As Lil sat at the outrageously long dining room table, she smoothed the material of the conservative green dress she’d chosen. The crisp lines and modest neckline boosted her confidence. Tonight was not about her and Jake, nor was it about the emotional baggage Lil had packed for the trip – it was about her sister and celebrating her finding love. Green was a peaceful color, one that could blend in and stay out of trouble.
Dominic and Abby were seated at one end of the table, happily absorbed in a private conversation. Dominic’s sister, Nicole and her fiancé, Stephan, were seated next to Abby. Lil spared a moment to envy how Nicole always looked like she belonged on the cover of Vogue.
Lil was surprised to see that Stephan had brought his parents, his aunt and uncle, and if Lil was correct–even one of his cousins and her French husband. Abby had said that she and Dominic had been spending time with the Andrades lately, but Lil hadn’t realized that they had gotten this close.
Dominic’s personal assistant, Mrs. Duhamel, smiled at Lil from directly across the table. Lil tried to return the smile, gave up and looked down at her plate instead. One of the most powerful women in China, billionairess Zhang Yajun, sat at Lil’s left. Normally, Lil would have bombarded her with questions about what her life was like, but tonight Lil was determined to hold her tongue and quietly blend into this collection of some of the world’s richest people.
If you don’t say anything, you can’t say anything wrong.
Jake took the seat to her right and touched her arm to gain her attention. He kept his voice at an intimate volume. “Lil, we need to talk.”
“No, we don’t,” she hissed back in somewhat of a whisper.
Dominic stood and the table fell silent. “Thank you all for coming tonight.” He took a moment to smile at each person at the table then he reached down, took Abby by the hand, and encouraged her to stand beside him. With one arm around her waist, he said, “If anyone had told me a couple months ago that you would all be gathered to celebrate the formal announcement of our engagement, I would have thought they were crazy. But here we are and I am honored to call you friends.”
Approval was expressed in a variety of voices and languages.
Abby clasped her hands in front of her, the only indication that she wasn’t entirely comfortable speaking before the group. “Helping Nicole go through her father’s things, inspired me to take a second look at old photo albums and what little still remains of my own parents things. I found a poem that my mother wrote when we were children. It seemed appropriate to read in honor of how our family has extended in the most wonderful ways.”
She took out a folded and faded piece of paper and started to read:
Real love is not like a pizza
With two slices for some
One for others
And nothing left for the unlucky
Real love is like a fountain
Joyously spilling over
Where there is always more than enough
For those who need it
And it is just as generous
To those who return to it
As to those who never left
Lil’s eyes welled at the wisdom of the mother she still missed, even as rogue thoughts plagued her. How did real love feel toward a little accidental water contamination? That was the question she needed answered.
Dominic hugged Abby to his side and the table was oddly quiet for a moment. Nicole turned and said something softly to her fiancé. Stephan smiled down at her and nodded.
Nicole addressed her brother. “Dom, invite her for tomorrow. I’ll be fine.”
There was a wave of happy gasps from those around her.
Dominic asked, “Are you sure, Nicole?”
His sister considered it for a moment then nodded with a teary smile. “I want the fountain.” Stephan hugged her and whispered something into her ear that made her blush.
Abby leaned down and hugged her future sister-in-law, and then said, “I promise to keep this short so we can eat, but when we make the formal announcement of our engagement tomorrow the house will be full. I wanted to ask something in the privacy of the ones we’re closest to.” She looked around the table and said, “Nicole, Maddy, Zhang, – I’d like for you to be my bridesmaids. You don’t have to answer now, I just wanted to tell you that nothing would mean more to me than having you up there when I marry Dominic. It’s happening in three weeks, so you’d be committing to a bit of a whirlwind wedding, but Dominic assures me it can be done.”
Nicole and Maddy left their seats to hug Abby.
Lil noticed that Zhang’s expression remained carefully polite. She neither accepted nor declined the request.
