Chapter 2 #2
“I put on fresh sheets,” Ava said, pulling back the covers.
“Thanks.”
Victoria headed directly for her bed. It was a fancy, adjustable one that could be made more firm or more soft, and the foot and head raised and lowered. Her parents had gotten it for her when she’d started all-star cheerleading in high school, and she’d always been grateful.
Now she sank onto the cool sheets and handed over her crutches to her father. Ava gave her the remote control so she could
adjust it before trying to lie down. Given her rib situation, she was going to have to sleep upright for a week or so.
Once the bed was in position, she eased herself back a little. Her mother helped her with her cast-covered leg, then adjusted
the covers and smoothed her hair off her face.
“You look like you went three rounds with a prizefighter.”
“I’d probably look this bad even if he hadn’t won any prizes. I’m just saying, professional fighting is really hard on the
skin.”
“Is this you being funny?” her mother asked.
“Apparently not.”
Her father moved close and took her hand. “What can we get you?”
“Nothing. I just want to sleep.”
“I have your medication schedule already made,” her mother said.
“Of course you do.” Victoria shifted slightly, then groaned. “It’s only pain meds, Mom. And I don’t want to be on them too
long. Once I’m feeling better, I’ll head home.”
“You’ll stay here as long as you need to,” Ava countered. “There’s no need to be ridiculous. You have serious injuries.”
“Listen to your mother, Victoria. She’s right about this.”
Because her father always took her mother’s side. It was a thing with them. Annoying, but a constant in her life. Unlike her
friends, she’d never once worried about her parents getting a divorce.
“You make me tired,” she muttered, speaking to both of them.
She was sure her parents exchanged one of their looks, but she’d already closed her eyes so she didn’t have to see it.
“I’ll bring up lunch in a couple of hours,” her mother said. “Milton, there’s no reason you can’t go into the office, if you want.”
“I do have that meeting.”
“Then you should go.”
“Victoria, sweetie, is that all right?”
OMG, they were going to fuss over her forever. She raised the bed a little and opened her eyes.
“I’m fine. Leave, both of you.”
They exchanged another look, as if not sure whether or not they could believe her.
“Go.” She pointed to the door.
Neither of them moved. She sucked in a breath. All right—if they wanted to be difficult, she could play the game better.
“Who’s feeding my cat?”
Her parents stared at her with equally wide-eyed expressions of shock.
“You have a cat?” her mother asked. “Since when? Oh no. The poor thing. I’ll go over right now and feed it.” She paused. “I
suppose I need to bring it here and—”
“Mom.”
“We can set up the litter box in the guest bathroom and—”
“Mom! There’s no cat.”
Ava looked at her. “Victoria,” she began.
“No cat. I was making a point. I don’t have a head injury, I can still be funny. It’s all going to be fine. Please leave me
alone so I can sleep. Or I will get a cat. A really big one who sheds and claws the sofa.”
“There are days I just don’t understand you,” her mother muttered before heading out of the room.
Her father winked at Victoria before kissing her forehead. “See you tonight, kid. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
And just like that, order was restored to the universe.
The offices of L&G Real Estate were spacious, open and elegant in an understated way.
They’d been refurbished about five years ago, done in colors like sea glass and stone.
The furniture was comfortable, the atmosphere was one of warm efficiency.
When someone dropped five million on a house, they wanted to know their agent knew what they were doing.
There were eight full-time agents—five on the buying side and three on the selling side—along with support staff for both.
Cindy had worked her way up to office manager where she kept the very successful business smoothly moving along. Her skill
set as a helicopter mom made her perfect for seeing to the details, managing the employees and handling any crisis be it business
related or personal.
For the most part Shannon didn’t mind working as her mom’s assistant. It wasn’t her dream job because, hey, she didn’t know
what her dream was, but Cindy was a reasonable boss and always had a plan. Unfortunately ever since she’d walked into the
building right at nine that morning, Shannon had found herself alternating between floaty happiness and guilt. The former
because her wonderful, sexy, handsome boyfriend had proposed and the latter because she hadn’t told her mom. Worse, she’d
been avoiding her for hours.
Even as Shannon carefully checked the hallway to make sure it was clear, then darted back to her small office like a bit player
in a bad movie, she felt the weight of the thin chain she’d placed around her neck. The one holding her beautiful engagement
ring.
