Page 4 of June Bride
Brandy struggled to remember who was currently taking up a room at Waterlily House. “Wait, is it that actress?”
“Yes, but you shouldn’t go around telling people that. I had enough problems as it was with her security going over my whole property looking for cameras. I kept telling them we only have a doorbell camera, really, but I guess those Hollywood types deal with a lot of weird crap. She seems nice enough, though. Sold some Wolf’s Hill Jam to her, so, guess you could say she’s driving sales around here.”
“You know, some of my patients have been murmuring about out-of-towners suddenly popping up and taking a lot of pictures before hopping back into their cars and scooting off again.” Brandelyn poked at her food, but the intrigue of what she was about to say was too juicy to ignore. “Heaven said lots of people with big pro cameras keep coming into her café. Some of them snapped pictures. They won’t tell her what’s going on, though. Everyone has this conspiracy that the mayor is involved. You ask me, it’s developers. That Portland gentrification sprawl will come for us sooner rather than layer.”
Sunny chuckled. “We’re a bit too far away from Portland for that to happen.”
“You say that now, but you weren’t there when it started.” Brandelyn was an alumni of Oregon Health & Science University, and survived her residency at one of the Portland metros many hospitals. Those were the days of the gritty, grimy city starting to see developments along the South Waterfront and in the Pearl, a place that has previously held a not-so-shiny reputation.You look at it today and barely recognize it.Brandy had fond memories of stumbling drunk through downtown with her friends. Back then, “Keep Portland Weird” meant guys in tie-dye shirts offering guru advice for the payment of “one of your socks.” Today, it meant that same guy strung out on meth threatening to put people in the hospital for crossing his path.
Real shame.Brandelyn thanked her lucky stars she saw opportunity in a place like Paradise Valley. It was close enough to the metro that they could take care of business when necessary, but far enough away that most of the mess didn’t quite touch Paradise. Yet Brandy wasn’t naïve. As people continued to be priced out of Portland and moved to its outskirts, those goal posts would continue to move until Paradise Valley was incorporated into the continuous sprawl. They were in the mountains, halfway between the Willamette Valley and the coast, but she could see it happening in her lifetime.Assuming we don’t go under with the big earthquake.
“Are you thinking about the earthquake again?” Sunny asked. “You always get that look on your face when you’re thinking about dying to the elements.”
“I didn’t know I had a face specifically forthat.”
“I’ve known you long enough that I can see it. You get the same face every time we go to the beach and you start fantasizing about tsunamis.”
“Fantasizing? Is that what it is?”
“I know you like to swim, Brandy, but that really isn’t the way…”
It took Brandelyn a moment to realize her fiancée was joking. One nudge of the arm later, they were back to eating their dinners while Brutus the Pomeranian trotted into the kitchen to beg for a snack.
“No,” Brandy curtly said, albeit in her cutesy puppy voice. “You’ve already had your dinner, Brutie.”
Sunny ripped off a piece of her turkey burger and tossed it beneath the table. Brutus instantly went to her, little tail wagging so happily that he was compelled to bark before snarfing up the meat.
“Don’t do that!” Brandelyn scolded her fiancée. “You’re instilling bad manners!”
“Lighten up, hon. It’s not like he’s a real kid you can reason with. He’s a dog. Let him live a little.”
“Says the woman who…”
“Grew up on a farm?” Sunny’s droll voice was accompanied with an eyeroll. “Let animals have some fun. I’m not gonna give him my whole burger.”
That’s not what Brutus assumed, though. He plopped down on his butt and stared hopefully at Sunny, tongue hanging out the side of his mouth.See? He thinks he’s getting more. Now he’s going to keep doing this every time there’s a whiff of meat at the table.Brandy was grateful she and Sunny had decided on no kids, although they were not opposed to hosting the teenagers from their extended families for summers and breaks. Sunny’s younger cousins were interested in helping out at the B&B over summers, and Brandelyn had a few nieces and nephews who could stand to get out of New York and have some real fresh air. (That was her expert, doctorly opinion, by the way.) But Brandy didn’t have the patience for small children, and Sunny was such a quiet introvert that her fiancée couldn’t imagine the smallest brood of kids running around underfoot.Thank God menopause is coming up.According to Brandelyn’s family history, she had three years at most to enjoy menopause-free life. She already had gray hairs and crow’s feet. Sunny, with her youthful glow, must have found them attractive, though.She looks younger than I did at her age.Sunny was thirty-seven, but most people took her for twenty-five at the oldest. Maybe thirty if she were tired.
“By the way,” Brandy said, ignoring her begging fur-child. “Did you get that appointment set up with the tailor in Hillsboro? You know this is the busiest time of year for them, and…”
Sunny cut her off. “Yes, I did. I have an appointment next week for my final fitting.”
She said it so stoically that Brandelyn couldn’t help but cock her head, half-eaten turkey burger hovering in her hands. “If you’re worried about the cost, Sun, you know I can…”
“It’s fine.” Sunny sniffed, eyes downcast to her plate. “Everything’s fine. You know I hate driving to the metro, though.”
Hillsboro barely counts.It was so far away that she had considered it a non-entity before she left Portland. Now she knew so many friends who had moved there as it developed more and more that it was like a different place.
“Well… I have my final wedding dress fitting next week, too.” Brandy took her fiancée’s hand and gave it a tight, affectionate squeeze. “I can’t wait to show it to you. You’re gonna adore it, Sun. The photographer will simply melt, too!”
A smile returned to Sunny’s face. “I’m sure I will, hon. You always look beautiful when you dress up. Hell, you look like a million dollars right now.”
It was a throwaway comment, yet Brandy blushed and tittered into her burger.She’s the first person to ever make me feel special.Others had made her feel smart, even beautiful. She had been complimented from there to Timbuktu over the years, but Sunny was the first to look into her eyes and like what she saw. Brandy had spent her whole life waiting for the perfect woman to come along who would bring that love and serenity to her existence. After a life of go, go,go,Brandelyn was more than ready to settle down.
“I can’t wait to get married.” With hands covered in grease, Brandy took her fiancée’s and let out a sigh of happiness. “As excited as I am for the big event, I’m more excited to simply settle into our new lives together. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you, Sun.”
Sunny’s shoulders relaxed. Wonderful. She really shouldn’t tense them up like that. As a doctor, Brandy feared for her partner’s body. As a woman in love? She feared that there might be an underlying issue that somehow made her responsible.
When Sunny looked at her like that, though, with her little smile and a glint in her eyes, Brandy’s fears melted away.
