We pushed open the large double doors of Heritage Manor, fleur-de-lis etched into the glass, the scent of high society wafting over us. The historical décor was upscale and chic, and I prayed that Perry would find it acceptable.
“This looks nice,” I said. “It’s fortunate that Stephen has connections through work or else they wouldn’t have even talked to you on such short notice, much less considered your reception. I bet they book out at least two years.”
“Yeah, it looks weird.”
“No, it looks elegant.”
“I feel like I’m inside an elitist magazine.”
“Let’s just talk with the lady, okay? Keep an open mind. This place could be perfect for you.”
I went up to the desk. “We have an appointment with Mrs. Faulks.” The man ran his finger down the computer screen, an inch away from the glass. “Perry Sommers.”
“Yes, right here. Have a seat. I’ll let her know you arrived.”
“Thank you.”
I joined Perry on the sofa and stilled her bouncing legs. “Relax. You’re not here to get a pap smear. This is supposed to be fun, remember?”
“I feel like I’m contaminating their furniture. Like I should be wearing a plastic hazmat suit just to sit down.”
“God, Perry, overreacting much?” Maybe this wouldn’t go as well as I thought.
A rail-thin woman clicked out on skyscraper heels, making it seem effortless. Her tailored suit looked like it cost the equivalent of one of my commissions. An exaggeration, yes, but I was starting to question the suitability of the space. And when I noticed the subtle pinch to her mouth and slight upturn to her nose upon seeing us, I began to feel a bit of Perry’s pain. This was not her, and this was not Stephen, but that didn’t mean we had to rule it out completely. She deserved a dream wedding, dammit.
“Ms. Sommers?” the woman asked.
We stood and Perry gave her a little wave. “Um, that’s me.”
Mrs. Faulks pushed out a smile and shook our hands, barely. What a frickin’ snob. I would have received more warmth holding my skate blade after we’d finished scratching up the ice.
“We usually require much more notice, but the grand ballroom had a cancellation. We may be able to accommodate you, but first we should determine if it’s a proper fit. Shall we?”
She pivoted and headed towards the hall which appeared to connect to more rooms. We blindly followed. “The space is reserved in four-hour blocks. We are very strict about upholding the time limits.”
Perry leaned over. “She looks like—”
I elbowed her in the ribs. Whatever she was going to say, I didn’t want to know right then, and I didn’t want Mrs. Faulks to hear it. Whenever Perry tried to whisper or mouth something, it had the opposite effect, amplifying as if she were using a megaphone. I didn’t want to get kicked out before we started. I still held out hope that this could be the one she fell in love with. Maybe just the lobby looked like our hostess’s home, and the actual reception hall would be less uptight, but still classy.
The woman pushed open a door at the very end of the walk, and the first thing that caught my eye was the massive chandelier hanging from the center of the room. It bordered on frightening. One wrong move and that thing would leave no survivors.
In fact, the entire place sparkled with crystal. As if to reinforce what was already going through my head, Mrs. Faulks said, “We don’t prohibit children, but we cannot stress enough the need for self-restraint and good behavior.”
In other words: No fun. I glanced over at Perry, and she appeared hypnotized. I wondered if she was starting to get a headache too. The place was beautiful, but so was staring at the sun reflecting off a fresh snow bank. Pretty but too damn bright to subject your eyeballs to it for four hours.
“Because of the late date, we would require a five thousand dollar non-refundable deposit to secure the reservation.”
Holy fucking shit. I was afraid to ask how much the total bill would be. I knew this would be towards the top of our list as far as expensive venues went, but… holy shit.
“Holy shit,” Perry said, echoing what was in my head, but at least I’d had enough restraint to keep it there.
“Excuse me?” she squeaked out.
“Um, nothing.”
“If it’s not within your budget, we’d prefer to know at this time. That way we can make sure it gets rented to a more suitable customer.”
In other words, Stop wasting my time.
“No, that’s not the issue,” Perry said. “My fiancé’s loaded.” The woman pinched her mouth tighter. “I’m more concerned if this place has a boom room. That’s a necessity for me.”
“A groom room?” she asked. I stared at Perry too, having no idea what she was talking about.
