A Nantucket Wedding

by Nancy Thayer

  “We’ve got to get the kids to bed,” Felicity said.

  Jane and Scott lingered in the den, channel surfing, so that the others could get settled upstairs. Jane heard the laughter of the five children and the light thumps of their feet as they ran from bathroom to bed. Then, low adult voices murmured. Then, silence. The children had been really good all day, she thought—she hoped Scott had noticed. They hadn’t discussed getting pregnant since they’d been back on the island. They were so busy, getting Scott to his doctor’s appointment to check on his arm, unpacking from Wales and packing for the island, and then they’d arrived on Nantucket and were immediately caught up in the family activities. It was difficult, Jane thought, not to wince when children fought or screamed. But it was difficult, too, not to smile when the children came down for breakfast with their hair all bedheaded like a chicken’s feathers, and their faces bright and glowing with life. The children laughed so easily, and slipped onto any adult’s lap and cuddled up.

  “It seems quiet up there,” Jane said. “Shall we go to bed? We’ve got a busy day tomorrow.”

  “Yes,” Scott said. “Let’s head up. Although I’m not sure you’ll be able to be quiet.”

  Jane cocked her head. “What? Why not?”

  “Because,” Scott said, looking pleased with himself, “I think it’s time we had some unprotected sex.”

  Jane smiled. “But what about your arm?”

  “I’ll manage. Don’t worry about that.”

  “I’ll be quiet,” Jane promised. And she leaned forward to kiss him, taking care not to hit his cast, and she thought this was the best kiss she’d had since she’d first met him, and she couldn’t stop kissing him, and he couldn’t stop kissing her, and awkwardly, grinning at themselves, they slid down onto the sofa together, and while the television continued to drone on about politics, they still kissed, not like man and wife, but like lovers. They didn’t make it up to their room for an hour.

  twenty-seven

  It was the day before the wedding. After breakfast, Alison, Poppy, Felicity, and Jane gathered together in Alison’s bedroom, to see the girls in their wedding finery. The little girls had shut the door to dress, giggling in Alison’s walk-in closet. Then they threw open the door and filed out.

  The matching flower girl dresses that Felicity and Poppy had agreed on for their daughters were simple and elegant. Both dresses had pink satin bodices with pale pink tulle tea-length skirts and a rose satin sash with a fat bow in back. Their shoes were pale pink ballet slippers.

  Canny’s dress was also pale pink, but it was crusted with faux pearls and thick loops of embroidery. Sequins sparkled, metallic lace crinkled, miniature rubies and emeralds gleamed as Canny slowly twirled so everyone could admire her dress.

  “Your dress has more sparkly bits than ours,” Alice remarked.

  Canny said sweetly, “That’s because I’m the head flower girl.”

  Daphne looked at her mother. “You and Alice’s mom have bling on your waist. Why can’t we have some sparkly stuff, even if we aren’t the head flower girl?”

  Poppy, aggravated by her sister-in-law’s bold fashion statement, snapped, “Because for some reason Canny has more sparkles on her than the bride. And that many sparkles are not appropriate for—”

  Abruptly, Alison stood up, clapping her hands. Esmeralda was still at the hotel with Ethan. Even though Canny was a confident child, she was still a child, needing an adult on her side.

  “Daphne, you are absolutely right! You and Alice should have some bling, too. I’ve got a jewelry box just filled with rhinestones, which are like diamonds, that I’ve inherited from my mother and grandmother. I’ve been meaning to give them to you girls to let you play dress-up, but I’m going to get the box now. And you can choose what you’d like to wear in the wedding.”

  “Yay!” Daphne and Alice jumped up and down as Alison left the room.

  Alison quickly returned with a deep blue velvet box. She put it on the bed and opened it. The little girls gasped. They pulled out rhinestone necklaces, rhinestone hair clips, rhinestone rings and bracelets.

  Poppy rose to supervise. “Two apiece, girls. Just two. More than that, and you’ll look tacky.”

  Alison noted Canny’s frown.

  “I think three apiece,” Alison said. “Each girl should wear a sparkle in her hair. You, too, Canny. Come, let’s find a sparkle for your hair.”