Abby walked over to where Lil was sitting and asked, “Lil, will you be my maid of honor?”
The room spun behind her and Lil suddenly felt sick. She didn’t know anything about high-class weddings and assuming that type of responsibility sounded like a recipe for disaster. Lil shook her head with uncertainty. “I don’t know.”
Abby’s hurt expression tore at Lil, especially when her sister pleaded, “You’re my sister, Lil. I love you. Say you’ll stand beside me that day.”
I’ve done more than enough damage already. The closer Lil got to her sister and her future brother in law, the more that went wrong. Abby would be better off choosing any of the other women at the table. Panic temporarily overwhelmed her. Lil stood, her chair toppling behind her, and said, “I can’t.”
Giving in to a true moment of cowardice, Lil ran from the stunned expressions on the faces of everyone at the table.
Dominic leaned forward, one hand clenching on the table and the other pointing across the table at Jake. “This is your fault. Fix it,” he ordered.
Jake folded his arms across his chest. “Your family. You fix it.”
Dominic left his spot at the head of the table and strode toward Jake. “It’s going to be your family, too, if you know what is good for you.”
Surging from his seat, Jake met his friend half way. “Or what? What are you going to do, Dominic? Hit me? Try it.”
Abby sprinted toward them, but Mrs. Duhamel stopped her with a hand on one of her arms before she reached them. “They need to settle this themselves, Abby,” she said.
Dominic swung at Jake’s jaw, but Jake avoided the hit and landed one of his own in Dominic’s abdomen. The sound of the breath leaving Dominic was a hiss in an otherwise silent room.
Jake addressed the doubled over Dominic. “I’m tired of pandering to your colossal ego. I don’t work for you and we both know that.”
Dominic growled and flew at Jake, landing a hit that sent Jake back a few feet. “And I’m tired of you talking to me like I wouldn’t have a company without you.”
Rubbing his quickly swelling jaw, Jake shoved Dominic backwards, toppling the serving table beneath his weight. “You wouldn’t.”
The fists flew faster, leaving no time for words. It only slowed only when both men’s faces were swollen and they were holding their sides.
Dominic wiped blood from the corner of his mouth, and actually laughed. “I had no idea you had it in you.”
Jake bent over, hands on his thighs, his breathing a bit labored from pain. “It felt surprisingly good.”
Mrs. Duhamel made a tsk sound with her mouth and said, “Are you boys through, now?”
Dominic looked at the older woman with a bit of chagrin. “You know he had that coming, Marie.”
Marie nodded. “I know.” To Jake, she said, “You did.”
Jake conceded with one nod. “So did he.”
Marie smiled. “No one is questioning that, Jake. But now you two need to make up so our poor Abby can enjoy her engagement party.”
As usual, she was right.
Jake held out a hand. “Truce?”
Dominic shook it but added, “You’re still marrying Lil.”
Abby stepped forward at that. “What did you say, Dom?”
Dominic said, “He heard me.”
; Abby clarified her question. “I heard you, too, but why would you say that?”
Dominic returned to his place at the head of the table and said unhappily, “Our plan to get the two of them together worked a bit too well.”
Abby looked quickly at the door her sister had departed through and exclaimed, “That’s why she’s so confused this weekend.”
Nicole added, “Poor thing.”
Dominic placed his napkin decisively on his lap as if doing so would bring an end to the conversation. “Don’t worry, Jake is going to rectify the situation.”
Abby stood behind Dominic’s chair and put a hand on one of his shoulders. “Don’t make things worse, Dom.”
He scowled up at her.
She touched his cheek lightly and his expression softened. She said, “You can’t force Jake. No one wants to marry a man who doesn’t want to marry her.”
Jake returned to his own place at the table and said, “I never said I didn’t want to marry her.”
All eyes turned to him.
Jake shrugged. “Well, I didn’t.”
Stephan’s aunt, Elise, said, “Isn’t it amazing that men and women get together at all?”
