And at the Reception to Follow on Starlite Island
Black Tie and Bare Feet
In lieu of gifts, donations may be made to the Wounded Warrior Fund
I was wide-eyed, but I didn’t even know what to say. “How did you get an engraved invitation overnight?” I started.
“EvenIcan’t get an engraved invitation overnight,” Caroline said. “I’ve had these for three months.” She paused. “Along with the ones that sayWe regret to inform you...”
I shuddered. No one wanted to send the wedding cancellation cards, especially this close to the date. But we didn’t have much of a choice.
“But this is Emerson’s wedding day.”
“Right.” She drew out the word like I was slow. “She was never going to marry him. Not in high school, not now. He’s darling, and she loves him, but he isn’t her soul mate. He doesn’t understand her.”
The flash in her eye and the almost imperceptible glance she shared with Kyle made me know that she had someone else in mind when she mentioned Emerson’s soul mate, and I had to consider that I might have known who that someone was.
“Mom, honestly,” Caroline said, “the wedding on the sandbar, the reception on Starlite Island, the bouquets of peonies and hydrangeas, leaving by boat, that dress that would be totally ridiculous for a mother of the bride... Don’t you think I have your back by now? I planned this wedding foryou.” She paused. “And I knew the date would work, because it wasn’t like any of us could be anywhere else. And all your friends would be planning to come to Emerson’s wedding, so they’d have the date saved, too.”
I was stunned and teary-eyed. I had no idea that my daughter knew me this well, and I certainly didn’t know that she knew Jack and me as a couple this well. “I don’t know. I guess when you were making all those plans, I did think they sounded quite a bit like Jack and me.”
I shook my head and slid the invitation back across the island. “It is a ridiculous mother-of-the-bride dress,” I said. “And I absolutely love that you thought of this, but I can’t do that to Emerson. I would never, ever hurt her like that.”
“You have to,” Emerson said, appearing from the dining room.
“You havegotto quit being so sneaky,” I said. “I feel like everywhere I am now, you just pop in.”
“You and Jack take the wedding, Mom. You won’t get any of the money back now, and it really is your perfect wedding. It’s a fairy tale. You deserve it.”
“Em—” I started, protesting.
“Mom,” she said, “you waited sixteen years to move on. You and Jack deserve a really special wedding.”
I looked down at the ring on my right hand. Carter’s ring. Even though I was remarrying, I would wear that ring, as a symbol of my love for my first husband, forever.
Then I looked up to see Kyle looking at Emerson.
“And Mom,” she said, exhaling deeply. “I know you loved Daddy. You told him you loved him on September 11. And you kissed him good-bye. Twice.”
“What?” I asked, my heart racing. It was the thing I had wondered about for sixteen years, one that had haunted me. Had I kissed my husband good-bye? Had I told him I loved him on that last day? Did he wonder as the towers fell?
“I remember,” she went on. “He said he loved you best of all, and you said you loved him more, and you kissed. Twice.” Her eyes filled with tears. “And his last words to me as he left were ‘Break a leg, Em.’?”
I wanted to hug her then, but it was Kyle who got that privilege. She put her head on his chest, and he wrapped her up in his arms, and I heard him whisper, “You are going to be fine. You’re the Starlite starlet, remember?”
And it occurred to me that there was no reason for Kyle to tell Emerson how he felt. She already knew.
THIRTY-FOUR
emerson: a cookie smile
There is something surreal about rushing around and putting the perfect finishing touches on a wedding that was supposed to be yours.
With five days until the big day, the first question had to do with invitations. They were all stuffed and sealed and stamped already, which irritated me at first. But there was no time to be irritated.
“So how do we get all these out?” I asked.
“Oh, Vivi!” Caroline called.
