The Wedding Promise (18 page)

“So, how does this work? Do you go through interviews? Or do they just tap you on the shoulder one day and say, ‘Tag, you’re it’?”

Kyle laughed. “I wish. I don’t really know, but I hear that it’s not exactly a sudden decision. They ask quite a few people to apply, then there are interviews with the department heads and the partners. It takes a while before they decide.”

Jennifer wanted to make sure she understood. “So even though Ted said they like you, it’s not a done deal?”

“Not at all. A lot of guys are going for this job, especially from the New York office. I’m not really sure of my chances.”

Jennifer breathed a sigh of relief, and they soon got on to other subjects. The wedding mostly.

“We have to meet with Reverend Ben again after the service on Sunday. I told you that the other night, right?”

“Yeah, you did. But thanks for reminding me. I’d better put that in my BlackBerry.”

“With a little buzzer or something,” Jen teased him. “I know New York is pretty dazzling and distracting, but this getting married stuff is important, too.”

“Absolutely,” Kyle agreed with a laugh.

They had met with Reverend Ben about the wedding twice so far. This next time they would mostly be talking about the ceremony. Jennifer had initially been a little nervous about the sessions, wondering what the reverend wanted to discuss with them. She and Kyle had both grown up in Reverend Ben’s congregation and had known him since they were children. That helped to make these talks far more relaxed. It was almost like talking with a beloved, older relative or a friend of the family. Besides, the meetings had turned out to be very helpful.

She and Kyle agreed on their faith and they both wanted children, so that was two big questions covered. They also talked about expectations they each brought to their marriage. Big questions that could cause conflict down the road—whether Jennifer would work once they had children; how they would handle everyday matters, from joint bank accounts and financial decisions to figuring out who cooked dinner and who put out the trash. Jennifer came to realize that many of her expectations were based on the way she had watched her parents make a life together. But that wasn’t necessarily the way it had to be.

More important, they talked about how they would continue to maintain a feeling of closeness, pulling together instead of pulling apart when the realities of life set in—like working long hours at their jobs, handling the household, paying bills, raising children. Communication was a big part of that, Jennifer knew. And not letting little things build up.

She was trying hard to follow this advice, even before the big day. Planning their wedding was giving her lots of opportunities to practice, that was for sure.

“So, what’s new with the wedding? Any progress, besides gown shopping and seeing Reverend Ben again?” Kyle asked.

“Not too much.” Jennifer hesitated but finally pushed herself to continue. She needed to be open with him. “There is one thing. Remember how we decided I would ask Carrie to be a bridesmaid?” Carrie had been Jennifer’s roommate all through college, and she was almost as close a friend as Megan. “I asked her and she said yes.”

“Oh, that’s good. I always liked Carrie. If you want her in the wedding, I’m glad she can do it.”

“You’re not mad?” The other day when she’d told him that she wanted to have another bridesmaid, he had seemed upset. But he had been at work and it wasn’t a good time. He must have been feeling distracted and stressed.

And then last night, she had told him that her parents really needed to invite more guests. That was another difficult discussion, but they eventually smoothed it over.

“It’s fine with me if you want Carrie in the bridal party. But now I have to find another usher. Maybe I’ll ask Max,” he said, mentioning his old college roommate. “Or Ryan,” he added, recalling a friend from high school he was still in touch with.

Kyle had already asked his brother, Tim, to be his best man. Jennifer was relieved that he was able to think of two choices. That gave her the courage to continue.

“Sounds like there are a few guys you can ask. The thing is, that once I invited Carrie to be in the wedding party, my mother thought I should really ask my cousin Elena. I was in her wedding party and we’ve always been close. We were thinking that if I don’t ask her, I might hurt her feelings and my aunt Nan might be insulted, too.”

She heard Kyle sigh and knew that was not a good sign.

“Do you really want Elena to be a bridesmaid? Or is this all your mother’s idea? I mean, it’s
our
wedding, Jen. I like Elena and your aunt Nan, but I thought we were going to keep the bridal party small and not have some big parade marching up to the altar. I really only wanted my brother to stand up with me,” he reminded her.

