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“Not yet, no. At least not in any serious sense. More just like, we should plan the wedding soon.” Alissa laughed and pumped some soap onto a sponge. “But there’s so much out there! I thumbed through one of those wedding magazines at Sandy’s and got so overwhelmed.”
“Do you know what you want?” Caitlin rested her hip against the counter. “Like the kind of wedding, at least generally? Big or small?”
“I think pretty big,” Alissa said. “Like the whole town and family. Definitely on the beach since it’s one of our favorite places. I have no idea what I want my dress to look like but I do know I want the bridesmaids to wear sundresses. And oh, seashells decorating everything.”
Alissa bit her bottom lip, scrubbing a dish for a few moments. Caitlin dried one of the dishes she’d already washed, waiting for Alissa to speak.
“I’m wondering if Dane’s parents will come,” Alissa finally said, handing off the latest dish to Caitlin. “His dad has been supportive, but it doesn’t sound like his mom has been.”
“Oh, no.” Caitlin’s brows furrowed. “What makes you say that?”
“Just context clues.” Alissa shrugged. “Dane avoids talking about them most of the time, though I’ve heard him on the phone with them before.”
“I’m sure it’ll all be okay.” Caitlin put the dish down, giving it an extra good rub before putting it away. “Maybe it’s just a matter of meeting them in person eventually.”
“Maybe.” Alissa still felt resigned. “Family can be difficult.”
“Definitely.”
Alissa wasn’t overly concerned about what most people thought of her—she usually just went through life making friends with relative ease, striking up conversations and having a nice time. If one of those people didn’t like her, she moved on. But this was Dane’s family. She was going to be married to him for the rest of her life, so she really wanted them to like her. But of course, she had no control over that.
“How are things going with organizing Pearl’s visits?” Alissa asked eventually, keeping her voice low. Pearl was in the living room watching a movie.
“As heartbreaking as I thought it would be,” Caitlin said with a sigh. “James called when I was on the cruise ship with Michael. We didn’t fight or disagree on anything, but it all felt so… much, for lack of a better term. So real. Like Pearl is going to have to be away from me for a while and I’m going to miss her so much. And on top of that, there’s the cruise ship and fixing it up, which is going to take up a lot of my time.”
“I’m sorry, Caitlin.”
“Thanks. Michael was very sweet about it when I came back a little shaken up,” Caitlin said. “He didn’t seem put off by the fact that my life is complicated and I might take phone calls that have me off-kilter every once in a while.”
Alissa focused on getting some caked-on pasta off a dish, hoping Caitlin didn’t notice the look on her face. Her sister could always tell when Alissa’s ideas were starting to swirl in her head. And Alissa could always tell when Caitlin had feelings about something, but was keeping them close to the vest.
The seeds of something between Caitlin and Michael were there, but Alissa had the feeling they weren’t going to sprout on her own. They needed a little push to get together, though she wasn’t sure what that push would be yet.
They finished up the dishes and Caitlin went to get Pearl ready for bed. Just as Caitlin sat down on the couch to watch something, Dane called her. She smiled.
“Hey,” Alissa said.
“Hi.” The tension in Dane’s voice made Alissa’s smile drop.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
He paused, and the silence made Alissa’s heart pound.
“My mom called and she’s coming for a visit,” he said in one breath.
Alissa’s stomach tied up in knots and she had so many questions, the biggest one being why now? She understood that his mother would probably want to meet her at some point, but Alissa wanted to enjoy their engagement for a while longer before anything stressful happened.
Dane had always talked about his parents indirectly, but even she could tell that their relationship had its sore spots. Johanna didn’t like Blueberry Bay or many of the choices that Dane was making, but she wasn’t sure if that was just out of worry or if it was her looking down on small towns. She hoped it was the former.
But she didn’t want Dane to feel even more stressed out by bombarding him with questions, so she tried to think positively.
“It’ll be great to meet her,” Alissa said, forcing some cheer into her voice.
“Maybe. But we have to prepare for her to not be supportive,” Dane replied, completely not believing her cheerful front.
“Okay.” Alissa nibbled on her thumbnail. “Do you know when?”
“She’s sent her itinerary, so I’ll send it over to you.”
