I Do, I Do . . . Again Read online

"Done," said Olivia. "Six weeks from today, you'll be man and wife for the second time."

  She and Millie looked at each other and broke into triumphant smiles.

  Sunny and Robert met each other's eyes.

  "We won, didn't we?" Sunny asked.

  "I'm not sure," said Robert. "They didn't cover this in law school."

  "You won't regret this," said Millie, leaping up to hug her daughter and future son-in-law. "I promise you won't have to worry about a single thing between now and the big day."

  "Absolutely!" said Olivia, leaping up to do the same. "This will be the wedding of your dreams."

  Chapter Three

  From the outside, Leticia's Bridal Salon looked a great deal like the other shops scattered along the tree-lined street. With its stone facade and Williamsburg blue shutters, Leticia's blended in perfectly with the air of countrified gentility common to the rolling hillsides of Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Slender mannequins, faces forever frozen in expressions of sublime happiness, graced the window display, their bridal finery adding a touch of romantic splendor to the quiet street.

  You'd never suspect it was a torture chamber.

  "Now I remember why Robert and I eloped the first time," said Sunny as Madame Leticia closed the fitting room door behind her. "Weddings are exhausting."

  "Exhausting?" Millie stared at her daughter as if she'd never seen her before. "I'm not exhausted." She turned toward Olivia. "Are you exhausted?"

  Olivia threw back her head and laughed. "I don't know what's the matter with the younger generation," she said with an affectionate glance toward Sunny, who was slumped on a boudoir chair near the mirror, her crinolines piled high on her lap. "I think you need vitamins."

  "I think I need my head examined." Sunny struggled to hold back a yawn. All of their plans for a small and intimate wedding in her backyard with the river view had gone up in smoke the moment they broke the news to their families. "Why we ever let you two talk us into this three-ring circus is beyond me."

  "Because you and Robert deserve the very best, that's why," declared Millie.

  "And because we got cheated out of it the first time around," added Olivia. "If you think we're going to let our children run off somewhere and elope, you are sadly mistaken."

  "We weren't going to elope," Sunny explained once again. "You know we were planning to have a nice quiet ceremony in my backyard."

  Olivia looked as if she were about to faint while her mother's lips pursed so tightly it was a wonder she didn't swallow them.

  "Your father and I have been saving up for this occasion since the day you were born," said Millie. "Grandma Talbot says she'll die happy once she sees you walk down the aisle wearing her mother's veil."

  "That's hardly a pleasant thought, Mom."

  "Oh, dear. You already have a veil." Olivia's feathery brows drew together in a genteel frown. "Robert's father and I had so hoped Sunny would wear Mother Holland's veil."

  Was there no detail these women left to chance? Sunny took a deep breath and faced the opposing team. "To tell you the truth," she began carefully, "I wasn't planning on wearing a veil at all. I was thinking of a wreath of flowers."

  "This isn't the Sixties, Sunny," warned her mother in her most stern tone of voice. "Formal weddings are all the rage again."

  "In case you haven't noticed, times are tough," her daughter shot back. "You and Dad aren't getting any younger and it seems to me that with retirement on the horizon and Liz still single, you should--"

  The door swung open and a chirpy bridal consultant bustled in. "Madame Leticia told me of Mrs. Talbot's concerns," she said, marching confidently into the line of battle, "and Madame said we can most assuredly add more pearls to the bodice for you." She batted her false eyelashes at the assembled women. "For a small additional price."

  Sunny groaned and buried her face in her hands. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Her mother's obsession with seed pearls was nearing the intervention point.

  "Pre-wedding jitters," said Olivia, patting Sunny on the head. "She'll be fine in a moment."

  "I wouldn't bet on that," mumbled Sunny.

  The three women ignored her.

  "Now if you ladies will excuse us," said the consultant, "I'll help Ms. Talbot into the gown and take another fitting."

  "Another fitting?" asked Sunny. "I doubt if Kate Middleton had so many fittings."

  "This is the last time," said the consultant.

  "You said that two weeks ago."

  "This time you have my word," said the consultant, crossing her heart. She waggled a finger in Sunny's direction. "Just don't lose any more weight and we'll be fine."

