“Well, we finally have a best man.” She sat across from me, plopping her wedding binder down on the desk inches from my fingers.
“Cutting it kinda close aren’t you?” I cocked an eyebrow at the overflowing binder
“We weren't sure if he was going to be able to make it, but I think getting Aniela involved solved that problem.”
“She’s a force to be reckoned with,” I laughed. Aniela was Jake’s mother and the matriarch of the Maxwell family. From everything I’d heard, she was not a woman you said no to.
“I’m sure he wouldn’t have missed his own brother’s wedding but I don’t think he wanted to be the best man,” Annabel said with a shrug.
“Oh, the best man is Jake’s brother?” My eyebrows shot up on my forehead.
“Yep. Even though he doesn’t live here anymore, they’ve always stayed close.”
“Oh, where does he live?”
“In Europe, mostly the UK. He decided to stay out there after he graduated from school.”
“Okay, so what’s his name?” I asked, placing my hands on the keyboard.
“Robert Maxwell,” she replied.
My fingers froze over the ‘enter’ key. The man in the bookstore was also named Robert. He must be the mysterious Maxwell brother everyone’s been talking about.
“We’ve met actually, I think,” I said, fighting the lump in my throat.
“Really? He just got in last night.” Annabel smiled.
“Yeah, I believe I ran into him while I was picking up a few books this morning.” I bit my lips and began to type his name into the excel sheet.
“I know that look.” She rolled her eyes and laughed. “He can be quite the charmer, can’t he?”
“You could say that.” I shook my head and tried to hide the smile forming on my lips. As annoyed as I was that he paid for my things, I did have to admit that he was charming and his love for Walt Whitman, did win him at least one point.
“I promise he’ll be on best behavior at the wedding.” She touched my hand and gave me a sympathetic look.
I patted her hand in acknowledgement. “Alright, what else?” I asked changing the subject. I brushed a strand of hair out of my eyes and got back down to business.
“We need to change a few of the family group photos around. I guess Aniela wants to have a photo with each individual family and then larger family groups as well,” Annabel explained, opening her binder and flipping to the section she needed without skipping a beat.
“No problem. How do you want to rearrange everything?” I settled in for a long meeting.
We went through each group picture and split out the different families on Annabel’s side then went through the groom’s side as well. At the end of the list we re-grouped the families back together and made a few changes to the other group photos. When the list was finished, I hit ‘save’ and silently panicked. I didn’t know how I was going to organize five hundred people and get through that whole list during the cocktail hour. One thing I knew for sure: Annabel’s wedding was going to be a long day.
“So just one more week. Are you excited?” I asked, turning toward her and closing Excel.
“I can’t wait. I just want to start my life with Jake,” she said, beaming. “And it’ll be nice to be done with all of this.” She gestured toward her wedding binder. “I mean, it’s fun and all but if we weren’t getting married next week, I’d definitely be eloping. Both of our families are driving us crazy. They mean well, but you know how families can be.” She gave me a nervous smile, looking for confirmation.
I nodded and smiled back, even though I didn’t know how families could be. My family was gone and I would never experience what Annabel was going through.
“Thanks for being so patient with us. I know this isn’t what you signed up for. We’ll pay you more for all the trouble we’ve put you through,” Annabel offered.
“That’s not necessary. Let’s just try and not change the list again,” I said, half joking.
She laughed and rose from her chair. “I’ll try my best to keep it the way it is. I’ll see you Saturday, thanks again.” She picked up her giant, over-stuffed wedding binder and headed for the door.
“See you next week,” I called after her.
I watched her go, lost in thought about family. Even though she claimed her family was driving her over the edge she seemed so full of light and forgiveness. I wondered if I would have had the same grace dealing with my family as she did. I doubted it. As much as I loved them and missed them, even as a child I didn’t have the patience Annabel had.
I turned back to my desk to finish the dreaded accounts receivable. I double clicked on the program and waited for it to boot up, but my cell phone went off in my purse before the login screen came up. I rummaged through my overstuffed bag, trying to beat the last ring, and reached it just in the nick of time.
“Hello,” I answered, rushing to answer the phone before I could see the caller’s name.
“Hey, it’s Christy, just got your voicemail. I’ll pass along the info, you up for a girl’s night tonight?”
“Yeah, that sounds great.” I logged into the A/R program as Christy talked.
“Same place, same time.”
“Alright, see you there.” I clicked the ‘end’ button and tossed my phone on the desk.
I spent most Saturday nights with a few of my single girlfriends at the local watering hole. There were always at least a few of us who didn’t have any other plans for Saturday night and it had kind of become tradition. I always looked forward to our girl’s night out. It gave me a chance to unwind from the week and Christy was never short on gossip.
I input a pile of new invoices and recorded the payments I’d received over the last few weeks, including the Maxwell wedding check, which was going to get me through the next couple months without having to do another stitch of work. Of course I had a few things lined up, but this was probably the biggest check I’d ever received.
I locked up the studio around a quarter after six and hurried home on my bike. As I pulled up to my condo, I noticed a familiar looking guy snooping around the front of the complex. Before I could ask him what he was looking for, he took off down the street and disappeared around the corner. That was odd, I thought as I navigated my bike down the narrow pathway. I looked back toward the front gate before I unlocked the front door and a pang of nervous energy filled my chest. I really needed to get a grip and stop being so paranoid.
I propped my bike up on the front porch, grabbed my things from the basket and went inside. Warm stale air hit me like a brick wall the moment I stepped over the threshold. I peeled my shirt off as I padded down the hall to the bedroom and turned the shower on. If there were any pitfalls of living in Pismo, it was how warm and sticky the summers could be. I rinsed off with cool water and took my time getting ready for the evening.
Chapter 2
The next week was fairly busy. Annabel of course changed the photo list one more time and I spent a good majority of my days taking some beautiful landscape photos. A new developer saw some of my work and wanted me to do a collection of landscapes for his new hotel in Santa Barbara. Even if I was excruciatingly busy, I was always thankful when a new job came in.
As the wedding drew closer, the whole town buzzed with an odd sort of excitement. It was a mixture of awe at the new faces showing up every day and what seemed to be respect.
Finally, the big day arrived. Becky and I pulled up to the Maxwell estate around eleven in the morning. It was rare that I asked Becky to assist me, but this wedding was going to take more than one person to get the job done.