The Cinderella List (16 page)

“S
he was nicer than I expected her to be,” Lucy said the next morning, as they cleared up the detritus left from the party. “Sabrina, I mean.”

“Maybe we’ve only seen her at her worst,” Marlo said, as she filled a recycling bin with plastic soda bottles. “She was softer last night, more real.”

“She didn’t leave Jake’s side for most of the evening.”

“I wouldn’t either, if he were my boyfriend.”

Lucy sat down and put her elbows on the counter. “It hurts, doesn’t it? Are you going to tell him how you feel?”

“Call me crazy, but I won’t risk breaking up a relationship.” The way Marlo saw it, if God wanted Jake and her together, He would make it happen. And if He didn’t want it, she didn’t either, no matter how much it hurt right now.

“You’re too good for your own good,” Lucy muttered, as she piled flatware and glasses into the dishwasher. “No, I take that back. I’m in awe. You’re stronger than any other woman I know.”

“Once she let her hair down, Sabrina was actually fun.” Marlo scrubbed at a pan. “I can see why she and Jake are comfortable
together. They know each other so well. I suppose that happens when you practically grow up together.”

“You are much more charitable than I would be.”

Charitable? She wasn’t charitable, only obedient…
We love the children of God, when we love God and obey His commandments.

Marlo felt compelled to be gracious to Sabrina, and the nicer she was, the easier it had become. Another one of God’s lessons. Love begets love. What God hadn’t done was offer Jake to her on a silver platter. Instead, what He’d asked of her was to wait for His timing. All she could do was wait for whatever He had planned next.

Her afternoon free, Marlo decided it was a good time to visit Cammi at the rehabilitation wing of the hospital.

Marlo took the elevator to the third floor, but it was not Cammi she found in the room. Sabrina sat in a vinyl recliner, staring vacantly out the window at the parking lot.

At least it looked a little like Sabrina. The makeup-free blonde woman with her hair pulled back in a ponytail, wearing tattered jeans and a lime-green blouse, was hunched forward with a vacant expression on her face.

“Sabrina?” Marlo ventured, stepping into the room. “Where’s Cammi?”

Sabrina jumped, startled, as if her thoughts had been far away. “She’s in the swimming pool. The therapist says she’s really responding to it. They may let her go home tomorrow, and do therapy on an outpatient basis.”

A good-looking young man who’d been sitting in a chair in the far corner jumped to his feet. He had light brown hair, stylishly cut, and a kind face. “I think I’ll go downstairs and pick up a paper, Brina. I’ll be back. Do you want anything?”

“No, thanks, Randy,” Sabrina said absently. Marlo noticed how surprisingly young and vulnerable she looked.

“I’ve been really scared for her.” Sabrina touched her finger to her cheek. “So scared I get up in the morning and come here without even putting makeup on. I must look a mess.”

“You look beautiful,” Marlo said, and meant it.

“You’re always so nice.” Sabrina’s lips softened into a smile. “Sometimes I wonder why.”

Marlo pulled up a chair across from her. “What do you mean by that?”

“I haven’t exactly greeted you with open arms, but you’ve never been less than polite and friendly.” Sabrina tucked her feet onto the seat of the chair and wrapped her arms around her knees. “I couldn’t have done that. I even asked Jake about it.”

Marlo felt a nervous trill run through her. “What did he say?”

“Something about your policy of ‘turning the other cheek.’ He said it was in the Bible.”

“I see.”

“Jake is a Christian man,” Sabrina informed Marlo. “He doesn’t talk about it much, at least not around his father, who thinks faith is just another name for hocus-pocus, but it’s important to him. He says you’re a Christian, too. That’s why he understands you so well.”

“Do you and Jake talk about a lot of things like that?”

Sabrina smiled, amused. “I’ve known Jake all my life. It’s difficult to not cover a lot of territory in that time.”

“You care for him a great deal, don’t you?” Marlo couldn’t help but say it. It was so obvious to her from the way Sabrina said Jake’s name and the look she had in her eyes when she talked about him.

“I love him with all my heart. You’ve threatened me since day one,” Sabrina added candidly, surprising Marlo with her honesty. “Randall and Alfred have always talked about how wonderful it would be if the Randalls and the Dorchesters could be one big, happy family. For that to happen, Jake and I would have to
marry.” She looked appraisingly at Marlo. “But I see how much he likes you. He thinks you are funny, sweet and beautiful.” She tugged thoughtfully at the casual ponytail she wore. “He’s always preferred brunettes like you to blondes like me. But the one time I decided to darken my hair, he hated it on me.”

“I don’t know what to say,” Marlo admitted.

“You don’t have to say anything. I just felt like telling you, that’s all. Cammi’s accident has shown me that life is short. I can’t wait around for things that might not happen, and there’s no point being anything but honest.”

