Chapter 16: Preparations

At the restaurant, “First, I like to toast our generous benefactor, Zach, for the hot tub, and for tonight’s meal we are all anticipating. Hear, hear!”

After I was done with the clinking of glasses, I continued.

“Second, I have a problem. I don’t think I can be part of this marriage.” Sallie looked stricken, so I hurried ahead.

“I watched Zach emerge and put the insulated cover on the spa.” Gesturing to my waist, “I saw that I am entirely too small and puny for you three fine ladies.”

Sallie erupted, snarling quietly through gritted teeth, “Andrew, shut the fuck up. One more word, and I will tell everyone here what the ‘L’ stands for, ‘L. Anthony Franklin!’”

Betrayed! By my own flesh and blood.

“Sorry, Sallie. Shutting Up. Kara, we need to talk. And, by the way, why didn’t you run away from Zach, screaming?”

“Father, my Zach would never hurt me. That’s all you need to know.”

She was right, but I was still curious.

The meal was superb, and we had a fruitful discussion exploring our options for the joint wedding and honeymoon.

Since Charlie and Danielle were both employees of the City and County of San Francisco, we felt it was appropriate to have our three ceremonies in the ornate City Hall. We expected to have some of their co-workers attending, along with Zach’s mother and her friends. Like Sallie, my parents were deceased, and the bigoted families of Danielle and Charlie wanted nothing to do with their “perverted” relations.

So we planned a small-scale ceremony and the city’s fees were very reasonable. Not that Zach cared about that, but it helped the rest of us think big for the honeymoon. Really big.

We reserved an entire resort villa, a four bedroom oceanfront home, with all the privacy and amenities possible, in Cabo San Lucas (Baja California, Mexico). Everything was provided. I don’t know the final cost, but it was certainly more than $2,000 a night.

“Are you sure, Zach?” I asked (via text) when I realized how much this was likely costing him.

“Is Kara worth it? Is Sallie?”

Well, he had me there.