“Yes, I know. I didn’t think of Elena right away,” Jennifer said honestly. “But once my mother mentioned her, I realized that she would feel hurt, seeing Carrie there. And my aunt will feel bad, too. I bet she’s already asked my mother about it. It seems only fair to ask my cousin since she’s family.”

He was quiet a moment. “Okay, if you really feel that way, then we’ll have a bigger wedding party. I’ll ask Max and Ryan to be ushers.”

“Thank you for understanding,” she said sincerely.

“I understand, Jen,” he said quietly. “But that’s it, right?”

“That’s it,” Jennifer replied. She winced as she spoke. What she still hadn’t told him was that her mother really wanted them to include Elena’s two adorable daughters as flower girls. Sylvia just wouldn’t let go of the idea. The girls were twins, four years old and absolutely precious. But Jen didn’t dare mention it. She would have to convince her mother that they didn’t want flower girls. Kyle had barely agreed to the extra bridesmaids.

When they finally said good night, Jennifer sent Kyle her love in between sleepy yawns. She shut out the light in her room and got into bed.

Even though she was bone tired, it was hard to fall asleep. Wedding worries filled her head. And now this situation with Kyle’s job, an opening in the New York office. Was he serious—or just flattered to be considered? She thought it was probably the latter. It was a plum position, he said, and there were a lot of other guys vying for the spot, many of them more experienced than he was.

She knew that everyone thought he was very sharp. What had Ted called him at their office Christmas party? A rising star. Still, even if his boss believed that Kyle had a chance, it hardly guaranteed he would get the promotion. It sounded as if Ted didn’t have that much say in the final decision.

Which was fine with Jennifer. She couldn’t believe that Kyle could seriously think they would move to New York City, right after they were married. That was just . . . impossible.

She could never live so far from her parents. They would have a fit. Her mother was already upset that they were going to live in Boston, which was not even two full hours away. Kyle’s parents would be upset, too, she thought. He knew that. Didn’t he?

All their family was up here, and their friends. They had plans. They were already fixing up the apartment and had bought all that furniture.

No, he didn’t mean it. It was all just talk. Sort of a guy fantasy—being tapped by the boss for the big promotion. But to actually change all their plans and move down to New York City?

She loved Kyle and thought he was terrifically smart and deserved every bit of recognition at his job. But she really didn’t want to move to New York. Jennifer had only been a few times and didn’t like it. She couldn’t imagine living there. Boston was a much more friendly, livable city.

Why can’t we just enjoy the wedding and have a moment for ourselves before we have to get so worked up and focused on our careers?
she wondered. Sometimes Kyle seemed more focused on his job than getting married, Jen worried.
He’s so worried about us sticking to our plan for getting married. . . . What about the life we planned?
It didn’t include New York, she recalled.

But what was the point of getting into some long drawn-out discussion about that tonight? The chance of Kyle winning this position was small. He said so himself. It was definitely not worth starting some big messy argument over.

Jennifer hated to argue with anyone. Especially Kyle.

It wasn’t worth it. Not about something so unlikely.

W
HEN Claire arrived at work on Thursday morning, Liza was in the kitchen, eager to greet her with some good news.

“The leader of a cycling club called late last night and asked if we had any vacancies for the weekend. ‘How about a completely empty inn. Is that vacant enough for you?’ Of course, I didn’t say that,” she quickly added.

“Of course not.” Claire slipped off her light cotton jacket, exchanging it for an apron that hung on a hook by the kitchen door.

“It turns out there are fifteen people in the club. They’re based in New Jersey somewhere, and they’re coming up to New England to ride around Essex County. They booked a bed-and-breakfast in Ipswich, but something got confused with their reservation and now that place is filled up. So they looked on the Internet and found us.”

“We’re on the Internet?” Claire asked with surprise.

