That Wedding (23 page)

"I don't. I got a good portion of it right away, but I put most of it back in the trust. I only kept enough to pay for college and stuff. I'll talk to Mr. D about it. We want a big wedding. My parents loved a good party. They'd want me to do it up right."

"So money's no object?"

"Yes, it's an object, silly. I'll have a budget, but I'm sure that budget will include the ballroom wedding that I'm envisioning. I'm so excited, Lori, and I'm so glad you're helping me!"

We start by scouring the internet for possible places to hold the ceremony and reception.

By the time Danny took Phillip to practice with him this afternoon, we had a long list of places to call and got busy on the phones.

I call the places on my list.

One by one, I cross them off the list.

Booked.

Booked.

Booked, booked, and more booked.

Lots of the places I call don't even answer, so I leave them all the same message.

Hi! This is Jadyn Reynolds. I'm calling, hoping you might have your ballroom /art museum / rooftop ballroom / loft / castle / party room / hovel / dive / shack / hole-in-the-wall available for a weekend in January. Please call me back at blah blah blah - blah blah blah blah.

I've called twenty-seven places and have either left messages, got told no, or got laughed at.

Seriously. A couple places literally laughed at me.
We've been booked up for a year
, one woman said haughtily.

I think it may be hopeless.

Lori comes back in from the kitchen. I can tell by the look on her face that her calls haven't gone any better. "Everywhere I've called has been booked. I even started tossing around the Danny Diamond name, and it hasn't done any good."

"Maybe we'll have the wedding at your house?"

"In January? Uh, I don't think so."

"We may have to have it in a tent on the empty lot next to the Diamond's house. Can you imagine that in January? Our guests would be frozen solid."

Lori giggles. "They could be both wedding guests and ice sculptures."

We laugh about it although I kinda feel like crying. I finally felt like I had it right.

It would be perfect.

I really could picture it in my mind.

A big ballroom overlooking the Plaza Lights. The ceremony would be mostly white with touches of the icy purple color. The cocktail hour would have great appetizers and a cool signature drink. There would be a fancy dinner in a chandelier lit room. The tables would have an icy feel with those white tree centerpieces we saw. There would be cool purple uplighting and lots of candlelight. After dinner, there would be dancing and a lounge area. The colors would get bolder. Black, white, and a deep rich purple.

Even though I still don't have a dress, I sorta thought I had it all figured out.

Maybe we'll end up in Vegas. After the fake Elvis marries us, we could sneak into one of the big hotel ballrooms and pretend that's where we got married.

Or maybe we could forget about romance and embrace the whole XXX wedding theme. Fake Elvis could marry us in a strip club. Strippers could jump out of the wedding cake. I could wear a white thong and dance around a pole for my first dance. I could have strippers as my attendants.

Speaking of attendants, I even showed Lori the picture of the bridesmaids dress. She thought it was adorable and loved the color.

A few weeks ago, I didn't have a clue what I wanted. Now that I have great ideas, I don't have anywhere to have it.

I'm depressed.

Phillip has a meeting first thing in the morning, so we drove back home late. We were both exhausted and fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow.

It's January. Snow is whipping through the sky. The wind is howling through the trees. It's about ten degrees outside, and we're having our wedding in a tent in the empty lot next to the Diamond's house. We have a whole bunch of heaters in the tent as we're trying to keep people from getting frostbite.

Phillip and I are cutting the cake when one of the heaters falls over and catches the tent on fire.

Pretty soon, my wedding guests are on fire.

People's faces are burning off in front of me.

Phillip runs up to me, his face on fire.

His face melts off like wax, but underneath the wax is Phillip's perfect face.

Which is really freaky.

I scream in my dream and wake up.

I wanna wake up Phillip and talk to him, but I know how tired he was.

Instead, I decide to pray.

When I was a little girl, my mom and I always used to say my prayers together before I went to sleep.

Since my parents are now in heaven with God, I'm not really sure who I'm exactly talking to when I pray.

Yes, I pray to God, but I also pray/talk to my parents. I figure they're up there with Him. I don't know, it's like I need guidance sometimes, and it helps me to just talk to them.

Or to God.

Or to anyone who would like to help me is who I really hope is listening.

So I pray.

Even fold my hands like when I was little.

I ask God to help me figure out a wedding.

I ask my parents for guidance.

I ask my mom how in the hell did she plan her wedding without going insane?

No one answers me though, and eventually, I fall back to sleep.

I called Mr. Diamond, told him about the wedding, and that I needed to talk to him about how to pay for it. We agreed to meet for drinks.

Mr. D has handled my trust and helped me with all the financial decisions I've had to make since my parents passed away. He's also treated me like the daughter he never had, and I don't know what I'd do without him.

When I get to his favorite upscale restaurant's bar, he's already there waiting for me.

He has a glass of scotch sitting in front of him, but as usual, he hasn't touched it. There's a glass of deep red wine sitting across from him.

"JJ, look at you." He stands up, kisses my cheek, and gives me a fatherly hug. "I don't think I've ever seen you look so happy."

"I don't think I've ever been this happy."

"Well, it's good to see. So I ordered you a Pinot Noir this time. It's red, but it's pretty smooth. I think you're ready for it."

Mr. D has been teaching me about wine. Getting me to try new things. Like wine that doesn't come out of a box. We started with whites, now we're working on reds.

He raises his glass, the way he always does when it's just the two of us, and says, "To your parents."

I take a sip of the wine and find it is very smooth. "Wow, this is pretty good. I like this one."

He smiles at me. He looks a lot like Danny when he smiles. It's not his mouth really, more the way his eyes crinkle up. "I'm glad you like it, and I'm glad you're happy. My job though is to consider your financial future. You and Phillip may be perfect for each other now, but you can't foresee the future. We're going to have Phillip sign a prenuptial agreement."

"No, we're not. He'd be offended by that."

"I don't think he'll be offended, honey. Phillip's a strong man. He'll want to earn his own money. He'll agree to it, don't worry."

He gets a big grin. "So I have a confession. There were some extra funds that we had from a small account and instead of adding them to the basic safe funds we put everything else in, I invested this in a more risky portfolio. You kids were buying mac computers and Apple seemed like the wave of the future, and then with the iphones and ipads, well, let's just say the little fund has done extremely well. I want you to use that money for your wedding. Your parents loved a good party. They would've wanted you to do it up big, and with this amount, you should be able to do just that."

I look at the printout he sets in front of me and am stunned by the amount. "Are you sure I should spend all this on a wedding?"

"I think you should. Of course, it's your money. You don't have to spend it, but I really believe it's what your parents would want. Your dad used to talk about how he would surely cry when you got married. How he couldn't wait to walk you down the aisle someday. Well, providing you wanted to marry a good man. He planned on scaring off anyone he didn't think was good enough." He chuckles. "I think you know how he felt about Phillip. Your dad would be thrilled."

I smile at him. My eyes fill up with tears. It makes me feel good to hear him say that my dad would be happy I'm marrying Phillip. All I've ever wanted is to make my parents proud.

"Honey, I didn't mean to make you sad. I know the Mackenzies are great, but I'm sure you're wishing your parents were here with you for this."

"I really do. Honestly, that's why I was dragging my feet about planning at first. It just didn't feel right to plan it without them."

He covers my hand with his. "They're with you, JJ. You know they are, and so am I."

He takes a big drink then slowly puts his glass down. "However, there's something important I need to talk to you about."

I tilt my head, look at him, and try and figure out what else there is. Based on the tone of his voice, I think I heard the good news first. "Okay."

He points to the printout. "I'm holding this money hostage."