Page 35 of Belle Amour

Eleanor and Robert both turned to them with silent, pleading looks on their faces, and Mirabelle hesitated briefly, exchanging a look with Bastian, who didn’t look happy with the idea; she knew he only attended bachelor parties if there was no chance of strippers, but gave a small shrug, letting her know it was up to her. “That sounds lovely,” Mirabelle decided quickly, knowing Eddie’s family would have their backs, and they could miss the Oasis Hot Tub Garden, and the chances that Eddie would have strippers were next to zero. One of the very few things that Bastian and Eddie had in common was how theyviewed strippers after meeting her mother. “Doesn't it, Bast?” She smiled up at Bastian, who nodded reluctantly.

“Wouldn't miss it.” Bastian managed to get out with a stiff smile. “Thanks for the invitation.”

“Well, you're here; you might as well join in on the fun,” Eddie muttered, looking both resentful and relieved they agreed. “Maybe my family will make an effort to join in on the festivities now as well.”

Mirabelle couldn’t help but feel the pang of guilt that struck her. She knew how much Eddie secretly longed for a close relationship with his family like he had growing up, especially with his father. Their relationship began to be repaired when Eddie started dating and then married Mirabelle, but it was clear that all the progress had been reversed since Mirabelle left him. The guilt didn’t last too long because Victor was having none of Eddie’s blatant attempts to pass the blame for their fractured relationship on to them.

“Maybe if you weren't treating us like a bottomless bank account and more like family, we'd be interested in making an effort.” He responded sharply. He looked like he was about to say more, but Francesca laid a calming hand on his arm and gave him a warning look. But she wasn’t letting her son get away with anything, either.

“Your father has a point. I'm waiting for you to ask us to pay for something regarding the parties tomorrow night since you've only asked us to join in on something before you ask us to pay.”

Mirabelle and Bastian exchanged another brief look, and she knew he had the same thought she did because, judging by how Eddie's mouth twisted and guilt once again flashed across his features, he had definitely intended to ask. “No, ofcourse not. The wedding parties take care of the bachelor and bachelorette parties.” He avoided looking directly at anyone as he spoke and seemed to finally notice the driver was trying to Tetris three golf bags and six overnight bags into the trunk of the limo while they talked. “Where are you guys off to, anyway?”

“After yesterday’s fiasco at brunch and your request at breakfast this morning, your mother and I need a break. I’m meeting Wyatt Brinley for a golf game, and Robert and Bastian are joining me while the girls go to a spa in Detroit. Victor explained dismissively as he exchanged a look with Robert and nodded at the driver, who glanced over his shoulder and saw how much the driver was struggling with golf bags and went to help. “We’ll be back tomorrow around noon.”

“Look, Casey’s father pulled out of paying for the rehearsal after the fight yesterday; Dale expects him to pay for his dental bills and said he’d sue if he didn’t,” Eddie explained; there was a faint hint of regret in his voice and Mirabelle could tell he wasn’t very happy that he’d had to ask for more money from them, but there was no hint of an apology anywhere and when he glanced at Mirabelle and Bastian again, the regret quickly morphed into resentment and sadness. “Golfing and the spa, lovely littlefamilyouting.” His tone and expression revealed bitterness and hurt, and Mirabelle almost felt bad for him again. However, once again, it was Eddie's fault that his father tended to exclude him from these activities because Eddie could not do these things sober.

Despite being raised in an old money family in New York City, Eddie and Eleanor maintained that their childhood had been very ordinary. Their parents were the right amount of loving and disciplined, and they were expected to get part-time jobs at sixteen. According to Eleanor, everything had been great until Eddie went to university. He fell in with a groupof trust fund teenagers, including Casey, and became a spoiled brat almost overnight. He was still friends with ninety percent of them, and they had cost him the once close relationship with his family, something he blamed on them, not his attitude or his friends. He’d always had trouble taking accountability for his actions. Eleanor must have felt bad about Eddie’s feelings of abandonment because she sighed and shook her head. “Wyatt is taking them to the Detroit Golf Club. You have a lifetime ban, remember?”

Mirabelle raised her eyebrow in surprise. Nobody had ever been mentioned about Eddie having a lifetime ban somewhere, and she could only assume it happened when Eddie did his undergraduate at the University of Michigan. Eddie didn’t look ashamed, though, quite the opposite, actually; his eyes lit up at the memory, and he let out a chuckle, nodding as his resentment and hurt were seemingly forgotten when he heard where his father was taking Bastian and Robert.

“Right, Zeke's wedding reception. That was priceless.” He laughed again, then pressed his lips together when he saw the looks of disappointment and disgust from his family. “Are you guys still uptight about that? God, it was fifteen years ago.” He scoffed and gave them a sarcastic wave as he turned away. “Have fun. See you all tomorrow night.” He headed back inside, still laughing.

“He's lucky he didn't get us all banned,” Eleanor mumbled as they all climbed aboard the limo. “Idiots.”

“Dare I ask what happened?” Bastian raised an eyebrow as he sat beside Mirabelle. She could see how curious he was and had to admit she was, too. Zeke Lehman was Eddie’s best friend who was married to a woman named Jillian, but she attended their wedding as Eddie’s plus-one at the beginning of their relationship and had no idea that Zeke had been previouslymarried. It hadn’t come up at all in the six years she knew them. She knew Zeke had been disowned after he graduated from university and took his wife's last name after his wedding, but she never knew the story; she just knew that it was a prank that was poorly timed and didn’t land well. When she questioned further, not understanding why a prank would lead to Zeke’s parents disowning him, Eddie just said they overreacted because they were embarrassed, and Zeke was never very close to them anyway.

