Safe & Sound (14 page)

“Drink,” Stella said, interrupting our conversation by putting wine glasses full of champagne down in front of each of us.

“Wine glasses?” Lanie asked.

“I couldn’t find anything else,” Stella said, shrugging.

“Back to the story,” I said, trying to steer the conversation back.

“Oh, right. Well, I got to the restaurant a little late because of traffic, but when I finally got there, I couldn’t find Mary Elizabeth. I asked the hostess if she had already been seated. The young lady said she had and she could show me to my seat. She led me all the way to the back of the restaurant through this dark curtained section into a private room. I didn’t even know there were private rooms at Lucy’s,” Lanie said, still sounding amazed by it all. “The hostess pulled back this curtain and there was Mary Elizabeth standing in this darkly lit room with hundreds of candles everywhere. She was holding two glasses of champagne and motioned for me to come forward. I was so confused as to what was going on, I did exactly as she wished. She then took my hand and said that things had been up and down for us lately but getting back together made her realize that she wouldn’t have wanted to go through that without anyone else and she couldn’t picture her life, her future …” Lanie slid a glance in my direction.

“What? No pity glances, please,” I shot back at her, motioning for her to continue.

“She said she couldn’t picture her future without her best friend and then she took a little box off the table and said she hadn’t had time to get a ring but she hoped I would consider spending the rest of our lives together. She gave me the box and inside were her grandmother’s diamond earrings.” Lanie pointed to the large studded diamonds she now wore.

“How did I miss those?” Stella said, getting a closer look.

“So you said yes?” I asked.

“Yes. I said yes! How could I not? It was the most romantic gesture anyone has ever done for me. We did decide we are just going to do wedding rings not engagement rings. I had given her a diamond necklace a year back and she thought that was enough diamonds.”

“You can never have enough diamonds,” Stella said, looking slightly disappointed at the practicality of Lanie and Mary Elizabeth.

“I think it’s smart,” I added, trying to sound enthusiastic.

“So after that, we enjoyed a private dinner and we just talked all night until I called you guys,” Lanie said, finally finishing her story.

“Do you have any wedding details?” Stella asked.

“Yes. We want to get married in a month,” Lanie said with a straight face.

“What?” I said as Stella spit champagne out across the table.

After Stella cleaned up her mess, Lanie explained that Mary Elizabeth was getting ready to complete a fellow rotation in four weeks and that she would have a small break before she started back up in another more demanding area. They didn’t see the need to wait any longer and wanted to start their lives together as soon as possible.

“I guess when you know, you know,” Stella mumbled. I think Lanie heard Stella’s comment but chose to ignore it. She had stopped chopping vegetables and was focusing her attention on me.

“Jill, we would like you to help us plan our wedding,” Lanie said, shifting nervously.

“Me?”

“Yes, you. Every event you plan is flawless and you have planned a wedding before …”

“You also have a lot of free time,” Stella interjected.

“Sure. If that’s what you want.” I was secretly looking forward to having a huge distraction that had nothing to do with my own personal life, but I was also terrified I might not be emotionally strong enough to go down that road.

“Jill, Mary Elizabeth and I wouldn’t ask if we didn’t think you could handle it emotionally,” Lanie added, reading my mind. I nodded again, not wanting to speak in case my emotions weren’t in check.

“There is just one catch,” Lanie added.

“Oh, you mean planning a wedding in a month isn’t a big enough catch?” I asked sarcastically.

“We want to get married in New York,” Lanie said, surprising us both again.

“The hits just keep coming,” Stella mumbled.

“Why New York? Shouldn’t Stella plan it then?” I asked.

“No, not me,” Stella quickly said, shaking her head.

“Well, Mary Elizabeth is from upstate New York and she has a large family that we would like to attend and it’s legal there,” Lanie said.

“Oh, right.” I nodded.

We spent the next several hours going over details and making lists of Lanie’s upcoming nuptials only stopping to eat a lunch that Lanie had prepared and to refill on champagne. By the time Mary Elizabeth came home, we were filled with bubbles and laughing uncontrollably. She knew, as did so many of our other friends and loved ones, that once the three of us got going on something, it was best to leave us alone until we calmed down. We often slipped into our own little world, leaving those around us in the dark, much to their frustration.

