“What are you doing downstairs? I thought we discussed how the ground floor is for employees. It’s not appropriate for you to be down here. Mama Ketty or I will bring your breakfast to you upstairs—on the balcony, if you wish.”
“It’s boring upstairs. George, before I moved here, I was living in a sorority house just off the UCLA campus with two other girls in the same room, and nearly one hundred others in the house. I’m not used to being alone so much.” She rested her chin on her knees. “I wish Cliff hadn’t gone off to New York right after the party. Or at least that he’d been able to come back for longer than two days at a time. It’s so hard to be separated from the one you love.”
He tried not to laugh at the philosophical tone of her voice as he regained his seat. “Yes. It’s hard.”
She leaned her head to the side to look at him. “But you don’t have that problem, do you?” She grinned. “You and Miss Anne are hardly ever apart.”
His face burned and he scowled, staring out at the rain.
Courtney laughed, leaned over, and wrapped her arms around his, resting her head on his shoulder. “I’m happy for you. I’m just sad, because I have a feeling it means you won’t be working for Cliff much longer, which means I won’t get to see you anymore, except when we come home for visits.”
He rested his right hand atop hers. “Yes. We’ll always be here for you, whenever you need to get away from the chaos of life under the examining glass.”
“Mama’s coming back from the Riviera today. I don’t think she’s going to be happy with the wedding.”
He squeezed her hands and reached for his coffee. “It’s not her wedding, so what does it signify?”
“I don’t want her making a scene. Miss Anne has worked so hard on everything, and I don’t want Mama to say something to offend her.”
“I believe Anne has a clear understanding of mothers of the bride. Perhaps, though, your mother’s jet lag will keep her from raising too much of a stir.”
“George, I can’t find—” Mama Ketty stopped and propped her fists on her ample hips. “Young’un, you’re supposed to be upstairs for your breakfast, not down here mingling with the hired staff.”
Courtney didn’t budge from her clinging position. “Oh, Mama Ketty, you and George aren’t just hired staff. You’re family.”
Mama Ketty clucked and went back inside, shaking her head.
Contentment nearly burst his heart. Only one person missing and his family would be complete. Soon, though… He kissed the top of Courtney’s head. “I don’t know about you, young miss, but I for one am famished.”
Instead of letting go, Courtney hugged his arm tighter. “George. Do you think… I mean, would it be inappropriate… ?”
He rested his cheek against her hair. “Spit it out, lass.”
“Do you think it would be okay for you to walk me down the aisle? Do you think people would think it’s weird?”
He swallowed hard. Walk her down the aisle? Take on the duty of the father of the bride? He cleared his throat. “It’s your wedding. You can do whatever you wish, weird or not.”
“Then I want you to walk me down the aisle. I want you to give me away like my daddy would have if he was still alive. Do you think Anne will think it’s okay?”
He squeezed her hands. “We’ll talk to her this morning.” Despite his best efforts, his voice came out gruff with barely suppressed emotion.
“She’s more like the mother of the bride than Mama. I wish…” She heaved a sigh. “I wish I didn’t have to invite Mama, that I could have just you and Miss Anne there with me. And then when y’all get married, I’ll be like your adopted daughter.”
“When we get married?” He chuckled. “You’re assuming quite a lot.”
“Oh, y’all will get married. And soon, too, I figure. You may think I’m oblivbious to what goes on around me, but I know you picked up the engagement ring when we went to get my jewelry last week. So when are you going to propose?”
He didn’t have to hide his smile at her oblivious mispronunciation. “Saturday night, after the wedding.”
“At the reception?”
“Most likely. Probably after you’ve made your exit. She won’t be able to slow down a moment before then.”
“But I want to see her after you give her the ring.”
“All right. I’ll find a time to propose that’s convenient for you.” He kissed the top of her head again. “Come on. Let’s go eat before Mama Ketty comes after us again.”
Humidity rose in nearly visible waves from the wet ground as the sun started its western descent. Anne slogged barefoot through the soggy yard toward George, holding the end of a measuring tape in one hand, cradling a clipboard in the other.
“There’s nothing for it. We’re just going to have to figure out some way to make the ground hard by Saturday.”
George laughed and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. “There’s nothing for it? Where do you pick up such idiosyncratic phrases?”
“Some strange English guy I know. He says weird things like that all the time.”
He squeezed her tight a moment longer, then released her. “Has Courtney talked to you?”
“About what?”
“About me.”
Anne’s right eyebrow shot up. “About you?”
“Yes. She’s gotten it in her mind that she wants me to walk her down the aisle.” He took Anne’s hand, tucked it under his elbow, and began to practice by walking her back toward the house. She released the end of the tape measure, and it snaked back toward her cousin Jonathan.
“Oh, that’s so sweet. I don’t have a problem with it if that’s what she wants. But what will Cliff think?”
“That’s the crux of the matter. I don’t think he would appreciate his hired man escorting his bride down the aisle.” He smiled in remembrance of Courtney’s outburst of emotion this morning. “Even if the bride considers me to be part of her family.”
“I guess the question then becomes, whose wishes are more important to us at this point in time? Cliff is footing the bill for this shindig but has taken no interest in the proceedings.”
“I’m all in favor of giving Courtney whatever she wants.”
She squeezed his arm. “I know you are. And she deserves to have someone in her life who feels that way about her.”
“And she does—two of us.” He sighed. “Mrs. Landry returned from France a few hours ago. Courtney’s afraid she’ll make a scene tonight.”
“I’ll do whatever I can to rein that woman in. I managed to keep her down to a dull roar at Courtney’s sisters’ weddings. I’ll try to find some trivial—but time-consuming—task for her so she feels like she’s being helpful but is out of the way. She’s really not going to like the idea of you giving her daughter away. She didn’t even like it when one of Courtney’s sisters asked their brother to be her escort.”
“Courtney has a brother?”
“He hasn’t had any contact with the family since that fiasco, about three years ago. Courtney was fifteen, so she should remember it pretty clearly.”
“I’ll talk to her again and make sure it’s what she really wants to do.”
“I’ve always thought that if anyone in that family were ever going to stand up to that woman, it would be Courtney. She has an inner strength that most of her sisters could never hope to possess. They all let Mrs. Landry run roughshod over them. I tried to manage her, but they gave in to her demands so easily, I ended up planning the weddings to her liking rather than the brides’.”
They ascended the steps to the porch behind the service entrance. Above, Anne’s staff hung pink floral swags from the upper balconies that wrapped around the house. They’d be doing it all again on Saturday with fresh garlands of white flowers. Nothing but the best for their girl. Maybe in another twenty or so years, she and George would get to do this for their own child.