Some Like Them Rich

by Shirley Hailstock

  “And you expect he’ll be at the top of the charts sometime within the next decade?”

  “Maybe. Maybe not.”

  I look at Lila, but said nothing.

  “Amber, I know we agreed to your plan, but life doesn’t work by plan. You can’t decide who to fall in love with just because their bank account promises you a cushy future. And is that really what you want?” She paused, giving me time to think about it even though neither of us expected me to answer. “My parents said the best times of their lives were the years they struggled to make it. They look back and laugh at the things they did together. It made their marriage stronger. One thing I’ve learned during this summer is that I want that kind of life more than I want a man I don’t love just because he can afford me.”

  The three of us looked at each other. The only sound in the room was the low hum of the central air-conditioning.

  “Amber, we want you to be happy for us.”

  “I am,” I said, hugging her again and doing the same to Lila. “I’m sorry for my reaction. I haven’t had the best two days. Lila lectured me on the merits or, rather, the pitfalls of our plan.”

  Jack smiled.

  “You know I want nothing more than for you to be happy.” I took their hands and squeezed them. My comment was genuine. I knew I would rather they be happy with husbands they loved than to be rich and miserable.

  “When did this happen? Have you set dates yet? Tell me all the details.”

  I poured myself another cup of coffee and sat down ready to hear the happy details.

  “Shane asked me last night. We were having dinner at the St. Romaine.” Jack’s face glowed as she spoke. Her smile was wide and bright and she couldn’t help twisting the ring on her finger. She looked like a little girl who’d received her coveted Christmas present. “During dessert, out comes this rolling cart with a crystal bowl on it. Inside the bowl is a velvet box. The waiter puts the bowl in front and me and leaves.”

  Jack took a swallow of her orange juice before continuing. “‘What is this?’ I asked Shane. ‘I haven’t ordered a dessert since we stepped on the Vineyard.’”

  It showed, too. All the exercise and Jack’s continuing to order salads instead of potatoes and rice was showing nicely on her body. She’d lost at least ten pounds since she’d come here.

  “Shane tells me to open it and I find a diamond engagement ring lying on the white velvet liner. I swear all the air in my body was sucked out.”

  “I know exactly what you mean,” Lila said. She sat across from Amber. “Shane and I were at his aunt’s house when he asked me. I told him the truth of my coming to the Vineyard and he still wanted to marry me.”

  Tears gathered in my eyes. I had envied Lila yesterday when she told me about her engagement. Today both my friends had dreams and wishes they could hold on to. They’d found their mates. I wished I could join them, wished I had the same glowing feelings of love running through my veins.

  I didn’t. The love I had found on the Vineyard only made me miserable.

  “There’s something else,” Lila said.

  Both Jack and I looked at her. “Clay’s aunt lives on the Vineyard. He wants her at his wedding.”

  “You mean come back next—”

  Lila was already shaking her head. “He wants the wedding before we leave, before the summer ends.”

  “What?” Both Jack and I spoke at the same time. “That’s only two weeks away.” The summer had flown by, but I was really ready to leave the Vineyard now.

  “We love it here and we won’t be able to come back for a while. The place is gorgeous. So we thought we’d marry here,” Lila said.

  “What about family and friends? Don’t you want to plan a wedding, take time to get to know each other, pick out china patterns before the wedding?”

  “Nope.” She smiled. “We can have a reception when we get back. Clay is going to speak to the hotel today and see if we can have the ceremony in the garden.”

  “What about a dress? And our bank account is very low. We can’t afford a reception at the hotel, not even for a few guests.”

  “I already have the dress. It was my grandmother’s. I called my mother this morning and she’s Fed Exing it.”

  “It’ll need alteration. And possible updating.”

  “They’ll be minor. My sister was married in it two years ago. The two of us are about the same size.”

  I remembered the dress and the wedding. The woman who’d updated the gown had done wonders for it. Lila’s sister was beautiful in it. Lila would look the same.

