Still, the shopping trip was surprisingly fun.
We started at the hairdresser. They tried to talk Mom into dyeing her hair, but she held firm. I agreed with her decision. Mom was the natural type. She didn’t want anything that wasn’t super easy care, especially with her lifestyle. I did, however, convince her to let them do our makeup. I was looking for an update on my look for my wedding day, and I thought it might be fun for Mom to have some new cosmetics too. Well, I wasn’t actually sure she had any at all. I’d so rarely ever seen her wearing makeup. She argued a bit against it at first, saying she’d just come and watch them do me, but she soon got into the spirit of it.
My hair recognized the hand of a master and decided to behave. After a trim and styling, it looked as good as it ever does, falling in well-behaved curls.
We refreshed ourselves with a quick lunch on the upper floor of Westgate and then braved the shops.
Mom found a gorgeous mother-of-the-bride dress at John Lewis. It was the third outfit she tried, and we both loved it the second we saw her in it. All that digging and the somewhat hard life she lived kept her lean, and when she bothered with her appearance, my mother was a knockout. The dress was fuchsia-colored with a fitted bodice and flared skirt. When she said, “Right, that’s done,” I dragged her to the shoe section, where we found a pair of Manolo Blahnik sandals with a floral strap and a heel the same color as the dress.
“But they’re so expensive,” she whispered.
“It’s your daughter’s wedding,” I whispered back. Of course, she bought them. Then turned to me.
“Your turn, Lucy. I want to get you a pretty outfit. Where are you going for your honeymoon?”
That was kind of a sticky point. We’d already had a long vacation, having spent some weeks in New Zealand. Now, I wanted to be around for Gran as she settled into a new life in a new place. No doubt Mom would expect us to choose somewhere exotic but that wasn’t going to happen. “We’re spending our honeymoon in Cornwall.” Even as I said it, I knew that was the perfect destination. Rafe didn’t care where we went so he was leaving the choice to me.
My mother’s eyes lit up. “You know that’s where your father and I had our honeymoon. Oh, Penzance is so wonderful. I’m strongly tempted to extend our trip and come along too.”
I couldn’t think of a more terrible idea. However, I didn’t want to rain on her parade when she was looking so happy and we were having such a nice day. I’d hope Dad could talk her out of going along on her daughter’s honeymoon. Somebody had to.
Cornwall was a beautiful part of the world. I imagined Rafe and me walking hand in hand along the cliffside paths and exploring Daphne du Maurier territory. I wasn’t above checking out some of the Poldark filming sites. Of course, Rafe, being the cultural snob he was, probably didn’t even know what Poldark was.
More to please her than myself, I tried on a few dresses. I wore so many hand-knitted garments that it almost felt strange to be trying on a store-bought dress. The one I liked best was a sleeveless dress, a navy background with tiny yellow flowers in the print. It had a fitted bodice and loose skirt that hung midway between my knees and ankles. Mom fussed over me and even brought over yellow shoes for me to try on. Dress and shoes fit perfectly and, even if I didn’t really need another dress, Mom nodded her head and said to the sales clerk, “We’ll take it. And the shoes.”
I said, “I’ll just go change back into my trousers,” but Mom stopped me. “I told your father we’d meet him for a drink after this. Leave the dress on, dear. You look so pretty.”
Why not? For once, my mom and I were really getting on well and having a good day.
And so we walked out wearing our brand-new finery, our hair freshly done, and our makeup professionally applied. I caught sight of us in one of the big mirrors and started to laugh. “Look at us. We’re like a pair of ladies who lunch.”
Her eyes twinkled back at me, but she shook her head. “I’d be so bored. Wouldn’t you?”
“You know I would.”
“We have that in common, my dear. There’s a strong work ethic in our family.” She paused. “Maybe I haven’t always been as supportive as I could have been about you taking over Cardinal Woolsey’s. But I’ve had a chance to watch you this trip, and I can see how much you enjoy it. And that you’re very good at running the business.”
This was such rare praise from my mother that I waited for the “but.” I waited probably twenty seconds, and it never came. I said, “Wait. Are you saying you finally support my decision to stay and run Cardinal Woolsey’s?”
She said, “My darling, I support you in whatever you choose to do. You’ve chosen a fine man. He has an interesting career, and so do you.”
I was so overcome, I threw my arms around her and gave her a hug, which surprised her almost as much as it did me.
Mom glanced at her watch. “Your father should be at the pub now. Won’t he be thrilled to see his two best girls looking so pretty?”
I thought my dad would be very unlikely to notice. But I didn’t say that.
Chapter 13
The cab dropped us off in
