The Bastard Takes a Wife (10 page)

“Let’s go.”

She led me to the dressing room and swished
the curtain across blocking me from view of the room. “Strip down
to your knickers and bra and I’ll be back in a minute.”

After a minute or so to get my clothes off,
she called out from the other side of the curtain. “Is it alright
for us to come in now?”

“Okay.”

The assistant pulled the curtain aside. Next
to her stood the seamstress who would do the alternations. In her
arms she lugged a large white bag. “You’re going to love this,” the
seamstress commented as she slid the curtain back along, cocooning
the three of us in the tiny cubicle. “I had a little sneaky peak
this morning. It’s exactly what you wanted. Of course, if there’s
anything you want changed, let me know. I have a lot of pinning and
tucking to do but Kirsty will stand by with the clipboard to take
notes of any alterations and changes.”

I put my arms up and the assistant, Kirsty,
and seamstress stood on step stools on either side of me to lift
the dress over my head. It fell softly around my body and even with
pins everywhere it felt like me.

They stepped down and the seamstress turned
me by the shoulder, carefully pinning the back of the gown together
where the buttons would eventually be.

“Right,” she said, “Let’s open up the curtain
and show you this gorgeous gown.”

She pulled back the curtain and I walked out
to stand in front of the huge full-length mirrors. A gasp of awe
came from the couch as I stepped up onto the box and watched as the
seamstress adjusted the hemline so that the dress fell in pools
around me.

“I’ll pin that to the correct length
directly,” she said. “That will give you a better idea of the final
look.”

“It’s gorgeous,” my mother sighed.

“Stunning,” said Adele.

“Perfect,” Angus whispered. “And so
classic.”

“Do you think Sam will like it?” I asked.

Mum was crying softly into a tissue. “Oh,
sweetheart. You’re going to be the most beautiful bride. How could
he not like it?”

The gown was strapless with a soft sweetheart
neckline. The bodice was pleated French tulle accented with
Chantilly lace and an asymmetrical drop waist. It had the
beginnings of a tulle skirt with a Chantilly lace hem that flowed
along the floor in a chapel length train. It wasn’t big or
ballerina-ish. It wasn’t O.T.T modern. It was me.

“It would look perfect with ivory pearl
button gloves, sort of vintage fifties style,” the assistant said.
“And that would coordinate with the theme for the bridesmaids.”

I was speechless. I blinked and looked at the
girl in the mirror. Even in the half finished dress with her
spotted knickers showing, she was a Princess.

The next evening, Mum invited Sam’s family
over for dinner along with Adele, Brian and the children. She’d
known Adele for years through the Yacht Club. That was how I scored
my ‘holiday job’ as Paige’s nanny ~ the one that mysteriously
became a full time affair after I graduated from Uni. Mum thought
it would be a nice idea to show Kent and Patricia some Perth
hospitality and for our families to become better acquainted before
the big day. Personally, I would have rather been subjected to an
evening watching replays of every Rugby World Cup match ever
played. At least I’d be sure I’d only get my head bitten off for
changing the channel.

Now, Mum and Dad might have been a bit on the
frugal side but that by no means stopped them from having a lovely
home. Since they’d down-sized to the Penthouse apartment in
Nedlands they’d seen fit to dump their furniture of thirty years
and invest in a house full of quirky antique pieces which Mum had
cleverly mingled with her new love ‘eco chic’ bits and bobs that
she’d had imported from their favourite places around the world.
The pre-loved stuff had, of course, been donated to be re-used in
some hippie commune or something. Nobody else would have been that
desperate for our gold velour seventies sofa.

Dad had some rather unusual items on display,
too ~ bowls made from bottle caps and placemats fashioned from
bicycle tyres sat beside Moroccan pottery and Mexican glassware.
Each piece was strategically placed to enhance the one next to it;
every cushion had been chosen to look coordinated but not. It made
for a very eclectic, yet stylish abode. One that I was comfortable
inviting the Brockton Family into. Not even Patricia would be able
to find fault with this house.