“No, a boom room. You see, my dear husband-to-be is a virgin, and I promised him that we’d consummate the marriage as quickly as possible. I’d feel terrible making him wait through an entire reception. I need a place to do the deed immediately when we arrive and possibly several times through the night. Maybe in between pictures or something.” She shrugged. “Or during.”
“Perry!”
“At least I didn’t say ‘fuck,’ geez.”
Mrs. Faulks blinked so hard as if trying to make the connection between what she was hearing and what she thought she was. I’d make a bet that she didn’t encounter this too often.
Perry linked her arm with mine. “Thank you for your time, Mrs. Faulks, but I believe we’re going to pass. My fiancé can spend his wad of cash at a more suitable place elsewhere.”
She tugged me away, leaving the bewildered woman stuck in her tracks. “See, I can be polite too.”
“What the hell was that about?”
“Tell me she wasn’t starting to annoy the shit out of you too. She reminded me of my tight-ass sister, but at least I like her.”
“Well, yeah, but….” We strolled down the hallway, and I started laughing. “Boom room? Where’d you get that from?”
“Just made it up. I could have said much worse, believe me.”
“I don’t doubt that, Perry.” We crossed the lobby and stepped out into the biting air. “You know, you just decimated your chances of booking this place.”
She gave me an eye roll. “Would you want your reception here?”
“No, but you used to fantasize about fancy weddings and fairy tales, and now it’s like you want to sabotage anything to do with it.”
Perry was as far from a snob as they came, couldn’t care less about money and image, but for as long as I’d known her, she’d always wanted to be a princess bride on her wedding day.
“I already have my fairy tale. I have your brother.” She pointed across the street. “Hey, let’s go into O’Callaghan’s. Get out of the cold and figure out what we’re doing next.”
I nodded, then pulled her sharply back when she tried taking a step forward. Another thought just occurred to me. “Holy fuck, are you pregnant?”
“What? No.” She started cracking up. “Why in the world would you think that?”
“Like I said, you’re not acting yourself lately.”
“Well, I’m not. Not yet.” She winked. “Come on, let’s go.”
We crossed over Broadway and went inside the little Irish pub. It was much more inviting and down-to-earth than where we just left. More like the city I knew and loved.
Snagging a corner table, I glanced around. It was pretty quiet, but it was only a Saturday afternoon. It’d pick up very soon.
When the waitress came around, I ordered a black coffee and Perry raised an eyebrow.
“They have Spotted Cow on tap.”
“No, coffee sounds good right now.”
“Well, I’ll take a peach margarita.” Our waitress nodded. “And throw a shot of Jameson into that coffee, please.”
“No.”
“Yes.” She made gestures to the girl, indicating she should hurry up and leave before I fought her too hard on it. When I didn’t respond again, she left for the bar.
“Perry, plain ole coffee was just fine with me. We’re here to get stuff done, not to drink.”
“Who’s to say we can’t do both? You can handle a little liquor. And if you can’t, there’s such a thing as cabs. But it’s not like you have to drive for a while. No rush to get home, right?”
She narrowed her eyes at me as if daring me to answer differently. “Nope, my day is yours,” I said, making her smile big. “Now, tomorrow….”
Perry waved her hands in the air. “Woot, woot! Daniel’s coming home. How freaking psyched are you?”
“Pretty psyched.” I smiled. “And a little nervous.”
“What? Why?”
“Everything’s going to change, Perry. Good or bad, change is still change and something to adjust to,” I said, telling her the same thing I told myself the other day.
“Yes.” She nodded, expression sympathetic. “No more walking around the house naked or getting it on with Chase wherever the mood strikes you. Even if that happens to be by the front door,” she teased, referring to the time she caught us having a little fun on New Year’s Eve.
“That’s not what I’m talking about.” Although, the lack of sexual freedom had crossed my mind. But it wouldn’t be forever, just until Daniel found his own place. And my excitement at having him back again more than made up for the temporary inconvenience. I wasn’t an addict; I could hold off if I needed to. “I mean, what if he can’t accept Chase? I’m not sure I could handle that.”
“I thought you already told Daniel about him?”
“I did, but I only said he was younger than me, and then we made a joke about it. He said as long as he wasn’t younger than him, and we both laughed.” I nibbled on my lips. “Maybe it was a mistake not to be completely upfront, but I didn’t want him forming an opinion before he met Chase. God, Perry, I’ve only known him less than a year, but I really love him. But Daniel’s my son, and I can’t disregard him for a guy I’ve only known less than a year.”
