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“My dad is coming up this afternoon. We can tell him then. I’ll leave it to the colonel to tell my mother, but he’ll probably refuse.”
The meeting was not something they were comfortable discussing outside of teasing, but when he met Mrs. Porter, it had been embarrassing. They’d come up to Emily’s place on July Fourth for a barbeque. The food was over the top. Paul did ribs and burgers on the grill, and Emily made delicious potato salad, coleslaw and baked beans. She also made a Jell-O cake and apple pie.
After she’d had a few bourbon and Cokes, Alice Porter fawned over Paul and said repeatedly, “How’d my daughter get such a good-looking guy?”
The first few times she said it, Paul said, “You mean how’d I get such a beautiful woman.”
The lovely compliment was nipped in the bud when she replied, “She’d be gorgeous if she lost a few pounds, right, dear?”
“Nice try, Paul. Thank you, Mom. I can always count on your support.”
“Ha! Well, dear, I only speak the truth.”
“Alice, leave the girl alone,” Rob replied.
The comment left its mark, however. For the rest of their visit, Emily stayed silent. They didn’t go in the pool while the Porters were there, either.
“I’ll wait till she leaves. Don’t want to offend her eyes in my bathing suit.”
After he gave her the engagement ring, the lingering, unspokenwas it necessary to tell her about it if the colonel did?They’d wait to see what his reception was.
Charlie was happy for them. “I want my sons to marry the love of their lives. That’s the most important thing about the union, that you love her with all of your heart and she loves you.”
“We are in love, Pop, I promise you.”
“We really are, Mr. Saint. I love Paul so much.”
“Call me Charlie,” he said. “Congratulations, both of you. Did you tell your parents yet?”
“My dad will be here this afternoon, and we’ll tell him then. He can share the news with my mother.”
“And tomorrow my mother will hear the news with the rest of the family at Aunt Roberta’s, if she shows up again.”
“Yeah, she’s only doing that so she can see you, son,” Charlie said.
Paul thought there might be another motive; so she could rub Charlie’s nose in her relationship with Harry, who had turned out to be cordial at every turn. But the truth was he’d had an affair with a married woman, and Paul wasn’t ready to forgive them yet.
“Okay, so how about we unpack all this stuff? Anything you don’t want, I’ll take back and save for your brother.”
“Oh, I already see something I’m in love with,” Emily said. “Look at this pottery! It’s perfect for the cabin, perfect vintage, too. Look at the name on the bottom. Temecula Pottery. It was made right over that mountain.”
“The blankets will need washing. They should probably be dry-cleaned because they’re wool, but if you put them in cold water on delicate, they should be okay. This per your mother.”
They oohed and aahed over everything.
“I feel guilty about Oliver, but we’ll keep it all. If he visits and sees anything he likes, we can arm wrestle over it.”
At two, after a chat over coffee, Charlie left. The couple headed over to Emily’s house to wait for the colonel.
“I didn’t change anything in the master bath,” Emily said, snickering. “I might keep it decorated that way forever.”
Thinking about the bathroom brought up a topic Paul hadn’t thought of yet. “I was just thinking, we took all that stuff from my father because it fits the cabin. When we get married, should we live here?”
“Oh, right. I didn’t think of that either. I like the cabin so much. But you’re renting. It’s not for sale by any chance?”
“Would you sell this place?” he asked. “Buying your own place in Southern California is an achievement. Especially on a teacher’s salary. I don’t know if I can ask you to give that up.”
“If it meant being with you? In a heartbeat. The only thing is I don’t remember seeing a pool in back at the cabin. I’d miss my pool.”