I’d been helping Mum to prepare the dinner
all afternoon ~ well, she’d been cooking and I’d been mostly
sitting on the other side of the counter keeping her company
because my only competent culinary skill was chopping or the
occasional use of a hand blender. It was to be an Italian style
feast with antipasto, pasta, meat and dessert courses. For the
children, she’d set up a special table and made a tasty Bolognese
from organic lamb mince. (I’d warned her about Adele’s diet for the
children.) I didn’t know how this would go down with Paige though,
as she had declared only last night that she should avoid carbs,
they made her feel as big as the mammoth in
Ice Age 3
. I had
no idea where she’d gotten that idea from as Adele never said
anything to the children about weight or diets and she never ate
with them anyway. The Richards-Shaw clan ate High Tea and their
parents’ dinner at eight.

When the doorbell rang, I wiped my hands ~
I’d been chopping vegetables ~ and ran to answer it. Being the only
one who knew Sam’s family, I sort of thought it was my duty to
introduce them to my parents. I was prepared for an onslaught of
new wedding demands from Patricia but I was in no way prepared for
the sight that greeted me on the other side of the door.

“Hey Millie.”

“Josh? Oh my God, Josh!”

Probably a bit of an understatement.

I flung myself into the arms of the man in
front of me, embracing him tightly. Then, coming to my senses, I
pulled back. Josh was my long time boyfriend before Sam. We’d
broken up before he went off sailing around the world on his
father’s yacht two years ago. No matter how excited I was to see
him, it wasn’t appropriate that I hug him like a lover now that I
had Sam.

“What’re you doing here?” I exclaimed.

“I got back a couple of days ago. Met your
Mum in Herdsman Market yesterday. She invited me to dinner.”

That’d be like Mum. She’d always had a soft
spot for Josh. Over the years he’d been more like a second child
than a boyfriend at our house. Still, it was such a shock to see
him standing there. Memories flooded back. We’d had some fun
times.

I cast my eyes over him. He’d filled out in
the time he’d been away ~ grown muscles in all the right places.
His straight sandy hair was longer too and sprinkled with
highlights of sun-kissed blonde but it suited him. It framed his
face in a more rugged way and showed off his cheeky blue eyes and
square jawline.

“I like the changes,” I commented. Josh and I
had always been open with each other. He wouldn’t see it as
anything more than it was meant to be. “You look very manly.”

“Are you saying I wasn’t manly before?”

“Don’t be silly. You look different, that’s
all. More rough around the edges, not so metro-sexual city
boy.”

“Living on a boat will do that. Whether you
like it or not.”

I showed Josh through into the kitchen, where
Mum gave him a kiss and hug. As at home as ever, even though he’d
never been to the new house, he walked to the fridge and got
himself a beer. Then he sat on a stool on the other side of the
kitchen bench while I went back to the task of chopping vegetables
for salad.

“You finally learnt how to cook?” he joked,
reaching over to grab a slice of raw carrot.

“As if. I can make steamed vegetables and pan
fried chicken breast though. Oh and Bircher muesli. It’s all
Adele’s kids eat.”

“Yum. Remind me to pop by for a meal,” he
replied, pilfering another piece of carrot.

“Very funny,” I slapped his hand away from
the chopping board. “You enjoyed your time away then?”

I’d always wanted to travel, just not on a
boat.

Josh looked over to where Mum had gone to set
the table. “Loved it. Saw heaps, met so many people.” His voice
lowered a notch or two. His eyes grew darker and more piercing. It
was a look I recognised from when we’d been together. “The only
problem was … you weren’t with me. I wish you’d come. It would’ve
been so much better. The sunsets, the romantic nights on the
deck….”

His hand reached over to rest on mine. A
familiar tingle sprang into my fingers and yanking my hand away, I
put the knife down for fear I might chop off a digit. Shit. Now
would probably be good time to tell him my fiancé was due on the
doorstep at any moment.

“You know how desperately I wanted you with
me, don’t you, Mill’? You know I never forgot about us.”

I felt the shiver run up my arm. Only Sam
called me Mill’ these days. Somehow it felt like a betrayal that
Josh would do it.

“And you know I can’t stand boats or deep
water. How would I have coped on a yacht for a year?”

“I would’ve looked after you.”

I had no doubt. Josh had always looked after
me very well. And it’d only been the boat thing that split us up.
Mum and Dad always believed wedding bells were in the air for
us.