We calmed down and congratulated Mary Elizabeth and offered her a drink, which she politely declined as she would be back on duty in a couple hours. We then tried to review our wedding ideas and lists with her, but half way through, she raised her hands and said she trusted us as much as Lanie did and gave us carte blanche on all wedding details. She said she had already done the hard part by asking for Lanie’s hand, so the rest was just gravy. It made me smile how easily she gushed over Lanie and how at ease they both were. I knew that their journey had not been easy to this point, which made this union seem even more special.

Stella stayed several extra days but had to fly back to New York at the end of the weekend. I was again told that I would be staying with the newly engaged couple under the guise of becoming their full-time wedding planner. In all reality, it was a good plan on their part because for the next four weeks I was so busy I didn’t have time to miss anything or anyone. There were so many wedding details and out-of-state vendors to organize while balancing the difficult schedules of two doctors there wasn’t time in my life for anything else. Before Stella left, the four of us decided that the wedding would be a black and white event with only touches of frosty blue. After that, all the details fell into place. I made dress appointments and schlepped both Mary Elizabeth and Lanie to multiple dress fittings at different times because they had decided they didn’t want to see each other’s dresses before the wedding. On Stella’s recommendation, I contacted the owner of a small, private, art museum with stellar views of the city. He agreed to rent out his museum space, which would accommodate the wedding and reception for 50 guests. I worked on menus with caterers and bakers, set up a wedding photographer, and contracted a party supply company to supply all the tables and chairs and linens. I helped the brides select last-minute invitations that were sent out via overnight FedEx. I interviewed several justices of the peace before selecting the right one and finally, I selected the frosty blue, floor-length, bridesmaid dresses that Stella and I would be wearing, as well as the tuxedos that both fathers and Mary Elizabeth’s brother would be wearing. For several days, I brought home various arrangements of flowers from a local florist whose cousin worked in Manhattan and who would be able to accommodate our order.

Lanie and Mary Elizabeth decided to skip registering for any wedding gifts because they already felt that they had everything they needed and in some cases, two of everything they needed, as they would be merging households after the wedding. Instead, they asked that if anyone felt the need give a gift, it be monetary so that it could help pay for their honeymoon. They had decided to take a four-day cruise in the Caribbean before Mary Elizabeth was due back for her second rotation.

Each night, I would arrange on the kitchen table the notes I had made of my day’s progress for Lanie and Mary Elizabeth to look over during dinner and then we would discuss any changes or preferences they had. Oftentimes there weren’t any changes, just several nods and a brief discussion about the budget. On the third or fourth night after talking about it, Mary Elizabeth finally decided that money would be no problem and that I should just continue. The brides-to-be only argued once throughout the entire process and that was the night we worked on the seating chart for the reception. Mary Elizabeth wanted only parents to sit at the head table with Lanie and herself while Lanie wanted the head table to be for the bridal party. They finally decided there would be no seating arrangement, only a small reserved table for the brides.

In the evenings, after Lanie and Mary Elizabeth went to bed, I worked on any arts and crafts projects that needed to be completed. It was at night, as I sat sipping on wine, which was usually left over from dinner, listening to the soft melodies of Frank Sinatra or Etta James, that I could unwind from the day. More often than not, my thoughts would drift back to my own wedding and thoughts of Jay. Every detail seemed to remind me of something that he had said or an opinion he had had. One particular evening, as I was gluing black and white cards together that would serve as the menu cards for each place setting, I started to giggle. I was reminded of the time I had stayed up all night working on place cards for my own wedding. They were elaborate black cards that I had written on in chalk. I must have made close to 75 of them and had fallen asleep working on the project. The next morning Jay tried waking me, startling me and causing me to knock the coffee out of his hand and all over the cards. We both just stared at each other and I burst into tears. Jay sent me off to bed and when I got up, he had redone all my hard work from the night before.