Half of her wanted to burst into Cindy’s office and shout out the news. Her mother would be thrilled. They’d hug and jump
up and down and make happy, high-pitched noises that would cause anyone in the building to cover their ears. But she knew
what would happen next. Her mother would look at her with her wide-eyed I-have-the-best-idea expression and say the words
that would chill Shannon’s engagement happy heart.
Let’s have a double wedding.
As far back as she could remember, she and Cindy had been a team, and her mother had made sure the world knew it. They’d been
dressing alike since before she could walk, and there were pictures to prove it. Every Halloween they’d worn coordinating
costumes. Until last year, they’d celebrated their birthdays together with a shared party, and the only reason they hadn’t
done it last year was that Aaron had taken her away to New Orleans, giving her the gift of not having to deal with her mom
for once. Yes, their birthdays were only two days apart, but did they have to celebrate together every year? And even now, one of the gifts from her mom for Christmas was a shirt or a sweater or a dress that matched the one
her mom had bought herself.
Maybe she should think about changing her middle name from Disaster to Enmeshed, she thought with a sigh, and she checked her email.
She spent the next hour handling the various issues that made up her day. Javiar, one of the sales guys and also the son of
the owner and her soon-to-be stepbrother, not to mention her roommate, texted her a video of a dancing cat.
Gotta love the moves.
They’re even better than yours. I didn’t think that was possible.
Javiar sent back the winking emoji. The ladies do love my style. You gonna be home tonight?
She thought about her newly engaged state. No. I’ll be at Aaron’s.
Again? Young love. Tell your man hi from me.
Will do.
She put down her phone and returned her attention to her computer only to realize she was a horrible person and of course
she had to tell her mother about the engagement. If she didn’t, if she waited, Cindy would be crushed, and despite living
on her own and being legally an adult, she knew the reality of making her mother cry would twist her stomach into knots and
possibly send her into therapy.
She got up and marched purposefully down the hall, all the while telling herself that no matter what happened, she would not
agree to a double wedding. She couldn’t. It was a nightmare to even think about. She was entitled to her own wedding. Her
mom would understand that . . . wouldn’t she?
“Hi, baby,” Cindy said as Shannon walked into her mom’s large office. Cindy was sitting at the small conference table, staring
at a vase filled with mismatched flowers. She waved at them. “What do you think?”
Shannon sat. “Who put the bouquet together? It’s a mess.”
There were peonies, dahlias, orchids, a couple of calla lilies, hydrangeas, roses, carnations and a few sprigs of lily of
the valley.
Her mother sighed. “I picked it up from the florist this morning. She wants me to live with the different kinds of flowers
to figure out which ones I like for my bouquet.” She fingered a carnation. “Remember, she said bouquet first, decor arrangements
second.”
Shannon did remember the initial visit to the florist in Santa Monica. She’d come highly recommended by a client, but Shannon
hadn’t been impressed by either her offerings or her prices.
“Mom, if you’re serious about keeping the number of guests to around fifty for your wedding, I think we should go the flower market route.
At least for the tables. I can go get everything the day before and put together however many arrangements.
We’re talking what, maybe eight in total? That won’t take long at all.”
And while money wasn’t an issue—Luis, the L in L&G Real Estate, wanted only the best for his bride—Shannon hated the idea of wasting thousands of dollars on something
she could make for about eighty percent less.
“Besides, you need to pick out your dress before you choose flowers. The shape of the dress will influence the bouquet.”
Cindy smiled at her. “You’re right, of course. It’s just I don’t seem to be making any decisions. There’s so many moving parts.”
“Planning a wedding can be daunting,” Shannon said, thinking how she’d lain awake the night before, imagining what her day would be like. “The dress, the food, the music, the invitations. Everyone’s going digital on those, but I keep thinking
there’s something wonderful about really nice card stock.”
“Maybe something textured,” her mother said.
“Organic paper with wildflower seeds embedded so the invitation can be planted later,” Shannon said dreamily, mentally fingering
the bumpy paper. “You know a compromise would be a beautiful Save the Date card followed by a digital invitation. The best
of both worlds.”
Her mother smiled at her. “You’re enthused. Are we talking my wedding or yours?”
Uh-oh. She mentally pulled back from any wedding thoughts she might have for herself and told herself to focus squarely on
her mom.
