Chapter 20

With the destruction of the economy, a number of things had changed in the world. One, which almost no one would even think about, was the disappearance of certain specialty shops, of which bridal stores were a good example. There just wasn’t a place to buy what had become a traditional wedding gown. What few dresses had remained on the shelves of stores at the time of the collapse had long since disappeared.

Young couples getting married now tended to wear nice dresses and suits. The new attire may not have satisfied the fantasies of young women who dreamed of big weddings with all of the trimmings, but reality couldn’t be so easily avoided. Brides, their mothers, and fathers had to accept the new order of things.

Alice was seated in the living room practicing the ancient art of sewing. It was the old fashioned way, in which she used a needle and thread rather than a sewing machine. She had a white dress with lace spread across her lap. With concentrated attention to detail, she pushed the needle through the fabric along a marked line slowly changing the lines of the outfit. She hummed to herself while working, presenting a very domestic appearance.

Fascinated, Betsy sat across the room watching Alice hard at work. She had never seen anyone sew before and thought the practice amazing. Like many young people who had never been exposed to sewing, knitting, or crocheting, she had never given any thought to how clothes were created. All of her outfits came off the racks at chain stores.

Despite their incredible wealth, her parents had never really seen the sense of clothing children in designer outfits. In fact, they very seldom wore designer clothes. In a lot of ways, her mothers presented an appearance that was more middle class than wealthy and their clothes were just one way. Her fathers were even more casual in how they dressed.

Betsy was fascinated by what Alice was doing, although she kept having to stifle a giggle. She kept imaging what it would have been like if she had tried sewing back in her hyperactive days. She’d have probably caught the fabric on fire because of the speed with which the needle would be moving.

Having finished on little stretch of sewing, Alice looked up at Betsy and asked, “What’s so funny?”

“I was just thinking what it would be like if I had learned to sew back when I was a little more hyper,” Betsy answered.

Alice laughed at the image that suddenly flashed through her mind. She could just imagine Betsy jogging in place while pushing the needle and thread through the fabric at a blistering pace.

“That would have been fun to watch,” Alice said.

“I’m sure. So what are you making?”

“I’m altering this dress for Sally,” Alice answered.

“Did she gain weight or something?”

Alice smiled at the question and then answered, “This is the dress Bess wore when she married George. I’m getting it ready for Sally to wear at her wedding.”

“Wow! Does Sally know?” Betsy asked.

“Not yet,” Alice answered.

Betsy knew that this gesture would turn Sally into a sobbing mess. She approved.

“You and Bess have become important parts of Sally’s life. I hope you know that,” Betsy said.

“I do.”

“You’ve become an important part of my life, too.”

Alice rested her work on her lap. She looked over at Betsy thoughtfully thinking about her time around the young woman. It had taken her a while to warm up to Betsy, but she had become very fond of her. It had been such a gradual process that it was hard to say when she had started to view Betsy as the daughter she’d never had.

She said, “I still remember when you interviewed me for this job. You were skipping rope and chattering a hundred miles an hour. I thought you were the rudest child I had ever met. Now, I’m amazed at how disciplined and level headed you are.”

“I remember that day,” Betsy said. “They were supposed to have had a stationary bike there for me.”

“I don’t think that would have changed my initial reaction much,” Alice said introspectively. “I was a little too judgmental at the time.”

“I wouldn’t say that. Even I’ll admit that in a normal situation it is kind of rude to jump rope while interviewing someone for a job. You had no way of knowing that I couldn’t sit still,” Betsy said.

Alice said, “I’m pleased that it didn’t prevent me from coming to work with you.”

Betsy noticed how she had worded her statement. She realized that Alice viewed the working relationship more as a partnership than as employee and boss. That was the kind of view that everyone who worked for her parent had – it was a partnership and not a dictatorship.

Betsy said, “Do you remember the tea party with Bess?”

“Who could forget that,” Alice said. She clicked her tongue and then added, “That was a memorable day.”

Betsy said, “You know, it’s been a long time since we’ve had a tea party. How about we invite Bess and Sally in for one?”

“That would be nice,” Alice said. “It has been a long time since you’ve done anything like that.”

“Sally is on the other island working on her research, today. I don’t know when she’s coming back here,” Betsy said.

“She’s coming Wednesday,” Alice said.

“What about Bess? When do you think she’ll be available?” Betsy asked.

“She’ll be around, particularly if you invite her over,” Alice said.

“Okay. Let’s have a tea party Friday,” Betsy said.

Alice sat back for a moment considering the plan. Sally was going to get married that Sunday. It wasn’t actually a good time to be frittering away the day when so much had to be done. She was about to say something to that effect, then had a second thought.

She said, “You know, I bet the guys would enjoy a day out fishing on one of the boats. You might consider it a stag party for the guys and a bachelorette party for us women.”

“That’s an excellent idea,” Betsy said.

Alice said, “I’ll make the arrangements.”

“Great.”

Alice turned back to her sewing. Betsy sat there wondering when Alice was going to start making the arrangements for the tea party.

Alice looked up at Betsy and said, “I’ll get to it, don’t worry.”

“Okay.”

Betsy sat there watching her expectantly. After a few seconds passed, she asked, “When?”

“When everyone gets home from work,” Alice answered.

Although the Bloated Shark was the normal boat Sally used for shuttling between Honolulu, this particular afternoon she was riding on the June Bride. The Boated Shark was still on Honolulu waiting to ferry the guests, the handful of people at the school who had accepted her invitation, to the island for her wedding. Considering that she was about to get married in a few days, the name of the boat was rather fitting. Still, the boat did smell rather strongly of fish.