  “I guess it seems everything is in place.”

  “Not yet. I have a hundred details to work out.” She glanced at the clock. “So I’d better get started.” Pushing her chair back, she got up.

  “Anything I can do to help?” I asked.

  Lila stopped the forward motion she’d begun. “I want you to be my bridesmaid. You, too, Jack, unless you and Shane want to make this a double wedding.”

  “Double wedding!” Jack’s eyes grew as large as saucers. “That’s a wonderful idea. Let me call Shane.”

  She jumped up and rushed for the phone in the other room.

  “Hate to leave you alone, but I promised to meet Clay in an hour,” Lila said.

  “Go on,” I said. “I’ll clean the dishes.”

  There was a dishwasher, but I needed to do something physical. I filled the sink with soapy water and began washing the breakfast plates. Lila’s comments about her parents came back to me. She made a lot of sense. Love meant more when two people worked for a common goal than it did if they just took the brass ring and lived the cushy life.

  I’d struggled for years. I worked at a job that afforded me the ability to do it anywhere, but it was a dead-end position. In nine years I’d done nothing more than write jingles for greeting cards. I couldn’t say those were the best years of my life, but then I didn’t have anyone to share them with. Maybe if I had I’d have done more, pushed for more.

  I thought Emile was the one, but now that I look back on that time, the two of us would never have made it. Emile might have known that. I didn’t give him credit for it. My hurt had cut deep and I only thought of what I wanted, not what it would mean to us as a couple, as two people spending our lives together.

  “You know, Amber.” Lila stuck her head in the doorway, speaking as if the idea had only just occurred to her. “There’s no reason you and Don can’t join us.”

  “There is one little point,” I said. “Don hasn’t asked me to marry him.”

  “But if he did?” Lila asked.

  I thought about the last time I’d seen Don, watching his back as he walked away from me.

  “I don’t think that’s in the cards for us.”

  Who would think that two women could cause this much chaos? It’s like a nor’easter blew through the house and deposited wedding debris in every room. The contents of at least one bookstore were lying about the house. Brides’ magazines, cake decorating, flower arranging, hotel ballroom brochures were thrown about.

  For the past week they had talked of nothing but weddings. I smiled and joined in when necessary, but it was downright depressing. I never told them Casey had asked me to marry him. Or that my relationship with Don—no, we had no relationship—whatever we had defined or not defined, was over.

  Jack and Lila didn’t appear to notice my sullenness at times. I tried to hide it. I couldn’t help wishing I was one of them. That it was my wedding I was planning, poring over the details of. But each time the thought came to me, the man in the picture with me was Don.

  I’d force the thought away, concentrate on either Lila’s or Jack’s needs, make myself think of what the two of them liked, what flowers they would want, what kind of music the band would play.

  “I don’t know what we’re going to do. Maybe this is just not going to work,” Lila was saying as she and Jack came in the room.

  “What isn’t going to work?” I asked.

  The
two woman pushed some of the debris away and plopped down on chairs.

  “The wedding,” Jack said.

  “What happened?” Fear for my friends gripped me. “Have you called it off?”

  “Called it off?” Jack looked confused.

  “We can’t find a place to have the reception,” Lila explained. “We’ve been everywhere. With the music festival going on and the number of events already planned, there is no space for a reception.”

  “Do you think you can use your influence with Don and get us into the St. Romaine?” Jack asked hopefully.

  I looked through the window into the huge backyard. I knew I couldn’t approach Don. He probably didn’t want to see me or even talk to me. Asking a favor this big would stretch any friendship.

  And we were no longer friends.

  “What about here?” I said, having an epiphany. Both women looked at each other and then at me. “It’s perfect. You can have the ceremony in the backyard. We can have it dressed up with flowers and chairs. Then the reception can be both in and out of the house.” I paused and looked about the littered room. “You have to admit, this is a gorgeous house.”

