“Not quite the same,” Gabi said, though she tried to hide her disappointment. “Will you be away long this time?”
“A few weeks,” Emily responded. “Now that the wedding date’s been moved, I want to pick out some bridesmaid dresses for you and Samantha and bring them back here for you to try. Plus Grandmother gets anxious if I don’t go over all the wedding details in person, even though we know she’s perfectly capable of making all the right decisions.”
“But it is your wedding,” Gabi reminded her. “And you tend to be a bit of a control freak. I don’t blame her a bit.”
“Well, at least now she can drive Dad crazy over the budget. I think she’s going to get a huge kick out of spending his money. A couple of weeks ago, she was grumbling about the cost of the flowers. Now she’s considering doubling the order.”
Gabi chuckled. “Go, Cora Jane!”
Emily laughed. “I know. I can hardly wait till Dad gets a look at that bill, and it’s only the tip of the iceberg. One minute she was talking about baking the cake herself. Now she’s wondering if we shouldn’t hire some Hollywood bakery she heard mentioned on Entertainment Tonight. She doesn’t want any of the guests coming from L.A. to think we’re a bunch of small-town hicks. Her words, not mine.”
“How big is this guest list?” Gabi asked. “I thought you were just thinking family and a few friends.”
“I was, but it started getting bigger and bigger. Grandmother doesn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. I think if she keeps this up, Boone’s going to start pushing for an elopement, though I honestly don’t think he’d ever deny Cora Jane anything she wants. I sometimes think the only reason he’s marrying me is to be able to claim her as a relative.”
“Everyone should have someone like Cora Jane in their lives,” Gabi agreed.
“Which is exactly why you shouldn’t even consider denying your baby that chance,” Emily said, then held up a hand to prevent the not-fair protest on the tip of Gabi’s tongue. “I’m just saying.”
“Message received,” Gabi assured her. “Now about those bridesmaid dresses.”
“I promise you won’t look ridiculous,” Emily said. “This will be classy and elegant all the way.”
“And Boone honestly didn’t object to waiting till after I have the baby?”
“Actually, I think he was relieved. Things are heating up with the new restaurant. He wants to open by late spring. By delaying the wedding until later in the summer, he won’t have to feel guilty if he can’t get back here quite as much to help with the planning. This could be his last trip until after the opening.”
“And you?”
“I’ll be back with those dress samples before you know it. I expect to see your wind chimes on display in Meg’s shop by then.”
“I think that might be an unrealistic stretch,” Gabi said, then glanced at her watch. “And I’d better head over to the Seaside Café to meet her now. It’s almost two.”
“You’re meeting at a café?” Emily said, her amusement plain.
Gabi merely grinned. “I’ll be having dessert while she has lunch. These days I never miss an opportunity for more food.”
“Which is definitely going to make the fittings for the bridesmaid dresses interesting,” Emily noted.
“Yeah, you might not want to bother with fitting mine till after the baby comes. Anything else will be an exercise in futility.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. We’ll focus on the style and color for now, and I’ll have a seamstress on call right up until my wedding day.”
Gabi nodded. “Definitely a wise plan. My plan is to lose every ounce of baby weight before I walk down the aisle, but the way I hear it, that is probably a little too optimistic.”
“Samantha can probably help with that,” Emily suggested. “The woman’s a fanatic about exercise and diet. She’s terrified if she picks up an ounce, the camera will add ten pounds.”
“That is what they say,” Gabi reminded her.
“But seriously, how often is she in front of a camera these days?” Emily asked, then winced. “Please don’t tell her I said that. I know she’s having a rough time of it. I don’t want to make it worse.”
Gabi gave her a penetrating look. “Are you sure you’re not taking a tiny bit of satisfaction in her struggles?”
Emily looked taken aback by the question. “Do you really think I’m that shallow?”
“Not shallow, but you’ve always had this competitive thing going with her. I’ve never understood it.”
“To be honest, neither have I,” Emily admitted. “When I think back, I can’t even pinpoint when it started.”
“Maybe you ought to figure it out, because even this hint that you’re taking pleasure in her current situation isn’t very attractive. We’re sisters, Emily. It shouldn’t be this way, not between any of us.”
“I know,” Emily said contritely. “I’ll work on it. I promise. I know it’s ridiculous and petty.”
“And mean,” Gabi added.
“Okay, mean, too. Cora Jane would tan my hide if she’d ever heard me so much as hint that I was happy about Samantha’s failures.”
“Maybe even more important than stopping it would be figuring out why you feel that way in the first place,” Gabi suggested.
“Any ideas?” Emily asked. “Because I’m at a loss. It seems as if it was always there between us.”
“Not on Samantha’s part,” Gabi reminded her. “It’s all on you, Em. And for the life of me, I can’t figure out what she ever did to deserve it.”
“Neither can I,” Emily said miserably.
“But you’ll work on fixing it?” Gabi pushed.
“Yes, Mother Hen.”
Gabi gave a nod of satisfaction. “All I can ask. Now run along before Boone starts