Sally stood at the bow waiting for Debbie to give the command to drop anchor. Debbie cut the power to the motor and the boat coasted forward for a bit. The only way Sally knew that the motor had been stopped had been the sudden absence of the low hum from the fusion powered motor. Sally knew that the command to drop anchor would come any second now.

“Drop anchor!”

Sally touched the release that let the anchor drop. They were still a good ways off shore, but with the large boat and the shallow bottom of the bay, this was about as close as it was safe to approach the shore. Sally moved away from the anchor and started helping to secure the boat for a long-term stay. Although three or four days might not seem like a long term stay, it was a long time for a boat of that size and function to just sit offshore unattended.

Debbie left the helm and joined Sally on the deck. It didn’t take long to secure everything. They lowered the dingy into the water and climbed in. It didn’t take long for the small boat to get to shore. The two women pulled it up onto the beach above the tide line and secured it to a palm, by a long rope.

Sally headed up to towards the house with Debbie walking somewhat behind her. She paused thinking it odd that Debbie hung back the way she did. Debbie gestured for her to continue on.

It took Sally a moment to notice that there was something different about Betsy’s backyard and, at first, she didn’t know what was different. As always, the grass was immaculately trimmed, the flowerbeds were filled with flowers, and the lawn furniture was neatly placed on the patio. It was then that she noticed the sleeping bags piled by the backdoor.

She said, “It looks like Betsy has company.”

Debbie smiled. “I wonder why she’d have company now.”

“I don’t know. Maybe we’ll have to postpone my wedding,” Sally said worried that there was some kind of problem.

“Why?”

“With so many people here, it might not be a good idea to add to the confusion with my little wedding on top of everything going on,” Sally said with a frown.

Debbie worked hard to keep from laughing. She said, “You’re right.”

Sally froze when Kelly, Ling, and Claire Carter stepped out of the backdoor. The three women waved to her with large smiles on their faces. She wondered what was going on that would bring a Druid, Ling the Destroyer, and Claire to the island. She hoped that it wasn’t a situation like the Russian mob problem.

Kelly was the first to reach her. The older woman hugged Sally and said, “You’re getting married.”

“Yes.”

“We wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Ling said.

“What?” Sally asked somewhat confused.

Claire said, “We came early so that we could attend your bachelorette party.”

“My what?” Sally asked looking from one woman to the next hoping to get some kind of explanation.

Kelly said, “The guys are going fishing tomorrow, so we’re having a party.”

“Who is going fishing?”

“The guys,” Kelly said.

“Fishing?” Sally asked totally confused by all of the talk about a party and fishing.

“You know, fishing – that thing were you put a line in the water in the hopes of catching a fish. I’m running the boat,” Debbie said.

“What boat?”

“The June Bride,” Debbie answered.

“What’s going on? Is there some kind of gang problem again?” Sally asked.

Ling laughed. Claire looked confused by the question. Kelly answered, “No. You’re getting married.”

“I know,” Sally said.

“We’re here for the wedding,” Kelly said.

“You are?” Sally asked.

“Of course. We wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Kelly answered.

“I’m shocked,” Sally said.

“Why?” Claire asked.

“I’m nobody,” Sally said.

“Are you kidding? You’re family,” Kelly said.

Sally didn’t know what to say.

Claire said, “Come in and try on your wedding dress. We need to see if it fits.”

“It fits,” Sally said.

“How do you know?”

“I’ve worn it before,” Sally answered. “It’s the same dress I wore on my first real date with Steve.”

“I don’t think you’ve worn it before,” Claire said.

“I think I know what I’ve worn and what I haven’t worn,” Sally said.

Claire said, “Humor us. We want to see you in your wedding dress.”

“I guess I could,” Sally said.

She followed the three women into the house. Debbie followed along behind her. Sally was a little bothered by the snicker Debbie released. She stopped and looked back at the other woman. Debbie stood there with an innocent expression on her face. Sally frowned and then followed Betsy’s mothers into the living room.

Sally froze on seeing everyone gathered together in the room. All of Betsy’s mothers and fathers were there, as well as all of the staff along with Bess and George from next door. For the first time in memory, the room appeared too small for the crowd. The only one missing was Steve.

“What?” she asked wondering what was going on.

Bess held up the wedding dress and asked, “Would you like to try it on?”

“That’s a wedding dress,” Sally said stating the obvious.

“Alice took it in. We’d like to see if it fits,” Bess said.

“It’s a wedding dress,” Sally said staring at the dress in disbelief.

Betsy was overjoyed to see her friend overwhelmed by this gift. She said, “We know. Try it on. We want to see if it fits.”

“I didn’t dream ... I mean ... This is...” Sally stuttered trying to find words to express what she was feeling.

Alice and Bess steered Sally into the guest room. Sally allowed herself to be led, her mind still reeling at the thoughtfulness of this. It was only when the door closed did the full meaning of what was going on occur to her. She grabbed both women in a hug and started bawling like a baby.

The wedding dress was a perfect fit.

In terms of bachelorette parties, the tea party was pretty tame. There weren’t any male strippers gyrating or shoving their crotches in her face. There wasn’t any alcohol, rude remarks, or boisterous teasing. It was a very quiet tea party with hot tea and little finger sandwiches. The women sat around the room sipping tea and talking.