The Wedding Promise (6 page)

Her mother took a deep breath and stared straight ahead, her chin set at a stubborn angle.

“Jennifer,” her father said, “I’d just like to know something. Why that particular place? Why do you and Kyle have your hearts so set on it?”

“Because it’s where we met, Dad. Not at the inn, but on the beach right below. And we went up to the inn later that day and sat with the innkeeper, Elizabeth Dunne, Liza’s aunt. She passed away in February,” Jennifer explained. “We sat with Elizabeth and she was so nice to us. And we used to go back and visit her all the time and once she told me that she was sure Kyle and I would get married. And I said, ‘Maybe we could have the wedding here, at your inn.’ And she answered, ‘Would you? That would make my heart sing.’ ” Jennifer smiled at the memory, even though it was the second time that day she’d told the story. “Wasn’t that a wonderful thing to say?”

“Very . . . poetic,” her father agreed.

“So, you feel an attachment to this place because of that old woman, the one who passed away?” her mother asked. “Is that it?”

“Not exactly. That’s not the only reason. It’s just our special place. That’s where we met, where we had our first date, our first kiss . . .” Jennifer was starting to feel embarrassed now, discussing these personal things with her parents. “We don’t care if it’s not some fancy, famous place. The Inn at Angel Island has real meaning for us. Those other places have no meaning, no character. This is what we want and if Liza Martin says she’ll hold the wedding there, that’s where we’ll be married.” Jennifer had rarely been so insistent with her parents. But she’d rarely felt this strongly about anything in her entire life.

She could see her mother bristle. “No need to raise your voice, Jennifer.”

“I wouldn’t have to raise my voice if you’d just listen to me. You argue with everything I say. This is my wedding, remember?”

“I’m not sure what we’re all debating about.” Her father also raised his voice a notch, just to be heard over the two women. “We don’t even know if the new innkeeper is willing.”

Jennifer knew that was true, but she just couldn’t believe that Liza wouldn’t come around and change her mind.

“You’re right, Frank.” Her mother wasn’t exactly smiling, but she did look calmer. “How did you leave it with her, Jen?”

Before Jennifer could answer, the phone rang.

“Let the machine get it,” Sylvia said. “This is important.”

“I just want to listen. It might be Kyle,” Jennifer insisted. Kyle usually called on her cell phone, but she wanted to make sure. Besides, she could use an excuse to get up and end the conversation. She could see that her parents weren’t going to be persuaded tonight.

Jennifer listened for the message, hoping to hear Kyle. Instead, she heard a woman’s voice.

“Hi, Jennifer. It’s Liza Martin. I hope I’m not calling too late. . . . ”

Jennifer stood rooted to the spot, listening.

“—I just want you to know that I’ve given our conversation some thought, and I have some ideas about your wedding. Maybe we can meet in a few days and you can see if I can put together a party that would be right for you.”

“Oh, blast!” Her mother groaned, and sat down in a kitchen chair. “I had a feeling this would happen. She probably realized how much money she was turning down.”

“Sylvia, let’s give the woman a chance,” Frank said.

Jennifer dashed to the phone, managing to pick it up before Liza hung up.

“Liza? Hi, it’s me, Jen. Thanks for calling back so quickly. I just heard your message. I’m so happy you decided to do it.” Jennifer’s heart was pounding. She could hardly speak.

“Well, I’m not entirely sure I’m the woman for the job, but you can be the judge. Why don’t you stop by later this week and we’ll try to figure it out,” Liza suggested.

“Tell me a good time for you. My schedule is totally free.”

Jennifer had been hoping to go back to the inn tomorrow. But she didn’t want to pressure Liza too much. This call was the answer to her prayers. She was just amazingly grateful.

“Let’s see . . . how about Thursday morning, around eleven? Does that work?”

“That would be fine.”

“Tell her your mother is coming, too,” Sylvia shouted from the next room.

“Of course you’ll want your mother with you,” Liza said before Jennifer even had time to relay the message. “I look forward to meeting her.”

Easy to say that now, Jennifer nearly replied.

Instead, she thanked Liza again and said good night.

