“I don’t want to wait,” he said, pouting like a little boy.
“Neither do I, but I don’t want to hurt her feelings. Let’s call her and ask.”
“Now?” He sat up in bed, looking shocked. “We’re not allowed to call her at camp except in an emergency.”
“Good. Tell them it’s an emergency,” she said happily, and he went to get the number out of his wallet with shaking hands.
“This is crazy. We’re asking a fifteen-year-old for permission to get married.”
“She’s the only family you’ve got, and the only one who matters.”
He looked worried then. “Do I have to ask your father for permission?”
“Definitely not. He’s a curmudgeon, and he’d probably tell you you’re making a terrible mistake, and would say no. Just Antonia.” He had already put the camp number into his phone and it was ringing. Brandon gave his name and Antonia’s, and said it was an emergency and asked to have her called to the phone. The person who answered responded immediately that they would get her right away and to hold the line. They didn’t ask what the emergency was.
They waited a full five minutes and Antonia sounded breathless and worried when she answered. She’d run all the way from her cabin.
“What’s wrong, Dad?” At least he was calling himself, so she knew he was alive. If he was dead, she had no idea what would happen to her. She thought of it sometimes.
“Nothing. I didn’t know how else to reach you. I’m sorry if I scared you.” For an instant she had worried too that he had heard that her mother was dead, but she didn’t tell him that. He put her on speakerphone then. “Lara and I have a question to ask you.” She waited to hear what it was, and couldn’t imagine. “We want your permission to get married. We wanted to get your okay first.”
Antonia let out a piercing scream which turned into a whoop of joy. “Yes! Yes! Yes! When?”
“Now, soon, tomorrow, we thought we’d just go to city hall and do it before you come home, and pick you up at camp. You’re okay with it?”
“I give you my permission, and I love you both.” Brandon couldn’t remember the last time she had told him she loved him, or that he had said it to her. Maybe he never had.
“We love you too,” Lara volunteered for both of them.
“So do I,” Brandon added, and meant it. He felt closer to his daughter than he had in years. Lara had gently shifted the dynamic between them and changed their lives.
“You don’t want a big wedding?” she asked them, and Lara answered.
“I’d feel stupid in a big white dress. I’d rather do it this way.”
“So would I,” Brandon added, although he’d gotten married at city hall before. But this felt entirely different. He and Lara were both grown-ups and knew what they were doing, and who they were marrying. They’d had two years to get to know each other. Brandon knew this wasn’t a mistake, and Lara did too. And so did Antonia.
“See you in two weeks, Mr. and Mrs. Adams.” Antonia giggled. “I can’t wait to see you both.”
“We love you,” Lara said again before they hung up.
* * *
—
The next few days after that were a whirlwind. In the end, she did wear a white dress, a simple cotton eyelet one, and carried a big bouquet of white daisies. They spent five days at an inn in Vermont as their honeymoon, and picked Antonia up at camp in Maine as promised. She threw her arms around both of them when she saw them, and had her duffel bag and trunk packed and ready to go. Brandon put them in the SUV he had rented, and they headed for New York. His dreams of having a family had come true, just with a different woman. A much better one this time. It was a new beginning for them all.
Chapter 5
The rest of Antonia’s high school years were a different experience thanks to Lara. Brandon worked a little less than he had before and spent more time at home, and Lara had a busy career with her real estate business too. They all had their jobs to do, and Antonia had high school to get through and kept her grades up so she would get into a good college.
She still kept to herself some of the time, the attention that Lara gave her was unfamiliar to her. Lara tried not to intrude on Antonia, once she moved in. Antonia had spent so many years with no one paying attention to her, and no one to talk to, that Lara’s kindness was overwhelming at times, but Antonia was grateful for it. They became movie buddies every Saturday afternoon, and Brandon tried to communicate better with Antonia, but it didn’t come easily to him. No matter how hard he tried, and how different she was from her mother, Brandon couldn’t separate her in his mind from Fabienne. She was a constant reminder of his terrible experience in a disastrous marriage.