Chapter 1
It was mid-afternoon on a particularly sunny, mild April day. Susan was busy with the fondue fixings she was setting up for their little party with the Kozels that evening. The blender was whirring away on the chocolate sauce for dessert. Susan was up to her pretty elbows in grated cheese. Just as she turned to drop a one-cup measure into the sink, the phone rang, startling her. She spun around, flipping her flowing, dark brown hair into the dishwater. She stumbled over a Tupperware bowl which had fallen to the floor during the cooking exercise. She only managed to keep her feet by grabbing the phone fixture on the wall.
"Uh...hello?"
"Susan? It's Ashley!"
"Ashley! How've you been? School should be pretty much over now, shouldn't it?" Susan's cousin and erstwhile kid sister, three years younger, was finishing graduate school in June.
"Not soon enough for me! Guess what!"
"What do you mean, guess what?"
"Craig and I are getting married!"
"What? When? When did all this happen?" Ashley and Craig, Susan knew, had been dating on and off since they were seniors in high school. Her uncle Bart had never liked the guy, but then, uncle Bart thought everyone who got close to the family was only after money. Everyone that is, except her Jack, who Uncle Bart had almost hand-picked for her - to Susan's eternal gratitude.
"August fifteenth, about two months after graduation. My buddies here, Teri and Kate and Miki, are in the wedding and I want you to be a bridesmaid too. Will you do it?"
Susan hesitated for only a moment - too short, really, for Ashley to notice the pause. "Of course I'll do it, Silly. What do your Mom and Dad think?"
The chit chat continued for another ten minutes, then Susan asked about the particulars.
"Mom wants this to be a whole summer-long affair, with showers and teas and dinners and parties. I really, really, really need you to be here for the whole time, from June through August." Susan started to protest, but Ashley cut her off. "Don't worry, Daddy will pay for Jack to come up every weekend he wants to, and we're giving each of the bridesmaids a vacation for two to Bali as a present from me. So with a couple months of your time, you'll get a great summer and a great vacation out of it. Plus, I really want you here. Please, please!"
"It's not that, Ashley, it's just that I don't want to be away from Jack for most of the summer. That’s why I got married – to be with my husband." She paused in thought, remembering all her uncle and aunt had done for her since her parents died. She owed them big-time and especially couldn't disappoint her aunt. Sighing heavily with her hand over the speaker so Ashley couldn’t hear, she finally said, "but I'll figure out something; I’ll work it out so I can be there the whole time."
"That's great! We'll plan to see you in June."
"OK, bye for now."
"Bye ... Oh … Susan … don't forget our deal."
The phone clicked off before Susan could ask, "What deal?"
She was swirling a strawberry in chocolate sauce about seven hours later when the deal came home to her.
"Oh my God!" she exclaimed. "Jack, I remember what the deal was now!"
"What? Oh, Susan, I didn't know that was bothering you."
"It wasn't, but I suddenly remembered it." Claudia Kozel stared at her as Susan reached reflexively to pull her hair around her shoulders, a heavy bunch of it in her right hand. She rested her chin in her hands, pushing the hair up to her mouth. "Remember, Jack, when we got engaged, I asked Ashley to be a bridesmaid. At that time, Ashley was a little wild and had short, weird, spiked hair – pink and black as I recall - and dressed in all black clothes. My aunt told her she would have to straighten out her appearance to be in the wedding, and my aunt wouldn't give her a choice anyway."
"Yeh, so what?"
"Well, Ashley had always worn her hair short and didn't have any interest at all in growing it out for the year and a half before our wedding."
"So how did
It was mid-afternoon on a particularly sunny, mild April day. Susan was busy with the fondue fixings she was setting up for their little party with the Kozels that evening. The blender was whirring away on the chocolate sauce for dessert. Susan was up to her pretty elbows in grated cheese. Just as she turned to drop a one-cup measure into the sink, the phone rang, startling her. She spun around, flipping her flowing, dark brown hair into the dishwater. She stumbled over a Tupperware bowl which had fallen to the floor during the cooking exercise. She only managed to keep her feet by grabbing the phone fixture on the wall.
"Uh...hello?"
"Susan? It's Ashley!"
"Ashley! How've you been? School should be pretty much over now, shouldn't it?" Susan's cousin and erstwhile kid sister, three years younger, was finishing graduate school in June.
"Not soon enough for me! Guess what!"
"What do you mean, guess what?"
"Craig and I are getting married!"
"What? When? When did all this happen?" Ashley and Craig, Susan knew, had been dating on and off since they were seniors in high school. Her uncle Bart had never liked the guy, but then, uncle Bart thought everyone who got close to the family was only after money. Everyone that is, except her Jack, who Uncle Bart had almost hand-picked for her - to Susan's eternal gratitude.
"August fifteenth, about two months after graduation. My buddies here, Teri and Kate and Miki, are in the wedding and I want you to be a bridesmaid too. Will you do it?"
Susan hesitated for only a moment - too short, really, for Ashley to notice the pause. "Of course I'll do it, Silly. What do your Mom and Dad think?"
The chit chat continued for another ten minutes, then Susan asked about the particulars.
"Mom wants this to be a whole summer-long affair, with showers and teas and dinners and parties. I really, really, really need you to be here for the whole time, from June through August." Susan started to protest, but Ashley cut her off. "Don't worry, Daddy will pay for Jack to come up every weekend he wants to, and we're giving each of the bridesmaids a vacation for two to Bali as a present from me. So with a couple months of your time, you'll get a great summer and a great vacation out of it. Plus, I really want you here. Please, please!"
"It's not that, Ashley, it's just that I don't want to be away from Jack for most of the summer. That’s why I got married – to be with my husband." She paused in thought, remembering all her uncle and aunt had done for her since her parents died. She owed them big-time and especially couldn't disappoint her aunt. Sighing heavily with her hand over the speaker so Ashley couldn’t hear, she finally said, "but I'll figure out something; I’ll work it out so I can be there the whole time."
"That's great! We'll plan to see you in June."
"OK, bye for now."
"Bye ... Oh … Susan … don't forget our deal."
The phone clicked off before Susan could ask, "What deal?"
She was swirling a strawberry in chocolate sauce about seven hours later when the deal came home to her.
"Oh my God!" she exclaimed. "Jack, I remember what the deal was now!"
"What? Oh, Susan, I didn't know that was bothering you."
"It wasn't, but I suddenly remembered it." Claudia Kozel stared at her as Susan reached reflexively to pull her hair around her shoulders, a heavy bunch of it in her right hand. She rested her chin in her hands, pushing the hair up to her mouth. "Remember, Jack, when we got engaged, I asked Ashley to be a bridesmaid. At that time, Ashley was a little wild and had short, weird, spiked hair – pink and black as I recall - and dressed in all black clothes. My aunt told her she would have to straighten out her appearance to be in the wedding, and my aunt wouldn't give her a choice anyway."
"Yeh, so what?"
"Well, Ashley had always worn her hair short and didn't have any interest at all in growing it out for the year and a half before our wedding."
"So how did
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