The moment she did so. Bunny's smile faded.
"Well. I must congratulate you, my dear. You are far more clever than I ever imagined."
"What does that mean?"
"Nothing, except for you to have so captivated my son after all that has happened is rather
astonishing. I mean that as a real compliment. Actually, it encourages me to know that you are that clever. I would have hated for Thatcher to end up with one of those many airheads he dated."
I smiled to myself at her backhanded
compliment. This was her way of turning an aboutface. I reached for my teacup.
It wasn't so much my being clever. Bunny. What brought Thatcher and me to this point is love, a deep-seated and all-encompassing affection for each other." I defined for her.
"Love,"
she moaned as if it were a mythical idea. "Just an excuse for two people using each other."
"I'm sorry you believe that, that you are so cynical."
"I'm just wiser than you, but let's not debate some soap opera. The fact is, we're here together, thanks to Thatcher. and I have decided we shall start anew, as if nothing has ever passed between us. Is that all right with you?" she asked. "It's so much easier than reviewing this and that and apologizing and explaining, don't you think? Who needs that useless aggravation, and especially who needs it at a time like this? Thatcher just simply insists on this quite unrealistic marriage date and consequently, as men are wont to do, has left the impossible task in our hands."
"If it's impossible, how can we do it?" I countered, still smiling. She was truly a character. How could I remain angry at her?
"That's just it. We can do the impossible and we will. I'll do everything in my power to help, of course. I know the burdens under which you live at the moment. and I realize how much time you have and how many other responsibilities you have, whereas that's all I do have... time." she said, and sipped her tea. "Please have one of these. They are fresh and sumptuous."
"No, thank you," I said.
"Oh, eat one," she cried. "I can't stand eating something fattening in front of another woman who has such self-control. You ruin it for me."
Reluctantly. I plucked one of the cakes from the plate.. I nibbled on it and sipped some tea. She looked contented, as if she were the devil in the Garden of Eden and had gotten me to eat the forbidden fruit.
"What exactly is it you think you will do. Bunny?"
"Thank you for not calling me Mother right off the bat. How I hate those young women who just can't wait to label their mothers-in-law. It makes them sound like parents to everyone around them. I refuse to let Whitney's husband Hans call me Mother or Mom or any such ridiculous thing. He's not all that much younger than I am, for that matter, and it would look absolutely ridiculous for him to refer to me as anything other than Bunny.
"So call me Bunny forever." she said, and bit more aggressively into another petit four.
"Okay, Bunny forever, what is it you are planning to do?"
"Well, as you heard when you walked in. I just spoke with the caterer. We have to grt onto these things ASAP. We have a ready-made list of guests to invite. I keep it updated. Nowadays, you can actually have the envelopes preaddressed and waiting. I've always anticipated Thatcher's wedding, of course, and have a whole file drawer filled with ideas, not to mention the ideas I've accumulated aver the years from attending other weddings here.
"As you know." she continued, barely taking a breath. "we're leaving the property quite soon, so it would be wise to plan out the location of everything immediately. You've attended a party here already, so you know how wonderful it can be if it is set up correctly.
"I thought you should be married on the lower patio," she rattled on, as if she had indeed been rehearsing it for years and years, "We'll construct an altar of flowers. There'll be flowers everywhere, of course, but something special for the altar. I'd prefer a mix of red and white roses. What do you think of that?"
"Perhaps we should get married in a church and come here for the reception," I suggested,
"Oh, what for?" she cried, grimacing like someone who had just bitten a rotten walnut, "There isn't a church that can hold all the people I want to have attend. Besides, that's such a droll setting for a wedding."
"A church?"
"Of course it is. They hold funerals in it, too, and everyone is so serious in a church. Make the minister come to us. Oh, dear." she said suddenly. I thought she truly had eaten something bad. She held the petit four at the edge of her lips.
"What?"
"It just occurred to me that I don't know your religious affiliation. Do you follow your father's faith? Are you Catholic? I know you can't be Jewish. Can you?"