I hesitate. “Are you sure? I didn’t exactly get the sense she’s in any hurry. Maybe—she’s having second thoughts?”
Mom sighs deeply, exhausted at the prospect of raking over this subject with meagain.
“Dan and your sister are in love,” she tells me firmly. “They’re moving forward. It’s water under the bridge.”
“That’s not the impression I got.”
“Sweetheart, I know Dan’s not your favorite, but it’s time to let this go.” The edge in her voice is a warning. “You’re not here. You don’t see everything. This is what she wants. Your sister is happy.”
What I’ve never been able to figure out: is Mom delusional, or am I? Either way, if this is Shannon’s version of happy, it sucks.
“So will you call him?” she prompts.
“I don’t know, Mom. Don’t you think we should let Shannon plan her own wedding?”
“She is planning her own wedding! This is just groundwork. Something nice you can do for your sister. I think she’d really appreciate the effort.”
“OK,” I agree, resigned. “I will reach out and see what he says.”
“That’s my girl,” Mom says, pleased. “And ask him if they do gluten-free!”
It’s the next day before he replies to my DM, but as it turns out, Thomas is delighted to hear fromme.
He remembers Shannon, of course, sees her around sometimes, doesn’t mind looking into it for me, as long as I keep itquiet. If people knew he had the power to influence the wedding bookings, he’d be inundated.
He gives me the information, offers to be my wedding date (as a joke), then says his goodbyes.
It’s mid-morning. Connor and Ben have both been on a video call with Brad and the rest of the exec team for the last hour. Ben’s so bored he’s practically asleep, his head leaning on his wrist, his eyes falling in long, slow blinks. Judging from Connor’s posture now, he deeply disagrees with whatever is being discussed. He’s leaning back with his arms crossed, a deep groove between his eyebrows.
Now that I’ve had leisure to observe it more closely, I can confirm that (sadly) Connor is occasionally Brad’s bitch—thoughnothis friend, as was previously suggested tome.
Connor reports to Brad, so he can’t easily tell him to fuck off, even when I can tell that he wants to. Which is a shame. Because Brad comes by a lot, always at an inconvenient time, to discuss issues that I’m almost certain are none of his business.
I whisper across to Marty that I’m going to make a call, then decamp to a booth, and dial my sister. It rings so long I don’t think she’s going to answer. But then the call connects, and the sound of her voice emerges through the garble of her car’s speakerphone.
“Hey,” I say, trying to pretend like calling her like this is very normal.
“Is something wrong?”
“Nothing,” I promise. “Did you know Mom is making wedding inquiries on your behalf?”
“I did not,” Shannon says. I can hear the sound of her indicator clicking away in the background.
“Well, she is. She asked me to get in touch with my friend Thomas who works at The King’s Glen.”
“Who?” Shannon asks.
“My date from prom,” I tellher.
“You mean the guy you went withas a friendand then made out with on the dance floor?”
“That’s the one.” I cringe. Never tell Shannon anything. Her mind is a steel trap.
“I’m pulling up to a viewing,” she tells me. “Get to the point.”
“Right. So, they have like, no availability left for the rest of the year,” I tell her. “Unless you wanted to look at the first weekend in December, which is booked, but the couple hasn’t paid, so might be canceled.”
“I don’t want a winter wedding,” she says.
