Chapter 9

Izzie called her mother at the store the week after Grandma Lou’s return, in late January, and told her she had located several possible venues for her wedding reception. Two were restaurants, one was a small boutique hotel in Tribeca, and the fourth was a townhouse the owners rented out on Washington Square Park. The last one sounded like the most interesting, although it was slightly more expensive, but not excessively so. Kate was planning to pay for the wedding, and could afford to, but Izzie said she was more than willing to help. Kate would have preferred no wedding, but Grandma Lou hadn’t been able to slow Izzie down either. She had tried. Izzie had made up her mind and nothing would stop her.

They made a date for that Friday afternoon to see all four locations. Kate normally loved having an excuse to spend time with her children, but she wasn’t feeling enthusiastic about their mission. She wished there was something she could do to bring Izzie to her senses. But she seemed to be in high spirits and excited about finding a location for her wedding, no matter how disastrous Kate thought the groom.

They started at the hotel in Tribeca and agreed that it was gloomy and dark, although the food was reputed to be excellent. Kate thought it would make everything seem somber, and she was relieved that her daughter thought so too. And the two restaurants seemed banal to both of them. They were pretty but commercial, and only one of them had a private room. For the second one, they’d have to take over the whole restaurant, and the room was too large for only thirty guests. There were seven members of the family, including Richard, Grandma Lou, Kate, and the four siblings. Liam and Maureen would be there, of course. Zach had only two friends he thought he might invite and still wasn’t sure. He considered it unlikely his father would come. And Izzie wanted to invite about fifteen or twenty people from work, and not everyone would attend. They might end up with only twenty wedding guests, so a private room seemed best. They didn’t like anything they’d seen as they took a cab to the house on Washington Square. It was a pretty brick townhouse from the outside, with white trim and a shiny black door. It was one of the historic homes on the square from the time of Henry James.

A property manager was waiting for them when they arrived. The owner was a movie producer in California who rarely came to New York but loved the house, and rented it out for parties and special events. It was small once they stepped inside, like many of the turn-of-the-century townhouses on the square. There were two parlors on either side of the house on the main floor, and a study at the rear that was lined with books. The living room was on the second floor, a beautifully appointed room with lovely art and a view of the park. It occupied a full floor of the house, could apparently accommodate fifty, and was comfortable for twenty-five. And on the top two floors were the bedrooms. The master suite was above the living room, and it was a lovely romantic room where the bride could dress. The kitchen and formal dining room were downstairs, and the table could comfortably seat twenty-five, or stretch to thirty with additional leaves. It was perfect for the purpose they had in mind. The walls were painted in pastel shades, the furniture was antique, the window coverings done in exquisite silks, and there was a fireplace and chandelier in every room. Izzie could instantly imagine her wedding in a place like that, although Kate thought Zach would look completely out of place in his leathers, tattoos, long hair, and biker style, but she didn’t say so to Izzie. She had fallen in love with the elegant little jewel box of a house, and Kate signed the contract for May first before they left. So they had a place for the wedding. The house came with a party chef and staff, so that was taken care of too, and they could provide a florist if they wished it. It left nothing more to arrange except the invitations and Izzie’s bridal gown.

And although Zach and his family were supposed to organize and host the rehearsal dinner the night before, since he had no family to do so, Kate had already agreed to have the rehearsal dinner at home. It was going to be a casual evening, and she was planning to have it catered by a Mexican restaurant nearby, which was what Izzie said they wanted. Everyone could hang out informally, and sit on the floor. It would be a nice contrast to the small, elegant location for the wedding, and since it was for such a limited group, the price was not excessive. But for an intimate wedding, put together at short notice, with only a few months to plan, it was very elegant and just what they needed. Kate wanted to give Izzie a pretty wedding, even if she was unhappy about the marriage. If they couldn’t stop her, Kate felt she should have a special day to remember nonetheless, and Izzie was pleased.

They went back to Kate’s apartment, feeling victorious and satisfied with their successful mission. Izzie had found a gem with the location. The invitations weren’t going to be complicated. And Kate looked lovingly at her daughter as she poured them both a cup of tea in her small tidy kitchen that was as immaculate, as stylish, and as organized as the rest of her apartment. Kate was a meticulous person in all things. “Now you need the gown,” she said as they sat down at the table where they had all their holiday meals. “Any thoughts?” She was being a good sport about her daughter’s wedding, despite her qualms.