“I’d never get between you and Jake if you were planning to marry. Never. I can promise you that.”

“How can you be so sure?” Sabrina’s eyes narrowed and suspicion flooded her expression.

“I was engaged to a man I loved with all my heart. Before we married, I discovered that he was seeing someone else. I promised myself then and there that I would not do to another woman what was done to me. It’s as simple as that. You have nothing to fear from me.”

“I’m not sure it matters anymore.” Sabrina unfolded her knees and stretched.

“What do you mean?”

“Even if you never come between us physically, Jake has changed since he met you. A lot.”

“I’ll quit volunteering at the stables,” Marlo said, her determination underscored by this bit of information. “He’ll forget about me quickly enough.”

“See?” Sabrina said, waving a finger in Marlo’s face. “That’s why I like you, even if I don’t want to. You are generous to a fault.” She smiled faintly. “And your generosity brings out my flaws.”

“I’m not the family choice for Jake,” Marlo said wryly. “You
are. Randall barely tolerates me. I know he thinks I’m treading on your territory.”

“There you go again, making me like you when I don’t want to,” Sabrina said almost morosely.

Marlo had to smile. She understood perfectly. The feeling was mutual.

Before either of them could say more, Cammi returned to the room in a wheelchair pushed by her therapist, and her face lit with pleasure at the sight of two of her favorite people.

Only two days later, the sight that met Marlo as she drove into the farmyard made her gasp with delight. Cammi, dressed in a riding habit, was with her grandfather and gazing up at one of the therapy horses.

“I want to ride Feather, Grandpa,” Cammi was saying, when Marlo neared. “I don’t know this horse.”

“This is therapy, Cammi. Feather will have to wait until you are stronger. I don’t want you to take a tumble.”

“Feather wouldn’t let that happen. She practically saved me when I got sick. You told me so. She stood perfectly still for me.” Cammi thrust her lower lip out to make a little pink shelf. Then she saw Marlo and the pout disappeared. “Marlo!”

“Hi, honey.” Marlo hugged her. “I’m so glad I’m here to see your first ride.”

“It’s baby stuff,” Cammi said disdainfully.

“Give it a try anyway. Humor us.”

Cammi turned at the sound of Jake’s voice. A beautiful smile broke across her features. “Uncle Jake!”

He gathered Cammi in his arms and the three of them were laughing together about the ribbon Cammi wanted woven into Feather’s tail.

This was an answered prayer.

L
ucy was lying on the couch in the Divas’ small, carpeted office when Marlo arrived at work.

“Didn’t you go home last night?” Marlo offered a hand and pulled her friend to her feet.

“I meant to. At ten o’clock, when I was about to leave, Angela called. Now she’s considering pork tenderloin with stuffing, and cheesy potatoes, plus vegetarian lasagna for the vegans. She’s also asked for a coffee bar, so that people can have exactly what they want at the reception. I told her caffeinated and decaf were enough but, no, she says we should offer mochas, lattes, cappuccinos and a variety of teas. Now we’ve got to find a barista to deal with that.”

Lucy eyed Marlo speculatively. “And she wants to know the name of your date, for the place cards. The calligrapher is getting anxious about not having all the names.”

“Lucy, when you marry, promise that you won’t do this to me?”

“Are you kidding? My idea of wedding food is hot dogs on the grill and a sundae bar with endless ice cream.” She yawned widely and stretched her arms over her head. “Angela says she’s been trying to call you for days to find out who your date will be. Will you please turn your cell phone back on?”

“That’s the very reason I don’t have my cell phone on—I don’t have a date. Everyone I know is married.” She’d considered everyone, from the postman to the cute guy that delivered the produce. Then she’d tried to think of someone she knew from church or the gym, all to no avail.

Marlo sank onto a stool. “Maybe I’ll have to hire someone to take me,” she said gloomily.

“Why don’t you just ask Jake?”

“It’s not a good idea, Lucy. I’m playing with fire when I’m around him. I like him too much, and he belongs to Sabrina.”

“You have volunteered untold hours for his project at Hammond Stables. The way I see it, he
owes
you something.”

“I didn’t do it for payback, Lucy.” But she was desperate, and it was tempting. Maybe she could consider asking Jake to escort her, if she viewed it like her time at the stables—a gift she wanted to give, a positive contribution to another’s life.

She saw a bowl of rising bread dough Lucy had started sometime before dawn sitting on the counter. Marlo punched her entire fist into the bowl and with great satisfaction watched the air leak out and the dough sink to the bottom of the dish. How had she gotten herself into such a mess?

After a day of preparation for Angela’s wedding, Marlo went home early. She hadn’t been in the house more than a few minutes when an unanticipated surprise arrived on her doorstep. A tall woman with short-cropped hair, in a pair of stylish jeans, an oversize white shirt and enough turquoise jewelry to anchor a rowboat, opened her arms and squealed at the sight of Marlo.

