to the vet.
Wedding plans. Sell the car. Gift for Daniel. Luggage. Hire a
realtor. Change of address…?
Wait! I don’t even have an address yet. How
does that work?
Wedding dress. Tickets for Mom. Bank
accounts. More wedding plans. Credit cards.
When she arrived at her mother’s house, where
she would be staying for the next few weeks, Sammy just about
knocked her down. It seemed he’d missed her.
Jo was glad to see her mother looking better
than she’d expected. Sharon Clifford wasn’t adjusting particularly
well to living without her husband of thirty-five years, but she
acknowledged to her younger daughter that life did, in fact, have
to move on.
While they were browsing through Jo’s photos
of France, Sharon asked, “Well I must say, you’ve managed to get
yourself a very good-looking man. Have you set a date for the
wedding, sweetheart?”
“Uh, well, yes. Yes, we have.” Jo had been
afraid to spring the news. “Six weeks from now,” she said as she
watched her mother’s penciled eyebrows rise half way up her
forehead.
“You mean you’re getting married at Christmas ,” Sharon said, frowning.
“That’s right. I know it’s short notice, Mom.
But look on the bright side. You don’t have to bother with making
any of the arrangements. All you have to do is show up.”
Seeing that her words made no appreciable
difference to her mother’s expression, Jo went on. “The ceremony
will be held in Nice, in Luc’s family vacation home. It’s
beautiful, Mom. I can hardly wait to show it to you. And you’ll
love Nice.”
“Hmmm,” Sharon said, her face settling a
little. “But what about the dress? There’s hardly any time.”
When Jo’s sister was married, Sharon and
Julie had pondered for weeks over the wedding dress, finally
deciding on a custom design. It cost thousands.
“I’m not worried about a dress. I can pick up
something nice in Paris, next week. Luc and I will be spending a
few days there before we head home.”
Home, she realized with surprise. That’s the
first time I’ve called Cahors home.
“Hmmm. Have you really thought this through,
dear?”
“Of course I have. You know I’ve never been
keen on a big, splashy wedding.”
Like James wanted. For a split second
she felt regret for the way things had ended between her and James.
Her mother had been wild for him, and deeply disappointed in her
for breaking it off with him to run after a foreigner. James was a
good man, Jo acknowledged, but she wasn’t the wife for him.
“All I want is my family around me,” she
continued. “Of course, Julie and Tom and the kids will be there.
You can all travel together. And the weather will be mild and drier
than Seattle. There’s palm trees, and we can take day trips to
Cannes and Monaco, if you’d like.” Jo knew her mother had always
wanted to see Monaco and the Riviera.
“Luc will take you anywhere you want to go,
Mom. He’ll charm your socks off. I know you’re going to love him,”
Jo said, her voice turning wistful as she thought it would be only
a few more days until she saw him again.
“Well, dear, I have to say I’m very
interested in meeting your Luc. If he’s as good a man as he is
handsome, I’m happy for you.”
It didn’t take Sharon much time to warm to
the idea of a winter wedding in the south of France. Within a few
hours she was on the phone, telling her closest friends and asking
for advice on what to pack.
Happy as Jo was, being back in town made her
think of Brenda. Their broken friendship was the only painful thing
in her life, and she wondered if there was any way it could be
resurrected.
I should call her. Maybe a little groveling
is in order.
But she didn’t want to grovel. She wasn’t
entirely in the wrong, she felt. Brenda might be a lesbian, but
she’d turned into a perfect bitch as soon as Luc showed up in Jo’s
life. When Jo had introduced Luc, Brenda was rude—vulgar, even—and
Jo was embarrassed.
And she threatened me
Wedding plans. Sell the car. Gift for Daniel. Luggage. Hire a
realtor. Change of address…?
Wait! I don’t even have an address yet. How
does that work?
Wedding dress. Tickets for Mom. Bank
accounts. More wedding plans. Credit cards.
When she arrived at her mother’s house, where
she would be staying for the next few weeks, Sammy just about
knocked her down. It seemed he’d missed her.
Jo was glad to see her mother looking better
than she’d expected. Sharon Clifford wasn’t adjusting particularly
well to living without her husband of thirty-five years, but she
acknowledged to her younger daughter that life did, in fact, have
to move on.
While they were browsing through Jo’s photos
of France, Sharon asked, “Well I must say, you’ve managed to get
yourself a very good-looking man. Have you set a date for the
wedding, sweetheart?”
“Uh, well, yes. Yes, we have.” Jo had been
afraid to spring the news. “Six weeks from now,” she said as she
watched her mother’s penciled eyebrows rise half way up her
forehead.
“You mean you’re getting married at Christmas ,” Sharon said, frowning.
“That’s right. I know it’s short notice, Mom.
But look on the bright side. You don’t have to bother with making
any of the arrangements. All you have to do is show up.”
Seeing that her words made no appreciable
difference to her mother’s expression, Jo went on. “The ceremony
will be held in Nice, in Luc’s family vacation home. It’s
beautiful, Mom. I can hardly wait to show it to you. And you’ll
love Nice.”
“Hmmm,” Sharon said, her face settling a
little. “But what about the dress? There’s hardly any time.”
When Jo’s sister was married, Sharon and
Julie had pondered for weeks over the wedding dress, finally
deciding on a custom design. It cost thousands.
“I’m not worried about a dress. I can pick up
something nice in Paris, next week. Luc and I will be spending a
few days there before we head home.”
Home, she realized with surprise. That’s the
first time I’ve called Cahors home.
“Hmmm. Have you really thought this through,
dear?”
“Of course I have. You know I’ve never been
keen on a big, splashy wedding.”
Like James wanted. For a split second
she felt regret for the way things had ended between her and James.
Her mother had been wild for him, and deeply disappointed in her
for breaking it off with him to run after a foreigner. James was a
good man, Jo acknowledged, but she wasn’t the wife for him.
“All I want is my family around me,” she
continued. “Of course, Julie and Tom and the kids will be there.
You can all travel together. And the weather will be mild and drier
than Seattle. There’s palm trees, and we can take day trips to
Cannes and Monaco, if you’d like.” Jo knew her mother had always
wanted to see Monaco and the Riviera.
“Luc will take you anywhere you want to go,
Mom. He’ll charm your socks off. I know you’re going to love him,”
Jo said, her voice turning wistful as she thought it would be only
a few more days until she saw him again.
“Well, dear, I have to say I’m very
interested in meeting your Luc. If he’s as good a man as he is
handsome, I’m happy for you.”
It didn’t take Sharon much time to warm to
the idea of a winter wedding in the south of France. Within a few
hours she was on the phone, telling her closest friends and asking
for advice on what to pack.
Happy as Jo was, being back in town made her
think of Brenda. Their broken friendship was the only painful thing
in her life, and she wondered if there was any way it could be
resurrected.
I should call her. Maybe a little groveling
is in order.
But she didn’t want to grovel. She wasn’t
entirely in the wrong, she felt. Brenda might be a lesbian, but
she’d turned into a perfect bitch as soon as Luc showed up in Jo’s
life. When Jo had introduced Luc, Brenda was rude—vulgar, even—and
Jo was embarrassed.
And she threatened me
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