Page 154 of The Wedding

“Her father died when she was really young,” Jamie said. “I don’t know about her mother. Even I have never met her. She lives in South Carolina. Myrtle or Hilton Beach or something like that…”

“Terrible! Not just her father, but you never meeting her mother… do they not get along?”

“I honestly don’t know.”

“Is she at least coming to the wedding?”

“I… honestly don’t know.”

This conversation was the impetus for Jamie to search for her fiancée in the garden. She found her sitting on a bench, watching the sunset as it sank beneath a grove of trees lining the woods. The warm sunlight played with the colors of the flowers in full bloom. Violets, roses, carnations, tulips… it was the tulips that always stole Jamie’s breath when she came out here. Now, as she sat beside Etta and took her hand, she tried to focus on her question instead of getting lost in the flurry of rainbow colors growing before her.

“Is your mother coming to the wedding?” When Etta did not immediately respond, Jamie thought fast. “Beatrice needs to know, so she can reserve a guest room.”

Etta turned her head, studying Jamie’s countenance.What is she thinking about? Did I drag up some bad memories?Jamie never got the impression that Etta’s mother was abusive. Cold, stern, and distant? Definitely. But Etta always made a point of saying that her mother was a hard worker who made sure they “made it through the rough times.”

“I don’t know. She won’t give me an answer.”

“So, you have talked to her about it?”

“I’ve tried. We don’t talk often, so I can’t call her up out of the blue without her suspecting something.”

“Suspecting what?”

“She hates it when I give her money.” Etta’s dry smile said she was joking, but her tone conveyed otherwise.

“We’re getting married in a few weeks.”

“If she decides to come at the last minute, I can make arrangements easily. We’ll be sure to keep a room open.”

“Etta…” Jamie didn’t like pushing her like this. It would have been one thing if she had known more about the relationship between mother and daughter. Then she would at least feel like she wasn’t intruding… too much. “Will I have to meet her at the wedding? That doesn’t seem right.”

Etta’s hand tightened in hers. “I can’t make the woman do anything. Not that I try. I leave her to her own devices.”

Jamie tried to contain the words threatening to overflow… she tried, damnit. “Have you ever thought about taking me to see her? I don’t like putting you on the spot like this, but don’t you think it’s right that she should meet her daughter’s bride before they get married? What, is she homophobic? Is that the problem? Does she not like that you’re marrying a woman?”

“She keeps to herself.” That was all Etta said.

If Jamie didn’t know her fiancée so well, she would worry that Mrs. Coleman was actually dead somewhere. No, that was Mr. Coleman. “If you don’t want to, that’s fine. Just thought I would bring it up since it’s been on my mind.”

Etta snorted. “How did you know?”

“How did I know what?”

“That I’m going to Atlanta in a couple of days.”

“I didn’t.” Oh, Jamie knew she was going on some short trip somewhere that week, but couldn’t remember. Just that she wasn’t invited, due to it being such a short trip, not too far away. “Your mom isn’t in Atlanta, though.”

“No, but it isn’t too far from South Carolina. If I give the old woman some warning, we could stop in for a night. She’ll gripe about it, but she shouldn’t turn us away. At the very least, I could talk to her in person about the wedding, and she can see you exist. That’s all I can do.”

Jamie barely had time to respond before she was already getting ready for this trip.

South Carolina was a state Jamie didn’t think much about. All she knew was the existence of Myrtle Beach and something about golfing. Since that was the only city she knew of, she foolishly assumed that Anne Coleman lived there.Wrong! The private plane they took from Atlanta after Etta’s meeting dropped them off in a little place called Hilton Head Island.

This looks like the kind of place those people would love to come visit for a week and then never think about again.“Those people,” of course, referring to the rich who traveled in Jamie’s new social circles.

The beaches they flew above looked more appealing than Florida’s, and Jamie didn’t think it could get better than that on the east coast. The adorable lighthouses had northeastern charm without the stuffiness. Indeed, after they landed, they still received a hearty helping of Southern hospitality – complete with accents.

As familiar as this sort of life was to Jamie now, she couldn’t help but feel that this environment went against everything she knew about Etta’s mother. Anne Coleman, by all accounts, was a miser who secluded herself because she “wanted to live the rest of her life in quiet.” Jamie knew she was older, but when she found out that Etta had put her mother up in a 65+ community for those with very good means, she balked. Her mother was how old, exactly?