“Aunt Tildy! What are you doing here?”

The exotic-looking woman matched Marlo’s height inch for inch, and she was thin as a willow. She dropped her suitcase on the porch and flung her arms around her niece, enveloping her
in a haze of Chanel No. 5, Tildy’s signature scent. “You’re more beautiful than ever!”

“I look just like you, remember?” Marlo’s voice was muffled, buried as she was in her aunt’s shoulder.

“Then you are exquisite, darling.” Tildy released her. “Are you going to ask me in?” She sailed through the door, leaving her suitcase outside.

Laughing, Marlo picked it up and followed her aunt into the house. “This is an unexpected surprise. I thought you were off on a photo shoot in Africa or having sno-cones at the North Pole.”

“Don’t I wish! But I’ve done the next best thing and come here.”

“What if I hadn’t been home?” Tildy’s unfortunate impulsiveness had been one of her genetic gifts to Marlo.

“You’re always at home, darling, or at the kitchen. You work so hard that I knew you’d never go too far afield. Besides, I wanted to visit my lawn ornaments. They look very nice in your yard.” Tildy moved through the house like a fresh breeze, touching trinkets she’d given Marlo over the years. “And if you weren’t home, I’d go to Jenny’s. That dear girl is practically afraid to leave house. How’s sweet little Brady these days?”

“He’s a love, as usual. Can I get you something? Tea? I’ve got a coffee cake.”

When they were seated at Marlo’s kitchen table, Tildy leaned her elbows on the table and stared into Marlo’s eyes, ones much like her own. “Now tell me what’s wrong.”

“Who said anything was wrong?” Marlo filled two mugs with a Colombian brew.

“I have known you since the day of your birth. You stayed with me for weeks every summer. And much to your parents’ dismay, we have similar personalities. You’re sad. It’s written all over your face.”

Marlo might be able to keep something from Jenny or Jake, but with Tildy, it was useless. She might as well spill it all now, because her aunt would pry it out of her anyway. “I’m exhausted. My partner, Lucy, and I are catering a very big wedding next weekend. The bride is a friend of ours and she’s very particular. I’m afraid Lucy might murder her before the wedding starts if she changes the menu one more time.”

“And…” Tildy beckoned her to continue.

“I’m one of Angela’s bridesmaids, and I have no idea how I can be in two places at once. Plus, the bride
insists
I bring a date, and I’ve run out of single men to invite.”

“So your business is booming, you don’t have enough help, you’re in that always-a-bridesmaid, never-a-bride mood and there is no man in you life. No wonder you’re blue! I arrived just in time to help you through this.”

Marlo doubted that even Tildy could sort out the mess her life was becoming.

They began their two-woman slumber party even before nightfall. Tildy wore her shimmering, salmon-colored silk pajamas and slip-on mules with feathers. Marlo, not even attempting to match her aunt’s glamour, put on a pair of oversize boxer shorts and a Minnesota Gophers sweatshirt. On the coffee table, she’d placed still-warm caramel corn with peanuts, a jug of iced tea, soft pretzels with honey mustard, beef jerky sticks and a coconut cake she’d had in the freezer.

“I’m glad I inherited your metabolism,” Marlo said offhandedly, as she spooned mustard over a pretzel. “More cake?”

“Later, darling, I must get to the bottom of things before I eat another bite.”

“There is no bottom to get to, Tildy. Trust me. Things are very clear-cut in my life right now.”

“That’s always been the problem with you, Marlo. Some
times you seem blind to shades of gray. Everything is always black and white as far as you’re concerned.”

“This certainly is.” Marlo sighed, put her feet on the puffy footstool and prepared herself to tell Tildy the long, sometimes painful story of her and Jake. When she was done—down to the smallest detail, and including the Cinderella List, her predicament about a date for the wedding and Lucy’s suggestion that she invite Jake—she cut herself a piece of cake the size she usually called “dessert for two” and began to eat.

“That’s it?” Tildy asked.

“Isn’t that enough?” Even coconut cake wasn’t doing it for Marlo tonight. She wondered if there was any mocha ice cream left in the freezer.

“I think Lucy is right. You
should
ask Jake to accompany you to the wedding. Treat it as purely business, a payback for the hours you’ve given him. If there’s nothing between you—or you want to signal that there isn’t—what better way to show him but with a formal business request? Darling, you told me you needed a place-filler, not a Prince Charming, for the wedding. Why
not
ask Jake?”

Why not?
Marlo thought, resigned. According to the List, Jake was her Prince Charming, even though she’d make sure he never knew it. She would invite him just like Lucy and Tilly wanted her to, even though the idea of being with Jake when he wasn’t hers was a little like picking her heart apart one piece at a time.