Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 64966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
19
Malcolm
I had no explanation for what Daniel was doing running around the lodge dressed like he’d put together an outfit from the lost and found. Maybe he’d tell me eventually, when and if he finally came clean about the secret he thought he was keeping from me.
After dinner with my family, I’d come upstairs to tell him Brad was in the lobby and wanted to meet him—which was true. I’d been hoping that prompt would open the door for Daniel, and that he’d seize the opportunity to come clean. But he’d been out when I returned, and once he came back, he seemed nervous and distracted. Clearly, this wasn’t going to be the night for a big heart-to-heart.
The next morning, my day started with a frantic call from Joy. She’d done pretty well the night before. I could tell she was making a real effort to project confidence, and to let her mother-in-law’s snide comments slide off her. That started to erode as the night wore on, and she was clearly delighted when dinner ended.
I was hoping she’d pull up her tough lawyer’s persona today too, and maybe she would in time for the wedding. But first, she had to work herself into a frenzy and micromanage every last detail of this entire day.
The “crisis” that started us off was thirty pounds of bad lox. The first event of the day was a lavish brunch, with the same family members who’d attended the dinner party the night before. Apparently the smoked salmon had turned out to be questionable, so Joy’s meticulously planned, locally-sourced menu—including salmon benedict as the star of the show—had gone straight to hell.
If she was this upset about fish, I hated to think how the rest of the day was going to go.
As it turned out, the entire day ended up being one mini-crisis after another. None of it was particularly important—unless you were my sister, whose demand for perfection had reached truly unreasonable proportions.
My main job was to stick with Joy and offer her moral support—especially after she and her matron of honor had some sort of argument a few hours before the wedding ceremony. Meanwhile, Daniel had basically taken on the role that would have been filled by the wedding planner, if she hadn’t quit.
He missed brunch and spent the whole day putting out tiny fires, while assuring Joy everything was going according to plan. At one point, I found him in the commercial kitchen. He was wearing a headset, and he said to whoever was on the line, “Are you absolutely certain there’s no way you can get here?”
The conversation went on for another minute. When he ended the call, he turned to me with a frown and said, “Well, the wedding is fucked.”
“What happened?”
“That was the string quartet’s manager. Their van broke down miles from the ferry dock, and they’re not going to make it. They were supposed to provide the music during the ceremony, and afterwards during cocktail hour.” He scrubbed his hands over his face and muttered, “Joy is going to lose it. This is a hundred times worse than bad fish, and that almost reduced her to tears.”
“Let me handle this one. Are there any other problems I should tell her about?”
“Not unless you actually want to watch her head explode.”
I nodded at that and went to find my sister.
In the late afternoon, two hundred guests gathered on the largest of the lodge’s decks. The railing was totally festooned with flowers, and two rows of chairs had been provided at the front for elderly guests. For everyone else, it was standing room only. Some people were clearly annoyed at that, even though it had been explained to them that a literal natural disaster had occurred and last-minute solutions had to be found.
I, too, ended up being a last-minute solution. Less than an hour before the ceremony was set to begin, I supervised four staff members as they carefully wheeled a piano out onto the deck for me, since I was now providing the music. As much as I disliked performing in front of people, this was for my sister, so I’d just have to suck it up.
Once the piano was in place, I dashed upstairs to change into my tux, and to check in with Joy about the music for the ceremony. Her playlist was pretty standard, so no worries there.
Minutes later, I took my place at the piano and started playing a selection of classical pieces as guests began to gather outside. It was a huge relief that it wasn’t raining. In fact, the day had ended up being really beautiful, with blue skies and a gentle breeze.
The piano was positioned to the right of the raised platform where the wedding officiant stood, and my back was to the lodge. Daniel had said he wasn’t going to miss the ceremony, but I didn’t see him when I glanced over my shoulder, and soon the deck was crowded with guests.