“Fuck, I’m so glad I ordered you that drink. Maybe I should tell her to leave the bottle.” Perry grabbed my hand. “You need to calm down, Jills. I understand where you’re coming from, but I’m sure you’re worrying over nothing. Both guys are great. Fantastic. It’ll all work out, and if it doesn’t, you can freak out then. Don’t go all batshit yet or you’re liable to make something worse.”
“That’s kinda what Chase said, but in different words.”
“Great minds and all.”
We disconnected hands when our drinks were set in front of us, and the steam rose into my face. Mmm… so good. I took a sip. And hot and strong. It took the chill away perfectly. Damn if Perry wasn’t right again.
“See, not pregnant.” She took a large gulp of her margarita, sugar sticking to her lips.
“I believe you, but something’s up. Where do you want your reception, because unless it’s in my backyard, you’re probably shit out of luck.”
“You know, that idea’s not half bad.”
“I was kidding, Perry.”
She threw her head back and let out a loud sigh. “Maybe we should just elope.”
“Only if we all come with you.”
“Then it’s not eloping.” She dragged her finger around the rim of her glass, then popped it into her mouth. “It’s just that the more we get into this stuff, the perfect flower arrangement, the perfect goblets to make our toast, the perfect bra to give me perfect tits underneath my perfect dress, the—”
“Perfect cake?”
She gave me a ‘you’re frickin’ hilarious’ look and continued, “It’s all awesome, Jills, and I was super stoked in the beginning, but as time went on, it became less important to the point that I almost don’t care about any of it anymore. Maybe because we’ve already been together so long, but I just want to be married, to be a family, to start my official life with Stephen. Forever and ever. That’s what feels real to me, and all this other stuff… doesn’t.”
“Perry, that actually makes a lot of sense. Why didn’t you just tell me all this to begin with?”
“Because I wasn’t sure how I felt, but going into Heritage Manor and talking to Mrs. Pretentious Stick-up-her-ass seemed to trigger something.”
I snickered in the middle of a sip, making my nostrils burn. “Yeah, I noticed that.”
“But I do want a party. Just not a hoity-toity one. Do you think it’d be strange if my engagement party was more formal than the actual wedding reception?”
“Nothing’s strange if that’s what you want.”
“What if we said our vows while skydiving?”
“You’re afraid of heights.”
“What if we went to the rain forest and hung upside down like monkeys? Would that be strange?”
“You’re afraid of monkeys, and I think that margarita’s starting to take effect.”
She scrunched up her face. “Yeah, what’s up with that? It makes going to the zoo traumatic.”
“Okay, let’s get back on topic. At least we made progress today. We know you want it casual, but any ideas where?” I didn’t even want to throttle her for all those hours I put in; I was just relieved she’d figured it out.
“Oooh… you know what sounds fun? Getting married on the beach in our bikinis. You’d have to wear a pink one, of course, and we could have a wapatui party afterwards.”
“I am not standing up in a bikini.”
“I bet Chase would like it.” She waggled her eyebrows.
“Yeah, he’d love me walking around nearly naked wearing the bubblegum dental floss you picked out for me.”
“Humph. You’re still my maid of honor, and you have to do what I say.”
I shook my head, finishing off my coffee before it cooled down anymore.
“Okay, you win,” she said. “But you still have to wear pink. All weekend.”
“Fine.”
One of the details she’d decided early on was her colors. She frickin’ adored pink. She picked out a dress for me that she “oohed” and “aahed” over inside the store. I thought it made me look like Pepto Bismol exploded out of my stomach.
“There is something we can do right now that’s wedding related.”
“What’s that?”
“Well, Wildheart Bakery’s just down the street. We can even walk there.”
I crossed my arms over my stomach. “Ugh, Perry.”
“I think that’s one task we beat to death. I’m sure we can find something else to do. There’s a flower shop down the street too.”
“But all the cake tasting we did before was for a fancy wedding. Now we need to do it for a casual one.” She interlaced her fingers and rested them under her chin, her entire face resembling the Cheshire cat.
“Fine.” She won.