  “Do you think it would work?” Lila looked at Jack.

  While I waited, they stood up and walked about the room as if they were only just seeing the house.

  “I think it will,” Lila said. “We’re not the rich women anymore. We can have a wedding and reception in a house.”

  “It’ll work,” Jack agreed. “I think the ceremony should be inside. Imagine coming down that staircase.” She pointed toward the wide stairway that curved at the bottom as if it knew it was going to deposit brides into the huge great room.

  “You’re right,” Lila agreed. “This is great, Amber. I’m glad you thought of it. That’s one huge problem off our hands. Now we need to get Jack a gown and have mine altered.”

  “Lila and I are going to take the ferry and go to Boston this afternoon. We’ll stay overnight and hopefully find something tomorrow.”

  “I’ll go with you.”

  “Amber, would you stay here and take care of some of the other details, like the cake, flowers, decorations? Time is at a premium and you’re good at planning and organizing. With a place determined, we need a design of where to set things up, where to put flowers, and we need a caterer. Maybe Don can lend us a hand there.”

  There was no malice in Jack’s voice. I was good at planning and organizing. I’d gotten us to this island, hadn’t I? And I didn’t relish the idea of being around blushing brides. Not in my state of unhappiness, but I felt Jack and Lila needed me. Or they should. I’d want them around if I was the one getting married. But Jack and Lila would also do whatever it was I needed done.

  “What about my dress? I’m the only bridesmaid,” I said. “I’ll need something new to wear.”

  Again a look passed between Lila and Jack.

  “What?” I said.

  “We saw the perfect dress for you. It’s in the gift shop at the St. Romaine.”

  I clamped my teeth down, tightening my jaws. Each time anyone mentioned the St. Romaine, my last night with Don and the way he’d created the perfect night jumped in my mind. Then I’d remember him walking away. I didn’t want to go anywhere near the hotel.

  “We asked the clerk to hold it for you. If you don’t like it, no problem,” Jack said.

  “But I can’t imagine you not liking it.”

  Jack and Lila knew me well. We’d grown up together. They knew my style as well as I did. Each year for my birthday or Christmas, I could count on loving the gifts they chose. If they said the dress was perfect, I had no doubt it was. The only problem was going to the St. Romaine.

  And the possibility of me running into Don.

  Chapter 21

  What was that cliché, I asked myself as a giddy Jack and Lila waved good-bye from the ferry deck. If it wasn’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all. The last time I’d come to the pier to see Jack off, I’d run into Don.

  Apparently, today was no different.

  My heart thudded against my chest when I saw him. He hadn’t seen me yet. For that I was grateful, but instead of heading for the car and getting away from him, my legs and feet appeared to be rooted to the spot.

  Don had a smile on his face, but he didn’t look happy. It was amazing how two people knew when something was different about the other, no matter what the outer core showed. Don greeted an older man. He had silver hair and the appearance of a seasoned college professor. But his stature was that of command. I could easily see him in uniform directing some military operation.

  Don shook hands with the man and they embraced briefly, in the man hug that was quick and affectionate. Then a beautiful woman ran into his arms and his entire demeanor changed. She had long dark hair that bounced as she ran. Her smile was wide, showing even teeth. She looked like a model, dressed in a pink sundress that clung to her curves. Her long legs ended in high-heeled shoes. I was thankful they weren’t red.

  The smile on Don’s face was genuine and the hug was long. He kissed her on the cheek and pulled her arm through his as they turned toward the parking lot.

  Envy, jealousy, longing swelled up in me as green as any giant in a field of peas. I wanted to run to him, snatch her arm free and let her know that Don was my man.

  But he wasn’t.

  Don was a free agent. I had no right to assume that he was anything to me. I’d done everything I could to push him away. And now that he was gone, I missed him fiercely. I felt as if a hole had been left in my heart and only the man I now saw walking with someone he obviously loved could fill it.

