She looked out the front window to see that their humongous motor home with tow car attached was parked right in front of the house. Her dad was setting up a camp chair right on the parking strip next to the sidewalk, as if he planned to stay awhile. “Come and join us for a cup of joe, Kennie,” he said when Kendall emerged from the house. “Mom’s just making some now.”
Kendall heard the whir of the coffee grinder and decided to peek inside. She’d only seen this recreational vehicle once, and then only the exterior.
“Hello?” she called as she entered the luxurious home on wheels. “Wow,” she said as she looked around at the leather furniture, gorgeous wood cabinets, granite countertops, stainless appliances, and enormous flat-screen TV. “Pretty swanky.”
“Oh, this is nothing,” Mom told her. “You should see it with the slide-outs opened. It’s actually quite roomy.”
“No wonder you guys never come home.” She thought about this. “Actually, this is your home, isn’t it?”
“It is for now.”
Kendall watched her mom turn on the sleek stainless coffeemaker. “Will it always be home?”
Her mother’s brow creased. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
“Oh.”
“Do you want the grand tour?” Her mom had a remote control and was pushing buttons. Things began to move.
“Are we about to lift off?” Kendall asked as she grabbed the back of a leather recliner.
Her mom pointed to the wall that was moving. “I’m just showing you what it’s like when it’s opened up.”
“Wow!” Kendall looked at the space, which had more than doubled into a great room with a full-sized kitchen, comfortable dining area, roomy sitting area, a wet bar, and enough floor space to have a small dance. “This is great. I could practically have my wedding in here.”
Mom laughed. “Hardly.”
“If it was a small wedding.”
“Come on back and I’ll give you the ten-cent tour.”
Kendall followed as her mom showed her a laundry closet with a stacked washer and dryer, a powder room, and a bathroom with more granite, oiled bronze accessories, and full-sized porcelain fixtures. “And this is the master suite.” Her mom pushed open a set of french doors to reveal a king-size bed, a sitting area with yet another plasma TV, and two rather spacious closets, complete with organizers.
“And back here is the master bath.” Mom opened the door to a bathroom that was actually bigger than the one that Kendall and Anna shared.
“You even have a tub,” Kendall ran her hand over the granite countertop and nodded. “I think I could live here too.”
“Not with us, you couldn’t.” Mom closed the bathroom door.
“I mean live here as in this is sweet. I can see why you call it home.”
Her mom smiled now. “Yes, home sweet home.”
“Where’s that coffee?” called Dad from outside.
“Coming,” Mom called back. “Here, you take the cups and I’ll meet you … on the terrace.”
In the short time that Kendall had been in the motor home, her dad had managed to put out an awning, set up several chairs and a small table, and had the exterior TV tuned into a golf network.
“Here,” Mom called from inside. “Someone come get this.”
Kendall set the mugs on the table and went back to see that her mom not only had coffee, but a basket of muffins too.
“Yum!” Kendall grinned as she reached for them.
“I didn’t actually bake them.”
“I’m not complaining.”
“And that’s not all.” Her mom disappeared back into the RV.
“This is great,” Kendall said as she set the coffeepot and muffins on the little table. “Like a little party.”
“It is a celebration,” Mom said as she emerged with a bottle of champagne, a carton of orange juice, and three champagne glasses.
“Cool.” Kendall sat down in a chair. “What’re you celebrating?”
“You!” Dad popped the cork and laughed.
“Me?”
Mom nodded as she filled a champagne glass halfway with orange juice, waited for Dad to top it off with bubbly, then handed it to Kendall.
“I’ll have a virgin mimosa,” Kendall said as she set it on the table. “For the baby, you know.”
Mom nodded. “Yes, of course, good choice.”
Soon they were all toasting. “To Kendall and her baby and upcoming marriage.”
“Wow,” Kendall said for about the fifth time. “This is kind of overwhelming. But nice.”
“Well, Dad and I talked, and we decided it was time to give you a show of confidence.”
Dad held up his mimosa to make another toast. “And here’s to you, Kennie. You have just set an all-time record.”
“A record?” She looked at both of them curiously. “For what?”
“It’s been almost six months since you’ve asked either of us for money.”
“Really?”
“Do you know how happy that makes us?” Her dad’s blue eyes lit up.
“How happy?”
“So happy that your mother wants us to pay for your entire wedding. You can have whatever you want, baby doll.”
“I’ve already started making lists,” her mother said eagerly. “And I’ve done some online shopping, and I contacted the cake lady. Remember the cake for Kim’s wedding?”
“You mean the wedding that wasn’t?”
“Well, the cake was going to be spectacular. It was royal icing. You know, the kind that’s hard and looks so pretty.”
Kendall imagined a cake made of stone. “If it’s hard, does it taste good?”
Her mom frowned. “Who actually eats wedding cake anyway?”
“I do.” She took another muffin.
“Yes, dear, and you might want to rethink that second muffin. They’re loaded with fat, you know. That is unless you want to look like a beluga bride.”