As Jennifer hung up the phone, she hoped her mother wouldn’t interrogate Liza and criticize every inch of the inn. Liza might decide she didn’t want to do the wedding after all.

I’ll worry about that when I get to it,
Jennifer decided.
At least I have good news for Kyle.

While her parents continued to discuss what her mother called, “this absurd fixation on that inn,” Jennifer slipped upstairs to her bedroom and closed the door.

She took out her cell phone and quickly called Kyle. She couldn’t wait to talk to him. She had tried to reach him a few times after she visited the inn, but he had been in meetings all day.

“Hi, Jen, I was just going to call you,” he greeted her. “I just got in from the gym. What’s up?”

Jennifer felt breathless, as if she had just run a few laps. “I went to the Inn at Angel Island today. It’s still there and it’s still open. . . . But Elizabeth Dunne passed away,” she added sadly.

“Oh, that’s too bad. But I’m glad it’s still open. Did she sell it?”

“Her niece runs it now. She’s very nice. We had a long talk about the wedding.”

Jennifer quickly relayed their meeting—how Liza had at first refused to even consider the idea, then seemed to soften, and finally called tonight to set up an appointment.

“I guess you persuaded her, Jen. It’s hard to resist those big blue eyes. Don’t I know it . . . ” he teased her.

“Kyle, stop. I just told her how much the inn means to us. How we’ve never imagined being married anywhere else.”

“No, we never have,” Kyle agreed. “When do you see her again?”

“On Thursday. My mother is coming with me. She already hates the place and she hasn’t even seen it.”

“That sounds about right.” Kyle laughed. “Your mother never lets the facts get in the way of her opinions, I’ll say that for her.”

Jennifer didn’t answer. She knew her mother could be difficult, though she meant well. But all the advice and opinions had been rubbing Kyle the wrong way lately, and there would probably be a lot more of them before this was all over.

“Just cross your fingers that Liza agrees to do the wedding,” Jennifer told him. “I did tell her a few times that all we want is a small, simple party. That seemed to help.”

“Good. That is all we want, a nice celebration with our closest family and friends. Nothing over the top,” Kyle agreed.

Jennifer was glad they were in tune about their wedding. She had a feeling, though, that her parents—especially her mother—had other, more elaborate ideas. But she couldn’t worry about that yet. Getting her parents to agree on the inn was the most important thing right now.

“So how’s work?” she asked. “Anything interesting going on?”

“There is, actually. A big project is starting up in New York, and Ted told me a few of us might be sent down to help out.” Ted Waters was Kyle’s boss. He liked Kyle and often took him into his confidence. “It’s a merger, I think, but pretty confidential,” Kyle added.

“Oh, cool. New York is fun. For a few days.”

“If I have to go, it will be more than a few days,” Kyle explained. “And I’ll be working every minute. But Ted says it’s good to be assigned to the main office, even on a short-term project. All the big executives are down there, and they get to see your work firsthand.”

“That would be great, honey. But I hope they don’t send you this time. We have so much to do before the wedding,” Jen said honestly.

Kyle had a master’s in business administration and worked at a branch of an investment firm in Boston with a main office in New York. His office wasn’t very far from his apartment on the waterfront, where they planned to live once they were married. Jen had moved some of her belongings there from her dorm when she graduated and couldn’t wait to move the rest.

The space had real potential, Jennifer thought, though right now it was decorated in Early Guy, with a lot of dark leather furniture and a big flat-screen TV. She couldn’t wait to start fixing it up and had already ordered some furniture, area rugs, and window treatments. She also hoped she and Kyle could do some painting. Which wouldn’t be likely if he was stuck in New York until their wedding day.

Jennifer did love the location of their new apartment. Kyle could walk right across the new highway, past Faneuil Hall, and into the financial district without ever needing a train or a bus.

That was just one of the great things about Boston. You could walk anywhere you wanted, and the city had everything you needed but on a livable scale. Not like New York, which was exhilarating at first and then seemed so crowded and overwhelming.

It really got on Jen’s nerves if she was there for more than a weekend; she didn’t envy Kyle if he had to work in that main office.

“I wish I had a job, too,” she said. “I don’t think you should be the only one working while I’m hanging out all summer.”