Jake continued, “I even asked her to move in with me, but she said no. Now she won’t even talk to me. ”
Abby said, “I’ll go find her.” She wagged a finger at Dominic. “Behave while I’m gone.”
He simply smiled up at her and she hesitated.
Stephan’s mother, Katrine, said, “Go on, Abby. We’ve got this.” She turned to her sister-in-law. “Elise, doesn’t this bring back memories?”
Her husband, Victor, laughed and asked, “Were we this bad?”
Elise threw both hands in the air and joked, “Worse.”
Stephan sighed and said, “Makes me almost wish I had a brother.” When both Dominic and Jake aggressively jumped to their feet, he quickly dissolved the tension by raising his two hands in an amused call for peace. “Almost.”
They sat somewhat reluctantly.
Nicole said, “Zhang left the table, too. Do you think we upset her?”
Katrine said wryly, “I don’t know what she could have seen that would make a sane person reconsider having dinner with us.”
Nicole smiled and laid her hand on her fiancé’s. “At least we know the wedding won’t be boring.”
Dominic looked across the table at Jake and asked, “Best man?”
Jake dabbed a napkin into his glass of water and pressed it to a cut on his cheek. “Absolutely.”
Lil slipped out a side door and onto a balcony that overlooked one of the main gardens. To her surprise, it was already occupied. “I’m sorry,” she said hastily. “I just couldn’t stay in there a moment more.”
“Nor could I,” Zhang answered.
Lil moved to leave and Zhang said, “Your sister is a wonderful woman. I now proudly count her as one of my friends.”
Lil heard something in the woman’s voice that gave her pause. She turned and walked back to where Zhang was seated on a bench. “But you don’t want to be in her bridal party.”
“Precisely.” Zhang motioned for Lil to join her. “Is there a customary way to decline the honor without either side losing face?”
Lil sat on the bench beside her. “If you hear of one, tell me. I don’t want to be in it either.”
A look of surprise crossed over the woman’s face, just a brief flash before she regained her composure. “That’s surprising.”
Lil shook her head sadly. “Not really. If Abby is smart she’ll choose someone better suited. I’m a walking disaster.”
“That’s not the way Abby described you.”
“Really?” Lil heard the hope in her voice and was somewhat embarrassed by it.
Zhang’s tone warmed. “Abby and I have spoken about you on several occasions. She said you were born with your mother’s spirit–quite the warrior soul. She admires your strength.”
“I didn’t know there was a thing about me that she approved of,” Lil said, surprised and moved by Zhang’s words.
Zhang didn’t let Lil’s side comment slide by without rebuttal.“Then you don’t know your sister very well. She also envies your circle of friends. She said you collect people who would do anything for you.”
“I’ve always been very lucky with that.”
“Friendship is not a result of luck, it’s a testament to our character. You inspire loyalty in your friends because you’ve earned it.”
“I don’t know how.”
Zhang considered her and said, “An eagle will never swim as well as a dolphin. The eagle’s potential will only be realized when it decides to soar instead of dive.”
Lil cocked her head thoughtfully. “You think I’m trying to be Abby?”
“You tell me.”
Lil thought about how she’d always wished she were more like Abby. How, even at their parents’ funeral, Abby had seemed able to make better decisions. She hadn’t cried too long at the caskets, hadn’t refused to meet relatives who had flown in from around the country and definitely hadn’t thrown a bowl of candies at someone who had dared to try to console her.
No, right from the start Abby had been the better person.
Or, at the very least, the less controversial one.
Oh, my God, I’ve been trying to be Abby.
And hating her because I couldn’t be.
“Did Abby really say I was like my mother?”
Zhang smiled. “She did. Did you know that your mother was arrested for participating in a war protest?”
Lil’s jaw dropped open. “No. I’ve never heard that story.”
“Apparently your mother’s fighting heart got her into a few tricky situations–some even involving the law.”
That’s not possible.
