“Yeah, I was going to call you about that. We finalized the date. Last Sunday of June. Will you be able to make it by then?”
“Oh, of course we will! We’ve already applied for leave from the Share Farm. They don’t care how long we’re gone as long as we let everyone know. People have to pick up our slack.”
“I know, Mom. You also know you can stay with us while you’re here, right?” They probably weren’t the only people who would be their guests, but Etta had enough spare bedrooms for Jamie to confidently say they could reserve one for her parents, of all people.
“Yes, we still have your address.” She had given it to them so they could exchange birthday and Christmas presents.Excuse me, Winter Solstice gifts.Jamie still had yet to go into town wearing her hemp hat and mittens. “I’m going to bring you all sorts of things so you can have a wedding with good energy.”
“Mom, Etta and I aren’t like you and Dad.” Jamie couldn’t imagine her fiancée dancing naked beneath the full moon.
“I know that! Still doesn’t mean you couldn’t use some good energy on your wedding day, of all days. I’ve already talked to Meadow, and she saidthat she’ll make you a hemp–”
“Who is Meadow?”
“I’ve told you. She’s our hemp weaver.”
“Ah, right.” Someone had to be responsible for those mittens and hat.
“Your dad and I are so excited. Last year our astrologer told us that something big and wonderful would happen with you, and your father guessed that it had to do with a wedding. I had hoped for a big career move, but… can I say I’m sad about this?” Here was the moment Luna’s voice went from solid to cracked. Jamie groaned. Whenever her mother started sounding like this, it meant she was about to cry, and she always,alwayscried whenever emotions ran slightly high. Like talking about her only child’s wedding. “Anyway, we’re coming up with a list of family who are still around and in contact. Unless you’re having a small affair. We would understand if we were the only family invited. Not like your Uncle Hubert has come out of Alaska in twenty-seven–”
“It’s a big wedding. Etta has a million people she has to invite because of her job.”
“Of course, Ms. Big Business Woman.” Why did Luna have to say that with a faux serious voice? She sounded so… Jamie didn’t know anymore.This is why I can’t talk to her. She knew she was old enough to not be embarrassed by her parents, but she couldn’t help it. They were Weird with a capital W. “We’ll try to even things out for you.”
Jamie spent the next ten minutes getting her mother off the phone. Who knew this mama’s girl would one day be so annoyed with her? Jamie loved her parents, of course. She had many fond memories of her childhood and adolescence, but her parents had always been a bit… odd. It was manageable before she went off to college. Her parents worked the usual jobs. They had a house in the countryside, but a close enough drive to the nearest large town. They were frugal but not opposed to spending a little money for a good time, especially if it meant Jamie enjoying herself. They were supportive of whatever she wanted to do and didn’t make her feel ashamed about her body or her feelings.
That changed after she graduated high school. The moment she moved into a dorm, her parents sold their house, quit their jobs, and cried into the wind that they were finally embracing who they wanted to be. A couple of hippies on a bigger hippie farm.
They were happy, so Jamie supposed that was all that mattered. Even if they didn’t like it, the money she got from Etta ensured that her parents could have a comfortable future as they got older.I have fantasies of getting them away from hard labor and setting them up in a beach house.That would be the only way.
Nevertheless, she had nightmares of what her parents might bring to her wedding. If she were marrying a normal middle-class girl, it would be one thing, but Etta’s social circles demanded a certain level of propriety. Not everyone would be as understanding of her parents being high off their asses as they performed interpretive dances at the reception.
“Everything okay?” Beatrice asked the moment Jamie put down her phone. “Need help with anything? I could spare a few minutes before I get started mopping the floors.”
“No, thanks. I appreciate it. Just… wedding drama. Mother drama.”
“I’m sure everything will be fine.” Beatrice patted Jamie’s arm with one hand while she held the mop handle in the other.Does this woman ever rest?She was certainly more active than her husband. “You’re getting married, and that’s a wonderful thing. People are excited for you. I can only imagine your mother is super excited.”
Jamie didn’t have the heart to tell her what was really going on. “She is excited. They’ll be staying here for the duration of the wedding.”
“Wonderful. I’ll put that into the guest schedule.”
“Do so, please.” Beatrice turned with the mop, but then turned right back around again, smacking her lips in thought. “You know,it really is a wonderful thing that Ms. Coleman found someone as sweet as you. Between you and me, we were a bit worried she was going to keep up the… you know.”
Jamie tried not to roll her eyes. “The serial monogamy slash philandering?”
“It can’t be healthy. I understand she’s a very busy woman, but… how do you get support like that? A woman like her needs someone supporting her, even if it’s just at home.” Beatrice shook her head, the mop squeaking against the floor every time she moved. “I’ve enjoyed having you here, Miss. Although I suppose I should start calling you Madam.” She giggled.
“You don’t have to call me anything.” Jamie kept telling people to call her by her damned name, but titles were everything up here in the hills. Sometimes Beatrice called her Jamie, and sometimes she was “Miss.” Probably out of habit. Most employers around there wouldn’t be as understanding of certain slips.Etta probably hates those people. Jamie liked the idea of marrying such a woman with that kind of disdain for treating people like crap. She treated everyone in her household very well. Letting Beatrice and Harris live in the guest house for free… giving them generous benefits and ample time off. Even the gardeners spoke her praises, and not just because she took an active interest in flowers and mycology when she had the time.Goodness, dealing with flowers is going to be a pain with her. I should let her choose them. As long as there were no mushrooms. Outside of dinner, anyway.
“Anyway, I’m glad that Ms. Coleman found you, Jamie. I think you’ll make a stellar wife for her and the lady of this house. Trust me. Last place I worked? The lady of that house was not… the greatest. She didn’t know how to treat people. She had all the looks, the manners, and the vocabulary of a millionaire’s wife, but nobody liked her. Nobody working for her, anyway. Harris and I were so relieved to come live and work here.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” As far as Jamie knew, these friendly people hadbeen working for Etta ever since she bought this house a few years ago. Nobody but a cleaning woman entered the downtown penthouse. “You’re coming to the wedding, right?”
“Of course! Although, if you’re hosting it here, please don’t expect me to clean it all up. I might have a heart attack.”
“Who told you that we’re hosting the wedding here? Etta? We haven’t made any final decisions about that yet.”
“Well… she didn’t say anything… recently…”
