Page 56 of That Reilly Boy
“I’m so glad you came tonight. It’s important to us both that our families are here—and will be at the wedding—to celebrate us.”
“I’m not going to miss my daughter’s wedding,” she says, and then she sniffs. “I could do without jabs about the names, though.”
“It was probably payback for the pickles,” I tell her, and the smirk she can’t hold back confirms she mentioned that blue ribbon deliberately. “Let’s go join them. We don’t want to be rude.”
“Speak for yourself,” she mutters.
After setting Penny down so she can resume hiding, I lead the way into the dining room, mostly as a warning that Gin’s about to enter. It’s probably a good thing I did because some fierce whispering between Colleen and Hayden ceases immediately. They’re both smiling by the time my mother turns the corner, but I’m sure he got an earful about pickles, blue ribbons and surname hyphenations.
I’m not sure whether the Reilly family spent time charting the seating arrangement or we just got lucky, but Gin and Colleen will be out of arm’s reach and also not in each other’s direct sightline.
It puts me at the foot of the table, which I don’t love, but I’ll have Hayden on my right and my mother on my left. Next to Hayden is Daisy and then Colleen. AJ is sitting between Gin and Hope. Aaron, of course, is at the head of the table.
I can tell they added a leaf to the table because the ends show some wear and the center panel is shiny and flawless, but it means plenty of room and zero chance either Gin or Colleen can reach the other one’s thigh with a fork or sharp knife.
Thankfully, Hayden takes the lead in making dinner conversation, keeping it focused on the wedding plans for the most part. Yes, he ordered the cake in Boston and his assistant and her husband will be bringing it with them. No, we are not doing dinner with the reception. Penelope Louise will not be in attendance because it would stress her out, so she’ll be staying in Boston with her dog sitter.
Hope’s the one asking most of the questions because Gin and Colleen seem determined to survive this night by not talking. And Daisy and AJ are adorable and chatty, so they fill any gaps in the conversation.
Until Colleen decides to take it up a notch.
“I don’t understand why you can’t wait and have an autumn ceremony,” she says. “Then we’d have time to plan a proper wedding, and the fall foliage is a gorgeous background for photos.”
“I agree with Colleen,” Gin says, and I wonder if all the Reillys and Gambles buried in Sumac Falls rolling over in their graves at the same time would show up on the Richter scale.
They want time to change our minds. I get that. But there’s no way Hayden and I can keep up the pretense of being engaged over months. The only way this lie works is if we’re so swept away by love, we have to get married right now.
Hayden threads his fingers through mine, holding my hand right there on the table between us. “We’re not waiting. We’ve waited long enough.”
“Three weeks?” Colleen’s tone is almost as arched as her eyebrows, and the temperature in the room might have dropped a few degrees.
“As I explained to you,” Hayden says in a tone that matches his mother’s, “we’ve been back in each other’s lives for longer than three weeks. And we’ve known each other our entire lives.”
“If getting married is the right thing now, it’ll still be the right thing in September,” Colleen insists.
“Sherry makes the most beautiful fall flower arrangements in the shop,” Gin adds.
Because my mom rejoining the conversation stops it from being a tense moment between mother and son, I jump back in. “We’ve already chosen the flowers, Mom. They’re gorgeous, as you know, and everybody else will see them when we get married on Saturday.”
“Name one good reason why you can’t wait just a few months,” Colleen demands.
“Because we don’t want to,” Hayden and I say at the same time.
“Where are you planning to live?” Colleen throws the question out like a grenade. “Hayden, you said you’d be splitting your time, but that you’d be here for holidays and other things.”
“The plan has always been for our house to stay in the family for the next generation,” I say, hoping to make a point without going into too much details. “My mom will be able to find something more comfortable, maybe in that new community.”
I can tell by her breathing that Gin’s had just about enough of this conversation, but Colleen isn’t ready to give up yet. “That takes time. What’s going to happen in the meantime. Are you going to live in her house, Hayden?”
“We’re still figuring stuff out, Mom,” Hayden says.
“You’d have time to figure it all out if you put off the wedding,” Colleen pointed out. “But that’s fine. I just hope that old house doesn’t finally collapse while you’re in it.”
Gin’s muscles bunch as she prepares to stand. I’m not sure if she intends to dump her drink over Colleen’s head or storm out the door, but I’d prefer neither happens. I nudge her ankle with my foot and give her a pleading look. She looks as angry as I’ve seen her in a long time, but she relaxes back into her seat.
“AJ, did you tell Uncle Hayden you found out who your kindergarten teacher will be next year?” Hope interjects in a voice that gets more forcefully cheery as the night goes on.
The boy’s mother chose her question wisely—AJ has a lot to say about kindergarten, and he talks so fast, nobody else can get a word in even if they wanted to. Every time his excited chatter starts to flag, somebody prompts him and off he goes again. Daisy jumps in with her own kindergarten stories, and the two kids manage to get them through to the end of the meal.