  "I'll see to that," said Millie Talbot, although how she would manage that feat with her daughter living three towns away was beyond Sunny. She could imagine her mother camping out on her doorstep each morning with a picnic basket of bagels and cream cheese.

  Millie and Olivia reluctantly retired to the front of the salon while Sunny gave herself over to the ministrations of the consultant and the seamstress who joined them.

  From the moment she and Robert had announced their engagement a few weeks ago, it seemed to Sunny that life as she knew it had ceased to exist. It had been easier to open an art gallery than it was to buy a wedding dress.

  "Ouch!" Sunny grimaced as a silvery straight pin grazed her left breast.

  "You mustn't squirm, dear," muttered the seamstress through a mouthful of said pins. "I'm almost finished."

  Sunny shuddered as the woman whipped out a wicked-looking pair of shears.

  "Now don't breathe."

  "I wouldn't think of it," said Sunny.

  Battenberg lace. Illusion veils. Sweetheart necklines and fingertip sleeves. Wang and Acra and Lhullier. The world of weddings had its own rules--and its own language. Ushers were now called groomsmen. The best man could be a woman. Children played a larger part in formal ceremonies than ever before--thanks, no doubt, to second marriages and blended families.

  Which brought Sunny back to the problem she'd been wrestling with since that fateful day when she and Robert fell in love all over again.

  Sunny glanced down at the seamstress. "Do you have kids?"

  "Three," the woman said around the pins. "Two girls and a boy." She visibly beamed with pride. "My oldest girl served in Afghanistan."

  Sunny tried to imagine sending a beloved child off to war but her mind refused to go there. She could barely imagine how it would feel to see Robert's little boy cross the street by himself.

  "She's home safe now?" Sunny asked.

  "Six months now but--" She shook her head at the memories as she inspected the hem of the wedding gown. "We stayed glued to the television while she was deployed. I don't think I slept a wink until she came home." The seamstress looked up at Sunny. "How about you? Any children?"

  "My fiancé has two," she said. "A boy and a girl."

  The seamstress flashed her a knowing smile. "And I'll just bet the daughter's putting you through your paces."

  Clearly the woman's skills extended beyond her wizardry with needle and thread.

  "That's one way to put it."

  "She'll get over it soon enough. It comes with the territory."

  "I wish I could believe that." Suddenly all of the fears that kept her awake at night spilled out. "Everything happened so fast. I can't blame her for being upset. All we need is a little time to get to know each other."

  Maybe if she said it often enough she would believe it.

  She sniffled and accepted the packet of tissues the seamstress slid toward her. "I can't believe I threw all of this at you."

  "You're not the first bride to feel that way and you won't be the last, honey."

  "Everyone tells me it gets easier," she said with a sigh. "I just hope it happens sooner rather than later." There was a sadness about Jessi that touched Sunny's heart but, try as she might, she found it impossible to reach the girl. She had told Jessi that she would never try to replace her mother but her wo
rds had fallen on deaf ears.

  "Don't you look so down, Ms. Talbot. All it takes is common sense," said the seamstress, sounding suspiciously like Sunny's own mother. "Follow your instincts. Nothing's more natural than being a mother."

  ***

  An hour later Sunny burst into the jewelry store in Lahaska where she was to meet Robert to choose their wedding rings.

  "Look at you," she said, after they shared a kiss. "Mr. Big Shot Attorney in his Savile Row duds." She made a show of checking him out. "Whatever happened to the boy who wore faded jeans and sweats?"

  "He became a partner in a law firm," Robert said dryly. "Jeans are for weekends."

  "I'd go crazy if I had to adhere to a dress code."

  He tugged gently at one of her peacock feather earrings. "Somehow I can't imagine you dressing for corporate America."

  She glanced down at her biker's shorts and tank top. "Maybe I should have borrowed one of Madame Leticia's crinolines."

  "I like you the way you are," he said, sweeping her into his arms in a decidedly un-corporate-America way. "Feather earrings, Lycra pants and all."

