Chatter picked up among them once more. Mom mumbling to Michael. The newlyweds whispering under their breath like a secret society of their own.
Grandma groaned and thrust her fingers against her forehead. “We can’t afford another scandal.”
“I agree,” Mom said, eyes narrowing in concentration. “But…I might have a solution.”
The mumbling died down.
All eyes shifted to Mom in the quiet pause. A pause that made Zander’s insides squirm.
“What is it?” He regretted the question the moment it slipped off his tongue. Had he not encouraged it, Mom might have kept the thought to herself. And Zander had a feeling that her idea—whatever it was—would be risky.
“Now hear me out,” she prefaced while lifting a hand. “We can’t get hold of Duke, but we know he knows about the wedding, and he made sure Perry knew about it too. Either he’s heading back now, in which case he’ll be home in time for the big day, or he’s hiding out until he misses it. Either way, we’ve got to be ready.”
Zander shrugged. “Ready for what? If he doesn’t show, there is no wedding.”
Mom tipped her head to one side. “That’s not necessarily true. I mean, yes, there has to be a groom. And if one doesn’t show, the repercussions will be ugly for our family. Unfathomably so. But…”
A gasp sounded from the newlywed section. Zander looked over in time to see Betzy lean over Sawyer and whisper something to Camila, who let out a gasp of her own.
Mom grinned. “Looks like the ladies are catching on.”
Irritated heat prodded at Zander’s insides. “Catching on to what?”
“Think about it, Zander. You and Duke are identical.”
“So—” But then it hit him. The slam of a mallet to a dangling, unsuspecting gong. Enlightenment was a funny thing. The word itself suggested that light had been shed on a certain thought or idea, making what was once unseen visible to the mind. But what if that thing—the very thought or idea—contained no light at all?
“No.”
“Just think about it,” his mom urged. “You probably won’t even have to go through with it. Chances are, Duke’s on his private jet as we speak, heading home in time to do it himself. If that’s the case, we still need to be ready for this wedding.”
“That’s true,” Betzy said. “You’ll have to wear a tux either way.”
James was next to speak up. “So you’re saying that Zander should make plans to be there like the rest of us…”
“In a tux,” Mom inserted.
“And then if Duke doesn’t show, you want Zander to step in and say ‘I do’ in his place?” James shot Zander an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, but that’s nuts.”
“Thank you for seeing reason, James,” Grandma Lo said. “There’s no way I’d allow my grandson to do such a thing.”
Relief rushed through Zander’s tightened form. “Good, because I’d never agree to it anyway.”
“Do you want to save this family from further scrutiny or not?” Mom asked.
Grandma Lo was on her feet in a blink, hand raised high and chin propped even higher. “We are not going to make fools of ourselves for Duke’s sake. If he doesn’t show, he’ll simply have to suffer the consequences.” She nodded, eyes thoughtful as she lifted a finger. “But perhaps we can get hold of him after all. See to it that he keeps his word.”
“If he’s not already on his way,” Michael said, “and we can’t even get hold of him, there’s no way we’ll get him here in two days.”
Grandma Lo chuckled in response. It sounded like the intro to a good retort, but since Grandma couldn’t possibly have one, Zander assumed she was suffering a moment of madness instead.
“You’re new to this family, so let me share a little something with you, Michael. When you have money like we do…there’s always a way.”
She turned her piercing gaze to Zander. “We are going to get hold of Duke, and we’ll make sure he keeps his end of this deal.”
The stubborn woman headed toward the door, snatched her handbag off the side table, and turned to look over her shoulder.
“Well, what are you waiting for? Get moving. I expect every one of you to do whatever you can to get Duke home. We’ll have a conference call at eight p.m. to discuss our findings.” With that, she walked out the door, leaving it wide open behind her.
