Soon I would probably take any excuse to spend time with my grandmother BFF. As excited as I was for Charles to move in, I would really miss Nan and Paisley. Maybe I could talk to her about setting up a home office for me over at her place so that I’d have an excuse to spend my days with her. Huh, that wasn’t such a bad idea. I might actually guilt myself into getting more work done that way too.
With happy visions of days with Nan and nights with Charles playing in my head, I felt surprisingly calm and happy, considering the way much of the day had played out until now. It didn’t take long for me to drift off to dreamland, knowing that the next time I opened my eyes it would be on the happiest day of my life.
I awoke to the sound of hushed whispers. The digital clock on my nightstand had just flipped over to midnight, which technically made it my wedding day.
More whispers invaded my consciousness.
I couldn’t tell whether they were coming from outside my window or outside my door. When I got up to check, I saw no one. Hmmm, maybe I was hearing the termites in the floorboards. I hadn’t been able to speak with insects before, but why wouldn’t my strange gift suddenly grow more powerful at the worst possible time and without any explanation at all?
I strained to hear the whispered words but only grabbed bits and pieces of the conversation.“You go… then I’ll… and after that… surprise.” Soft giggles punctuated that last bit.
Maybe Mags and Nan were conspiring on that surprise my cousin had mentioned. Yeah, that could definitely be what was going on here. After all, why did strange whispers at night have to mean trouble?
I sorely needed to change my mindset. In fact, I would channel my favorite Chihuahua. I would choose optimism and joy over fear and anxiety.
This was my wedding day, after all, and it was going to be perfect…
Or at the very least, survivable.
I woke up to the ringing of my phone, but before I could answer it, the power zapped from the screen. Shoot. I must have forgotten to charge it last night. I plugged it in and then drifted downstairs to see what the rest of the household was up to.
After putting on a pot of coffee, I went outside with Paisley for her good-morning pee. Nan either wasn’t awake yet or had already headed off on one last-minute errand or another. She’d left a nice quiche warming in the oven for me, so I poured myself a cup of coffee and dug in.
Wait a second…
I put on a pot of coffee.
I poured myself a cup.
I was cured!
Or at least my anxiety over the wedding was so extreme, I’d forgotten all about my other very rational fear. I’d been zapped unconscious by a coffeemaker roughly two years ago—that’s what gave me my ability to talk first to Octo-Cat and then all animals. And I’d been too afraid to touch the demonic brew machine since…
Until now, that is.
Well, thank heavens for small wonders—or in this case, big ones.
I decided to take my accidental self-sufficiency as a sign. God and the universe were on my side today, and now Charles and I could get hitched without any further hitches.
I chuckled with an almost manic joy as I poured myself a second cup of Colombia dark roast, then floated upstairs as if walking on clouds. My phone had gotten enough of a charge now for me to carefully power it back on—and see that I had missed seven calls, all from an unidentified number. Crud.
I didn’t have any voicemails waiting for me, and no new texts either. Whatever these calls were about, I hoped they weren’t important. Or rather I chose to believe they weren’t.
I’d spent all yesterday worrying and waiting for things to go wrong. Today I wasn’t going to waste any more energy on it.
Anyway, prep time was officially up for me. I couldn’t go out and run random errands to fix things. I was stuck playing hideaway bride until at last that wedding march welcomed me down the aisle.
It felt strange to have nothing to do after spending all week running around like a headless chicken. True, I would have to get myself dressed and made up, but that wouldn’t take long, especially not with Nan, Mags, Mom, and Grandma Lyn to help.
Unsure of what else to do with myself, I placed a call to Charles, just wanting to hear his voice. The next time we spoke after this, he would be my husband—my husband!
Instead of my intended, however, his mother was the one to pick up the phone.“Good morning, daughter-in-law,” she answered chummily. “Did you forget you’re not supposed to speak to Charles until it’s time to say I do?”
Oops, I hadn’t realized they’d be flying in so early. Charles must have been up in the wee hours to collect them from the airport.
“We don’t need luck,” I said with a dreamy smile. “We have love.”
My future mom-in-law chuckled good-naturedly.“Just a few more hours, love, then he’ll be all yours for as long as you want him.”
We said goodbye and hung up. Even though I was a little irritated by Charles’s mom playing gatekeeper to our communications, I could respect her traditions. And she was right. It wouldn’t be long now.
The countdown had shifted from days to mere hours. Just three hours and twenty-six minutes untilI do.
And as excited as I was for the main event, even I could handle that short of a wait.
10
I padded downstairs to see what everyone was up to. Surely, I couldn’t be the first one up. That never happened around here.
I didn’t find any of our overnight guests milling about the main floor, but I did spot the TV crew floating around the front yard as if one in mind and body. They had their equipment trained on the long-haired white cat while Sharon spoke animatedly from the sidelines. Whether she was trying to encourage her feline or steal attention, I couldn’t say for sure. It made me wonder what Chessy thought of all the constant fanfare. I hadn’t had the opportunity to ask him and doubted I would find it. If Octo-Cat were the star of his own show, he’d probably love the adulation but hate the intrusion on his schedule. No, if we were to one day share our exploits with the world, he’d probably prefer a different medium.
Maybe a book series.
I smiled to myself as I headed to the kitchen to pour yet another cup of coffee. I’d need all my strength and energy today, no matter where it came from.
“Oh, good. There you are!” Nan shouted, rushing into the kitchen as if I’d been the one in hiding.
“Here I am,” I agreed.
“Well, what are you waiting for? Let’s get you gussied up.” She took the mug from my hands, set it on the counter, and then yanked me toward the main stairway. We went to Nan’s bedroom where a host of cosmetic and hair styling supplies had been set up at her old-fashioned vanity. Grandma Lyn stood waiting by the large picturesque window where Nan typically worked on her various arts and crafts.
“We’re going to tag team this one. Right, Marilyn?” Nan said, pulling out the chair in front of the vanity and motioning for me to sit.
Grandma Lyn came over and set a hand on my shoulder, watching our reflection in the oversized mirror.“That’s right, Dorothy.”
It made sense that they’d call each other by their first names, but it still felt weird to hear them speak so formally, yet so chummily at the same time.
“I’ve got the hair,” Nan said, grabbing a curling iron and clicking it like a hungry crocodile.
“And I’ll do your makeup,” Grandma Lyn supplied without taking up any props to prove her point.
This was a good arrangement. I’d been worried that my former Broadway actress nan would attempt to put me in full stage makeup or use the hot pink lipstick she tended to prefer these days. Grandma Lyn’s style was much more understated. It had to be, since she’d been hiding a huge part of who she was for decades.