A Wedding in December

There was no sign of their parents.

“Here she is! The beautiful bride.” Catherine crossed the room in three strides and hugged her tightly. “We were about to send out a search party, honey. And this must be your sister, Katie. Or do I call you Dr. White?” She embraced Katie warmly.

“Definitely Katie.” Katie returned the hug awkwardly. “I’m off duty. At least I hope I am.”

“Rosie has told us so much about you. And Maggie and I had a good chat yesterday, too. I already feel like I know you. She told me all about that spelling contest at school where you made one mistake and you were so mad with yourself you locked yourself in your room for twenty-four hours. How if you made one mistake in your writing you’d throw out the whole page. I’m the same. I want everything perfect. It used to drive Dan’s father crazy, but I’m a detail person, and every detail has to be exactly right. Now come and meet everyone. On my side it’s my mother—Dan’s grandmother—Granny Sophie. And her sister, Great-Aunt Eunice. On Dan’s father’s side—” she pulled Katie around the room, introducing her to everyone.

Katie looked a little shell-shocked. Rosie didn’t blame her for that. Catherine was the kindest person she’d ever met, but sometimes being with her was like standing in front of a snow plow. If you didn’t move out of the way fast, you were flattened.

Still, at least so far Katie wasn’t bombarding Catherine with questions about Dan.

She was charming to everyone, and after a few minutes she glanced around the room.

“Catherine, have you seen my parents?”

“Maggie called and said they were running late. It was probably that exquisite French lingerie I persuaded her to buy yesterday.” Catherine gave a saucy wink. “Jordan is on his way, so he’s going to give them a ride over, to save them walking.”

Rosie was trying to delete the image of her mother parading around the tree house wearing sexy lingerie.

“Jordan?” Katie’s friendly smile froze in place.

“Believe me, your parents will be safe with him. Everyone is safe with Jordan. He’s like a son to me. And what that boy doesn’t know about trees isn’t worth knowing. I told your mama, with her love of the garden she should be grilling him for information. Katie, help yourself to food, honey. Don’t hold back. The pancakes are excellent, the bacon is cured right here in the kitchens and the maple syrup comes from Great-Aunt Eunice’s trees so you don’t want to miss that.”

“Sounds good. So tell me, Catherine, what was Dan like as a child?”

Oh for—“This is not the time to get out the baby photos.” Rosie grabbed her sister before Catherine could answer, and headed toward the food. “Eat. Fill your mouth. Anything to stop you talking.”

She’d piled their plates with pancakes when her parents appeared in the doorway, hand in hand.

They were both rosy-cheeked and out of breath, as if they’d been rushing. Her mother was tugging at her clothing with her free hand, as if she’d dressed in a hurry.

“Sorry we’re late. We lost track of the time.”

Rosie felt a rush of embarrassment. Enough already! But hopefully this display of marital harmony would be enough to silence her sister. She added syrup to her pancakes and leaned closer to Katie. “You see? Lovebirds, after thirty-five years.”

Katie swallowed a mouthful of pancake. “They’re not usually so demonstrative. Especially not in public.”

Rosie added blueberries to Katie’s plate. “Have some vitamin C. You’re looking pale. Mum told Catherine they’re treating this like a second honeymoon. I can’t decide if it’s romantic or embarrassing. Why are you frowning?”

“Because it’s out of character for them to be romantic. Last year Dad gave Mum a dishwasher for Christmas.”

“That’s romantic if you hate washing dishes.”

“I’d kill a man who bought me a dishwasher. Hold this for a moment.” She handed Rosie her plate, and crossed the room to greet their parents.

Rosie put both plates down and followed her.

She saw their father put his arm around Katie’s shoulder and squeeze. Her sister winced and eased away.

Rosie frowned. Had she hurt her shoulder?

She realized that Katie had said next to nothing about herself since she’d arrived, only that work had been stressful and busy.

“My girls! I’ve missed you so much.” Their mother wrapped them both in a hug before turning to kiss Katie. “It’s been so long since we saw you both.”

And it was playing on Rosie’s mind. She’d been in the US of course, but what was Katie’s excuse? Why hadn’t she seen their parents since the summer?

“Hey.” Dan appeared, fresh from the shower, his hair still damp. He headed straight for Rosie and kissed her on the mouth. “Have you eaten all the pancakes?”