Izzie had already said that she didn’t want a wedding dress from her mother’s shop. She didn’t want anything vintage, she wanted something new and exciting that Zach would love. They looked at some dresses online on Kate’s laptop as they sipped their tea. Oscar de la Renta, Marchesa, Herrera, Vera Wang, and Monique Lhuillier. They were all more elaborate than what Izzie had in mind. She wanted something totally simple and pure, with flowers in her hair, no veil. She had very definite ideas on the subject, as Kate knew most brides did. She had heard it all before at her store, and in many cases, the bride ended up picking something completely different from what she said she wanted. But Izzie was as stubborn about it as she was about everything else related to the wedding. Kate suggested she go to Bergdorf Goodman, have a look around, and try some gowns.

Izzie followed her advice but saw nothing she wanted. She was stumped about where to go next so she called her mother to tell her she had found nothing at Bergdorf’s. Kate was doing an intake when Izzie called her, and told her she was busy but would give it some thought and call her later. Maybe a white dress from Armani or Calvin Klein would do the trick. Even if they weren’t made as bridal gowns, they would be clean, simple, and modern, and Izzie had the right figure for their designs. Kate went back to work on the collection she was checking in then. She liked to see the items herself and be sure they were up to her standards. The one she was looking at was from a family in San Francisco, who had sent her all of their mother’s couture gowns, some really beautiful Chanel pieces in perfect condition, and some other family pieces no one wanted, including their grandmother’s wedding gown. Kate was sure it would be too old and fragile to sell, since it was from the 1920s and almost a hundred years old, but she had promised to take a look at it, and had already suggested before she saw it they donate it to a museum. They said the dress had been carefully preserved, and it arrived in a white box, having been heavily wrapped in tissue paper since its first and only use. No one had ever worn it since, because it looked too dated and out of style.

Kate was curious to see what it would look like when she took it out of the box and unwrapped it. The box it came in was huge, and it took her and Jessica several minutes to strip away all the tissue paper, which had yellowed with age, but miraculously the gown had not. It was still a delicate ivory color, with lace arms, minute beaded embroidery covering the entire dress, and a seemingly mile-long train and veil in the same lace. The gown was exquisite when they laid it out on a clean white sheet on the floor.

“Oh my God,” Kate said, looking at it. It really did belong in a museum, and Jessica touched the delicate beading with reverence. The entire dress had been handmade by a designer of the time that Kate had never heard of, apparently a local woman in San Francisco. She wondered how many hundreds of hours had gone into making it for the society bride who wore it. There were even matching white satin shoes with the same beading on them. And she could see from the gown that the bride it had been made for must have been a tall girl. It had a dropped waist that was typical of the 1920s when it had been made.

Kate knew it was entirely wrong for Izzie and not what she wanted, but she couldn’t resist calling her as they stood looking at it, and she described it to her.

“It’s not for you, it’s really a piece of history and it belongs in a museum, but it’s one of the most beautiful wedding gowns I’ve ever seen. Do you want to come and look at it? It would be fun for you to see it, maybe it will give you some ideas.” Izzie sounded halfhearted about it, and didn’t want an antique dress, but she didn’t want to be rude to her mother, since she was being nice about the wedding and helping her with the plans. They still had to find a judge who would perform the ceremony, since Zach refused to be married in a church, and said that anything religious brought back bad memories of his parents, since they had taken him to church every Sunday and he had hated it. So there would be no hint of religion at their wedding, which upset Kate too. But it was their wedding, and she was trying to help make it memorable for her daughter.

Izzie agreed to come by on Saturday after the gym, and Kate left the gown laid out on the sheet on the floor of the storeroom and told everyone not to go in, so they wouldn’t step on it by mistake.

She was busy again the next day with one of her best clients, the editor from Harper’s Bazaar, when Izzie came by. Kate asked the woman to wait a few minutes, and had Jessica take over for her. She apologized and explained it was a very special mission for her daughter, even though she knew she wouldn’t wear the gown, but she wanted her to see it.

They went upstairs together. Kate unlocked the door and turned the lights on, and led Izzie to where they’d left the dress, carefully spread out on the floor. Izzie frowned when she saw it, and then knelt down to touch the lace and the beading. The gown itself was satin, except for the see-through lace arms, and the train and veil looked endless. There was a white satin cap under the veil with the same beading. Seeing it again, Kate knew she had never seen such a magnificent gown, and even Izzie looked impressed when she turned to look at her mother.

