riley and she saw that he was smiling. It looked as if Noel was going to have a very merry Christmas.
Riley was beginning to suspect she was going to have a pretty good one, too. “Got your phone number from your grandma,” Jack said to her when he and his grandmother came to say goodbye. “Think we can arrange to run into each other again? Only without the cars.”
“I think that could be arranged,” she said, and he smiled and kissed her on the cheek.
“Thank you for a lovely time, my dear,” Margaret said, taking both of Riley’s hands. “You’re a wonderful young woman and I hope we’ll be seeing more of you.”
“You will, Gram,” Jack said, winking at Riley.
Jo left, too, anxious to get home to the baby. “It was fun, sis. Don’t know how you’ll ever top this.”
“How about by having a groom next time?” Riley cracked.
“Good idea,” Jo said.
The party went on for another couple of hours, but after Jack left it all felt a bit anticlimactic. Once everyone had gone, the presents were loaded into her trunk and her backseat, as well as her parents’ trunk. Then she was driving home alone in her wedding gown and the sad realization hit that she was not going to get her wedding night or her honeymoon.
So she decided that on the first long weekend of the New Year, she’d book herself a short trip somewhere for a non-honeymoon, even if it meant digging out the old credit card. She’d find someplace affordable, some quaint B & B in Victoria, perhaps. She’d take the Victoria Clipper and go have high tea at the Empress Hotel. If Noel went with her they could split the cost. Or she could go to the ocean and storm-watch. Something. She’d do something.
Back at her apartment she took one last look at herself in the bedroom mirror and admired her finery. She’d had fun and she’d given a lot of pleasure to a lot of older people. All in all, a memorable evening.
What were Sean and Emily doing now?
She frowned at her reflection. “Who cares, right?”
Right.
Her phone rang at eight the next morning. “You’re in the Sunday edition!” Jo announced. “That reporter made you sound like a cross between Wonder Woman and Joan of Arc. And the pictures are great. You need to call her and ask for copies. Meanwhile, Mike’s out buying another paper for you. You’re probably in the online edition, too.”
Riley hurried to the little desk in the spare room where she kept her laptop and brought up the page. Sure enough, there she was in the Whispers section. The article was captioned Who Needs a Groom?
Riley grinned. Who, indeed?
Although she still wanted one, down the road. But next time she was going to be really sure. Any future groom would have to sign a contract. In blood.
Everyone at church was talking about the big bash, and when Riley stopped at Pineland afterward to pick up some rolls for dinner at her folks’, the checker could hardly stop gushing about how clever and brave she was.
“I just found out that my boyfriend cheated on me. I’m gonna kick his ass to the curb,” the woman said.
“Do it,” Riley told her. “You deserve better.” So did she and she was willing to wait for it.
The family was about to have dessert when Jack called.
“I bet I know who that is,” Jo said as Riley hurried away from the table.
“So, you had your non-wedding reception. I was thinking you might want to do something for your non-honeymoon.”
Sex.
They’d just met. Where had that come from? Oh, yeah, the whole honeymoon thing. You’re not in a hurry, she reminded herself and tried not to picture Jack and her checking into a honeymoon suite in some fancy hotel in Hawaii.
“What did you have in mind?” she asked.
“I was thinking maybe dinner at La Rive Gauche Paris. You can pretend you’re in France.”
Ooh, la, la. “That sounds great.”
“They’re closed tomorrow night, so how about Tuesday
?” Jack Logan didn’t waste any time.
She liked a man who was efficient. “I just happen to have Tuesday night free.”
They made their arrangements and she returned to the dining room.
“I know that smile,” Jo said, pointing at her. “Somebody’s got a date.”
Harold frowned. “Don’t you be rushing into anything, sis.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t.” Define rushing.
* * *
Tuesday night, dressed in a black dress she’d borrowed from Jo and wearing Noel’s heels of death, she tottered into the fanciest and most expensive restaurant in town on the arm of Jack Logan. Fancy chandeliers and drapes, elegantly carved chairs gathered around linen-topped, candlelit tables. The whole place screamed, If you want to eat here, you’ll have to sell a child. The restaurant had been in business for two years but she’d never been inside it. Sean had certainly never taken her here.
“This is beautiful, but it looks expensive,” she said, feeling guilty about Jack spending so much money on a first date.
“It’s your honeymoon. You do stuff like this on your honeymoon,” he said.
The maître d’ seated them at a table for two in a quiet corner. Actually, the whole place was quiet. There were very few people here on a Tuesday evening.
The sommelier appeared and he and Jack consulted on wines and pairings. “What do you think?” Jack asked Riley.
She thought she was a long way from The Rusty Saw. “I think you know your way around a wine list. Carry on. That was impressive,” she told him after the sommelier had left.
“Was it?”
“You must come here a lot.”
“Never been here in my life. If you want to know the truth, The Rusty Saw and The Tree House are more my style.”
“Mine, too,” she said. “Still, this was really kind of you.”
“Not so much kind as trying to make a good impression. Improve my game from the first time we met,” he added with a grin. “Seriously, I wish I hadn’t been such a shit on our first encounter.”
“Our first two encounters,” she couldn’t resist saying.
“Not my shining hour. But you gotta admit, they were memorable.”
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