On the Tuesday before the wedding, I was finally able to find a small jazz band that had a last-minute cancellation. On Wednesday, with the final details arranged, I packed up Lanie and Mary Elizabeth and we boarded a flight for New York in preparation for their Friday sunset wedding in the city.

CHAPTER 18

I
had reserved several rooms for the occasion at the luxurious Plaza hotel. Lanie and Mary Elizabeth decided on a suite while Stella and I chose to share a room on a different floor. Thursday ended up being a full day of appointments at the spa, final fittings and a small rehearsal dinner at the Rose Club in the Plaza hotel. At the end of the evening Mary Elizabeth said goodnight and left to spend her final night with her family in a near-by hotel.

“This place is so much nicer than my apartment,” Stella commented, flopping down on the bed.

“Most places are,” I said just as someone knocked on the door.

“Coming,” I said, making my way over to the door.

“Lanie, everything okay?” I asked after opening up the door to find Lanie standing there with a bag in hand.

“I didn’t want to be alone,” she said.

“Of course. Come in,” I added, ushering her in.

“Everything okay?” I asked again.

“Yea. Just wedding jitters, I think,” she said, sitting down next to Stella.

“Then don’t get married,” Stella said.

“Stella!” I exclaimed.

“What? You know that I think marriage is overrated,” she added.

“You’re such a romantic,” I said, rolling my eyes in her direction. “Someday you will find the right person and you will change your mind, and Lanie and I will be there to tell you ‘we told you so.’”

“Don’t hold your breath.”

“Jill, would you do it all over again, knowing what you know now?” Lanie asked, interrupting our childish banter. I paused and stared at her, holding up a hand to let her know I needed a moment as I sat down on the floor, looking between the two of them.

“I would do it all over in a heartbeat,” I finally said.

“Why the pause?” Stella asked.

“It wasn’t a pause because I was hesitant; it was more for reflection. I mean the best part about life is you don’t know the outcome, right? You fall in love, blindly, putting your trust in this other person and hoping for the best outcome. Sometimes things fall apart. People change or they make bad decisions. Would knowing all that cause people to make different decisions? Maybe. But for me, Jay gave me hope. He made me laugh. He loved me and I wouldn’t trade those moments that we shared together for a lifetime of not having them. Sure, the last couple months have been painful and sad. But I will always have that time we shared, I will always remember those butterflies in my stomach when we met and his gorgeous smile and that look he got in his eyes when he was being mischievous. Those memories are mine because we had hope.”

“Thank you.” Lanie leaned down and squeezed my hand and I nodded. I crawled into bed next to the two of them and fell asleep.

As the photographer moved people around for the group picture, Lanie leaned over and whispered. “Jill, it’s breathtaking.” I nodded in agreement, smiling as the flash went off. The whole ceremony had gone off flawlessly and the reception looked to be shaping up as well. Lanie looked radiant as her dad walked her down the aisle only moments after Mary Elizabeth’s dad walked her down the aisle. The room had been filled with candles and low lighting which sparkled in the room as the reflection of the sunset bounced off the mirrored and glass surfaces of the museum. The justice of the peace kept the ceremony simple and a handful of tears were shed as Lanie and Mary Elizabeth exchanged hand-written vows. After the ceremony, a small champagne toast was held in the lobby so the staff could set up the glass tables for the reception. Each table had five silver and black and white place settings with large black linen napkins folded in squares. In the middle of each table were large bouquets of white roses and more strands of white light. The rose petals that had flanked the aisle from the ceremony were now scattered around the sweetheart table at the back of the room on the other side of the small dance space. The three-tiered wedding cake sat upon a large glass surface surrounded by more white roses that cascaded down the side. It was next to the jazz band, which started to play softly in the background. It was magical.

Lanie and Mary Elizabeth opted out of a traditional first dance and instead invited everyone to the dance floor as the band played. I moved toward the back of the room, taking in the whole scene. Dancing had traditionally been my favorite part of the wedding reception—well, that and the cake. Couples of all ages made their way to the small space in the middle of the room and swayed back and forth. I jumped when I felt a hand on my shoulder.