Chapter 44
Ruby did not come to the wedding, but I knew she wouldn’t.
This time the excuse was that she was running the acting school for the husband I’d never met while he took a job on some series that was shooting in Norway.
Ruby had made excuses not to come home every year since she touched down in Ireland.
I knew she went on vacations to Italy, France and Spain, and had honeymooned in Orlando, but she avoided Boston.
I guessed that some part of her was still afraid, but I was disappointed she wouldn’t make the effort for me.
It was years since I’d seen her. We had become estranged without ever having an argument.
My wedding was the first time Mom met Kathy too and that was always going to be awkward.
Mom was surprised: ‘My God, Erin, she looks cheap – her hair is nearly bleached off her head.’ And, yes, Kathy had made herself some kind of Little Bo Peep-style dress with layers of lace in different pastel shades for the wedding, while Mom was demurely dressed in an olive-green linen sheath dress.
Both of Dad’s wives were beautiful, but Mom had style.
I felt sorry for Kathy. She was intimidated by Mom, but Mom stayed in a hotel, and they were civil to each other at the ceremony and reception.
The ceremony took place in Dad’s church.
That was our compromise. Vince agreed to a non-Catholic ceremony if I agreed to an ice hockey venue for the reception.
We were good at compromising. I still attended Dad’s church and had a lot of friends there from childhood.
It was a big wedding with all our friends and colleagues, though this made the age difference more apparent as a lot of Vince’s friends were of a similar vintage to my parents.
And some of my younger authors flirted with Vince’s boys.
I did not take my husband’s surname. It was never an issue. I was not prepared to be Mrs Delgado when I had worked hard to become Erin Cooper, Publisher. I think Dad was more disappointed than Vince.
I wore a simple but eye-wateringly expensive Vera Wang sleeveless ivory dress with a train, and Saima, my bridesmaid, looked stunning in powder-blue satin against her dark skin.
Vince’s single, married and divorced male friends flocked around my mother as if she was Scarlett O’Hara at a cotillion ball, and she relished the attention, but did not succumb to any offers, as far as I know.
I had an awesome day, surrounded by people who loved me.
When I reflect now, I realize that despite my vows and my efforts, I did not love Vince at all, though he was dear to me, and I was happy to be his wife.
It was cruel of me. I should have let him go and find somebody more deserving of his love than me, but I was lonely, and I thought that Vince could protect me.