sceptically.
“Sounds like a load of crap to me too,” Kevin said, “but that’s the tradition.”
Taylor cocked her head. “What if I start dreaming about a boy I totally hate.”
“Flush the cake down the john, go back to bed, and call me for a replacement in the morning,” Kevin said and threw his head back with a laugh that was so infectious people standing around them smiled.
“Sorry to break this up,” I said. “But I really have had enough fun, Taylor.”
Usually it took dynamite to blast Taylor loose when she was having a good time, but after a quick glance at my face, she was surprisingly agreeable. “I guess we should go home,” she said to Kevin. “Every time we stay out too long, our animals knock the Christmas tree down.”
“Then you’re wise to make tracks,” Kevin said. He handed us each a tiny box tied with ribbon printed with images of the Rainbow Dancers. “Don’t forget your cake,” he said. “And don’t forget to dream.”
Felix and Jill were sitting an abandoned table, heads close, conversation heated. Felix mumbled something I couldn’t hear, then he raised his voice. “And honour doesn’t mean anything?” At that point, Jill noticed me and gestured to Felix, who turned to me with a strained smile. “Creative differences.” Felix’s German accent became stronger when he was upset, and now, when he said, “Whenever we’re together, we seem to end up talking shop,” all the w’s turned into v’s.
“I won’t intrude,” I said. “I just wanted to tell you the kids and I are taking off.”
I was surprised that Jill looked so stricken. “Can I come by tomorrow for a quick visit before we leave?”
“Of course.” I looked at her closely. “Jill, is anything wrong?”
She chewed her lip in a gesture of anxiety I knew too well. “A lot of things are wrong, Jo. Where are the grown-ups now that we need them?”
“In the mirror,” I said. “We’re it, Jill.”
“For better or for worse,” she said. She turned to Felix. “Why don’t you get us all a drink – a real drink – something with plenty of alcohol and no bubbles. It would be nice to have a moment together before…”
“Before you begin married life?” Evan seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. When he brushed Jill’s arm, she stiffened. It did not seem an auspicious beginning for a marriage. Neither did the fact that Evan had applied fresh concealer to what was now clearly a deep and painful bruise on his jawline. The tension at the table was palpable, and I wasn’t keen to add to the angst.
“Why don’t you stop by the house tomorrow? We can talk then,” I said.
“Am I included in the invitation?” Evan asked.
“Of course,” I said.
He held out his hand to me, then immediately withdrew it. “Thanks,” he said. He locked his hands behind his back. “I promise to keep my distance.”
I found Angus and Bryn standing by the piano, flanked by her aunts. Surprisingly, when I said we were leaving, Angus didn’t complain. In fact, he seemed almost relieved.
“I’ll see if I can score a cab for us,” he said.
Claudia pointed towards the driveway. “The limo driver’s down there, cooling his heels. Ask him to give you a ride. We’re going to be stuck here till the last varmint is hung.”
Angus gave Bryn an awkward wave.
“Call me tonight before you go to sleep,” she said.
He smiled, but he didn’t make any promises before he took off.
Bryn offered me a cheek, cool as marble, to kiss. Tracy offered nothing. After the river of tears when the news came about Gabe, she had withdrawn into a stillness that bordered on the catatonic. Her virginal dress, her white-lace mantilla, and her five-mile stare made her look as forlorn as an abandoned bride. I touched her hand. “Take care of yourself,” I said.
“She’s in good hands.” In a gesture that was surprisingly matey, Claudia draped her arm around her sister- in-law’s shoulder. “You’ve been skimming the trees for a while, kiddo,” she said. “It was only a matter of time before you crashed. It’ll be better now that the wedding’s over.”
“It will never be better,” Tracy said flatly.
Claudia rolled her eyes. “Of course it will. Nothing is forever, although I must admit it wouldn’t take too many days like this to make a dozen. Xanax moments from dawn till dusk.”
My family’s ride home was another Xanax moment. The snow was heavy enough to make me grateful that a professional driver was at the wheel, but the novelty of riding in a limo had passed for my children, and as we approached our street, the air was heavy with things unsaid. Taylor broke the silence with an utterance that, even for her, was cryptic. “I eat my peas with honey,” she said. “I’ve done it all my life. It makes the peas taste funny, but it keeps them on my knife.” Her brother, who was obviously dealing with some major personal issues, glared at her.
Taylor ignored him. “Last night at dinner I dropped a forkful of peas on the floor, and Mr. Leventhal said that poem – I guess he wanted to make me feel better.”
“That was kind,” I said mechanically.
“I liked him a lot.” Taylor was earnest. “He was…” As she searched for le mot juste we turned onto our street. There was a delivery truck in front of our house and as soon as Taylor spotted it, her elegy for Gabe short-circuited. “Look at that,” she said pointing to the towering plastic-shrouded tree the driver was attempting to prop against the door. “We won, Jo! You didn’t think we had a chance, but we did.”
“You’re a lucky girl,” the limo driver said.
“I know it,” Taylor said. “Do you want to come in and see it without the bag?”
“I’d better stay on the job,” he said. “But thanks. You have a happy holiday now.”
“Oh we will,” Taylor said.
Angus and the delivery man wrestled the tree into the house. It was huge, and the moment Angus ripped the plastic away, I knew that God was a Monty Python fan. My daughter’s dream had almost, but not quite, come true. Snowfall at Swan Lake had gone to another lucky home; our win was a flocked plantation pine whose boughs groaned under the weight of dozens of ceramic cherubim and seraphim. Each of the little figures was personalized with the face of a celebrity who had joined the Heavenly Host: Princess Di, George Harrison, Martin Luther King, Dale Earnhardt, Pierre Trudeau, Janis Joplin, Mahatma Gandhi, Buddy Holly, John Lennon, Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, and an entire phalanx of Kennedys. There was a card tied to one of the branches. Angus took it down and read aloud, “I am called Angels Among Us, and I am a reminder that the great ones never die.” Angus rolled his eyes. “That was the tree talking,” he said. “Just in case you thought it couldn’t get any worse…”
An hour later, we had slipped out of our wedding finery and back into our everyday lives. Taylor was in her room playing with her cats, Bruce and Benny, and I was in my room wrapping a couple of last-minute gifts and trying to get into the spirit. Except for the persistent thump of Angus’s stereo, the house was quiet. When the phone rang, the fact that Jill was on the other end of the line didn’t set off any bells.
“I need some clothes,” she said.
“Don’t we all?” I said. “But I thought you were planning to change back at the hotel.”
“I need something now. There’s blood all over this dress.”
In a microsecond, I rocketed into full panic mode. “Are you all right?” I said.
“It’s not my blood,” she said. “It’s his.”
“Whose? Jill, what’s happened?”
“There was an accident.” Her voice was razor-edged with hysteria. “I’ve got to get this dress off, Jo. It’s covered in blood.”
“I’ll be right there,” I said. “Do you need a doctor?”
“It’s too late for a doctor,” she said. “I need clothes… Please, Jo. Just bring me some clothes.”
I ran upstairs, jammed fresh clothing, socks, and shoes into a backpack, grabbed a towel and a bar of soap, and dashed down to the kitchen where Angus was making himself a grilled cheese sandwich.
“They should give you real food at a wedding,” he said without looking up.
My heart felt as if it was pounding out of my chest, but I tried to keep the mood light. “When you get married, we’ll have the reception at the Between the Buns Sports Bar,” I said. “Look, why don’t you make a sandwich for Taylor too? I have to go out.”
My son shot me a look. “In this weather?”
“It’s important.” I gave him a one-armed hug. “I don’t know how long I’ll be, but I’ve got the cell if you need
