Page 15 of Tell Them Emily Sent You
“What do you want me to say?”I asked, amused.Mom always said I was so much like Brother, she was a bit insulted that her genes counted for little.I discounted that complaint for years, but since Fang once told me how like Brother I was, I’m a bit more willing to admit that we might share a few quirky traits.“That you don’t have to come to my wedding?”
“No, of course not.I wouldn’t dream of asking such a thing.”He was silent for a moment; then he gave a soulful sigh, and his voice dropped to a tone I knew meant he was speaking from the heart.“I couldn’t miss your wedding.We may not always agree about things, but you are my little Emily, and I love you and owe it to you to be there on your big day.”
Tears pricked painfully behind my eyes.Brother hadn’t called me little Emily since I was five or six.“I love you, too, but you know, being a father doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice your own life for mine.”
“I rather think that is exactly the description of being a parent,” he said, but his voice had lightened a bit.
“That may be for other families, but we are Williamses, and we are not like normal people.”
“You can say that again.What?Yes, I told her!”The last part was clearly yelled to Mom.
“How about this—and don’t say no, because we both know I don’t take well to being told I can’t do things unless there’s a really logical reason for it—how about you attend the tour and tea, and pop in afterward?You’ll miss the actual ceremony, but it’s not going to be a big deal.”
“I couldn’t!”he protested, and to give him credit, I didn’t even hear a thread of regret in his voice.“I couldn’t miss the ceremony.”
My heart warmed at the fact that he was truly willing to give up a dream day just to see Fang and me say a few words and sign a legal document.I sniffled softly to myself, and chalked my errant emotions up to hormones.“Brother, do you even know me?I’d totally toss over a wedding to tour the house and have the tea.”
“I couldn’t,” he repeated a third time, but this time slower.
“You absolutely could, you know.I wouldn’t mind in the least.I know Mom will kick up a bit of a fuss, but it’s my wedding, and if I say you don’t have to be there, then that’s the way it is.”
“But ...I have to walk you down the aisle,” he protested.“Your mother had my tux taken out.Not that I’ve gained weight—the tux must have shrunk since the last time I wore it.But it’s there and ready to be worn.”
“You can wear it at the after-party.As for the other, Fang and I are going to walk each other down the aisle,” I said, making a snap decision.I truly did not care about the ceremony; the main reason we were having a wedding to begin with was as an excuse to have family and friends visit.It’s why our focus was on the pre- and postceremony events.“Brother, listen to me: I want you to do the Conan Doyle house.I want you to have tea with the relative.I want you to tell the relative that your daughter grew up reading Sherlock Holmes, and that you got me started on a lifelong love of mysteries.You do that, and Fang and I will get married, and then when the tea is over, you join the party afterward.OK?”
“I couldn’t do that.It wouldn’t be right,” he said, but this time, I heard a little bit of hesitancy.
It took five more minutes of me swearing up one side and down the other that I really, truly did not mind if he wasn’t present for the actual ceremony, and then once he accepted the truth, and gratefully thanked me for thinking of him when I should be focused on myself, I had to repeat the whole thing over again for Mom.
“Well, I think this is just wrong, but you always were one to do things your own way,” Mom finally said.I was worried for a moment that she was genuinely upset, but after fifteen minutes of solid reassurance that it made no difference to me, she acquiesced.“I suppose Brother could watch the video of the ceremony as soon as he gets to the hotel, so he’ll be up to speed,” she finished.“As it is, I’m going to have to leave two days afterward for the Neo-Pict course.I told you about their silversmithing class, yes?I hope to make some lovely brooches for you and Bess.Would you prefer one with a bull head, or a ram?”
“Definitely the sheep,” I told her.“Although I’d love a wolf if you guys get to do those.”
“I’ll ask.If nothing else, I can make the ram brooch for Fang.It’ll look lovely on him when he’s out drenching all those sheep.”
“Uh-huh,” I said, hesitating, then deciding not to mention the approaching lack of employment in the Williams-Baxter home.“I heard from Bess, by the way.She’s going to try to make it to the wedding, but I have to say I think she’s gone off the deep end.”
“More than normal?”Brother asked, since Mom had put the phone on speaker, her attention having wandered off now that the situation was resolved.“We really should have had someone look at her when she was a child, Chris.”
“We should have had both girls evaluated,” I could hear Mom say from what was no doubt the opposite side of the room, where she had a small desk.“Neither one of them were normal, but that comes from your side.”
“I resent that accusation,” Brother said.“There is nothing wrong with my family.”
A pregnant silence fell from both England and Washington.
“Nothing serious,” he amended.“Not with the immediate family.The others are a bit ...different.Then again, my own sister left to live in the wilds of Scotland with a mad Scot, so perhaps it’s just me who is the sane one.”
“Iain is not mad,” I said, pulling my laptop over so I could see it.I loaded up the employment company that I’d hired to find me a new job, but there wasn’t anything new to pursue.“He’s just very much a farmer.Fang says he has extremely sound agricultural practices.”
“And there can be no higher praise,” Brother murmured.
“Damn straight.Right, are we done?Because I want to take a nap, and the cat is purring like crazy, and Chloe is dreaming about chasing rabbits.”
“You’re sure—” Brother started to say.
“Five hundred percent sure.You know me.You know how I feel about marriage.This is not a big deal.I would be very angry if I thought you’d miss seeing ACD’s house and relative.Just be sure to take lots of pictures, and maybe you could have the relative sign a napkin or something for me.”
Brother agreed to doing what he could, and hung up.