“Zeke was a member of a very old Jewish family, with whom our family was very close. He and Eddie are best friends and have been since they were in diapers.” Eleanor explained as they all settled in and the car pulled away from the hotel. “Before Eddie went to Columbia Law, he did his undergraduate in Political Science and Public Policy at the University of Michigan because Zeke got into the Genetics and Genomes program there. Zeke met Ann Littman in the last year of his program; she was doing Genetic Counselling, and they shared a couple of classes and started a whirlwind romance that had them get engaged six months in.

“Ann is also Jewish, is absolutely stunning, obviously very smart and from a wealthy family, so both sets of parents immediately gave their blessing and spent a small fortune on their wedding, including having the reception at the Detroit Country Club.” Eleanor glanced at her parents, both of whom were tight-lipped and looking embarrassed, but they gestured for her to finish the story. “Because our families were so close, we were all invited to the wedding. Everything was fairytale-perfect until we got to the reception.”

Eleanor’s cheeks were also pink, and when she hesitated to continue, Robert put his arm around her shoulders and rubbed her upper arm encouragingly. “We don’t know who hadthe idea, but Eddie and the other groomsmen thought it would be hilarious to goosestep into the reception when they arrived, but no one really noticed; people were finding their seats and talking in groups, and they didn’t announce the wedding party, just the bride and groom. When Zeke and Ann reached the head table and sat down, Eddie and another groomsman and member of their friend group, Charlie, got up and pulled a cord, making a giant nazi flag drop down behind the happy, very Jewish couple and their entire families, who both had ancestors killed in concentration camps during the war.”

The car was dead silent for a minute as both Mirabelle and Bastian absorbed the fact that Eddie and his friends had thought it would be funny to pull something so cruel and tasteless. Bastian got his voice back before Mirabelle and let out a low scoff of disgust. “Are you kidding me?”

“I wish she were,” Francesca said sadly as Victor handed her a tissue so she could dab at her eyes. “The room went so silent you could have heard a pin drop. The bride and groom were confused until they turned and saw the flag. Apparently, pulling the cord and having a banner with a picture of Zeke and Ann and the date on it was the original plan, so they had no idea what happened until they saw it.”

“What were their reactions?” Bastian leaned back in his seat, clearly still not sure if he believed what they were telling them. “Obviously, Eddie and Zeke are still friends if Zeke is his best man.”

“Zeke stood up, and at first, we all thought he was going to lose his temper, but then he roared with laughter and high-fived them, congratulating them on getting him back. They had an ongoing prank war, and apparently he caught wind that the groomsman had hired a bunch of strippers for the bachelor party, something he told them not to do because he’d promisedAnn he wouldn’t have them. He called the club they ordered the strippers from and asked them to send male strippers in their place to get them back.” Eleanor explained, her mouth twisting in disgust.

“The bride was in tears and ran from the room, with her family and most of Zeke’s right behind her. Zeke tried to talk to her and explain it was a joke, and he understood why she was upset, but no one meant anything bad by doing it. She gave him a “me or them” ultimatum, and Zeke chose his friends.” Eleanor raised her hands at her sides in an “I don’t understand” gesture. “She had the marriage annulled the next day, and his parents disowned him after they found out that he chose Eddie and the other frat boys over his new wife and his Jewish heritage.”

“Our relationship with the Lehman’s was permanently damaged,” Victor said bitterly. “Forty years of friendship thrown away because my son never grew up.”

Francesca nodded, looking just as sad and bitter as her husband. “They didn't blame us, but they distanced themselves when they found out we didn’t disown Eddie; we cut him off financially but couldn’t bring ourselves to cut him out completely.”

“Ann’s parents were livid and had everyone involved in the prank banned from the club for life. Her father had a lot of pull there, but the club was only too happy to oblige.” Eleanor continued the story. “It was only the heartfelt apologies from Mother and Father and Zeke's parents and a substantial donation to the Zekelman Holocaust Museum from them that kept them from being banned as well.”

“And as you just saw, Eddie – and Zeke, for that matter - still think everyone overreacted, and we’re a bunch of uptight rich people who can’t take a joke.” Victor's voice was tight, and Mirabelle could feel the anger radiating from him. “Of course,they couldn’t, and still can’t, explain what the punchline was and why it was funny and not completely inappropriate and offensive to everyone.”

“Did you know about this?” Bastian asked Mirabelle, and Mirabelle could see the revulsion in his expression. While he wasn’t religious at all and had no contact with his father’s family for years, his paternal grandfather was Jewish, so she could understand why he found that so upsetting.

“No.” Mirabelle shook her head quickly, feeling stomach sick. “I didn’t even know Zeke had been married before; he married a sweet girl named Jillian he’d been with for years when Eddie and I started dating. I went to the wedding as Eddie’s plus one, and Eddie was his best man.”

“She's not that sweet. She was the bride's best friend and was in on the joke.” Eleanor told her gently. “He begged us not to tell you about his past, said he wanted a fresh start, and we agreed to let him have it.”

Chapter Twenty-Four: Bonding Over Golf.

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