Dad laughed. “Beluga bride marries Maui man.”
Kendall replaced the muffin and frowned.
“Now.” Mom stood and brushed crumbs off her sleek white jeans. “You go and get dressed in something respectable and we’ll go shopping.”
Kendall felt a surge of hope, which was quickly replaced with a dash of reality. “I’m not supposed to shop.”
“Of course you’re supposed to shop,” Mom told her.
“No. I’m in a recovery program.”
Dad laughed. “A recovery program for shopping.”
And so Kendall told them about SA and, despite their snickers and chuckles, she declared that she had to stick with the program. “I promised Killiki and my housemates too.”
“But you won’t be spending your own money, Kendall.” Mom poured herself another mimosa. “Don’t you see that’s different?”
“I don’t know.” Kendall folded her hands over her rounded tummy and thought.
“Isn’t there a hotline or someone you can call, Kennie?” Her dad held out his cell phone for her. “After all, we are talking about your wedding.”
“Yes!” She turned and headed for the house. “I’ll call the hotline.”
It took her a couple of minutes to dig out the number, but it wasn’t long before a real live woman was on the other end. Kendall quickly described her dilemma.
“That’s a tricky one,” the woman told her. “On one hand, your father is right. It’s your parents’ money, so it’s not like you’re really putting yourself into debt. On the other hand, all that shopping could be a trigger.”
“A trigger?”
“You know, that one little thing that causes a person to go off the deep end. You could have such a great time shopping with your parents’ money that you suddenly think it’s
okay to go out and shop with your own. Or worse, with plastic.”
“I don’t even have credit cards anymore.”
“Yes, good for you.”
“So what do I do?”
“Okay, here’s what I recommend: Go ahead and shop with your mother. But only for wedding things. And keep track of what you’re purchasing in a notebook.”
“Write it all down?”
“Yes. That’s an accountability thing.”
“Okay.”
“And then when the shopping’s done, do not go near a mall. Period.”
“Right.”
“And feel free to call if you get tempted.”
“Okay. Thanks!” Kendall hung up, then called Killiki and told him of the recent development.
“That’s pretty cool that your parents want to help you, Kendall. I feel bad that I’m not around for you right now.”
“I understand. But we talk every day.”
“Yeah, but I wish we weren’t so far apart.”
“Me too.”
“So, anyway, it’s great that your parents feel so supportive now. That’s a big change, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, I was kind of blown away at first.”
“At first?”
“Well, then my mom started getting kind of bossy. But I expected that.”
“As far as the shopping thing, I have to agree with that hotline person. If you’re not spending your own money and you realize it’s a one-time thing, and if you take all that seriously, well, it seems like it would be okay. If it helps, you can be accountable to me every day. I’ll ask you if you went shopping or anything.”
“You’d do that for me?”
“Of course, sweetheart. I love you.”
“I love you too.” For the next few minutes they argued about who loved whom more. Finally, reluctantly, they said aloha, which meant both hello and good-bye and was, Kendall thought, a gentler way to end a conversation. Then she cleaned up and got dressed and went out to tell her parents the good news.
When she got outside, she saw that one of the neighbors, a thirty-something woman who had just moved in next door, was talking to her dad.
“But how long do you plan to park it there?” she was asking.
“As long as I want,” he shot back. “This is free country, you know.”
“But there are regulations about things like this.”
“You mean CC&Rs?” Dad narrowed his eyes and, despite the crazy shorts and bright orange ball cap, looked a lot like the corporate attorney he used to be.
“Yes,” she said eagerly. “Codes, covenants, and restrictions.”
He laughed. “Not in this neighborhood.”
“But there are city laws.”
“Sure. You can’t park a vehicle for over twenty-four hours on the street. But if I just take it for a spin around the neighborhood, a new twenty-four-hour period begins.”
“Well, what about those things sticking out into the street?” she pointed to one of the slide-outs.
“We’ll pull them in on that side.” He looked up at the front yard. “Or better yet, we might just park the RV on the lawn and let it all hang out.”
“Dad!” Kendall was getting worried.
He laughed. “I’m just joking with her.”
“Oh?” Kendall kind of smiled at the neighbor.
“Well, I don’t think it’s very funny.”
“And I don’t think it’s very neighborly to come over here without even introducing yourself and get on our case for merely visiting our daughter.”
“I just wanted to make sure you knew—”
“The rules?” he shot back at her.
“Uh, my name’s Kendall Weis.” Kendall stuck out her hand. “And this is my dad, Michael Weis. He’s a retired attorney and he sort of knows the law, if you know what I mean.”
“Not only that, but I grew up in this house and I know this neighborhood, and if I want to park my motor home here for the next year, I’d like to see you try and stop me.”
The woman backed off.
“What’s the problem out here?” Mom asked as she emerged from the RV.
“This friendly neighbor came over to complain about our motor home trashing up the nice neighborhood.” Dad glared at the woman.
