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Alice narrows her eyes, and if there’s one person who can narrow her eyes perfectly to make you feel like you’ve already done something you’re going to regret it’s Alice. Thankfully we’re at the dining room before I have a chance to respond.
“Any sign of them?” Brandon asks.
I shake my head. “I haven’t seen them all morning”, I lie.
The breakfast is being served by a team of waiting staff that outnumber those eating it almost three to one, and there isn’t a single person in here eating I recognize. Either these people are friends and family members of Brandon, or they are other members of the wedding party, employed in some ot
her capacity. This whole thing feels like a music festival or film production, and while Alice and I take our seats to order something to eat, I can see the stage being constructed out in the landscaped gardens, lights being put up, decorations being laid out, flowers moving from one spot to another (under Alice’s distant but watchful eye) and whole teams of people in the middle of whatever task they’ve been allocated.
“Well it’s their loss”, Brandon says, already half way through what looks like eggs benedict. “This breakfast is delicious.”
I order a continental breakfast, and two glasses of orange juice. “I’m sure they’ll be around soon”, I say, and then without being too specific about my supposition, “If they are anything like I am around food-.”
“As long as they’re here before the ceremony, I don’t mind what they get up to”, Brandon says. “I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Logan’s out there exploring the grounds and digging up bones.”
Hiding a bone would be more accurate, I think, and then have to stifle a giggle when the image comes to me in all its glory.
“Is there anything you need me to do today?” I ask, when I’ve calmed myself again.
“Just be there for us both”, Mom says sweetly. “Everything else is being taken care of.”
“I can see”, I say, indicating the scale of the production going on behind us. “Is there anything you haven’t thought of?”
Brandon and Mom look at each other briefly, before Brandon looks at me. The speech he mouths at me, eyes too wide for it to be anything other than a joke.
“This whole place is incredible”, Alice says. “I took a walk around the grounds this morning, and I’m in love. I didn’t even know we had cranefly orchids this far west. Don’t tell anyone I picked one.”
“For the price we’ve paid, I’d go back and pick a bunch of them”, Brandon says.
“It is a beautiful spot”, I agree. “I’m really happy for you both.”
Brandon takes Mom’s hand. “Now we just have to hope the weather holds out-”, he says.
“And if it doesn’t”, Mom adds, “we’ll just have to bring everyone inside instead.”
“Exactly”, Brandon agrees. “Your mother always has a back up plan.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Logan and Jack descend the stairwell, smile at me from the other side of the dining room and then cross towards us confidently.
“I think I’ve just spotted your sons”, I say, trying hard not to dribble out of an open mouth.
Brandon shifts around to follow my gaze, looking at them just long enough to confirm I’ve not somehow been mistaken. I feel Alice’s elbow in my ribs and finally drop my eyes back to the table, the slow motion show brought to an abrupt but necessary end. When I look over to Mom, she’s smiling at me proudly and without even saying it, I know exactly what she’s thinking.
She’s thinking: Penny’s in love with her new stepbrothers in that safe platonic way that makes all mothers proud of their children, and she couldn't be any further away from the truth if she tried.
“Where have you guys been?” Brandon asks when they get to the table. “You’re missing out on this incredible breakfast, right Penny?”
“It’s pretty good”, I say, trying not to give anything away by looking at them.
Logan takes the chair between Brandon and I, while Jack sits between Alice and Mom.
“I was in the shower”, Logan lies, expertly snatching half a croissant from my plate before I’m quick enough to defend it.
“And I had some emails I needed to catch up on from the office”, Jack adds.
“What’s the rush anyway?” Logan asks. “I didn’t think the ceremony started until two.”
“Because you’re never on time for anything in your life, Logan, that’s why”, Brandon says, and it makes me think of Logan’s experience in the monkey temple in Honduras. “And today’s really special for us both.”
Logan puts one hand on his dad’s shoulder and the other on mine. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world”, he says. “I’m even looking forward to wearing a suit.”
And I’m looking forward to taking it off I think, when his eyes come back to mine.
“You’re all going to look stunning”, Mom says proudly.
“You too, Mom”, I add, keen to shift the focus back to the real protagonists.
“Getting married is enough for me”, she says, “If I look good while I do it, well that’s just an added bonus.”
“That part you can’t possibly fail at”, Brandon says.
“Alright, I’ve got to eat, there’s nothing else for it”, Logan says dramatically, his hand up in the air already to call the waiter over. “Any sweeter at this table and I’m going to get diabetes.”