“Do you think it would fit me?” Kate was surprised by the question.

“I held it up to myself yesterday, and I think it would fit me. We’re the same size, so I think it probably would. The bride it was made for must have been pretty tall.”

“Could I try it?” Izzie asked with a shy look, and her mother smiled.

“Of course.” When her daughters were much younger, she used to bring bridal gowns home from secondhand shops so they could play dress up. This was a much fancier version of the same idea.

They lifted the gown carefully and Kate noticed again that it was in excellent condition—nothing had yellowed, nothing was stained. It had obviously been cleaned before it was put away, and the fabric wasn’t brittle. It had minute white satin buttons all the way down the back, which took forever to do up, but as soon as she did, she and Izzie both saw that the gown fit her to perfection. It looked as though it had been made for her, and once on a human form and not on the floor, the impressive artistry of the seamstress showed even more. It molded exactly to Izzie’s tall, lean body, but not too much so. And the beading was even lovelier and subtler when the dress was worn.

There was a full-length mirror at the end of the storeroom, and Izzie walked toward it on tiptoe, as Kate remembered the shoes and put them on the floor for her. They fit perfectly too. The bride had been a clone of Izzie’s body. And she and Kate both gasped as they saw her image in the mirror. It looked like a piece of history in its workmanship, and yet the style was modern too. The train was regal behind her, and when she settled the satin cap and veil on her head and spread the veil out, it brought tears to Kate’s eyes. No matter what she thought of the marriage, the dress was one of the most beautiful she had ever seen. And Izzie thought so too. It occurred to Kate immediately that it would look perfect in the late-nineteenth-century house where she was getting married. It was pure Henry James, right out of one of his novels.

“Oh my God, Mom,” Izzie said, looking at her mother in awe. “Can I have it? Will they sell it to us, or is it going to a museum?”

“I told them it should, but I’m sure I can talk them out of it. I’ll see what I can do.” Any other dress would have seemed paltry and second-best next to this one. There was no modern dress made that would compare to it, except perhaps haute couture, but this one had the patina of history and the craftsmanship of another century.

Izzie took the dress off carefully with her mother’s help and they folded it back into the box, with the shoes and veil and all the tissue paper, and then they went downstairs to Kate’s office. The editor from Harper’s Bazaar was gone by then. She had bought two Chanel suits and a Balenciaga dress Kate had put aside for her from a recent intake. And then Kate called the family in San Francisco. It was still early there, and the woman who had sent her the shipment was at home. Kate explained that her daughter had fallen in love with her grandmother’s wedding gown, and was getting married on May first.

“I really didn’t think anyone would want it,” the woman said honestly. “Girls wear much sexier dresses now, although the beading is beautiful, isn’t it?”

“It certainly is. And I have to admit, it looks spectacular on her. She must have the exact same figure as your grandmother, even her shoe size.”

“She was tall for the time,” the woman confirmed, and when Kate asked how much she wanted for it, the woman hesitated for a long time. Kate wondered if she was going to come up with a shocking price, since Kate had told her it belonged in a museum. And finally, the woman answered, “It’s been sitting here useless for nearly a hundred years. It would be nice to know that someone who really loves it has a chance to wear it. I’m sure my grandmother would be pleased. What about five hundred dollars, and my best wishes to the bride?” she said, and Kate’s eyes filled with tears again. It was the kind of luck she had always had with her shop, meeting lovely people who shared their stories with her, and blessings that fell into her lap.

“That would be truly wonderful,” Kate said, sounding thrilled. “I can’t thank you enough. What good luck for us that you sent it.”

“I hope your daughter enjoys it!” Both women hung up feeling touched by the hand of fate, and Kate turned to her daughter with a broad smile as she wiped her eyes.

“It’s yours,” she said, beaming at her as Izzie’s eyes grew wide and she threw her arms around her mother’s neck.

“Oh my God, I love it! Wait till Zach sees me in it. I didn’t think I wanted a vintage gown, and it doesn’t get more vintage than 1920, but it’s the most beautiful dress I’ve ever seen.” She felt like a queen in it…and a bride. And it looked as though it had been made for her. It was Izzie’s dream dress. And all Kate could wish as she looked at her daughter’s radiant face was that she were marrying a different man in the spectacular dress. But this was what her daughter wanted, and she had to accept her choice of both, the man and the dress.

