one of the first weddings Heather had catered when she first came to work at Bookwalter’s.
“I wish,” said Mary.
“Hmmmm, could be tough, wanna talk about it?”
Mary hesitated. She had promised Chad to keep quiet about the real reason had spent so much money until tonight when they both had spent a day to cool down.
“It’s my husband,” said Mary.
“Of course it’s your husband,” said Heather with a sympathetic look. “Give Auntie Heather all the dirty details. What did he do this time?”
“Well,” Mary said and then hesitated. She had promised. “Chad bought a truck!”
“You guys need a truck?”
“No!” said Mary angrily. “He is also going to buy a boat. He says he needs the truck to tow it.”
“You guys had a boat for a while. Me and the ex went out on the river with you several times.”
Heather’s winemaker ex-husband had found the love of his life, or so he claimed and had left her, leaving a nasty divorce and three kids in his wake. The object of his affections was twenty-six year old buxom blond whose hair color came out of a bottle.
“It could be worse,” said Heather with a smile. “You can shoot your hubby’s mistress and nobody will arrest you.”
Mary laughed. That had been one of Heather’s fondest wishes right after her husband left. They had discussed it over more than one bottle of wine and had come to the conclusion that her ex and his ‘true love’ deserved each other.
“You don’t know how much work a boat is though,” said Mary. Then she rattled on about how much berthing space cost, what licensing hoops you had to jump through, and all the gritty details about keeping the hull sound. These had been all of Chad’s reasons for selling their first boat and gave her something to say while she gathered her wits.
“What do they say about the difference between men and boys?” asked Heather impishly.
“The price of their toys,” said Mary with resignation.
“Right, Chad is a good guy. You’re lucky his midlife crisis includes a truck and a boat, not a high school drop out with the finest breasts money can buy.”
That did help Mary, even though the actual purchase wasn’t correct. Chad was a good guy. He just overanalyzed things. That was his job. After he calmed down, she thought, we can see about selling the junk Dave had bought or was going to buy and getting some of the money back. Chad’s salary was good and so was Mary’s, they would come out alright.
Between Mary and Heather, they started putting out the brush fires and getting the day rolling. The Chef was found with a flat tire and retrieved, a few terse words to the rest of the cook staff got them moving and they were open on time. Things moved on normally until they were beginning to receive guests for the wedding.
Mary was working on the final figures for the reception when Heather stuck her head into Mary’s office.
“We have a drunken father of the bride,” said Heather breathlessly.
“Drunk belligerent?” asked Mary as she got out of her chair and grabbed her cell phone. She hated to call the cops unless it was absolutely necessary. It spoiled the celebration.
“Drunk peculiar,” said Heather.
“Great!” said Mary rolling her eyes.
They made their way into the great room. A large plump man in a tux with the tie open and a couple of stains on the jacket, was at the buffet eating shrimp. He was tan the way that comes from a tanning booth or bathing in Nutella. Despite that, he looked an unhealthy pale underneath the tan and was sweating profusely. A small bird-like woman was trying ineffectually to get him away from the buffet.
“Daniel, please, at least wait until the guests arrive!” said the mother of the bride.
“Nonsense, Martha, I paid for this food. These really are good too,” he said grabbing two more.
“Pardon me Mr. Wilson,” said Mary in her best customer voice. “If you are hungry, I can get you seated in the Bistro right away for a quick meal.