Page 45 of Cherry's Jubilee

“Cherry, honey,” Daniel’s mother, Josephine, says. “The seamstress will be here in ten minutes.” She wraps her arm around mine. “You know, as happy as I was to marry my husband, Josephine Jubilee doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue.” She makes a face. “But I got used to it, and you will too.” She smiles at me, and I smile back. Daniel’s mom is about the sweetest woman I’ve ever met.

“I’m happy to be joining this family,” I say.

“Me too. Dan is the most excited. All he does is talk about your company. He’s like a proud papa when it comes to you.”

“Well, he’s helped me so much.” In the year since he’s known about my company, under his mentorship, Cherry Cross Accounting has grown so much that I was able to quit my job as an auditor and focus solely on my company, which now employs eight other people. It helps when your fiancé and father-in-law are filthy rich and invest in your company.

The doorbell rings, and the seamstress and her entourage arrive. We start to follow Josephine upstairs, but my mom grabs my wrist and pulls me away. Solange sees and stays behind, too.

“Cherry Berry,” she says. “Your uncle Whit—”

“Mom, he’s not my uncle,” I remind her. Since the day my mom punched Karen, she’s seen more of Whit than ever before. He left his wife, and they are in the middle of an ugly divorce. According tomy mom, when his other siblings found out he wasn’t their father’s, they started to treat him differently, and he’s attached himself more to my mother. Whit and Amira moved out and live together in a small apartment until he finalizes the divorce and sells the house.

The rumor is, Amira has gone no contact with her mother and sister, but I’ve told my mother I don’t care.

“Well, he’s a little bit hurt about not receiving an invitation to the wedding.” I open my mouth to argue, but she holds her hand up. “I’m not telling you to invite him, but he asked me to tell you that he’s sorry.”

“Jesus Christ, Mom,” Solange says. “I told you to leave it alone.”

“Mom, if you want to be his bestie now that he has no one else, that’s fine. You’re an adult who can make your own decisions, but I don’t want a relationship. I wish him no ill will, but I’m fine with things as they are.”

She nods her head and says, “I understand. “What about your old apartment?” she asks.

“I told Solange I would let her decide since she’s the one who lives there.” Solange and Kirby’s business is thriving, and they still manage the building. I moved in with Daniel nine months ago after we got engaged, and Amira has recently filled out an application for my old apartment.

“I don’t know,” Solange says. “I feel bad for her, but I just want to be done with those people. My worry is that if she lives there, her mother and Ashley will visit eventually.”

“Can we not talk about those people today, please?” I ask. “I want to see you guys in your dresses. Come on,” I say, hoping to change the subject. There’s no way Whit is getting an invitation. I saw him for the first time since last year at my mom’s house about a month ago. We were there for Sunday dinner, and he showed up. From the shocked look on my mom’s face, I know she didn’t invite him. I let him know where I stand when I called him Whit and not Uncle Whit. “I wantto see you in your mother-of-the-bride dress, Mom.” She smiles and touches my cheek.

She’s wearing the same color as Daniel’s mother, but different dresses. I gesture for her and Solange to go up the spiral staircase. Just as I start to go up, I hear footsteps. I turn around to see Daniel trying to tiptoe to the staircase. I cross my arms, and he stops when he sees me.

“You do know that my dress isn’t here, right? This is for the bridal party and our moms.” He looks around and pretends to not know what I’m talking about. “I don’t trust you to have this dress anywhere near you.”

He stops in front of me, and since I’m on the second step, I look down at him.

“I guess I’ll just have to wait until our wedding day,” he says. I lean down and kiss him.

“You have no choice, Cherry’s Jubilee,” I say.

THE END