“Get used to it”, Brandon warns with a smile, while the rest of us try to control our laughter. “It only get’s worse as you get older.”
“And you know what else they say?” Mom adds with a glint in her eye. “Absolutely everything improves with age.”
“Mom”, I giggle.
“Well,” Logan says, his hand moving into my lap. “I’m happy to say that I’m in absolutely no rush to find out whether that’s true or not.”
“Me either”, Jack adds. “But thanks, all the same, for letting us know.”
Mom giggles excitedly. “Anybody would think we were getting married”, she says. “The way we’re going on.”
Brandon smiles. “I guess this generation just don’t know real love when they see it”, he says, and when Jack, Logan and my eyes meet across the table, we can’t help but fall about laughing. I don’t want to imagine what Brandon and Mom get up to behind closed doors, but I’m sure as hell it isn’t half way near as steamy as us three.
“What?” Mom asks, but she couldn’t possibly know.
“Nothing”, I eventually say, my eyes watering with laughter. “It’s just-. Nothing”, I say. “I’m happy for you, that’s all. It’s sweet to see you both like that, you know, so much in love.”
Mom makes a suspicious sound in her throat and then smiles. “Thank you, honey”, she says.
“We should get on”, Brandon adds. “There’s a lot of stuff we need to do before two.”
“And I should get my hair and makeup done”, Mom says.
“Don’t eat the entire kitchen”, Brandon warns. “And don’t forget your suit.”
“I won’t”, Logan says, his mouth full with another croissant.
“Do you think they’ve gone to get some practice in before tonight?” Alice asks, when Mom and Brandon are out of earshot.
“Please”, I say, giving her a disgusted look. “Moms don’t do that at any age, you know that.”
“Or Dads”, Jack adds. “The idea gives me shivers.”
“I thought they were going to catch us this morning”, I say. “Thankfully Mom just thinks we’re getting on really well.”
“Maybe they’re just being polite”, Jack says plainly, “because Logan’s just spent the last ten minutes with a massive hickey on his neck Ray Charles would struggle to miss.”
Logan’s hand goes to his neck quickly, before he turns his body towards me and my heart drops. It’s enormous, it’s obvious and it’s got my teeth marks in it.
“Fuck”, I say. “How did you not see that before?”
Logan shrugs, a mischievous smile breaking out across his face. “I only saw it when we sat down”, Jack says. “It was too late then to say anything.”
Alice folds her arms across her chest and shakes her head in disbelief. “If you guys can get through today without giving anything away it’s going to be an absolute miracle.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
The neck of Logan’s shirt covers his love bite perfectly, although if Mom and Brandon saw it at breakfast this morning the damage might already be done. I can’t believe we could be so complacent to not think of it, but I guess that’s what the heat of passion does to people falling in love.
There’s no point in thinking about i
t now anyway. Either they saw it and didn’t say anything, for whatever reason that might be, or they didn’t see it and we totally got away with it.
From the window of my bedroom, I can see the gathered crowd in the landscaped garden below, waiting for the ceremony to begin. Jack and Logan are amongst them, dressed in matching suits and moving from family members to strangers with the natural confidence they both exude.
This is exactly the kind of thing that makes my anxiety flare up, but Jack and Logan take to like ducks to water. Watching them now, when I know they can’t possibly see me, or know that I can see them, gives me that rare opportunity to observe them as naturally as I possibly could without me being with them to influence how they behave, and the result makes me want them even more than I did before.
They are clearly the most attractive men here, and Logan in a suit - although I know it’s the last thing he would choose to put on - is a fantasy book all of its own. I know it’s not his thing, but together, those two look like something from the pages of a steamy graphic novel, brought to life by a girl with an unparalleled and very dirty imagination.
“I am the luckiest girl alive”, I say, as much to myself as to Alice, who’s right there alongside me checking out the crowd. I stop short of pawing the window like a cat that’s just seen a pair of birds come to rest on the fence outside.
Alice puts her arm around me. “After all this time I’ve known you, I never thought you’d actually turn your life into a fairytale.”
“I’m still waiting for that film crew to jump out and tell me I’ve been punked.”
“I think your version of that is the fact that Jack and Logan are about to become your stepbrothers.”
“Urgh, don’t remind me. I can’t even bring myself to say the word”, I say.
“It doesn’t matter anyway”, Alice says. “Nothing’s going to change between you three.”
“I hope not”, I say.
