Attraction (5 page)

Heron missed his calling by not entering the monastic order. Mother has already booked the
Grace Cathedral in the city. I think, Heron, here, is looking into garnering the top floor of the
Hilton Plaza for the reception.”
The faces of Caroline, Lawrence, and Riley froze. At first they looked at one another,
then at Roberta, whose eyes were cast down on her plate.
“Grace Cathedral?” Riley said, ignoring her mother’s warning look. “Roberta, I thought
you were going to get married at the church in Bodega Bay? I thought you wanted to keep the
wedding small?”
Roberta gave her a helpless look. “Well, I did, but Heron felt that…”
Heron said smoothly, “Roberta told me about the church out in the coast, but I told her it
was inappropriate for our wedding.” He brushed the back of his hand against Roberta’s cheek.
“She said that she wanted to not make such a big deal out of the wedding, but make it small and
intimate, with just a few of our friends and family there. But I told her that I’m afraid that my
wedding will be a big deal. There will be too many people who will be expect us to invite them.”
Riley pointed out, “But Grace Cathedral holds how many people?”
“Over five hundred,” Roberta said weakly. Her face started to look a little pale.
“Five hundred. Are you telling me that you have five hundred friends and relatives that
need to come to this wedding?”
“The reception is expected to be over a thousand,” Tanner murmured.
Caroline and Lawrence exchanged brief looks, their eyes equally appalled.
Heron stared at Riley coolly. “It will be a major social event in San Francisco. And using
some connections, I was able to book the church for Christmas…”
Caroline gasped. “Christmas! You mean this coming Christmas?”
Heron nodded. “Yes. The sooner the better.”
Caroline said faintly, “But that’s only four months away.”
Lawrence looked as if he couldn’t breathe. He rasped, “Four months to prepare for one
thousand guests.”
Riley protested, “But that’s not what Robbie wants…”
“Yes, it is, Riles,” Roberta interjected forcefully. She smiled at her, trying to reassure her.
“Look, Heron’s right. It will be a major social event. People will expect it of Heron and his
family. He’s an important man in San Francisco, and his family is well known in the state.” She
smiled at her fiancée and put a hand to his cheek. “If I really wanted a small wedding, then I
have no business marrying Heron, or his family. Besides, we’ve hired one of the most soughtafter wedding planner from Hollywood. She does all the stars’ weddings down there. And she
has a big crew to get all the millions of things that need to be done.” She gave her sister and her
parents a pleading look. “So, please, believe me. This is what I want.”
Caroline and Lawrence nodded and gave her a reassuring smile. Riley had to swallow
hard to suppress the rising words of attack that she wanted to throw at Heron. She breathed to
calm down, and caught Heron’s dark eyes watching her, and detected the hint of cool triumph in
them.
Ever the one to always try to ease tensions with stories, Tanner said brightly, “Did I ever
tell you about the time I got arrested when I was rushing my fraternity?”
Latching on to the gambit like a lifeline, Caroline pleaded, “I can’t wait to hear about it.”
Towards the end of the evening, after the desert and after-dinner drinks. Riley was still
fuming over at how Heron had, once again, steamrolled over her sister’s wishes. To settle her
nerves, she slipped out into the back yard and snuck a cigarette. At the sound of the door
opening, she stiffened. It was Tanner Wait, stepping out for a breath of air.
“Are you going to tell on me to your big brother about this filthy habit?” she asked
sulkily before she dragged on her cigarette. “I’m not a habit smoker. Just once in awhile.”
Tanner sat down the porch steps next to her. “No matter to me. And I won’t tell if you
give me one.”
She handed him the pack and lighter. She knew she shouldn’t say, but she couldn’t help
it. “What, you can’t do what you want to do out in the open in front of your big brother, as
well?”
Tanner inhaled deeply then blew out with pleasure. “I don’t smoke all the time, either.
And, yeah, it’s probably because I would hear no end of it from big brother if I did,” he added
when Riley looked at him.
They both sat and smoked in companionable silence, enjoying the cool dark evening, the
inky sky cloudless so that all the stars shone brightly down at them.
Then Tanner spoke, gently. “Look, he’s not such a bad guy, once you get to know him.”
“I know him as much as I want to get to know him.”
“He’s going to be your brother-in-law.”
