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Ella’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding.”
“I told them we have thirty guests coming for the rehearsal dinner. And that they can only eat so many of our mini burgers and canapés before they’ll get rowdy,” Alana went on. “But apparently, there was an incident with their stoves or something, and…”
“It’s going to be fine!” Greta cried, snapping another round of hors d’oeuvres from the oven, her eyes as big as a frightened rabbit’s. “Bernard! Will! Is anyone else around?”
Bernard ambled into the kitchen a moment later. “What is it, darling?”
“We need another run to the liquor store,” Greta explained. “The caterers will be late, which means their bartender won’t be here in time, either.”
“Aperol? Gin?” Bernard removed a notepad from his back pocket and began to make little notes to himself.
“Bartender’s choice,” Greta said.
Bernard laughed. “I take it I’m the bartender until the real one steps in?”
“You can handle it, can’t you?” Greta eyed Ella, then added, “He was known across the Sorbonne for making the most ridiculous cocktails.”
“It wasn’t my fault that they couldn’t handle their liquor,” Bernard said.
“Mom!” Danny’s voice carried down the staircase, filled with angst.
“What now?” Ella said with a laugh, hurrying past her father, then up the steps to find Danny in the doorway of his bedroom. He’d donned his “fancy” slacks and his suit jacket, only to find that the slacks were now about four inches too short. Ella let out a devastated laugh. “Uh oh.”
“Right?” Danny twisted his ankles to show off how ridiculous the pants looked.
“When was the last time you wore those?” Ella asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe when I was fifteen?”
Ella sighed. “I can’t believe I didn’t think to have you try them on.”
“What should I do?” Danny asked. “I don’t want to wear my tux tonight.”
Ella waved her hand. “Just wear a pair of jeans.”
At this, Laura burst from her bedroom next door, flabbergasted. “Danny’s allowed to wear jeans?”
“Anyone can wear whatever they want!” Ella announced to the hallway. “It’s only the rehearsal dinner. No official photographs will be taken.”
Laura raised an eyebrow.
“But remember. You’ll break your grandmother’s heart if you wear jeans, Laura,” Ella said— a half-joke. “You have so many beautiful dresses. Won’t one of them work?”
It was like a conversation taken from a previous part of Ella’s life, when Danny and Laura had needed her a whole lot more than they currently did. It made her nostalgic— and it also made her shake her head.
After Danny and Laura disappeared back into their bedrooms, Scarlet walked across the hallway to knock on Laura’s door, smiling. “I can’t believe it’s the big weekend, Aunt Ella!” Immediately afterward, Anna appeared on the landing of the staircase, also headed for Laura’s bedroom, her hand on her pregnant belly. Copperfield women were coming out of the woodwork.
The next hour was spent in a frantic quest to set everything up before the big dinner— the tables outside, the tablecloths, the plates, the chairs. The artists in the residency ambled out at five-thirty for their first cocktails, which Bernard shook up for them, chatting easily about their projects and how thrilled he was that most of them had decided to stay at the residency another few weeks.
“We were nervous to reopen the residency,” Bernard said as he handed Andy an Old Fashioned, “but we got so lucky with all of you. It’ll be hard when we ultimately have to say goodbye!”
Will stepped onto the back porch, dressed to the nines in a suit jacket and a white button-down, his dark hair gelled, and his beard sculpted beautifully. He looked as though he’d stepped from the pages of GQ— which was a far cry from the punk Ella had met all those years ago in that dive bar in New York City.
“You’re making me look bad!” Ella said as she hurried up beside him, gesturing to her tank top and shorts. “I haven’t had a chance to clean up yet.”
Will wrapped his arms around her and cuddled her close. “You could wear this tomorrow, and you’d still be the most beautiful woman there.”
“You flatter me,” Ella said, rolling onto her tiptoes and kissing him. “But I really, really need to shower. Will you help Julia with that last table over there?”
