Page 99 of Fathers of the Bride
“Ouch.”
“We don’t want to embarrass ourselves.”
He gave me a look and said flatly, “Yes, that would be the end of the world.”
“We don’t want to embarrass ourselvesfurther.”
“Twenty-five hundred it is.”
“I wonder, could it be a directed donation? Can we specify better holiday meals?”
38
Andrew Lane
“Oh my,”my daughter said when she walked into my efficiency apartment at the Maplewood. The wedding was in three days and, sweetly, she’d asked to spend some time with me before the madness began. “Daddy hasn’t seen this place, has he?”
“No, of course not,” I said emphatically. Well, it was true. During our brief revival we’d spent our time at the house, the décor at the Maplewood being too traumatic.
“There’s no color in this room,” she said. It was various shades of brown and beige with furniture covered in a fabric very close to burlap.
“Yes, that would bother your father.”
“And no natural fabrics.”
“That would also bother him.”
“But it doesn’t bother you?”
“A bit. I have gotten used to my creature comforts.”
Wanting to escape the gloomy room, we decided to go out to lunch. As we walked out to my car, we settled on Poquito Mas, a wonderful taco place on Ventura in Studio City that had always been our secret place. Plus, it was just ten minutes away. Kelly could have the Nature’s Grill and I would have a carnitas burrito.
Even though it was right around the corner in Studio City, it took us almost a half an hour to get there. Halfway there, Kelly said, “I know you were seeing Daddy again.”
“How do you know that?”
She gave me a look that translated to something along the lines of, ‘Don’t even try to keep secrets from me.’ She was all of eight the first time she’d used it on me.
“Well, it’s over. My blunder with Evil Kayla put the kibosh on that.”
“I looked at that alumni list,” she said.
“Nice Kayla’s there and I just didn’t see her?”
“Yes and no. He’s Kyle now. He came out while I was in Africa, so I missed it.”
While we were able to Skype a lot, she had to go to an Internet café and pay an hourly fee to do it. She didn’t surf the net the way she might have at home.
“Well, I still shouldn’t have interfered.”
“No, you shouldn’t have.”
“Iamsorry.”
“I know.”
“Now if your father will just forgive me.”