“Yours, of course,” she said with what she hoped was a sincere laugh. “I know you like being with it with the young people today.” She added air quotes. “But face it, Mom. At heart you have some very traditional ideas. I was
just thinking you might feel letdown if you didn’t have paper invitations.”
Cindy, exactly eighteen years older than her, with the same blue eyes and tall, lean build, nearly melted in her chair. She
reached across the table and grabbed Shannon’s hands.
“You’re right. Thank you for that. You are truly the best daughter ever.”
The guilt returned, accompanied by all of its extended family. “Just trying to help,” she mumbled.
“You are.” Cindy pointed at the flowers. “Tell me what to do about these. You’re my plant girl.”
“I try to be.” Shannon studied the disparate flowers. “I go back to the dress, Mom. You’ve got to figure that out first. In
the meantime, do as the florist said and live with them. See how you like the shape, the color. Yes, they’re all white, but
different shades of white.” She pulled out the hydrangeas. “Not these. They can be stinky, and that’s the last thing you want
in your bouquet. Plus they’re so big, they’ll dominate. The flowers need to complement each other seamlessly. No one bloom
should stand out.”
She eyed the remaining flowers. “Again, once you have the dress and we’re clear on the colors and the vibe of the wedding,
we can figure out if we want an accent color in the bouquet or just the greenery for contrast. I could argue it either way,
so let’s get more information.”
She would want to go simple herself—just white flowers with the greens, but her mom might prefer more of a contrast.
“You’re right. I guess we need to get dress shopping on the calendar.”
“I’m surprised you’ve waited so long to do it.” Her mom and Luis had been engaged for a couple of months. “Don’t some dresses
have to be ordered and don’t those take forever to arrive?”
“Oh, I won’t get anything fancy,” Cindy told her. “But you’re right. I’ll meet with a couple of stores and set up appointments.”
Her expression turned anxious. “You’ll come with me?”
“I’ll be there. It’s going to be fun.” And a little bit of torture, she thought, knowing she would want to try on dresses for herself.
Unless she simply coughed up the truth, which was the right thing to do.
Blurt it out—just say the words. Her mom would be thrilled, and it would be something they could bond over. She should—
“Am I too old?” her mother asked in a small, tentative voice.
Shannon stared at her. “Too old for what?”
Cindy waved at the flowers. “This. The whole white wedding thing. I’m forty-two. Shouldn’t I be past wanting something so
big and complicated? It’s silly. Luis and I should go to City Hall or something.”
“No,” Shannon said firmly. “Mom, you’re marrying the man of your dreams. Luis is a great guy, and you love him. You’ve never
been married, you barely dated while I was growing up. You missed out. You deserve the wedding you want—white dress and all.”
“But—”
Now it was Shannon’s turn to reach across the table. “Absolutely not. No. You don’t get to talk like that. You’re having a
wedding. A real one with family and friends and a big cake. I won’t listen to anything else.”
Her mother’s gaze softened. “I love you so much, Shannon. I’ll say it again, you’re the best daughter ever.”
Oh, she doubted that. “I love you, too.” She drew back her hands, thinking there was no way she could bring up her engagement
now. Tomorrow, she promised herself. Or the day after at the latest.
“So you’ll live with the flowers and let me know what you think?”
Cindy nodded. “I promise.”
“And you’ll think about letting me do the table arrangements? Seriously, Mom, they’ll be exactly what you want, and you’ll
save a ton. I know Luis has money, but I’m not in love with the florist’s work. I can go to the flower market in the next
few weeks, buy some flowers and do a few practice arrangements.”
“I don’t want you to take on more responsibility.”
“It’s not like I’m overwhelmed now.” Ignoring her lack of direction and purpose in her life, she actually didn’t have all that many pressures.
Cindy sprang up and circled the table before pulling Shannon to her feet.
“You’re wonderful,” her mother said, holding on tight. “Thank you.”
“Of course. I live to be wonderful.”
Cindy drew back and smiled at her. “I don’t suppose Aaron has hinted at proposing. Wouldn’t it be fun if we could have a double
wedding?”
Shannon did her best not to recoil. Thankfully the rock of guilt in her stomach helped anchor her in place.
“Yeah,” she said with a faint laugh. “That would be so . . . Wow.”
“I know, right?” Cindy linked arms with her. “Oh, baby girl, this is the best time of our lives.”