  Staying where I was, I watched them move toward the hotel’s limousine. They talked easily. Don obviously knew these people well. He glanced from one to the other as they walked. His attention was for them and them alone. Never once did he glance in my direction.

  When I felt it was safe enough, I returned to the car. I wondered who she was. What was she to Don?

  “Amber.”

  I froze getting into the car. Hadn’t I waited long enough? Sitting down in preparation for getting away, I turned and looked through the window. Casey Edwards stood there with Joel.

  “Hi,” Joel said, a bright smile and the remnants of ice cream on his face.

  “Hi,” I said. “What are you doing here?” I thought they’d left the Vineyard a week ago.

  Casey looked a little embarrassed. “Joel and I stopped at that ice cream parlor over there. Then we looked at the ferry boats. And finally we saw you.”

  “I dropped Jack and Lila off. They’re spending the day in Boston.”

  “I heard,” he said. “Word has reached me that the two of them are getting married.”

  “Oh, ‘tis true,” I said.

  Casey leaned into the car so his son couldn’t hear what he had to say. “My offer is still open, Amber. If you change your mind it’s a safe harbor.”

  I understood what Casey meant. He was a safe harbor. The demands he would make on my time would be low. I wasn’t sure I wanted that. In fact, I knew I didn’t. I wanted the fire, the heat and friction that had me exploding.

  “I’ll think about it,” I said.

  “Is that a promise?” His eyes narrowed.

  I looked at Joel. “It’s a promise.”

  “Why don’t we have dinner tonight and discuss it? Seven o’clock?”

  I nodded. “See you then.”

  Was I out of my mind? I asked myself that as I drove back to the house. Jack and Lila getting married was getting to me. I wanted to be married. It was why I was on the Vineyard. Casey was a good man. I loved his son. I could do worse. At lot worse. I thought of Emile and how disastrous that would have been.

  Would being married to Casey be so bad? I’d have everything I wanted, everything this trip was about. It was within my grasp. All I had to do was say yes and I could go to Boston to find my own white dress to wear, too.

  Dress! I hit the brakes, suddenly remembering I was sup
posed to go by the dress shop in the St. Romaine and look at the gown the two brides wanted me to wear. A car honked its horn behind me. I started up again, but didn’t turn around. I had a better plan.

  Inside the house, I called the dress shop and asked them to deliver the dress. After all, in their eyes I was still a rich woman. Rich women didn’t have to go into shops unless they wanted to. The clerk was happy to send the dress over.

  Twenty minutes later when the doorbell rang, I’d lined up a couple of florists and a bakery. I had appointments for tomorrow morning to see their work. I began to sketch the way the house and yard should look.

  “You’ll need to decide if you want this before I leave.”

  I was stunned to find Don Randall standing there with a dress bag in his hand. My legs nearly caved and my heart burst with an energy I hadn’t known was possible.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked.

  “You ordered a dress to be delivered.”

  “I didn’t expect you to be the delivery boy.”

  “There wasn’t anyone else available. We usually don’t get requests to have clothes delivered unless they’re for one of the guests.”

  “I apologize for the inconvenience.” I took the dress.

  After the initial shock of finding him on my doorstep, I was glad to see him. As usual he wore a suit, his uniform of choice for the working day. The small tag that identified him as the St. Romaine’s manager was missing, but for me it would be redundant. I could pick Don Randall out on a midtown Manhattan street during rush hour.

  As I stood there looking at him, I knew seeing him after I took the final ferry ride back to reality would not be likely.

  “I hear you’re having a wedding here.”

  “Did Casey tell you?”

  “Tell me what?”

  I knew it was a mistake the moment the words came out of my mouth. I hoped Casey would wait until I gave him a second answer, but I never said it was a secret.

  “Casey asked you to marry him?” Don asked, although it was more an accusation than a question.

  I didn’t know how to answer. Casey had asked me, but I’d refused. Yet this afternoon I had led him to believe I was thinking about it.