The O'Malley Brides (30 page)

Molly, Patrick and their boys were there before everyone else, but Molly was always on top of things.  She looked like an angel herself today, Maeve though
t.  But then that was just Molly—always
beautiful, always calm.

Rebecca and Mason were there too, with their new baby.  Maeve couldn’t wait to get her hands on that little one later today.

The homily
was wonderful
,
keeping them all mindful of just how much they had to be thankful for.  Rebecca and Mason took the baby home for a feeding and a nap.  They would be over around noon, but the rest of her family headed to Maeve’s house to help out.  Sean and Maeve stopped
to pick up
donuts to tide everyone over till dinner
. 

Nick and Patrick had already put the extra leaves in the dining room table and Molly and Maggie were busy with the table cloth while Lilly, Rose and Caitlin argued about who would get to sit next to Grandma. 

Shooing them off to play, Maeve
helped set
the table with the good china, crystal and silver.  Placing a lovely autumn
floral arrangement
in the center of the table, they finished off with
matching silver candelabras that had been in Maeve’s family for generations.  Clever Mo
lly
folded each
linen napkin
into the shape of a swan and placed them on the center of each dinner plate.  Satisfied that everything looked lovely
,
they headed into the kitchen for coffee and donuts before they were all gone.

“What time do you want the squash to go in the oven
,
Ma?” Bridget asked.

“Awe,
Ma,” Rory complained with the box of donuts in one arm and the other around Tess.  “I thought you said Bridget wasn’t cooking today.”

“I’m only cooking your food
,
Rory,” Bridget replied with an evil grin.  “You might want to stay close to a bathroom.  Now give me a donut,”
she ordered trying to reach the box he now held high above his head.

“Let me get one first,” he taunted her, looking in the box she still couldn’t even reach.

“You have had
three,” Tess shot back.  “D
o not
be selfish.”

“
Rory
give your sister a donut,
before I take a wooden spoon to
you
.  A
nd get out of this kit
chen unless you’ll be wantin’ to
put an apron on and wa
sh some of these dishes,” Maeve
told him.

“I’m going, give us a kiss Tess
, I won’t be back till the work
is done,” he grinned snatching Tess up for a thorough lip lock despite her blushing refusal. 

Exchanging grins, the girls went back to work.  Potatoes were peeled and set in cold water, cabbage
, onions and carrots quickly became
cabbage salad.  Extra stuffing was
spooned into a bi
g baking dish and cream was whipped for pies that had been baked the day before.
Pickles and olives were put into small crystal dishes along with tiny serving forks. 

The girls chatted and joked, catching up on all that had gone on in their lives since the last time they had seen each other.
Tess was fairly quiet, h
er ring on a chain around her ne
ck and hidden inside her sweater.  She did not want a lot of questions until Rory announced their engagement.

Thankfully Maggie was not angry with her about having to find another nanny.  She understood that Rory had made the decision without consulting Tess and while she had Rory on the phone ripping him a new one, Nick had calmly called an agency that sent or several qualified
applicants.  The woman
Nick hired
was very kind and funny and the kids were already getting attached.  A widow with grown children,
she fit in so well that
Nick suggested
having her live in when they found their dream home.

Finally the conversation got around to Bridget and everyone wanted to know about the man she had invited to dinner. 

“
His name is, are you ready for this?” she grinned
,
“
Delbert.”

“We call him Dell,” Tess put in quietly while she rolled dough into little balls that she placed in a muffin thin, three in each hole.
  “And he is a very nice man,” she continued, sending Bridget a disapproving look.

“I’ve met him,” Maggie said.  “I thought his name was Dell,” she giggled.  “Really it’s Delbert?”

“Really,” Bridget replied.  “I call him Winston, th
at’s his last name
. 
Delbert Bertram
Winston
IV
.”

“Why would you call him by his last name,” Colleen asked seriously.

“Because when I try to s
ay Dell, I think of Delbert and I can’t help but laugh,” she replied
,
trying her best to keep a straight face.  “It makes it much easier for me if I just call him Winston.  I think I may have hurt his feelings the first day I met him, but it just struck me as so funny.  I can’t imagine naming a child Delbert.  I’ll bet the kids in school teased him terribly.”

“It sounds like you certainly didn’t help, if that was the case,” Maeve put in.  “I thought I’d raised you better than that Bridget.  It’s
ashamed I am of you
, teasing that
poor young man.”

“Alright, enough about
his name,” Colleen said.  “What does he look like? Is he cute?  Does
he have a nice ass?”

“Colleen!” Maeve yelled in surprise. “Wh
at kind of a question is that to be askin’?”

“An important one
,
Ma,” C
olleen replied with a grin,
“
r
ight girls?”

They all nodded and laughed agreeing with Colleen until Maeve laughed too.

“He’s cute,” Bridget answered,
“
i
n a geeky
,
nerdy way.  He’s very tall with sandy hair and
everything about him simply
oozes
establishment
.  Apparently he comes from a ‘
long line of
influential Winstons
,
’
” she quoted with her little nose in the air as she drawled out the words in a deep voice.

The girls cracked up at her impersonation.

