I’d learned my lesson from the day before. I couldn’t get myself into the single bathroom in the apartment, but I pulled on a proper outfit, brushed out my hair, and cleaned my face thoroughly with some wipes. I didn’t dare put on makeup withut a full mirror, but I was young and fresh enough that I could probably get away without it.
Once I was decent, I made a quick and quiet tidy of my room and then stepped up to the door for a bit of strategic eavesdropping before I joined the action.
A childish female voice was doing most of the talking. “She’ll need someone to guide her through the process.”
Devin’s voice sounded both amused and exasperated. “Someone who has never been even close to getting married before?”
“You know exactly what Caroline means.” The third person out there was Devin’s mother, Angel. My face felt like it was going to get stuck in a permanant wince that would keep me from being able to come out at all. “When you get yourself into a situation like this for purposes of revenge, it is too easy to go down a bad path if you allow yourself to have complete control over the project. You need our involvement.”
“I will need your involvement when I ask for your involvement,” Devin responded, not quite petulant yet but close enough to really amuse me. “Julia has a say in this too, for the record.”
“She doesn’t know enough to have a meaningful opinion,” said Angel. “You need to use whatever influence you have obtained over her to guide her in the right direction.”
I was pretty sure I was still grimacing, but I couldn’t wait any longer. I opened my door and strode into the fray, slowing and looking around once I was in the middle of the living space like I hadn’t expected to see Angel and the pretty woman with long dark hair who must be Caroline.
Then I ruined the act by blurting out what I couldn’t keep contained. “Well hello, and shouldn’t I have the chance to be personally involved in any attempts to indoctrinate me?”
Devin shot me a smile broader than any he’d offered to date. Maybe this was the sort of thing he had in mind for our partnership. Unfortunately being made to focus on his mouth just reminded me where it had been several hours before, which had me squirming and blushing in a way that wasn’t going to help me hold my own. Especially when I was wary about what Angel might think of Devin already being here when she arrived, not to mention frustrated that he probably wasn’t thinking about what had happened between us at all. Yeah, we needed to be a team against these two women… but I didn’t feel like being on his team at all right now.
“Julia.” Angel smiled at me like she hadn’t just been going on about how ignorant I was. “I know Devin hasn’t made it a priority to introduce you to any other members of the family you will be joining, so I brought my niece Caroline. My sister’s daughter. She is closest to your age of all the young people in the
family.”
“Actually, Jellie is even closer to—”
Angel cut Devin off. “The members of the Torro family are none of my business.”
I found myself shaking Caroline’s hand. She had the same big, innocent eyes as Devin and exuded similar style in her pleated lilac skirt and white blouse. She definitely didn’t look like she was on her way to a job interview.
“Welcome to the family, Julia—well, I suppose you haven’t officially joined yet, but on that note, I’m very eager to help you out by taking you around to start shopping for your dress.”
I thought about what Devin might say: don’t be stupid, Julia, except he would say it in a much more eloquent and therefore more insulting way. This was definitely something Angel had put her up to: her way of worming in on proceedings. Yes, I really had underestimated Devin’s mother.
“I appreciate the offer,” I told Caroline, “but it’s not something that’s on my radar yet, never mind needing help on it.”
“Oh, I’m sorry if I’ve gotten the wrong impression.” Caroline’s eyes were so wide I might have been fooled into feeling bad if I hadn’t been spending so much time around Devin. She was almost certainly playing for effect. She definitely knew what was going on. “I thought the plan was to have the wedding out of the way as soon as possible. There isn’t a moment to waste when you’ve got a deadline like that. I may not have been married myself, as my beloved cousin was just reminding me, but both my sisters have been through it. It can take some time to get the right dress and have it adjusted properly. You wouldn’t want to be stuck with some awful sack that you look terrible in, would you…”
I was picturing the O’Hare and Torro families only coming together in their agreement that Devin was marrying a literal sack of potatoes, plus whatever other mafia extended family we invited along enjoying the drama. Getting into that situation was definitely something Angel would never forgive me for—with rights.
“Well I promise I’ll think of you when I’m ready to make a decision, but I’ll probably go out by myself a few times first, figure out what I might like.”
Caroline gave me a polite smile. “Of course, whatever works best for you… but are you going to be able to try on those dresses without assistance? It’s just, I hear you don’t have much of a support network right now.”
Angel didn’t even hold back that much. “You’re going to need someone to drive you around for this, Julia. The best shops… aren’t exactly on the bus route.” She curled her lip in a suggestion of her feelings surrounding those who took advantage of the bus route. “Devin isn’t supposed to be a part of this side of things, he can’t do it… and I doubt you’re in a position to ask your mother for assistance. Caroline is an ideal choice.”
I didn’t like it, but she was right. I couldn’t go about this the wrong way if I ever wanted to be on Devin’s good side. I didn’t want to go about it the wrong way. And while I was surrounded by Devin’s family I needed to make connections unless I wanted to be treated the same way I was in my own. Caroline seemed like the safest option there so far.
“If you’re sure I won’t be inconveniencing you,” I told Caroline. “I could use the help. I don’t have much experience with the whole wedding business, that much is for sure.”
Caroline broke out in a little golf clap of delight. There might actually be some benefit in spending time around her to try to absorb as much as I could of her elegance. “I’m so pleased to help. Now, I was thinking, I have the whole of tomorrow afternoon off work, so that would be a great opportunity to catch lunch together, around twelve-thirty maybe, and then go shopping. I can help keep you honest about not eating too much before you go in for a preliminary fitting.”
“Oh, I—” This was not at all how I intended to spend an entire afternoon when I was still struggling to get my bearings with Devin. “I, um…”
“That sounds like a perfect arrangement.” Angel got in ahead of me. “I’ll make sure I don’t bother either of you tomorrow for coffee, let you have a chance to bond.”
Since when had I been on Angel O’Hare’s coffee list? How did she even have my number?
“Well.” Angel clapped her hands together properly, making both Caroline and I jump. “That’s all I needed to sort out here, I’ll get out of your hair. Let’s go, Caroline.” She grabbed Devin’s forearm on the way to the door and squeezed it hard enough that he couldn’t stifle his wince. “I’d better leave the two of you to get more accustomed to one another, hadn’t I?”