Page 6 of June Bride
What was supposed to cheer her up now only served to bring Sunny down. She carefully hung her dress back up in the closet. Perhaps the best medicine wasn’t to obsess over her own clothing despair and to instead imagine how beautiful Brandy would be in whatever gown she chose.
It will really have to be spectacular to match her expectations.That only made it more exciting. Brandelyn in a wedding dress would be the visual highlight of their wedding. Sunny didn’t mind taking a backseat to that, but sometimes, she wished Brandy would acknowledge thatSunnywas a bride as well.
Chapter 5
BRANDELYN
Brandy hadn’t a proper weekend to herself and her own interests in several weeks. Not since she and Debbie ramped up the wedding planning. Although Brandy had three-day weekends, she couldn’t remember a time when every single one of those days wasn’t spent doingsomeform of planning. Debbie was such a staple in Paradise Valley now that barista Heaven remembered her usual order of a non-fat hazelnut latte. Heaven also looked the other way when patrons brought their little doggies to have a treat, as long as they took the mutts outside to one of two tables set up on the sidewalk.
Main Street wasn’t exactly… wide. The tiny metal bistro tables barely had enough room for cups and a plate of donuts, and thatstillleft Brandy’s foot hanging out in the sidewalk with not much space for pedestrians. Throw in Brutus, who made it his personal mission to happily yip at every person passing… it was a wonder Brandelyn was never asked to leave.
Brutus’s leash was secured around the back of Brandy’s chair. She kept him occupied with his little travel blanket, carefully coiled on the sidewalk behind her, and a bowl of water. He kept his cool as long as no other dogs passed, but as soon as Jessie Main took her German Shephard out for an afternoon run…
“Whoa!” Brandy grabbed Brutus before the German Shephard lunged. Teeth had been bared. A few snarls hit the air. Jessie snapped on her dog’s leash and didn’t offer a single word as they kept on running.
“I see Brutus continues to make big friends wherever he goes.” Debbie offered a to-go cup full of hot tea to Brandelyn, who preferred tea to coffee on her days off. “What a good boy.”
Her sarcasm was not lost on Brandy, but she was still too shot with adrenaline to say anything besides, “That gave me a fright. People really need to mind their dogs better.”
Debbie gave her a look that insinuated Brandy might apply that same thinking to herself.Excuse you, Brutus is a good boy.He was the smartest,cutest,friendliest Pom in all of Oregon, and Brandelyn would be more than happy to prove it should the opportunity ever arise.
Except he loved to beg for donuts. Because once Sunny started feeding him nibbles of everything, this was what happened!
“Anyway.” Debbie attempted to prop her pink binder labeled MEYER-CROKER between her gut and the edge of the tiny table. Usually, they would meet inside and do this at one of the bigger tables, but Brutus was seriously itching to get out of the house. Was it really such a bother that Debbie couldn’t flip her pages at the speed of light? “You’ll be so happy to know that the caterer can accommodate fifty vegetarian plates. Honestly, when I told him that you had fifty vegetarians who had RSVP’d to the wedding, he said he was used to much more!” Her canned laughter made Brutus growl beneath Brandelyn’s chair.
“I’ve been thinking about the catering, actually.” Brandy placed a poignant finger against her lips. “I know this issolast minute, but…” She ignored the look of“Please God, don’t do this to me,”on Debbie’s aged face. “What if we madeallof the entrees vegetarian? It makes sense, you know? Sunny and I are both committed to having sustainable everything, as much as we can, and I saw this documentary last night about the carbon footprint of chicken farms…”
She detailed the atrocities put forth on the environment, even by the so-called “organic” and “free-range” farms. Besides, she was a doctor. She couldn’t in good conscience servethatmuch meat, white or otherwise, to so many people.
“I know it might cost more, especially at the last minute,” Brandy said, “but I bet if we substitute the meats for tofurkeys or whatever, nobody will notice! I had one the other day. It was actually good.” Of course, it didn’t beat her own turkey burgers – real turkey, of course – but didn’t it make a nice alternative? She might become a vegetarian yet!