“I took a listing on the Chamber of Commerce website, and there’s another group of local innkeepers who have a site. It wasn’t very complicated and doesn’t cost us much.”

“Seems it’s paid off already. How many will be coming?”

“Fifteen,” Liza said happily. Claire didn’t say anything, but Liza could tell from the look on her face that she was wondering where all these guests would sleep.

“I know it’s more than we can accommodate in the renovated rooms. But they agreed to take a few of the rooms that haven’t been renovated yet, on the third floor, and I might move out of my room for a night or two,” Liza added.

“Anything for the cause,” Claire offered with a smile.

“It’s not a big deal. But I gave them a good deal—an off-season group rate and an additional discount for the old rooms. The person I talked to sounded very happy. They don’t plan on being in their rooms very much. They’ll be out biking all day and will just drop into bed at night, exhausted. They won’t even notice the old wallpaper. I hope,” she added.

“I don’t think those biking groups are hard to please, as long as we serve a good breakfast and put out a lot of bananas,” Claire added decidedly.

Liza gave her a curious look.

“Oh, cyclists love bananas,” Claire said as she poured herself a mug of coffee. “Gives them lots of energy and keeps them from getting leg cramps.”

“Oh, right. The potassium or something,” Liza recalled. “Well, let’s put that at the top of the shopping list. We need to start getting the place ready. They’ll be arriving separately, some as early as noon tomorrow. They asked to have a group dinner on Friday. Can we do that?” Liza realized suddenly she should have asked Claire before agreeing to the request.

“No problem. I enjoy cooking for a good-sized group.”

“That’s what I was hoping you’d say. I already told them it was fine,” Liza admitted.

The two women laughed and began to make their plans, sitting at the big oak kitchen table. Liza felt suddenly as if she were flowing along in a gentle current, a force of nature, nothing to fight against, just enough to carry her along. She felt in the flow of being an innkeeper, working hard, but truly enjoying herself.

After they had strategized preparing the rooms and meals and other touches, Claire sat back and laughed. “I think that working on the wedding has changed your perspective, Liza. Now you don’t bat an eye at fifteen guests for the weekend, even though the most we’ve had so far is six.”

“I didn’t think of that but you might be right,” Liza admitted as she rose from the table. “I’m just excited to hang out the No Vacancy sign on Friday night. If I can find it.”

“If you can remember to do it. You’ll have your hands full with that many guests hanging about. Some will go off to town, I’m sure, but the others will be asking for this and that until they turn in. I’ll stay over if you like,” Claire offered. “I have to be here very early Saturday and Sunday morning anyway.”

Though Claire lived in a cottage on the other side of the island, she also had her own room at the inn, on the third floor, and had practically been living there full-time when Liza’s aunt was sick. She had not stayed over much since Liza had taken over the inn, but once they got busy in the summer season, Liza expected that she would need to stay often.

“I’d really appreciate that,” Liza said. “I think we ought to start on the worst rooms first, and see how we can make them look better.”

“Good idea,” Claire agreed.

Claire grabbed a bucket of cleaning supplies from the mudroom, and Liza found the vacuum cleaner in the closet on the second floor. Liza practically ran up the steps, vacuum in hand. The idea of the inn filled with guests was amazingly energizing and completely lifted her spirits. She felt as if she could clean the place from top to bottom in an hour.

When had she last seen the place that busy? When she was a child probably and her aunt and uncle were at the helm. Now it was her turn, and she was ready.

But as Liza reached the second landing she suddenly remembered that she had made a date with Daniel for Friday night to go out dancing. All week long she had been imagining their romantic evening, wondering what to wear and where he might take her. Now she would have to explain she had to work the whole weekend. She sighed, turning on the landing to the third floor, hefting the vacuum up the narrow staircase. She hoped that he would understand and keep the invitation open.

She could practically hear his deep voice, humming in her hair again. Having to give up this chance to be with him just when things were going so well seemed terribly unfair. But Liza knew she really had no other choice.