“I don’t remember my mother being anything but warm and loving.”
“Your sister has been going through some of your parents’ old papers and was equally surprised by some of what she found. I’m sure she would love to show you the newspaper clippings if you were interested.”
“I am. I can’t believe my mother was ever arrested. She was so...perfect.”
Zhang gave a rueful smile. “The heart remembers people kindly, but no one is perfect. I’ve heard about some of your adventures and I admire your spirit. You stand up for those you care about. You say what you think, no matter the cost. Those are qualities I respect. You should, too.” The simplicity and power of Zhang’s comment hung in the reflective quiet that followed them.
Ok, so I’ll never be Abby, but if Zhang was right–maybe I don’t have to be.
“I’ve wasted a lot of time second guessing myself,” Lil said, marveling at how comfortable she felt sharing her greatest concern with someone she didn’t know. Or perhaps it was simply because she didn’t know Zhang that she could say what she had tried to conceal from even herself.
Zhang shrugged. “I didn’t get where I am today by never making a mistake.”
Maybe I’ll be a good mother after all and this year will simply be newspaper clipping my kids will laugh about. “Thank you, Zhang. I can’t tell you how much you’ve helped me.”
Zhang nodded, still looking far too solemn.
Her unhappiness was none of Lil’s business.
This was exactly the type of crossroad Lil felt she often made the wrong decision at.
Things would go much smoother if she didn’t get involved.
I’ve never really been the one to take the easy road, maybe it’s time to embrace that about myself.
“Why don’t you want to be in the wedding?” Lil asked.
The same woman who had freely discussed Lil’s personal life did not seem as willing to reveal anything about her own. “I’m not exactly the American wedding type.”
“You don’t want to drink too much while dressed from head-to-toe in mauve taffeta and wake up the next morning wondering why you French kissed your best friend’s brother?”
Zhang didn’t so m
uch as crack a smile.
Tough crowd.
“Something like that,” Zhang said.
“Why do I get the feeling you’ve never done that?”
That did get Zhang to smile.
“I haven’t either.” At Zhang’s raised eyebrow, Lil admitted, “Okay, once…maybe twice.”
Zhang shook her head in amusement.
Lil defended herself with humor. “Hey, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. Something about weddings makes me a little nutty.”
The other woman’s smile slipped away. “Weddings make me sad.”
Now, we’re getting somewhere.
“Is that the reason you don’t want to be in Abby’s?”
Zhang didn’t respond for a moment. Instead, she took in the night sky as if no response were anticipated. Finally, she said, “I’m the woman I wanted to become. I have more than I could have ever imagined. I’ve done more than I ever dreamt I could. But I’m alone.”
It was difficult for Lil to imagine that a woman as confident and beautiful as Zhang wouldn’t have a man in her life. The real sadness in her voice hinted at a level of loneliness more profound than a romantic dry spell.
“Don’t you have a family?” Lil asked.
“Yes, of course. My parents often join me in whichever home I am using at the time, but I go to sleep alone. I wake up alone. When I close on a deal and want to celebrate I can call friends who wonder how much money will be enough for me, parents who think it’s time for me to concentrate on finding a husband, or keep the news to myself. I often choose the latter.” Zhang’s intense black eyes revealed a pain Lil was certain the woman had not shared with many. “Your sister tells me that you won’t accept anyone’s help because you want to be independent. Be careful what you wish for. Sometimes it’s not everything you thought it would be.”
Lil thought about Jake. She’d been afraid that she would lose herself if she accepted any help from him but, looking back, Jake had consistently shown her that he valued her interests and her goals. It would have been easy for a man of his wealth to dismiss her desire to finish her degree, but he hadn’t. Another man might have asked to see one of her sketches and buried her beneath a deluge of flattery that would have meant nothing, but Jake hadn’t done that either. He had respected the desire every artist has to learn and improve. Her gut told her that Jake wouldn’t make her choose–she could still be a strong, independent woman and be his.