“I told you. She can spin it if gets out.”
“That’s a big if. What if it doesn’t go out this week? This month? Are you going to indefinitely postpone your honeymoon while we all wait on tenterhooks?”
He frowns, but I know he sees the value of my argument.
“And seriously, it’s not as if we can’t communicate with you. There’s this keen invention called a phone. Email, too. Heck, we could even send a telegram.”
“All right, all right.”
“I promise, if it gets terrible, we will let you know. But enjoy your honeymoon, and let’s assume that this guy is just threatening. If he really wanted to release that video, he probably already would have. Besides, Evelyn told me Charles was working his legal mojo.”
“Yes,” Frank says. “Yes, he is. Evelyn took a call from him while we were together. He seems confident it’s buttoned down. His words.”
“Well, there you go.”
He frowns, but this time he doesn’t argue.
“The bottom line is that I love you, Daddy. And I know you walked away before, but you deserve a real marriage and a stress-free wedding and a honeymoon to go along with it. And honestly, I’ve learned the hard way that life with Damien has drama, but it’s nothing that we can’t face. We’ve been doing it for years.”
Frank’s brow rises. “I suppose you have, and he’s lucky to have you. I know he thinks so, too. Just like I’m lucky to have Evelyn.”
“She’s lucky to have you.”
“Well, I hope she thinks so.”
“I know so.” I grin. “I think sometimes it takes a while to find the people you’re meant to be with, but when you do, you know. Besides,” I add, “have you ever seen Evelyn do anything she doesn’t want to do?”
He grins, deepening the creases around his eyes. “I suppose you have a point there.”
“And as for Damien being lucky to have me, I’m just as lucky to have him. I think the universe was watching out for both of us. For you, too,” I add.
I reach out for his hand. “You found your way back to me, didn’t you? And that’s what led you to Evelyn. You made the decision, Daddy. You made the decision to come back into my life and make up for your past. And that opened all sorts of doors. The door that led to your future. To this future with a wife and grandkids. So don’t fuck with the universe, Daddy. Go on your honeymoon.”
Now he laughs outright. “When you put it that way, I don’t have much choice, do I?”
I bend forward to kiss my father’s cheek. “You don’t,” I say. “Where love is concerned, you haven’t got any choice at all.”
6
As the sun dips lower in the sky, fairy lights turn on, illuminating the trees in the distance and the wedding arch itself. Rectangular planters filled with roses have been placed on the outside of the chairs to form aisles, and the whole area looks even more beautiful than I’d hoped. In the distance, the pool lights have been set to a soft pink, and the light now illuminates the back of the house, creating a warm and welcoming glow where the reception will be held.
Judge Kaplan is presiding, a local LA judge who both Damien and Evelyn know from way back. He stands under the wedding arch as the guests take their seats to the soft strains of classical music coming through the hidden speakers. As the parents of the children in the ceremony, Jackson, Sylvia, and I are the last to sit, occupying the first row on the bride’s side, with Bradley standing on the aisle chair next to me so that he has a good view of his sisters.
“I’m so happy for them,” Syl says. She’s wearing her hair short, in the same flattering pixie style as on that long-ago day when I first met her. Then, she was Damien’s assistant. Now, she’s my sister-in-law. Not to mention one of my closest friends.
“Me, too. They’re perfect together.”
“And you look very handsome,” she adds to Bradley, who grins and says, “Thank you, Aunt Syvie.”
She blows him a kiss as Jackson leans over. “Your grandpa’s a good man,” he says, his blue eyes even more vivid than usual in the twinkling lights. As his half-brother, Jackson shares Damien’s dark, photogenic good looks. He shares his strength too. After all, they both survived growing up with Jeremiah Stark.
“And Evelyn is the best there is,” he continues, this time directing the words at me. “As far as I’m concerned, they’re a perfect match.”
I flash him a smile, then shift to sit forward in my chair as Frank moves from the shadows behind the arch to stand in the glow of the soft, twinkling lights.
I meet my father’s eyes, noting how proud and handsome he looks in his new suit, a gift in lieu of a bachelor party from Damien. He winks at me, and I know that his nerves have faded.
After a moment, the music changes, not the wedding march, but something of the same tempo, and beside me, Sylvia turns. I do as well to see Jeffery and Ronnie, my kids’ older cousins, start down the aisle. Jeffery looks dapper in his suit, and Ronnie looks beautiful and almost grown up in her pale pink dress.
“Ronnie!” Bradley calls, and everyone in the audience chuckles. To her credit, Ronnie grins at her cousin but doesn’t break stride.
I bend over. “Hush now. You can talk to them after the ceremony, okay?”
He nods. “Sorry, Mama.”
I kiss his head and assure him it’s fine as Ronnie continues down the aisle in time with the music. Jeffery walks naturally, ignoring the whispers and eye rolls of his big sister. They both carry baskets and are scattering white petals along the aisle. The wedding is small enough that none of the kids really needed a role, but Evelyn and Frank insisted.
As soon as they finish, Ronnie and Jeffery take the seats that have been set aside for them on one side of the arch, and by that time, my girls are on their way down the aisle, too, both dressed in pale-pink dresses that match their cousin. Lara’s dark hair is still miraculously in the bun, a serious feat considering her hair is so thick and shiny that it’s a nightmare getting it to do much more than hang around her pretty face or wrangle it back into a ponytail.
I knew better than to try to tame Anne’s blond waves, as she’ll just shake them free. So instead, she’s wearing a circular headpiece threaded with ribbons and flowers, giving her a fairy-like quality. Her eyes find me, and I put a finger to my lips the moment I realize she’s about to call for me.
I’m a flower girl, she mouths, and I blow her a kiss as Syl giggles beside me. Bradley’s squirming, clearly wanting to call out to his sisters. But to my shock and amazement he not only stays quiet, he turns to me with a finger over his lips and whispers, “Shhh.”
I flash him a thumbs-up, then return my attention to the aisle where both my girls are scattering red rose petals to complement their cousins’ white ones. Lara is pulling them from her basket and releasing them slowly and deliberately while Anne grabs handfuls and drops them in clumps.
“Oh my God,” Syl whispers. “They are so precious. And they’re going to be perfect next week in your ceremony.”
“I know,” I say, but I don’t turn around, because now Damien has stepped into the light at the end of the path, Evelyn standing tall and proud beside him.