“I can’t do anything about that.”
“You know, my parents and I are pretty stoked about this marriage.”
“Why?”
“What I said back there that we were all afraid that Heron was going to make some
socially advantageous marriage was true. With our money and position, Heron and I have been
thrown our way a lot of women who were looking to marry rich men. And they are a scary lot,
believe me. I mean, the stories I was telling to your family about some of them were all true. And
that wasn’t even half of it. So, when your sister came along…Well, she’s like a breath of fresh
air, compared to the heiresses and nobilities that we’ve run into; unpretentious, sweet, smart,
real, and, most important of all, not a calculating social climber or a money grubber. My parents
can’t wait to meet you and your parents. And I think they will enjoy you guys just as Heron and I
do.”
“Does Heron take after your father?”
“No, actually not. My father can be autocratic, at times, but mostly, he’s pretty even keel
and amenable. You’re asking why Heron’s the way he is, aren’t you? He’s a lot like my
grandfather. He’s the one who grew the family’s modest banking fortune to an obscene
proportion by turning our banking business to a financial conglomerate. He ruled his company,
and his family, with an iron fist. Did you know that Grandfather arranged the marriages of all his
four children? All daughters. He was like a king, arranging all these alliances with various
provinces.”
“He arranged your parents’?”
“No. My mother made him think he did. She was the clever one out of the whole bunch.
She fell in love with my dad when he was a junior executive at the bank. My mother worked on
my grandfather until he came to believe that my dad had the potential to succeed him as head of
the company, and that making an alliance with this junior executive through marriage was sound
judgment.”
“What’s your mother like?”
Tanner thought for a moment, carefully going over the various choices of words and
expressions. Then he said with some satisfaction and with some relish, “A mother. No, really.
That’s the only word that describes mother most accurately,” he added when Riley would laugh.
“For all her wealth and privileged upbringing, my mother turned out to be the quintessential
mother figure; loving, devoted, fiercely protective of her children, and yet wielding her family
with a firm hand, brooking little nonsense, and determinedly shaping her children to become
decent and productive citizens. That’s saying a lot for rich family, when mostly, we are so easily
allowed by all of society to live off the fat of the fruits of our forefathers, and foremothers, go
through life in meaningless idleness, and know little of life except our own self interests and
circumscribed life. My mother was the disciplinarian, and my father was the more easy-going
parent. He tends to be peacemaker. Similar to Roberta.”
Riley smiled at him through the dark. “Not unlike yourself?”
Silence fell between them.
Then, Riley said softly, “I just want her to be happy.”
“I know. Just give Heron a chance, and I think he will make her happy.”
Riley nodded. They fell into silence again, each smoking fresh cigarettes.
Then Tanner turned his head and gave Riley a mischievous grin. “So, tell me about this
club that you own.”
Riley laughed, completely comfortable and at ease, as she began to describe her club.
CHAPTER THREE
In the following two months, Roberta was immersed inches above her head in wedding
preparation. Her every movement and decision was dictated by the wedding planner, Hildegard,
who reminded Roberta of a female guard in a Nazi concentration camp. She was deathly afraid
of her, because the planner was so forceful in her opinions and was ruthless in casting aside any
ideas that Roberta might contribute. In self-defense, she dragged her mother along in the
excursions. They were ushered everywhere in a long black limousine that Heron lent them for
that very purpose, with at least three assistants who were perpetually at Hildegard’s heels, always
writing things down on their clipboards to her constant snapping orders. While riding with
Hildegard, both mother and daughter sat silently, shivering in their seats while the planner yelled
abusively in her cell phone to one of her hapless helpers.
And everything that Hildegard picked for the wedding was bigger, more elaborate, and
much more expensive than anything that Roberta would have chosen. At one exclusive wedding
shop in San Francisco, she gasped when she saw the price tag of the guests’ gifts that Hildegard
had picked out. Each was a small gift bag with glittering Christmas print tied with red and white
bows. For the women, each bag a contained gift certificate for the ballet or opera, a small vial of
French perfume, Godiva chocolate, and a miniature Waterford crystal champagne glass that had
the names of the bride and groom. For the men, the bags contained gift certificate to the 3M
stadium, cashmere socks, Godiva chocolate, and the same champagne flute. Each bag cost over
one hundred fifty dollars.
