Julia couldn’t take her eyes off her daughter. Hillary, with her shoulder-length dark hair, was as regal as a queen. She was taller than Julia by several inches, which came from Eddie’s side of the family. Her blue eyes were all Eddie. Hillary was simply stunning. Julia found it hard to believe this beautiful young woman was her precious daughter.
“What do you think?” Hillary asked when no one spoke.
Julia had a hard time answering past the lump that formed in her throat. “Oh my,” she breathed, in a raspy whisper.
Hillary’s eyes widened. “You don’t like it?”
“No, I love it. It’s perfect; you’re perfect.”
Marie nodded. “I like it.”
“Me, too,” Carrie added.
The problem was, each one of the five dresses Hillary had preselected were equally gorgeous. Then the sales rep brought out another dress. One several hundred dollars above Hillary’s budget. It was by far the most beautiful of all the dresses, making it even more difficult to choose one over the other. After a lengthy discussion with the sales rep offering her advice, they were able to narrow it down to two: the first one Hillary had tried on, and the last, most expensive, one. Both were the same style, sleek and elegant, and suited Hillary’s slender frame beautifully.
“I’m going to think about it,” Hillary announced, before the end of their appointment time. Julia knew the price difference between the two was a major factor. Her own wedding dress had cost less than five hundred dollars, but that had been nearly forty years ago now. Times and prices had changed. She recalled when she and Eddie bought their first home and worried if they would be able to make the nearly four-hundred-dollar-a-month house payment.
“Whichever dress you decide on will be perfect,” Julia assured her daughter.
“I like the more expensive one,” she said, biting into her lower lip. “It’s six hundred dollars above my budget, though.”
“Ask Dad for it,” Marie advised. “He said he wanted to contribute to the wedding costs. You should let him.”
* * *
—
They’d arrived at the restaurant and had been seated. Their orders were in, and they sat sipping a crisp white wine, chatting about the wedding arrangements. The wedding date was set now for early November, and the perfect venue had been found for the reception.
“I’m not asking Dad for anything,” Hillary said, with more than a hint of defiance.
“I heard your father called Marie and wanted to congratulate you,” Julia said. She probably shouldn’t have mentioned she knew about this. This matter was between her daughters and Eddie.
“Dad called me,” Hillary admitted with some reluctance.
“If you’d rather not talk about it, I understand. Whatever was said is between the two of you.”
“I don’t mind,” Hillary said, as if it didn’t matter to her one way or the other. Julia suspected otherwise. From the time she was born, Hillary had had her dad wrapped around her tiny hand. While she was growing up, they’d been especially close. This estrangement had badly hurt them both, and because it did, Julia felt that pain, and sincerely wished for them to go back to the good relationship they’d once shared.
“Sweetie,” she said gently, “by offering to help pay for the wedding, your dad’s doing what he can to bring the two of you together again.”
Hillary snorted softly. “Then he’s not trying hard enough.”
“He did offer to get the country club for you,” Marie inserted.
Hillary tossed her sister a smoldering look.
Eddie had hinted the same thing to Julia. It was a generous offer, and because he was a member and had worked as a pro golfer for the club for many years, he was sure to get a discount. Weddings were expensive, and his offer was one Hillary should consider.
“He did?” she asked, as if this was news to her. “That was generous of him.”
“It was,” Carrie added, and sipped her wine.
“Hey,” Hillary said, and flashed her cousin the same look she had given her sister earlier. “Whose side are you on?”
“Do there have to be sides?” Julia asked.
“In this instance, yes,” Hillary shot back. “While I’m willing to admit it was nice of him to offer, I refused.”
“Hillary!” Julia was disappointed that her daughter hadn’t taken hold of the hand her father had extended.
“I’ll admit at first I was tempted, because at the time Blake and I hadn’t found a place for the reception.”