  * * *

  —

  Later that day, when the girls were swimming and the men were on the beach, the sisters summoned their mother to her room. They shut the door so they wouldn’t be overheard.

  “Mom,” Jane said. “About Canny’s dress…”

  “What about it?” Alison asked sweetly.

  “Oh, come on, Mom,” Felicity whispered angrily. “What are you doing? This is your wedding, not a carnival!”

  Alison faced both daughters and softly replied, “Yes. It is a wedding. My wedding, and a celebration of my union with David. And he is accepting, with love and”—she glanced meaningfully at Felicity—“generosity, my family, my two daughters, their husbands and children. In return, I’m accepting with love and with generosity of spirit, David’s family. That includes Poppy, who is cranky and difficult, and is probably hoping I’ll drop dead before the wedding. And Ethan, who is, I’ve noticed, a, well, the best word I can think of is playboy. He certainly seemed to be playing with you, Jane. And he acted as if he was divorced, and he wasn’t. So frankly, Esmeralda, who is unusual and in your face and outrageously beautiful, is not that difficult to accept. And she has come here, and she’s brought Canny, who is David’s much-loved granddaughter, and who, I might add, has been accepted by your daughters with great pleasure. So if Canny wants to wear that sparkling dress, she should wear it. That’s definitely the most celebratory dress I’ve ever seen.”

  “But, Mom,” Jane protested. “You’re the bride. You should be the most sparkling!”

  Alison laughed. “Darlings, when you get to be my age, you know how to let go of the unimportant things so you have more space in your heart for what matters. My wedding is going to be beautiful, because so many people that David and I love will be here, and really, who cares what they wear.”

  “Jane’s right,” Felicity said. “It’s a wedding, not just any day. It should be special.”

  “Girls, it will be wonderful!” Alison promised. “Now go away. I need to take a nap. We’ve got the rehearsal dinner tonight.”

  “Let’s take a walk on the beach,” Jane suggested.

  Felicity nodded. “Good idea.”

  They took a moment in the kitchen to blot sunblock on their noses. Out on the deck, Poppy lay as limp as a fish on the lounger, her sunhat over her face. Esmeralda was still at the hotel.

  Jane and Felicity tiptoed past Poppy, not wanting to wake her as they went across the deck and down the wooden steps and through the brush to the beach. When they were near the water’s edge, they turned to each other, wide-eyed.

  “Esmeralda!” Jane shrieked.

  “I know!” Felicity agreed.

  “And Ethan! What a tool! He told me he was divorced and the truth is, he’s only separated!”

  “Given the way he trotted right along after Esmeralda to go to her hotel last night, I wouldn’t say they’re all that separated!” Felicity kicked a pebble into the surf. “He was such a flirt!”

  “I know. I totally fell for his act.”

  “Are you talking about my brother?”

  Jane and Felicity exchanged guilty looks. Poppy was waddling through the brush, coming toward them.

  “Busted,” Jane admitted.

  “Could you hear us?” Felicity asked.

  Poppy grinned. “I didn’t need to hear you. Whenever I see a couple of women huddled and pissed off, I know they’re talking about Ethan.”

  “Well, h
e did try to seduce Jane,” Felicity said defensively.

  “I’m not surprised. Remember, I grew up with the guy. I’ve seen him go through women like I whip through a bag of chips.” Poppy slanted her eyes at Jane. “Did he succeed?”

  “No, thank heavens. But it was close,” Jane admitted. “It wasn’t only that he’s so handsome and sexy. It was also that I was having some…issues with Scott.”

  “God, marriage,” Poppy sympathized. “Could we walk? I need some exercise. My blood pressure’s shooting up with the pregnancy.”

  Jane and Felicity fell into step with Poppy.

  “My issues have been resolved,” Jane said.

  “For now,” Poppy said. Quickly she added, “I mean, it seems to me that marriage is one long train ride of issues. Occasionally we get to sit down and eat in the dining car, but most of the time we’re stumbling from car to car, trying to keep our balance.”

  Felicity burst out laughing. “Nice metaphor.”