“One hundred and fifty dollars,” Roberta exclaimed. “We can’t buy this. This is
criminal…”
“Don’t worry, I’m going to get them to lower the price down to one hundred each, one
hundred and twenty-five, tops,” Hildegard said.
Roberta’s blue eyes widened with horror. “But, that’s over a hundred thousand dollars,
and just for the guests’ gifts. We can’t do that.”
Hildegard looked up from her notes. “Why not?”
“I can’t be spending that kind of money…”
The wedding planner waived her hand dismissively. “Oh, that. What are you worrying
about? Your fiancée’s very rich. Remember?”
“But that’s not right. Just because he has money doesn’t mean I can rack up the bills
outrageously.”
Hildegard rolled her eyes, and then feigned a yawn. “Oh, boy, don’t tell me you’re one of
those principled women. Is that how you hooked him, lady, making him think that money was
the last thing you look for in a man? Well, you got him, so you can stop with the act. Besides,
one hundred thousand is just a raindrop in a one gallon pail for Heron Wait. And his family has
several of those pails, I understand.”
Not liking the feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach, a feeling that she had been
experiencing more and more lately, Roberta tried something that she was not very good at; being
assertive. “Now, look, I think this is getting a bit out of hand…”
Hildegard looked at her watch. “Okay, it’s time to get moving. We need to get to the
dressmaker in fifteen minutes.” She began to bark orders at her assistants.
“Dressmaker?” Roberta questioned as two of the assistants took hold of one arm each and
firmly ushered her towards the door. “What dressmaker?”
“For your wedding dress.”
Roberta pulled herself free and stopped in her tracks, and an unfamiliar groove of
stubbornness began to form between her eyebrows. “I already have a wedding dress.”
“You do?” Hildegard, her eyes blinking with deceptive innocence.
“Yes. Don’t you remember? I showed you my mother’s wedding dress a week ago.”
“Oh, yes. It was that fifties number, wasn’t it? It was quite charming, with its clean
simple line, short, broad sleeves, deep scoop neck, and narrow lace skirt. And the yellowing
white veil is a romantic, if rather trite, touch.”
“I’ve always loved my mother’s wedding dress and have always dreamed of wearing it to
my own wedding,” Roberta explained.
“Do you love that dress more than your future husband?”
“What?”
“Well, you need to decide if you want to be sleeping with Heron Wait or your wedding
dress for the rest of your life.”
“I…I don’t understand.”
Hildegard took Roberta’s arm in a bruising grip and walked her out the door. “Do you
think you can really do that to a man like Heron Wait? Do you think a dress like that justifies the
prestige and wealth that he is about to bestow on you?”
“Well, I never thought of it that way…”
“Of course you didn’t. Like all brides, you become selfish, self-centered, because you are
so engrossed in your wedding preparations, that the groom becomes this forgotten other thing
that you barely remember you’re supposed to do something with in some future date, something
vague like walking down the aisle with him. That’s what I’m here for, sweetheart.” Hildegard
patted her hand and signaled to the limousine. “I’m here to make sure that everything goes right,
make sure that you do all the right things to make your fiancée proud of you, to make him smile
with love and pride as he watches you walk down the aisle towards him, towards your future
with him. Now, what do you think he’s going to think when he sees you in your wedding dress
and the faded veil?”
Roberta blinked. “I had hoped that he will think that I will make him happy…”
“He will, but not if you wear that dress. You know what he will think if he sees you
walking down the aisle in that used dress?”
Roberta felt that feeling again in the pit of her stomach. “What?” she asked, dreading the
answer.
“He’s going to think that you didn’t think enough about him and everything he’s about to
shower on you to buy a new dress, a dress of your own for your own wedding, but that you
borrowed someone else’s wedding dress to wear in yours and his, a dress that was bought for
wedding that happened over thirty years ago. Now, how do you think that’s going to make him
feel?”
Roberta croaked feebly, “Unappreciated?”
“Exactly. He’s going to think that you do not appreciate what he’s done for you, and what
he’s going to be doing for you. Now, what would a perfect fiancée do for her groom?”
“Go and buy the most beautiful, the most expensive wedding dress there is?”
Hildegard patted her on the shoulder. “Now you’re talking. By the way, the dressmaker is