“This is my mom, Bev Weis,” Kendall said. “You still haven’t given us your name.”
“Toni.” She stepped back again.
Mom frowned. “You don’t like our motor home parked out here?”
“I just thought it might be against, uh, the rules or something.” Toni was clearly outnumbered.
“It’s not as if we were moving in,” Mom said hotly. “We only planned to stay a few hours—”
“A few weeks,” Dad snapped. “What’s it to you?”
“Come on, you guys,” Kendall said cheerfully. “Let’s not blow this all out of proportion. I mean, Toni is my neighbor, and you have to admit it’s kind of shocking to look out your front window and see this giant motor home.” She turned to Toni now. “But you should see it inside. It’s got granite and stainless and plasma TVs and—”
“And it cost a whole lot more than your house,” Dad finished for her. “And it’s staying here until I say it’s not. Capisce?”
“Dad!”
“What? I have my rights and I know it.”
Kendall made a weak smile, then shrugged as Toni turned away with a disgusted expression and stomped back toward her house.
“That went well.” Kendall shook her head.
“All right then. Let’s go and shop until we drop.” Mom slung the strap of her sleek Coach bag over her shoulder as she linked arms with Kendall. “Your car gassed up and ready?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“Let the good times roll,” Dad called as they headed toward the garage. And Kendall knew that the fun had just begun.
Fifteen
Anna
“So is it true?” Chelsea seemed to have cornered Anna in the restroom. “Did you and Edmond really break up?”
Anna just shrugged and continued washing her hands.
“That’s what everyone is saying. And Lucy is acting like she plans to take full advantage of the situation.”
Anna shrugged again as she reached for a paper towel.
“I thought we were friends, Anna.”
Anna thought that with friends like Chelsea … Well, Chelsea was probably one level higher than Lucy anyway. “We are friends,” Anna said calmly. “Business friends.”
“So are you going to just let Lucy walk away with your man?”
“Who said he was my man?”
“Even Felicia mentioned it.”
Anna was surprised. “Felicia said something about Edmond and me?”
“Well, she is Edmond’s aunt. Maybe she actually cares about him.”
Anna wanted to laugh. But she also wanted to cry. “What did she say?”
“I heard her talking to Rick. You know, Edmond’s uncle.”
Anna rolled her eyes. “Yes, I know that. He’s also my boss.”
“Right. Anyway, they were talking quietly and Felicia said that Edmond hadn’t been himself lately, and she thought it was because of you.”
“Because of me?” Anna wanted to hit something. Or someone.
Chelsea nodded. “Felicia sounded like you had hurt Edmond somehow. She said it was just like the other time.”
Anna considered this.
“What happened the other time?”
Anna threw the wad of paper towel into the waste bin and just sighed. “Really, Chelsea, you should focus more on your work and less on people’s personal problems.”
“But what about when people’s personal prob
lems come into the workplace?”
Anna walked to the door now. This was actually a good question, but one that Anna had no intention of answering. “See you later, Chelsea.”
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Anna didn’t respond to that. Not outwardly. Inwardly, she was seething. Fortunately the workday was almost over. Only one more day of the work week left. She wondered how she’d made it through four days without saying more than a few words to Edmond. But he seemed to be avoiding her as well. Really, perhaps the best thing was to deal with this maturely, like two grownups—just lay the cards on the table and get it over with.
In fact, that was what she planned to do. She picked up the phone and called Edmond’s cell, leaving him a message that she wanted to speak to him after work. “It’s urgent,” she said, then immediately wished she hadn’t. Urgent? Why was it suddenly urgent after nearly a week of this silly standoff?
But what if Chelsea was right? What if Edmond really was blue about the whole thing? Of course, if that was the case, why hadn’t he come to her by now? Shouldn’t he have apologized?
At five o’clock, Edmond had still not returned her call. Of course, she knew he usually kept his cell phone off during work hours. Felicia had trained him well in that regard. She straightened her desk, refilled the paper tray on her printer, organized her pens, and even refilled her stapler until it was a few minutes past five. Then she stood up, gathered her things and, telling herself she was off the clock now, headed straight for Edmond’s office. Without even knocking on the door, she burst in.
To her stunned and speechless amazement, Lucy was in Edmond’s office too. And it almost seemed as if she had Edmond pinned against his desk. Anna blinked and looked again. By this time Edmond had somehow managed to slither away to the other side of the desk, where his cheeks were quickly reddening. “Anna!” he sort of gasped.
She simply turned and walked out, firmly closing the door behind her. She wanted to scream and swear and throw things and basically just go into hysterics. Instead she took the stairs, counting each one as she stepped until she was finally outside and getting into her car. Once she was inside her car and pulling away from the building, she let out a bloodcurdling scream that actually hurt her ears. And then she began to cry. She was crying so hard that she had to pull over until she could focus her eyes again.
Three Weddings and a Bar Mitzvah Page 13