“Brandy.” Great. Here came that saccharin-coated voice that meant Debbie was about to talk down to one of her clients.I’m on to you.Brandelyn used that same voice on her patients when they came to her after a quick perusal of the internet told them they were dying of cancer because they cut their finger. “You realize that vegetarian food still employs eggs? If you want to go vegan, we’ll have to get a whole new caterer to provide that level of…”
“Iknowvegetarian food has eggs, okay?” Brandy rolled her eyes. Beneath her chair, Brutus barked his confidence in his mother’s intelligence. “I’m a doctor, Debbie. I know what kind of food goes into which diet.”
“Yes, well… if sustainability is your goal… wait, have you talked to your fiancée yet?”
Brandelyn sat up straight and did her best to look like that yes, she had indeed brought this up with Sunny the last time they talked about the wedding.So maybe I had the idea while I was on my way here…“Sunny put me in charge of the catering.” And the photography. And the flowers. And God knew what else. “As long as she gets her chocolate cake at the reception, you know she’ll be happy with anything.”
Debbie looked as if she didn’t quite believe that.Tough titties. Answer my question, would you?Brandy didn’t want to deal with this. She was supposed to have a lovely afternoon hashing out the last of the details of her wedding, due to happen in about… what? Three weeks from tomorrow? Would they solidify the catering news or what?I have an appointment with Meadow the florist on Monday to make sure she’s got the orchids ordered.Things really shouldn’t be so complicated. Why did people think Brandy was getting this taken care ofnow?
“I can look into having more vegetarian options offered at the reception, but I’m not sure I can get them to commit to anything else right now. Was there anything else that you…”
“So about Brutus being the ring-bearer, I was thinking of instead of forcing all that fur into a little tux, we go with a bowtie andmaybea clip-on top hat.” Brandelyn turned up the charm with a dazzling smile. “What do you think? I’ve already been working with him in the evenings.” The first thing Brandelyn did after coming back from her walks with Brutus was teach him how to trot down the aisle with a little pillow of rings on his back. So far, they were only to the pillow stage, but Brandy had confidence that her little Brutie would steal the show at her wedding. Until she walked down the aisle, anyway.
“It is certainly ideal tonotput animals in costumes at a wedding ceremony, yes.” Debbie continued to talk through her teeth. She looked a lot like Brutus when he didn’t want to give up the toy in his mouth. “You know, Brandy, I’ve dealt with animals in ceremonies before. I can think of only one occasion where it went off without a hitch, but that was a former show dog that did tricks like that for half its life. I usually suggest that wenotgo with motifs that don’t include any rational human thought. I’m sure Brutus is very clever…”
“I taught him to shake hands in one hour.”
Debbie briefly closed her eyes to compose herself. “Be that as it may, I seriously ask you to reconsider including your dog in the ceremony. I’m sure it would be fine if he’s there to share in your big day with Sunny, but I wouldn’t have him playing a key part. Besides, do you want him detracting from your big wedding gown reveal?”
Brandelyn hated to admit that shehadconsidered that. “My dress definitely wouldn’t look good picking up dog hair off the runner, no.”
`“How about I come up with some ideas on how Brutus can participate, hm?” Debbie’s smile made Brandy want to reach across the table and smack her.Don’t be so condescending to me… I’m the one paying you!“No training involved. Besides maybe a sit and stay, perhaps.” She flipped to another page in her folder. Brandelyn narrowed her eyes, grateful that Debbie couldn’t see the scorn behind a pair of thick sunglasses. Beneath the chair, Brutus continued to growl on behalf of his mother’s honor. “Now, how about we go over the cake details? We still have yet to decide on the perfect cake topper.”
Debbie presented her with two pre-made albums, each one a variant of“lesbian weddings.”Brandy didn’t know what irked her more: that one flip-book was filled with two women in dresses, or the other was a dress and tux… with the figure in the tux only lookingvaguelyfeminine. They might as well have been the male figurines!
“Sunny is wearing a tux, as you know.” Brandelyn didn’t know why she was presented with both options, honestly. Who was the one that referred Sunny to the tux shop? Debbie. Who was the one that ensured the tailors would adhere to the colors of white and pink?Debbie.“Do you have any ‘grooms’ with a pink cummerbund?” Brandy half-expected to get another roll of the eyes. Instead, she was treated to a “groom” with pink wrapped around “his” midsection.