“Look. I don’t know how much Mum told you,
but we’re having a few other people for dinner tonight. One is my
fiancé, Sam,” I put so much emphasis on the word there could be no
doubt as to where my allegiance lay. I hoped. “He’s meeting Mum and
Dad for the first time.”

Josh’s face went a greenish grey. His hand
began to shake on the side of his glass. Steadying, he put the beer
down on the bench.

“Fiancé? You’re getting married?”

“No, I call him that because it sounds cute.
Of course I’m getting married you dufus. In about six weeks, in
fact.”

“Holy crap.”

I could see he was struggling to deal with
it. He’d thought we could pick up where we’d left off.

“It’s been two years. I mean, we did break up
before you left. You didn’t expect I was going to wait, did
you?”

“I guess I kinda hoped.”

Great.

The doorbell rang again and I went to answer
it, though I wasn’t sure if ‘saved by the bell’ would be an apt
turn of phrase in this instance. More like ‘lambs to the
slaughter’. I had a feeling this was going to be a rather awkward
evening and not because Patricia and Amanda were going to be
sitting opposite me.

I opened the door the second time to find Sam
standing on the other side, a humongous bunch of pink and tangerine
day lilies in his arms.

“Hey.”

“Hey to you too,” I replied. “Lovely flowers,
but you shouldn’t have.”

“They’re not for you,” he said, leaning over
them to kiss me. “They’re for your Mum.”

“Charmer.” I grabbed his hand, pulling him
into the hall. “Come in, come in. Mum’s in the dining room.”

Patricia and Kent followed along behind me. I
could see her eyeing off my parents’ art as we walked along. The
space may not have been hung with Picassos and Monets but my
parents’ collection was all them. They collected what they liked,
not what they thought would impress people, though even I’d
wondered about their choice of the purple naked lady with 3D pubic
hair made from pot scourers. She was a little, well, bizarre but
apparently worth more than my designer wedding dress.

I led Sam’s family into the open plan living
area where Mum had taken off her apron and was wiping her hands on
a cloth at the bench. Dad was at the ready to shake hands and Josh
stood awkwardly in the background.

“Mr. and Mrs. McIntyre. I’m Sam.”

He handed Mum the bouquet and kissed her on
both cheeks, European style.

“Sam. At last. And these are your parents and
sister?”

Sam presented them in turn. Kent in his brash
way squeezed Mum so hard I could have sworn I heard bones crack.
Patricia and Amanda were somewhat more reticent. In fact, they
looked as if they might catch Swine flu or Bird flu or something if
they so much as touched any of us.

Finally, we came to the elephant in the
room.

“Um, this is Josh Evans. He’s an old family
friend just back from a sailing trip around the world. I hope you
don’t mind that Mum invited him.”

Sam’s grin was easy. “The more the merrier.
Great to meet you, Josh. Can’t say I’ve ever heard Millie mention
you, though. Have you been away long?” He thrust a large hand in
Josh’s direction, following the shake with a boyish punch on the
arm. Even with his newly grown muscles, the force of it made Josh
stumble. A look of murder crossed his face.

“About two years. A lot seems to have changed
since I left.”

He glanced at me but I ignored him.

“Things have a way of doing that. I went home
for a bit last year and when I got back I discovered Millie’d been
shagging my best mate.”

Oh. My. God. Please let the parents not have
heard that.

“
Sammmm
,” I hissed.

He wrapped his big arm around me and
squeezed. He bent to kiss my forehead. “It’s okay, Babe. I told you
I was down with it. I was making a point to Josh, here. That’s all.
And anyway, if you hadn’t done it, we wouldn’t be where we are
today, right?”

And that made the embarrassment so much
easier to cope with. “How about we change the subject?”

Josh gave a tight smile. “Fine by me.”

As Mum led the way through to the living
area, Sam pulled me along to catch up with her. He seemed genuinely
excited.

“It’s really good to meet you, Mrs. McIntyre.
I was beginning to think Millie was lying about having parents. You
never seem to be here.”

“You can call me Mum,” she smiled. “Now that
you’re going to be family. Millie’s told us so much about you.”