  "I knew you were a renegade at heart," she said, laughing as he sat her down atop the jewelry counter. "What would your partners say if they saw you now?"

  "They'd say I was a damn lucky man. I--"

  "Good afternoon, friends," intoned a parchment-paper voice to their right. "And how may I help you?"

  Robert and Sunny turned to see a dapper man of indeterminate age coming toward them from the back room. The man's professional smile faded when he looked from Robert's impeccable business attire to Sunny's funky gear. Sunny offered up her friendliest smile.

  "We'd like to see some wedding rings," she said, sliding off the counter to the man's obvious relief. "A friend of mine says Bentley's has the finest selection in Bucks County."

  The salesman visibly preened. "And that we do." His gaze slid from the peacock feathers in her ears to the Rolex on Robert's left wrist. "And who is the lucky couple?"

  Sunny's eyes widened. "We are."

  "Of course," said the man, covering up his embarrassment with a cough. It was plain to see he felt they were the most mismatched pair since Felix and Oscar. "If you'll come this way, I'll show you my best."

  "Don't laugh," Sunny warned as she and Robert followed the man to a counter on the opposite side of the luxurious store. "If you laugh, then I'll start laughing and the poor man will end up calling the police!"

  Robert's shoulders heaved with suppressed mirth. "The guy doesn't know whether to show us rings for our fingers or our noses," he said, too loudly for Sunny's comfort. "I can't wait to see his first choice."

  "Diamonds," Sunny whispered, wrinkling her nose. "He saw that fancy suit of yours and figures you're good for it."

  Robert gave her a surreptitious pinch on the bottom. "Puzzle rings," he said, eyes twinkling with amusement, "because he can't figure out how we ever got together."

  The salesman, however, was a sophisticated man and by the time Sunny and Robert sat down in the chairs offered, he had recovered his equilibrium. He reached into the jewelry case and withdrew a pair of plain gold bands. No diamonds. No fancy scrollwork. Traditional, old-fashioned, and not at all what anyone would associate with a powerful attorney and his flamboyant bride-to-be. "Perfect for all occasions," the salesman said smoothly. "Don't you agree?"

  "A little plain, don't you think?" asked Robert dubiously.

  Sunny held the rings in the palm of her hand. The gold was warm, solid, an endless circle of hopes and dreams. To her amazement, her eyes brimmed. "How did you know?" she asked, looking at the salesman through a haze of tears. "These rings couldn't be more perfect." They represented everything that was real and enduring and wonderful about the love she had for Robert and the plans they had for their future together.

  The salesman looked from Sunny to Robert then back again and a big smile creased his oh-so-proper face. "Practice, my dear," he said with a nod of his head. "Practice."

  ***

  Sunny and Robert reluctantly parted company a little while later. He had a meeting with an important client while Sunny had to at least pretend the gallery was the most important thing in her life. In truth, the wonder of falling in love--and the chaos of planning a wedding--had steamrollered over everything in its path, leaving Sunny apologetic but still falling rapidly behind.

  She went back to the gallery and was instantly engulfed in more chaos.

  By the time she pulled up in front of Robert's house a few hours later, she was frazzled, rumpled, and ready to crawl into bed and sleep for a week. There had been a mix-up at the gallery while Sunny was entangled in crinolines at Madame Leticia's, and by the time she returned a full-scale disaster was well underway. It seemed to take forever to soothe ruffled feathers, flatter dented egos, and redirect the delivery of an art deco statue that a state senator thought resembled his mistress.

  Frowning, she peered into the rear-view mirror. The blushing bride-to-be looked ready for an extended stay at Leisure Village and there were still three weeks to go until the Big Day.

  "Thank you, Mom and Olivia," she mumbled as she climbed out of her car. If only the two women had listened to her and Robert in the first place, they would be happily married by now and all of this craziness would be behind them.

  "Hey guys!" she called as the front door closed behind her. "First call for Chinese food. Last one to the chopsticks does the dishes."

  She heard a whoop of excitement from the den, followed by the thud of kid-sized Reeboks heading in her direction.

  "Sunny!" Michael threw himself at her legs like a high-impact cannonball. "Did you get fortune cookies?"