A week after they chose Izzie’s wedding dress and the location for the wedding, Bernard Michel came back to town, with a more detailed proposal. Kate met with him and Liam to discuss it. Because of Liam’s expertise, she always relied on him to advise her on financial matters, and she trusted him completely.

The meeting was serious and took place at Bernard’s hotel, in his suite. He was staying at the Four Seasons this time, on the forty-eighth floor with a dizzying but amazing view. Liam was very pleased with their discussions, and so was Kate. Everything Bernard was suggesting to enhance her business and expand it made sense. It would never have occurred to her on her own. And as soon as someone had mentioned her remarkable shop to him, he had known that an online store would develop it exponentially, and be profitable for all involved. As they left the meeting, Liam told her that she had a good chance of making a great deal of money from the plan.

“A lot of money,” he said as they shared a cab to go back downtown. Liam didn’t live far from her, in Tribeca. It allowed them to take walks together sometimes, to catch up on news, when they hadn’t had lunch together for a while, if either of them were too busy. They talked animatedly about the new project, and Bernard was sending the proposal to her lawyer. If all went well, she would be able to sign it soon, and move ahead. She was going to call their online shopping business Fabulous on the Net.

She was surprised to hear from Bernard that night after she got home, when she was reading over her notes from the meeting. There were a couple of points she wanted to ask him about and had forgotten, so she was pleased he’d called. She went over them with him, and then he lingered on the phone, asking her what she was doing and how she spent her time when she wasn’t working. She laughed and said she worked all the time, and occasionally saw her mother and children when they had time. And she was delighted that the Internet component to her business was going to keep her very busy while she set it up.

“Would you like to have dinner tomorrow night?” he asked her casually. She had enjoyed their meal at La Grenouille before, but didn’t expect him to take her out to fancy dinners as part of the deal, and said so. He laughed. “Don’t be so American, Kate,” he chided her. “Everything in life isn’t about business. Can’t a man take a beautiful woman out for dinner, without it being about work?” She was surprised by what he said.

“I suppose so,” she said pensively, but she couldn’t see why. He lived in Paris, she lived here, and the deal was almost done. They had nothing crucial left to discuss, until the papers were signed and she got started setting it up. “That’s very nice of you.” She sounded almost shy. She hadn’t had a real date in years, and didn’t think of him as one. She didn’t like mixing business with romance, and never had. She had clear boundaries about things like that, just as she did with Liam, and so did he. They were friends. And Bernard was now a business associate, although he had brought her a terrific proposal and she was grateful for that.

“Is there someplace casual you enjoy? It would be nice to have a relaxed evening.” She knew he had other meetings planned while he was in New York, and he had said as much to her.

She suggested Da Silvano, if he liked Italian food. It was easy, relaxed, downtown, and the pasta was great. And the owner was always there himself, which kept everyone on their toes.

“Perfect. I’ll make the reservation and pick you up at eight, if that works for you.” He sounded warm and friendly, and she couldn’t tell if he considered it a date. She hoped not. But there was no harm in being friends if they were going to have a business alliance. She was planning to keep it to that, in case he had any other ideas.

He was wearing slacks and a blazer and a heavy coat when he picked her up at her apartment the next day, in a town car with a driver. At the restaurant, they were shown to a table, and Bernard ordered wine for both of them. He looked happy to see her, and was funny and good company as they chatted and ordered dinner. He wasn’t overtly seductive with her, but she had the feeling all night that he was courting her as a woman, not trying to get to know a business colleague better. And then he startled her with what he said as they ordered coffee and agreed to share a dessert.

“I don’t know if it matters to you, Kate, but I want to be open with you. Technically, I’m married. Legally. But not in any real sense anymore. We haven’t been for years. We have an arrangement which is fairly common in France. It’s too complicated to get divorced and separate investments and properties that have been entwined for so long. So she leads her life, I lead mine. We’re cordial when we meet. We see the children separately, we have different friends. She’s like my sister now.” Kate had heard of those arrangements and wouldn’t have wanted one herself. But whatever worked for him was his business, and not hers. He didn’t need to explain it to her, and she had noticed immediately that he didn’t wear a wedding band, which most European men did, if they were married. “I just wanted you to know,” he continued, “so you don’t feel awkward if we spend an evening together. I enjoy your company. I’d like to see more of you while I’m here.” He was so direct about it that she was startled. No one had said anything like it to her for a long time, and never with a Continental flavor, explaining that he and his wife had an “arrangement,” and that even if he was legally married, he actually wasn’t in any real sense. He certainly had made his situation clear.