  “That’s why I enjoy working,” Poppy admitted. “Dealing with twelve department heads arguing at full volume is easy-peasy after spending a day at home.”

  “I hear you,” Felicity agreed.

  The sun was warm on their shoulders, the sand hot on their feet. They stepped into the lazy waves to cool off.

  “So what do you think of Esmeralda?” Poppy asked.

  Jane and Felicity hesitated.

  “She’s beautiful,” Jane said. “And so—energetic.”

  Poppy laughed. “That’s one word for it. I’ve known her—kind of—for years, ever since Ethan married her. She and Ethan are well matched, both so gorgeous and so unable to settle down. We almost became friends after Daphne was born. We got the cousins together to play with each other, so we spent time together, too. But not for long. Esmeralda would invite me and the kids to her house, and then somehow she always got an absolutely essential phone call, state secrets and all that, so she’d disappear with her phone and I got stuck playing preschool with three children. She’s a user.”

  “And Canny?” Felicity asked.

  “Canny’s a sweet little girl. My kids love her. Good thing, since she’s their cousin.”

  “How does it work, this cousin thing?” Felicity mused aloud. “When our mother marries your father, does that make our children cousins?”

  Jane said, “Step-cousins.”

  Poppy moaned, “Related somehow. This is far enough for me.” Catching their looks, she clarified, “I mean I can’t walk anymore. But you go on.”

  “No,” Felicity said. “I’ll go back to the house with you.”

  “So will I,” Jane said.

  The three strolled along in silence for a few minutes.

  “Tomorrow’s the wedding,” Jane said.

  “I’m going to look like a fat old crow in my black pantsuit,” Poppy complained.

  OMG, Jane thought, Poppy has an insecurity! She didn’t dare meet Felicity’s eyes, she knew her sister was as shocked as she was.

  “No, you’ll look elegant,” Felicity said. “Elegant and lush and beautiful.”

  “Thanks,” Poppy said, staring straight ahead.

  Jane, walking next to Felicity, squeezed her sister’s hand.

  * * *

  —

  Heather, now known as She Who Knows Everything, had convinced Alison and David that it would be cruel, not to mention irrational, to expect five children, including two boys, to be quiet and well-mannered through a rehearsal dinner at a restaurant, so the evening before the wedding, the adults rounded up the children, and in a convoy of Jeeps and Range Rovers, they drove to the Willets’ house in town. Their backyard was large, with several old maples for climbing and bushes for hiding behind. Also, of course, Henry and Charlie, the English Labs, were there, wagging their tails and hoping someone wanted to throw them a stick to fetch.

  “Oh, how beautiful!” Alison cried, as the wedding party walked through the house and came to the French windows open to the backyard.

  There on the patio, a long table had been set up, with a white tablecloth and a tapestry runner and vases of summer flowers in the middle of the table. Beautiful Portmeirion pottery plates had been laid, and Jane nudged Scott, whispering, “It’s a sign.”

  “It’s a coincidence,” Scott told her, adding softly in her ear, “We don’t need a sign.”

  The adults wandered around the yard, admiring the perennials, while the children climbed trees and played with the dogs. Then Heather and Cecil brought out large bowls of pasta, and a wooden bowl of fresh greens dressed in aromatic basil vinaigrette, and bread boards holding hot loaves of bread. The children were seated at the kitchen table, partly because the long table didn’t have room for such a large group, and also because Heather gave the children paper plates.

  “If you behave nicely and eat your dinner, you can play as soon as you’ve cleaned your plate,” Poppy announced, eyeing each child separately.

  After consulting with David and Ethan, Alison had invited Esmeralda to the rehearsal dinner.

  Esmeralda had answered sweetly but firmly, “Thank you, Alison, but I plan to have dinner in my room at the hotel. I have a lot of work to do. I will attend the wedding, of course, because Canny will be the head flower girl, but I’m skipping the rehearsal dinner.”

  “My instincts tell me not to expect a reconciliation between Ethan and Esmeralda,” Alison had told David afterward.

  “That’s fine with me,” David murmured.