  She ruffled his hair affectionately. "Would I forget fortune cookies? They're your favorite thing."

  He poked at the shopping bag from the Magic Wok. "Fried rice?"

  "Fried rice and the soup you like."

  "I ate potato chips with Sarah today," he confided. "Mrs. Jennings said they're bad for me."

  "Well, they're not exactly health food," Sunny began cautiously, trying not to tread upon the housekeeper's toes, "but I don't suppose a potato chip every now and again will hurt you."

  "C'mon!" Michael tugged at her sleeve impatiently. "Jessi's in the kitchen."

  "Is your daddy in there, too?"

  Michael shook his head. "Daddy had to work late."

  "Did he say when he'd be home?"

  "I don't remember."

  "That's okay," she said, following the boy down the hall and into the kitchen. "I'm sure he'll be here before too long. Your dad loves Chinese food as much as we do."

  Jessi's high, clear voice floated across the kitchen. "My father doesn't eat Chinese food."

  Sunny's stomach knotted. So it was going to be one of those days, was it? Well, she was prepared. "I also brought a meatball hero from Luigi's. That should hold him until breakfast."

  Jessi, a slip of a girl with big blue eyes and silky brown hair, pointed toward a pot simmering on the stove. "Daddy's watching his cholesterol. I made him a vegetable stew."

  Vegetable stew, thought Sunny. Since when did Robert eat vegetable stew for dinner? In the weeks they'd been together she'd seen him eat Szechuan beef, pepperoni pizza, and fried chicken but she never once saw him eat vegetable stew.

  "I love veggie stew," she said gamely.

  "I only made enough for the three of us." Jessi said.

  Sunny pretended the words didn't sting as she ladled generous portions of take-out onto the plates she'd found in the cupboard.

  "I thought you guys could help me with something while we eat," she said, gesturing for Jessi to help herself to a bowl of hot and sour soup. "Your dad and I have until tomorrow morning to choose a band for the wedding and I brought the audition DVDs along."

  "Old people in tuxedos," Jessi said. "That's as bad as listening to Madonna.

  Sunny started to laugh. "I don't know how to tell you this, Jessi, but there was a time when your dad and I thought M
adonna was pretty hot."

  "Gross," said Jessi, looking at her as if Sunny had suddenly sprouted shoulder pads and a mullet.

  "Come on," said Sunny, inclining her head in the direction of the den. "I'd like your opinion on the bands."

  "I have math homework to do."

  "But you have to eat," Sunny reasoned. "We'll watch while we eat."

  "I ate at Marcy's house."

  Sunny arched an eyebrow. "At least have the soup."

  "I don't want the soup."

  "You're not dieting, are you?"

  Jessi rolled her eyes and said nothing.

  "You're perfect just the way you are," Sunny said. "You looked beautiful in that junior bridesmaid's dress last week."

  Jessi mumbled something about hoping none of her friends saw her in that outfit but Sunny chose to ignore it. Part of motherhood, she was rapidly learning, consisted of knowing when to become selectively deaf.

  "Will you join us for ice cream after your dad gets home?"

  Jessi shrugged as if she had many more important invitations to consider before she could commit herself. "I dunno. Maybe."

  "Well, you know where to find us," she said easily. "I'd better go join Michael."

  Walking away was one of the harder things Sunny had to do, but she managed it. Her instinct was to throw her arms about the child and wear down the girl's defenses with love and affection, but Jessi had made it clear that she maintained a "hands off" policy when it came to her future stepmother and there was nothing Sunny could do but respect her decision.

  To her surprise, she had discovered she thoroughly enjoyed being around kids. Last week she had even attended her first parent/teacher meeting at Michael's school. She'd dressed up in a knock-off Chanel suit, pale hose, and a pair of sedate black pumps like the perfect suburban matron, only to have Michael burst into tears at the sight of her. "Not like that," he'd said. "I want you to look like you."

  Nobody had ever said anything sweeter to her.

  She'd changed back into a hot pink skirt, a crocheted white sweater and ballet flats and off they went to Parents Night.

  If only she could find the way to Jessi's heart as easily.