They kept walking. Jamie wouldn’t repeat what she saw Holly doing with three fine friends and one of the other girls Monique had hired for the party. It was definitely illegal in some countries.
How did they know they had walked too far? They peered through a peephole and saw Monique with her feet up on a couch, Helen massaging her poor, swollen soles and assuring her that the story about Amsterdam was to egg Etta on. She then tried to change the subject by talking about baby names. Her mother was pressuring them to name the baby Augustine, after Helen’s grandfather. Apparently, Helen still didn’t know she was having a daughter. Augusta, it was!
Monique yawned, Helen’s cue to shut up and keep massaging.
By the time Etta and Jamie finally backtracked to their guest room, Etta was antsy to feel her up again. Why not?
Jamie didn’t anticipate her asking to call her Cindy again. Jamie went along with it. She had a feeling Cindy would pop in and out of her marital bed for a few years to come – well, she was certainly welcomed, based on what she got out of Jamie’s future wife!
Jamie and Etta had their breakfast back out on the balcony, enjoying the sunshine before they headed home. The occasional guest scurriedor sauntered out of the Manoir after waking up from a sex and alcohol crazed stupor, but so far, the only person to come up and speak with them was Helen, who had to hurry home to attend a family function without her wife.
“Maybe we should walk through the labyrinth before we go,” Etta said. “See if we get lost.”
Before Jamie could cheekily reply, someone passed by in the hall, sunglasses pulled down and feet wobbling in her heels.
“Oh,” Adele said, stopping to stare at the happy couple. “I thought you would have left already.” She conveniently did not mention anything that had happened last night.
Etta held a steady gaze as she popped a piece of cantaloupe into her mouth. “Wanted to see what I paid for last night.”
“Paid… for…” Adele’s face paled. She clutched her purse close to her body and hurried down the hall, taking extra care of her thighs.
Etta turned to Jamie. “Worth it.” She speared another piece of cantaloupe on her fork and held it up to her fiancée’s mouth.
Jamie ate it. “Every penny.” Hopefully, they could now move on from the thrill that was Etta’s old love life rearing its ugly head.Just in time for the wedding, too.
Chapter 58
“Coleman, party of…” Etta looked over her shoulder. “Twenty-seven.”
The maître d’ at the French restaurant braced himself for the huge party coming his way. The reservations had been made well in advance, but Jamie called that morning to add about four more people. She barely had time to enjoy her final night as an unmarried woman, thanks to this ridiculous rehearsal brunch they had to throw.
The rehearsal itself had been fine, thanks in large part to Jenny and her team. The carpenters finished their task with a day to spare, and now the backyard was covered in chairs while a beautiful catwalk circled from the balcony. They would be getting married on it in about twenty-four hours, God rest Jamie’s harried soul.
Since most of the wedding party – all right, mostly Adele – had appointments that evening, they had to hold the rehearsal in the morning, complete with cats making great escapes without leashes and Beatrice running around screeching for them to come back. A photographer from a high society magazine followed them around, determined to catch everyone in “casual” poses… although every time he faced someone, they were suddenly smiling and primping themselves. Seena took the most joy in this. She was convinced she would find her own billionaire husband and wanted to make sure she lookedfantastic.
While Jamie had anticipated a somewhat rowdy bunch for her rehearsal dinner, she did not anticipate being seated at a large banquet table… in the back of the main dining area. Etta was not bothered by this. Adele commented about feeling like she was in a goldfish bowl, but for the most part, everyone acted like this was the biggest non-issue that could have happened that day. Luna and Saul were amused to be in such a fancy restaurant.
Naturally, there were other diners in the room. Naturally, they were well-to-do and had enough propriety to leave the large wedding party alone. Naturally, this was all going much too smoothly, and something had to be done about it, so help the Misses Coleman.
“If I could have everyone’s attention, please!” Luna called, standing in front of the banquet table with her hands in the air. She was certainly a sight in this restaurant. While everyone else wore their nicest midday outfits, from pastel cocktail dresses to light linen, Luna Joy was barely fussed with clothing at all. Let alone fancy clothes! Earlier that day, Jamie was relieved that her mother wore a nice muumuu without any phallic imagery on it. Now she wished her mother had dropped some of the seashell jewelry… and brushed her hair… “So, for anyone who doesn’t recognize us, we are Jamie’s parents.” Like anyone didn’t know… and now the whole restaurant knew, because Luna had one of those voices that carried to Timbuktu. Saul chose that moment to join his wife, dressed in a loud Hawaiian shirt and cargo shorts. “As such, we would like to perform a ritualistic dance of fertility that is commonly performed in the indigenous tribes of Ecuador on the eve of a wedding.”
“No… Mom!” Jamie stood up from her seat, Etta looking to her to ask if she knew anything about this beforehand.No, no, I did not!
Suffice to say, when this strange and probably not authentic at all interpretive dance took a turn for the blatantly sexual, Jamie – and security – had to physically intervene.
“Well, at least this is already the most interesting rehearsal dinner I’ve ever been to,” Seena said, while her brother Tosh nodded. “And I went to my cousin Calista’s rehearsal dinner, where the cops showed up to arrest someone’s uncle for outstanding warrants.”
All eyes in the restaurant were on the Joys. Saul, Luna, their daughter… it didn’t matter who it was. If their last name was Joy, they were the subject of intrigue… and derision.
“Kill me,” Jamie muttered, while Luna went on about sexual oppression and Saul demanded to talk to the manager. Now Etta had to intervene… mostly to get her future father-in-law to realize that some things could not be done in this restaurant, especially with present company. “I love them, but please kill me.”
After the brunch, everyone stepped outside to deal with the valets. This included Jamie, who had driven there separately to split the load between personal cars and the limo. Her parents had ridden with her to the restaurant, but right now they were having yet another row with Etta and the restaurant manager over what was considered appropriate.
“See you at the house,” Natasha said, hopping in a car with Tosh and Seena. “We’ll get you nice and tipsy tonight!”
They were having a small, intimate party that night at the manor. Sure, there were still things to do for the wedding the next afternoon, but most of it was taken care of, and both Jamie and Etta agreed on a small party for those who could make it. Right now? Jamie didn’t feel like hosting a party at all. She would much rather climb beneath a pile of blankets and pretend she was not one with this world. Or at least until the embarrassment her parents caused blew over.
Someone sneakily took the Lord’s name in vain behind Jamie. She turned around. Even though her sunglassesmade the world dark enough to look like the Apocalypse was here, she still saw two thirty-something women smoking on the sidewalk. She recognized them from the gallery at the restaurant… and recognized them as two very rich socialites. Like the older sisters of the two girls who once made fun of her in another restaurant.
