Chapter 12 Edith
EDITH
‘Well, I disagree!’ Petra Coles folded her arms over her ample chest and frowned.
‘Why?’ Lorna Thomas widened her eyes as she looked at the woman who was soon to become her daughter’s mother-in-law.
‘I think the colour is awful.’ Petra grimaced.
Edith took a deep breath, preparing to mediate in order to spare the bride from the distress of having her mother and future mother-in-law tearing each other’s throats out over the flowers.
They were at a large hotel in St Austell, which was hosting a wedding fair.
After emailing to secure Edith’s services, the bride, Jane Thomas, had asked to meet with Edith for an initial discussion.
At this meeting, Jane had warned Edith that her mother and future mother-in-law were already at loggerheads over most things.
She was dreading the wedding planning because of how the two women would react when placed in such close proximity.
Edith felt nothing but pity for Jane because she’d seen this type of situation before and she knew how difficult it could be.
Jane was, it seemed, already dealing with the fallout of having the two women disagree over details of her wedding.
‘If the bridesmaid dresses are going to be emerald, then I don’t think having pink roses will work.’ Petra shook her head.
‘I think the pink will complement the green,’ Jane’s mother said.
Jane’s bottom lip wobbled — it was time for Edith to act. She gently took Jane’s arm and said, ‘Why don’t we have a look at the favours?’
Jane pressed her lips together as if to hold back tears, so Edith ushered her away from the older women and across the large room. She checked behind her to make sure they weren’t being watched, then slipped through a side door and along a corridor, Jane shuffling along without so much as a murmur.
‘You OK?’ she said when she’d got the bride-to-be away from the carnage and out into the beautiful gardens.
Jane fanned a hand in front of her face, so Edith said, ‘Sit here and I’ll be right back.’
She hurried inside to the bar and grabbed a glass of wine from a tray, then took it outside and pressed it into Jane’s hand.
‘Drink. It will help.’
Jane looked at the glass and shook her head. ‘I-I can’t.’
‘No?’ Edith asked.
‘I-I’m pregnant.’ Jane’s shining blue eyes met Edith’s, and then the tears came.
Edith took the glass, pulled a tissue from her bag and handed it to Jane, then sank onto the bench next to her. ‘That’s joyful news though, no?’ She hoped it was for Jane’s sake, but could never be sure if having children was part of someone’s life plan.
Jane blew her nose then sniffed. ‘You’d think so. I mean, Harry and I have been together since we were sixteen. That’s eight years, and yet our mothers still act like we’re children.’
‘I can see that.’ Edith sighed. ‘Your mum and Harry’s mum are forceful characters.’
Jane nodded. ‘Very.’ She gave a small laugh.
‘This wedding is what they want, really. They’ve both had it in their heads for years, and the longer Harry and I were together, the more they both talked about it.
Neither of them had a big wedding because, ironic as it is, they were both pregnant.
My mother with me and Harry’s mum with his older brother.
So they were, effectively, shotgun weddings, where they both got married out of necessity rather than for the pleasure of a big day.
And so they’ve both wanted this wedding to live vicariously through their children.
I’m an only child, and Harry’s older brother got married to his husband in Vegas, so that leaves Harry and me getting married as their only chance. ’
‘But it’s your wedding,’ Edith said. ‘Yours and Harry’s.’
‘I know, but you wouldn’t think so. And after Harry proposed at Christmas, our mums got even more excited.
They’ve dragged me to about thirty wedding fairs — or that’s how it feels — so when a friend gave me your card I was enormously relieved.
I just need some help, and you’ve been so kind already.
But then last week I realised my period was late, and initially I thought it was the stress of wedding preparation, but I didn’t feel too good.
Harry said maybe I was pregnant, so I did a test and it-it was positive. ’
‘But you haven’t told your mums?’ Edith asked gently, already knowing the answer.
‘It would horrify them as it would ruin their plans.’
Edith shook her head. ‘Oh dear.’ She reached out and rubbed Jane’s arm. ‘Do you want this big wedding?’
Jane rubbed her eyes. ‘I don’t mind either way.
I mean… the idea of having a lovely wedding with our families and friends there, with a beautiful dress and flowers and all that is nice.
However, I also like the idea of a quiet wedding on a beach somewhere with just me and Harry.
If we did that though, our mothers would flip, and we’d never hear the end of it. ’
‘You could do both,’ Edith said.
‘Both?’
‘It’s not impossible. Perhaps you could do one now and the other after the baby’s arrived. That way, your mothers would both be so distracted by being grandmothers they may back off over the wedding planning.’
Jane blinked as she mulled the idea over. ‘I don’t know what Harry will say.’
‘Well, maybe you should speak to him about it and take it from there. I have a–a friend with a lot of contacts, and I’m sure he could help with the overseas details for a beach wedding or even a Vegas one.