“She doesn’t mind that you go out with other women?” Kate asked him as directly as he had been with her.

“We don’t ask each other those questions,” he said discreetly. “It’s not my business what she does, nor hers what I do. We stayed married for the children, and now because it’s less financially complicated. The spirit of our marriage died years ago.”

“How sad for both of you,” Kate said sympathetically, and meant it. She had been madly in love with Tom. And her parents had loved each other to the end.

“Not really,” Bernard said comfortably. “It happens. In the States, people get divorced when the love affair is over. In France, people are more practical. We try to keep the family intact, in form anyway, and divorce is less familiar to us. It’s a Catholic country, and divorce came very late. Most of our friends have the same arrangement we do. Some have mistresses who are almost like wives.” He made it sound normal and acceptable, and almost desirable, as Kate listened.

“I’m not comfortable dating a married man,” she said clearly, while he nodded and appeared to agree.

“Most Americans aren’t. But I would like to see you for dinner when I’m here. Would you be amenable to that? Like tonight?” She felt silly objecting to it. He had been totally proper and good company and she smiled at him as the waiter brought their dessert.

“That’s fine,” she said, and he made her laugh with stories about his children, work, and life in Paris, and some of his travels around the world. “You’d love meeting my mother. She loves to travel and she’s a character. She just got back from a month of tango lessons in Argentina. Last year she learned the samba in Brazil. And she’s been studying Mandarin for a year, for a trip to China this summer. She makes the rest of us look boring by comparison.”

“I’d love to meet her, and your children,” he said enthusiastically, and then she told him about Izzie’s wedding and how unhappy she was about it, since tonight was personal not business and he had told her so much about himself and his marriage. “We can’t control our children. My daughter in medical school has a boyfriend we all hate. He’s a dreadful, rough, uncivilized person, and she’s been with him for five years, with no sign of marriage fortunately. And my son lives with a woman we don’t like either. They have two children, but have no plans to marry. The children are very sweet, two boys. That’s common in France too, particularly now. Many of my friends’ children have children but don’t marry. I try not to say too much to my children, but it upsets me too at times.” Listening to him, Kate wasn’t sure what was better, staying married and cheating on your wife, or never marrying and having children out of wedlock. Both sounded dubious to her, and less than ideal. And then she thought of Justin and Richard, who were doing the same thing, with a surrogate no less.

“My son is having a baby too, in August. And he’s not married.” She didn’t mention that he was gay, and didn’t know how Bernard would react to two unmarried men having a child. Despite their sometimes loose morals, the French were fairly conservative, although normally in the States she never hesitated to say she had a gay son who lived with his partner.

“I can’t see you as a grandmother,” Bernard said with an appreciative look, and she laughed.

“Neither can I. I’m not sure I’m ready for that.” She hadn’t even thought of it that way yet. For the moment, it was Justin’s baby, not her grandchild. It was a somewhat daunting prospect.

They continued to chat long after they finished their coffee and he paid the check, and then he drove her home, and looked at her warmly before she got out of the car.

“I really enjoyed tonight, Kate. Even more than last time. I can’t wait to see you again when I come back, in about a month.”

“I’m hoping to come to Paris sometime in February, on a buying trip.”

“Be sure you let me know before you come. I would love to see you there.” As he said it, she remembered his “arrangement,” and assumed his seeing other women really wasn’t a problem. He had a totally free and easy style, and clearly didn’t feel married. And he felt single to her too that night. None of his stories and anecdotes included his wife. He was a free agent, except on paper, and she felt totally at ease with him.

He kissed her on both cheeks then, and she got out of the car, and let herself into the building. He watched until she was safely inside, waved, and then they drove away, as she went back to her apartment, thinking about him. He really was a nice person. He had done something wonderful for her business, was great to work with, and now she had a new friend. Thinking about all of it gave her a new lease on life. And she was smiling to herself as she took a bath, and went to bed. She had had a lovely time with Bernard.