“If he’s such a jerk, why did you invite him to dinner,” asked Molly who had been quiet till now.  Fixing Bridget in her stare
,
Molly wordlessly dared her to tell the truth.

“He’s not really a jerk, in fact he’s quite nice and for some unexplainable reason I find him sexy as hell.”

“Bridget!”

“Sorry Ma,
I don’t understand it myself.  His glasses are the ugliest things, but his eyes are beautiful and you know he’s intelligent right away.  He wears these suits that probably cost a
fortune and
then a two dollar pocket protector in his pocket,” she giggled.  “I think I could do something with him
, you
know?  Like a project boyfriend.  He’s not interested in s
ports as far as I can tell.  I don’t think he has had many girlfriends, but he kisses like a dream,” she sighed not realizing what how much she had revealed.

“You’ve kissed him?” Tess, Colleen and her mother asked all at once.

“I’m not a bit surprised,” Ma
ggie snorted.  “Nick told me
about
the way you dressed last week when you were covering for
Tess.  I
t was a wonder Dell didn’t have a heart attack.  You tormented that poor man all week.  Really Bridget
,
was that necessary?”

“Absolutely not,” B
ridget agreed with a huge smile,
“but I can’t tell you the last time I had so much fun.  There is nothing better than teasing a self-righteous man.  He was putty in my hands,” she boasted happily.

“Watch out Bridget, even putty becomes hard after a while,” Molly warned softly.

“
Molly, are you
making an observation or do you see something I need to know?” Bridget asked a little concerned. 
By the end of last week she had noticed a slight change in Winston’s attitude and it started right after Nick had taken him to lunch.

“Just a word to the wise
,
little sister,” Molly answered mysteriously.  “Things aren’t always as they seem.  I’m going to go check on the kids,” she said, taking her apron off and slipping out the door. 

“So what else is
there about this Dell that you
find so attractive,” Maeve asked.

“I don’t know.  H
e just seems so mild mannered, you know he’s a real gentleman.”

“Oh my God,” Colleen gas
ped, laughing so hard she
got the hiccups.  When she finally caught her breath she continued.  “That’s just what I thought about Noah when I first met him.  He was like the mild mannered professor on Gilligan’s
Island
.  H
e
never got mad or
raised
his voice.  I figured I’d found the perfect man, the exact opposi
te of Da and the boys
.  S
orry Ma,” she grinned apologetically at her mother.  “Turns out I got the spanking version.  Not that I would trade him for the world, but I certainly didn’t expect to spend my wedding night over his knee getting the spanking of my life for being a bridezilla.  I think he actually coined that term and never got credit for it,” she said thoughtfully.

“
Well shit, shit, shit,” Bridget swore.

“Bridget
,
I think n
ext week you best be goin’ to M
ass and I’ll stay home
and start dinner,” Maeve
stated firmly giving her daughter a sharp look.

“Sorry Ma
. 
Colleen you’re wrong.  Winston is nothing like Noah.  You’ll see when you meet him,” Bridget insisted firmly.

Colleen just laughed.
“Whatever you say
,
Bridge.  You better go make yourself pretty.  Sometimes they go easy on you if you look pathetic enough.”

“Shut up
,
Colleen,” Bridget shot back as she left the kitchen. 

The doorbell rang and before Bridget could get down the stairs her Da was at the door.

“You
must be the young man Bridget invited.  I’m Sean O’
Malley her Da. 
Come right in a make yourself to
home
,
son
,” Sean
offered holding the door open wide.

“Dell Winston,” he stated, shaking the older man’s huge hand.  “It’s kind of you to have me
,
Mr. O’Malley.”

“Call me Sean,” he replied clapping Dell on the back so hard his glasses slid halfway down his
nose.  “And my family is glad to have you
.  We don’t stand much on ceremony around here,” he conti
nued.  “Bridget,” he hollered up
the stairs.  “Your young man is here.”

“Yes Da, I can see that,” she replied coming gracefully down the wide staircase, modestly dressed in a butterscotch knitted dress that came to mid-calf
.

Dell relaxed.  She was lovely with her golden hair flowing softly about her shoulders.  The wide belt cinched her tiny waist and with low heeled shoes she seemed much smaller
, younger somehow.  Her pretty face had very little make-up, her lips shinning with a natural gloss instead of the red lipped temptress she had portrayed most of last week.  She looked beautiful, soft and feminine and Dell had the almost uncontrollable
urge
to kiss her lips, but he settled for her cheek.
 
“It’s nice to see you again
,
Bridget.  Thank you for inviting me.”

“I’m glad you could c
ome, Winston.  You’ve met my Da.  L
et me show you the house and introduce you to my family.”

Taking his coat and hanging it up, Bridget handed her Da the bottle of wine Winston had brought.  Linking her arm with his she began showing him the house. 

T
he little girls were playing house in the living room and Winston shook each small hand as he was introduced to Lilly, Rose and Caitlin. 
The twins were identical, almost down to the last freck
le.  Long auburn hair and amethyst
eyes
,
they looked
nothing like Caitie with her bobbing blond curls.

“I know you,” Caitlin
said.  “You work at my
Daddy’s office.”