’ Perhaps even get you a discount for somewhere nice.
Surely Wyatt wouldn’t mind her asking a favour.
After all, that’s what business people did, wasn’t it? Helped each other out.
‘I… Harry is a bit… I mean, he’s lovely, but he’s terrified of upsetting his mum and so he usually does what she wants.’ Jane screwed the tissue into a ball and chewed at her bottom lip.
So Harry was a mummy’s boy?
‘But he loves you and wants you to be happy, right?’ Edith prompted.
‘I think so.’
‘Especially now you’re carrying his child.’ Edith glanced at Jane’s flat stomach, aware that as soon as she started to show, things would escalate if she hadn’t already told their mothers.
Her mind strayed to Wyatt again as she looked across the beautiful gardens to a fountain where water gushed from the mouths of lions into the pool below. She felt suddenly too hot and wished she could stand in the pool and let the water rush over her head and cool her down.
Wyatt, too, had been heavily influenced by his mother. During their three-year relationship, Edith had never met the woman, but she knew that Wyatt had struggled with trying to be there for his mother emotionally, even though he’d tried not to let on.
A widow living in New York, his mother had had anxiety and depression and so never travelled to the UK to visit her son. Wyatt went home a few times over the years to visit her, but not once in that time did he invite Edith.
She’d asked about going with him, of course she had — after all she was his partner, and she had never been to New York and wanted to go.
But Wyatt had explained that his mother couldn’t really cope with visitors and that it would be better if they waited until after they’d graduated.
Edith had been busy with her degree and trying to work to support herself through university, and so she’d let the matter go, not wanting to put pressure on the man she loved when he clearly had enough pressure from his mother.
But then graduation came, and Wyatt went home — and that was that. There was no invitation, no explanation. Just silence. Soon all contact had ceased, and Edith had never met his mother.
It had made her understanding of brides whose future mothers-in-law were difficult because she too had been at the mercy of a controlling matriarch, albeit one she’d never met.
It was one of those things about life that seemed grossly unfair.
If the bride was a strong woman who knew how to stand up for herself, then she would be better off, but if she was a quiet and gentle soul like Jane seemed to be, then it could be the start of a challenging time for her.
And if the groom didn’t have the backbone to stand up to his mother, then Edith often ended up feeling protective of the bride herself and wanting to spare her as much pain as she could.
Wyatt had let her down, she’d always thought, but then he’d been tied by his sense of responsibility to a mother who had no concern for his personal life.
His mother had often phoned him at all times of the night and day and always expected him to be available to talk to her.
Wyatt had never complained and had consistently put his life on hold for his mother.
It had made Edith both pity and resent him, depending on the situation and how far it affected their relationship.
Surely there came a point in a man’s life when he had to put his partner first and let his mother know that while he loved her, his partner was his priority?
‘I guess Harry and I need to tell them about the pregnancy,’ Jane said, dragging Edith back to the present.
‘Only if that’s what you want,’ she said softly.
‘If we don’t, this will just continue. We can always delay the wedding by a year, anyway. I mean, we were looking at next summer, so we could wait until the year after,’ Jane said thoughtfully.
‘You could still plan it for next summer, but it depends on you and how you feel. When are you due?’
She touched a hand to her stomach. ‘December.’
‘So if you had a summer wedding next year, in August, you’d have time to get to grips with parenthood before the wedding.’
‘We could do it that way as long as we can find a venue.’
‘Well, I think I can help with that,’ Edith said. ‘There are always cancellations, and I have plenty of contacts. But I want this to be right for you and for Harry. That’s the most important thing.’
Jane nodded. ‘Thank you.’
‘It’s my pleasure.’ Edith stood up. ‘Now can I get you a soft drink instead of this wine?’
‘Yes, please. I’m quite thirsty now.’ Jane offered a smile that was like the sunshine emerging from behind the clouds.
Edith couldn’t take Jane’s concerns away, but she could listen and make helpful suggestions.
Yes, Jane was a client, and planning her wedding was a job that meant money for Edith, but she wanted it to be right for Jane and Harry.
She believed that the wedding had to be right for the couple first and then everything else would fall into place.
Jane had a busy time ahead of her, and so she should have the wedding she wanted, when she wanted it and how she wanted it.
No one else should pressure her to do it their way.
‘I’ll get you something nice and cold.’ Edith headed back into the hotel for the second time that morning.
Weddings could be happy occasions, but they also came with problems most people didn’t consider until the planning began.
Edith knew a capable wedding planner was worth their weight in gold — someone who could ease the stress and find solutions when challenges arose.
Problem-solving was one of Edith’s strengths.
Funny, then, that when it came to her own life, she couldn’t seem to solve her problems with quite the same aplomb.