A Groom wirh a View

door.“
    “You stayed up all night to protect me? Oh, Mel—“
    “Don’t go sappy and get any ideas about my making a habit of it,“ he said. “We’re all out of here this evening. And the next time I miss another night’s sleep for your sake, it’s going to be for much more enjoyable reasons.”

Eighteen

    Luncheon was a hasty, eat-on-the-run affair, complicated by the fact that several of the out-of-town guests, bored senseless at their cheap little motel which didn’t even have cable television, as they kept saying to each other with wonder, came early and got underfoot. The two musicians, a married couple from Novelties, whom Jane had nearly forgotten about, turned up with a flute and violin. They were attired in black and looked like they’d come for a funeral.
    Jane went down the hallway to the little rooms to check that everyone was getting along all right. Everybody was trying to get cleaned up at once and since all were on the same water supply along the hallway, there were occasional yelps and shouts as toilets were flushed in some rooms at the same time showers were going on in others.
    In spite of everything bad that had happened, Jane sensed a genuine air of festivity now. Layla and Eden kept running up and down the hall in their bathrobes like schoolgirls in a dorm, borrowing toothpaste, hair spray, and makeup. Kitty in particular seemed obsessed with looking as good as possible. “I think this hem is uneven,“ she wailed at Jane.
    “Nobody will notice and it’s too late to fix it,“ Jane said mildly, even though Kitty was nearly in tears. She had lost patience with Kitty. It was the bride who was supposed to be hysterical, not the bridesmaids.
    Mel popped out of his room asking if he could help her with anything.
    “No, thanks. I’m just looking for brushfires to put out. And not, thank God, finding any yet.”
    Jane went through the main room. Early guests sat in the chairs and sofas around the sides of the room, keeping the wedding chairs inviolate. Jane went upstairs to the master bedroom to see if she could help Livvy. “Is there anything you need before you get dressed? Hairpins? Perfume?“ Jane asked.
    Livvy was sitting at the window, gazing out as if bored. “What? Oh, no. But thanks anyway.”
    “Are you okay, Livvy?”
    The young woman smiled weakly. “I’m fine. Just fine. I’ll just need help getting into the dress when it’s time.“
    “Have you had lunch?“
    “I think so. Yes, yes. A sandwich. I’ve heard some cars arriving. Should I be greeting guests?“ Jane laughed. “No, it’s like a play, Livvy. The lead actress isn’t seen until the curtain goes up. She doesn’t hang around in the lobby.”
    Livvy’s smile was genuine this time.
    She’s just nervous, Jane told herself, going back down the wide steps Livvy would descend in an hour. Brides were supposed to be nervous. Livvy was about to commit herself in the most important ceremony in her life. Baptisms, recitals, even hard-won graduations were nothing compared to wedding ceremonies for making everyone nervous. Marriages often failed later. Jane’s own marriage had failed without her even realizing it until it was too late. But going into marriage, saying vows, and observing the ancient rites still had the power to seem a “forever“ decision.
    For the first time in a long, long while, Jane found herself thinking about her own wedding, a few weeks short of twenty years ago now. Her mother had wept. Jane thought it was from happiness, but it might not have been. Her father had treated her like a porcelain doll and told her that she’d always be his daughter, no matter whose wife or mother she became. Her sister Marty had worn a red dress she knew Jane hated. Typical of Marty. Her mother-in-law Thelma had worn a gray dress, but obviously longed to wear black. It had been an even smaller wedding than Livvy’s because Steve’s family lived in Chicago and Jane’s only family were her parents, sister, grandmother, and honorary uncle Jim. And it had been held in the Jeffry family’s church without all the elaborate flowers and catering. But Jane still remembered every moment of it with fondness. She’d even liked Marty and Thelma that day.
    She’d married Steve Jeffry because he was handsome, ambitious, polite, and because he asked her at the exact right moment of her life. She’d been too young and stupid, really, to make such an important decision, but after having grown up all over the