Chapter 54

Chapter 54

Mandy stared hard at him. One thing for sure: she was not going to stop until she figured out what they were up to. When had her father and Carl started talking? And when had her father started liking Carl?

If her father noticed Mandy’s inner conflict, he didn’t let on. “The wedding is just about all set up. The wedding planner was very efficient with everything.”

“Son of a bitch,” Mandy said. “They hired a wedding planner.”

“Yes,” the older man rolled his eyes, “apparently, Claudia thought it would be less stressful on Scarlet, the new maid of honor, if a wedding planner took care of it all.”

It would be less stressful on Scarlet, who had been planning parties since she was twelve and didn’t have a job and all the time in the world with her workaholic husband constantly fleeing the country to avoid her, but heaven forbid Claudia think about hiring a planner when her sister, with a full-time job, was the maid of honor. She took a deep breath. “That was nice of Claudia to help Scarlet.” She tried to sound sincere and hoped it didn’t come out sarcastic. She hadn’t come here to get angry. Mandy and Claudia would never see eye to eye on most things, but this wasn’t the day to argue about it. For better or worse she would support her sister today and not ruin anything. This wasn’t about her. “Where is Claudia?” Mandy asked. “Is she still getting ready?”

Her father smiled. “Your mother’s in there with her now. Personally, I’d join the Marine Corps before walking into that room.” He shuddered.

Mandy smiled. “I know,” she said, kissing him on the cheek. “But I’m going to brave it. I want to wish her luck on her wedding day.” She left both men staring at her as she walked to the side room of the church meant for the bridal party.

“I will never fully understand her,” she heard her father say to Carl.

“I’ll spend the rest of my life trying.”

Carl’s words warmed her, but she pushed that aside and focused on the sound of sobbing coming from the other side of the door. “My wedding day’s ruined!” Claudia wailed. “Completely ruined! How could this happen?”

“Shh, it’s okay sweetie,” her mother said soothingly. “Nothing’s ruined. It’s just a small rip.”

Mandy knocked on the door.

“Not now, Scarlet!” Claudia hissed.

“It’s me, Mandy.”

Silence.

Mandy waited a couple of seconds and then sighed. “May I come in?”

“It’s a free country,” Claudia growled.

“Come in, Mandy,” her mother called out.

Mandy cautiously opened the door, half expecting a bouquet of flowers to come flying in her direction. Claudia sat on the floor in her gigantic wedding dress that looked like a cupcake at the moment. Her makeup was still perfect, even as tears coursed down her cheeks. On the side of her dress was a split seam that exposed part of Claudia’s hip. It looks like her sister had succumbed to the thing she had always criticized Mandy for: stress eating. Mandy could see the roundness in her sister’s face from the weight gain.

Her sister and mother stared at her. She had no idea if it was because she was there or because of what she was wearing.

Her mother slowly came forward and threw her arms around her daughter. “It’s nice to see you,” she whispered.

Mandy smiled and savored the hug. She tried to swallow the lump in her throat as she looked at her misty-eyed mother. “It’s nice to see you too, Mom,” she said. “You look lovely.”

“Hello! I’m the one walking down the aisle in fifteen minutes and I’m about to cancel the freakin’ wedding,” Claudia pouted at them, her arms crossed over her chest.

She looked like a spoiled brat. “I can fix it,” Mandy offered. “It shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes to stitch up and no one will even notice. But I’ll need a sewing kit.”

“I’ll get one,” her mother said. “There’s a craft store down the street. I’ll be back in five minutes.”

Mandy could have sworn she saw her mother breathe a sigh of relief as she raced out of the room. She took a deep breath and turned to her sister. Mandy grabbed the make-up kit off the dressing room table. “Let’s get you cleaned up,” she murmured and carefully started to touch up the few spots on Claudia’s face. “It’s amazing how they do the mascara these days. Your eyes are perfect.” She started dabbing at her sister’s face.

Claudia said nothing, she just watched Mandy with accusing eyes.

“Your dress is very pretty, Claudia. Stephen’s only going to have eyes for you.”

Her sister scoffed as tears filled her eyes but didn’t fall. “Stephen told me everything,” she said. “About how he got drunk and then how Carl threatened him to protect you.”

Mandy smiled a few moments later. “I accept your apology.”

“I didn’t say I was sorry.”

“No, but that’s the closest you’re ever going to get to apologizing.”

She rolled her eyes. “I didn’t tell anyone,” she said. “I mean, how embarrassing would that be? My fiancée went after my sister.”

“Oh gee, I can’t even imagine,” Mandy said dryly. “But I’m sure it would be very embarrassing.”

Claudia winced. “I never meant to steal him, you know,” she said. “I just found him incredibly attractive from the first time you brought him home. And he was always so nice to me, you know? Like, he puts up with my bullshit. And when I found out that it was me he really liked... well, I just couldn’t resist, I guess. It was shitty of me, and I’m sorry I hurt you. I should have told you.”

“It’s okay. Sometimes stuff happens and we don’t realize what’s going on till it’s too late. Or, we try to deny it and then we are only fooling ourselves.”

Claudia stared hard at her sister. “You talking about Carl?”

Mandy flushed. “Um...”

“He’s here with you right now, isn’t he? I was definitely wrong about him not ever liking you, that’s for sure.”

“What do you mean? Because he threatened Stephen?”

“Not just that,” Claudia said. Her eyes widened. “You have no idea, do you?”

“What?”

“Nothing, it’s just... mom told me, okay? And I guess you should probably know.”

Mandy’s stomach slowly started to clench again. “Tell me what, Claudia?”

“The day before Dad called you, Carl showed up at his office. Dad didn’t want to see him, of course, but he also knew Carl Salvo isn’t someone you ignore. So, he made Carl wait in the waiting room for a couple hours while he handled ‘pressing work’. He, apparently, didn’t even go to the bathroom in that time. When Dad finally couldn’t avoid it, he let Carl into his office. He wasn’t planning on actually listening to whatever Carl wanted to talk to him about, but Carl made him. I guess they talked well into the evening about how Dad needed to reconnect with you, and he refused to leave until Dad agreed to call and ask you out for lunch.”

“That was nice of him.” She smiled, not completely sure what to make of the situation. “Mr. Salvo went through some personal family things and probably didn’t want us to go through the same thing.”

“Whatever,” Claudia scoffed. “There’s no doubt Carl likes you. No, I take that back. I bet he’s completely in love with you.”

Mandy blushed and bit her lip. “I’m sure Carl didn’t go to see Dad. He probably bumped into Dad on the street and told him to call me.”

Claudia nodded. “That’s not how Mom told me. We talked about it for hours one night.”

“Seriously?” Mandy smirked. “You had a wedding to plan and you had nothing better to talk about than me?”

“Mom and I still like a piece of hot gossip, even
if it’s about your love life.” She grinned at her sister. “He really, really likes you. Doesn’t he?”