“Give yourself a chance, Jen. You just graduated two weeks ago,” he reminded her with a laugh. “Besides, you have plenty of work to do planning our wedding.”

“That’s not work. That’s my dream come true. I can’t wait to be married to you,” she said softly.

She heard Kyle sigh. “Me, too. I can’t wait to be with you twenty-four-seven, three hundred and sixty-five days a year, forever and ever.”

Jen didn’t answer. She set the words very carefully into a little pocket in her heart, to think about later and help her feel less lonely for him while they were apart.

“Should I pick you up at the station on Friday?” Jennifer asked. Kyle had a car but sometimes left it at his parents’ house. He rarely used it during the week; it was annoying to search for parking in Boston. Besides, Jennifer enjoyed picking him up at the train station. It felt as though they were really married.

“You’d better. I left my car at my parents’ house last week. Oh, I almost forgot . . . Your dad sent me an e-mail about golf on Saturday. What do you think? We would just play nine holes, and then you and I can go out for dinner Saturday night.”

“That would be fine. My mom and I can work on the wedding,” Jennifer said agreeably.

Although Jennifer coveted her precious time with Kyle on the weekends, she knew it was important for her parents to have a good relationship with him, too. Kyle got along well with both of them, especially her dad. Jennifer imagined that once they were married, Kyle and her dad would have regular golf outings in Cape Light on the weekends while she and her mother enjoyed some one-on-one time.

She often pictured the way it would be in the summertime. She and Kyle could rent a little cottage in Cape Light or even on Angel Island for the season. She’d have the entire summer off as a schoolteacher, which would be perfect once they had children. It was a great place for kids to spend the summer—just as she and Kyle had growing up. There was so much to look forward to. She couldn’t wait to start her new life.

It was all going to work out just fine. If they could just manage to get married.

They talked a bit more before Jennifer ended the call. She felt tired but happy. She went to bed feeling satisfied that she had made some real progress with their plans today.

As she drifted off to sleep, visions of her wedding day filled her head, floating up like satin ribbons against a clear blue sky.

W
HY had she ever told Jennifer Bennet she would give this wedding business a try? On Tuesday morning, Liza regretted the impulse that had taken hold of her the night before.

“I’ll put some ideas together for you, Jen. . . . Let’s see how it goes.” Liza mimicked herself aloud, then stuck out her tongue. Then she dropped her head onto her desktop, amid the pile of wedding checklists, sample menus, glossy bride magazines, and everything else she had found while doing research.

She’d only been at it for a few hours, but it felt like days. There was so much information and so many choices. How did anyone navigate this vast nuptial sea?

Claire peeked into the sitting room. “Any progress?”

“I’m not sure. But I do have a splitting headache.” Liza sat back and rubbed a knot of tension at the back of her neck. “Why did I ever say I would try this? I should call her up right now and back out. That would be the sane, humane thing to do.”

Claire made a sympathetic sound but totally ignored her question.

“Would you mind going to the General Store for me?” Claire asked. “I’ve run out of Old Bay. I’d go myself but I’m in the middle of weeding the vegetable patch. I put the chowder on and I can’t leave it.”

Liza suddenly realized Claire had dirt stains on her hands and knees, and even a little on her cheek. She wore her usual cotton dress but had a bandana tied around her head as well.

“I should help you. It’s getting hot out, and there’s a lot to do. At least I’d feel productive.”

“You can get me some Old Bay,” Claire repeated with emphasis. Liza knew the famous seasoning was essential to many of Claire’s dishes, and running out of it was unthinkable. “And a few carrots, potatoes, a turnip, and some parsley. That would be productive.” Claire smiled gently at her. “Some fresh air might help your headache, too.”

The suggestion made Liza smile. She hadn’t known Claire very long, but she already knew that the remedy she suggested most often, for most any ailment, was fresh air. The funny thing was, Liza had found, it usually worked.

A short time later, Liza was headed toward the town center on her bike. It was one of many old bicycles she had found in the barn behind the inn. It was heavy, hard to pedal, and the gears slipped. The seat seemed to be made of cast iron, and she could barely walk straight after a long trip. But the bike was the best of the lot and got her where she needed to go.