  So eleven people seated themselves at the long table on the patio. Tall glasses of ice water sat at each place, and a pitcher of red wine sat at each end of the table. The sun was sinking toward the treetops, and the weather was dry and cool. The dogs, exhausted from running with the children, lay themselves quietly, and hopefully, beneath the children’s table, waiting for food to drop. There were no waiters, no strangers, no noises except the singing of birds as they began to nestle in for the evening. Almost as if orchestrated on cue, everyone took a deep breath and settled back in their chairs, relaxing. Tomorrow would be formal and social and whirlwind. Tonight, they were at ease among family and friends.

  Heather started the bowl of pasta around the table. Cecil poured wine for those who wanted it.

  “How did the rehearsal go?” Heather asked.

  Alison laughed and reached over to take David’s hand. “We held it at home. Our friends will be checking into the hotel, and swimming and boating and sunbathing and so on, and they’re starting to erect the tent. So we moved all the furniture around, and progressed from the bottom of the stairs, down the hall, and into the living room, where the hat rack stood in for the minister in front of the fireplace.”

  David added, “We had Mendelssohn on someone’s phone, and the boys used sofa cushions for bearing the rings, and the little girls carried the napkin basket and the fruit bowls and pretended to toss the petals. The boys fidgeted all through the pretend ceremony, but Ethan and Poppy separated them and made them stand still. And the moment I kissed the bride—a quick peck—the boys made vomiting noises and ran outside to the deck.”

  “They’ve been warned,” Poppy said. “Perfect behavior tomorrow or no TV for a week.” She glanced down the table at Felicity. “Does that work for you?”

  “It does,” Felicity called back. “Good idea.”

  “I’m sure they’ll be good tomorrow,” Alison said. “I think they might find the congregation and the minister in his robes so overwhelming they’ll be quiet from sheer terror.”

  “I know I will be,” Ethan joked.

  “No, you won’t,” his sister snapped. “You’ll be trolling the room for some good-looking single woman to flirt with.”

  Ethan laughed and put his hand to his heart. “You wound me to the core.”

  “I’ve never seen a summer go by so fast,” Jane said. “Has time sped up?”
r />   “I think it’s because you were on the island so much,” Heather told her.

  “And in the ocean and on the beach,” Ethan said, giving Jane an obvious once-over gaze. “You’ve acquired quite a tan.”

  Jane stared across the table at her husband. “I’ve convinced Scott to spend some time with me this week. He’s such a workhorse, he hasn’t gotten any sun at all. Not to mention how he was stuck in the fog on a mountainside for day and a night.”

  “Really? Do tell us more!” Cecil said.

  Jane watched Scott recounting his adventure. Everyone had questions, and as Scott answered, he became more and more relaxed and talkative. So maybe, Jane thought, with the help of a little red wine and the magic of Wales, Scott was finally becoming part of the family.

  At some point, the children put their paper plates in the trash as they were directed, and politely but rapidly refused the offer of fruit for dessert, and raced out into the garden to play. No one at the long table wanted dessert, and they all lingered in their chairs, slowly finishing their very good wine, talking about their own adventures, and enjoying an unusual spirit of fellowship. The sun sank, and the sky became pale blue, and then black, as the stars came out, one by one.

  David rose. “We all need to go home and get our beauty sleep. But first, I’d like to make a toast to Heather and Cecil for this delicious meal and elegant rehearsal dinner.”

  “Here, here!” the others cried, and raised their glasses, and drank.

  “And now,” David continued, “I’d like to make a brief speech. All summer I’ve thought about this wedding, this ceremony joining Alison and me. And this is what I’ve concluded: A marriage is a private bond between two people. But a wedding is a party for everyone, a celebration of life and love, a gathering of friends and relatives to rejoice in life’s good food, champagne, dancing, laughter, and a golden moment in the passage of life. A marriage lasts years, though the good times and bad, and all the banal, boring everyday goings-on of living. A wedding is a brief flash, a unique, exceptional festivity with singing and flowers and good will among men—and women. A marriage is real life. A wedding is a fairy tale. But a wedding is also a promise that we will hold dear the joys of the fairy tale close to our hearts as we go through the years of our marriage.”