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Madison
looked dour. “I know you didn’t want to be shown up, Mother, but you should have at least maybe worn something slightly more…more.”
“I beg your pardon! This dress is plenty appropriate for the mother of the bride. There’s no reason I need to look like a maid from Downton Abbey just because I’ve raised two beautiful daughters.” Aileen held her head high. “It’s nice to see you, Bob. You fill out that suit rather well.” Her eyes traveled down the length of my torso and rested firmly on my crotch. She tossed her hair and sashayed away, off to be ogled by the next group of stunned admirers.
“Roar.” Claire laughed. “She is the cougar queen of the Nantucket jungle!”
“I’ll drink to that.” Madison promptly drained her martini.
“I’ll get you another one,” I offered.
Madison clinked her empty glass against mine. “I’ll drink to that.”
Three martinis later, I started to wonder where the food was. “Are we eating anytime soon?” I asked Claire. She was warily watching Madison try to poke her olive with a toothpick.
“Why does it keep moving?” Maddy asked, visibly perplexed.
“Because you’re drunk.” Claire smiled at her gently. “Someone hasn’t been out of the office lately and therefore has no tolerance for alcohol.”
“Bah.” Maddy wrinkled her nose. “You should talk.”
“Me?” Claire pointed at herself. “I met someone. I’ve totally been out of the office. I’ve been in the bed, in the backseat of her car, in the shower, in the front seat of her car, in the—”
“Stop it with all your dirty, show-off sex talk!” Maddy groaned. “Not everyone is that lucky!”
Claire’s eyes raked over me. I had my hand on Maddy’s back, just as much to make sure she stood up straight as to…have my hand on her back. “You never know.” Claire winked at us. “It might happen to you someday.”
“Claire…wait.” Maddy’s eyes got huge in her face. “Are you in love? Bartender, we need some Prosecco over here! My cousin’s in love!”
“Um, can you keep your voice down?” Claire looked around nervously. “If your bitch-sister hears me making a big deal about my love life at her rehearsal dinner, she’ll have a fit. It’s all about Tim and Sienna, remember?”
“Pfft.” Maddy waved her cousin’s words away. “I want to hear about your hot lesbian lover and your happily ever after, minus the hot lesbian lover part—no offense. It’s not because you’re gay; it’s just that, you know.” She snorted, and that was when I realized that Madison was quite drunk. “The sex part.”
The bartender presented us with a freshly opened bottle of Prosecco and three glasses.
Maddy gleefully raised her glass after the bartender filled it. “To love!”
A trim young man with seriously tall bangs and a three-thousand dollar suit sauntered up and threw his arms around Claire and Maddy’s shoulders. “Ladies! We’re celebrating?”
“Of course we are, Tim.” Claire sniffed him. “Have you been smoking a cigar?”
His narrow face split into a wide grin. “Of course. Like you said, it’s a celebration.”
Claire wriggled out from beneath his grasp. “You stink.”
“Ugh, I love you, but you do stink!” Madison slid out from underneath the man’s arm, too. “Tim, this is my boyfriend, Bob. Bob, this is Sienna’s fiancé, Tim.“
I held out my hand to shake his. “Congratulations. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Tim eyed me up and down. “There’s been a lot of talk about you, bud. I heard you and Frank almost beat the old man today. I would’ve paid good money to see that!”
“Maybe someday I’ll play him again. But for now, I’m being taken off the tour.” I glanced at Madison.
“You should come hang with me and the other guys tomorrow,” Tim said. “We’re gonna play golf before the ceremony.”
“I’d love to.” I sucked at golf, but it was nice of him to ask.
“Are you excited?” Claire asked Tim.
