Page 47 of Beyond Montana's Sky
Ben stepped forward and, with a small bow, crooked his arm.
He’s turned into quite a gentleman.Edith slipped her hand around her son’s arm and squeezed.
He tilted his head toward hers. “Guess we have us some new relatives,” he drawled in a whisper. “Ones we want.”
“Scandalous boy!” But Edith couldn’t have agreed more.
As they followed the bridal couple, she acknowledged people she knew, including smiling and nodding at Cai and the Andersons, hoping she’d have a chance to speak with him later.
Hotel staff moved the flowered archway to the doorway leading from the lobby to the restaurant.
Maggie and Caleb chose to forgo a receiving line because greeting everyone would take an hour. Instead they led the guests into the restaurant.
Behind them, as the people cleared the pews, the male hotel staff descended and maneuvered the heavy wooden benches upstairs, and to shift some to the edges of the lobby to provide seating. Many of the other male guests, seeing the need, stepped into help. Once the pews were cleared away, the men rolled up the Persian carpets to bare the polished wooden floor for dancing and hauled them upstairs.
In the restaurant, the tables were draped in lace with flower bouquets and candles in the centers. In the front, a white brocade settee with a scalloped back in the shape of the top of a heart sat behind the flower-bedecked table for the bride and groom. Tables along the sides held an array of food, urns for beverages, and tableware.
The restaurant wasn’t large enough to seat all the guests, so Caleb served tea instead of a full meal, so some people could eat standing up or sitting on the pews in the lobby. The restaurant cooks prepared hundreds of tea sandwiches, such as watercress, cucumber, and slivered ham, with currant, raisin, and cranberry scones to slather with clotted cream or butter and jam, as well as fruit compotes in small ramekins.
The six-tiered wedding cake on a table towered over the guests. White frosting decorated with scrolls and replicas of orange blossoms covered the rich fruitcake. On either side of the wedding cake sat another—one for the bride and one for the groom. The groom’s cake would feed the attendants, while the bride’s was saved to eat a year later. An array of small treats provided by The Sweet Shop surrounded the cakes—petit fours, shortbread cookies, individual lemon tarts, and chocolate tortes.
Edith was too busy greeting people, introducing the Boston relatives to the more illustrious guests, and making sure the bride and groom were taken care of, to eat more than a few bites of food. From time to time, she saw Cai in the midst of the Andersons but didn’t move in his direction. Nor did he make any attempt to come to her side.Maybe I misread those glances he gave me.The thought stung.
After the bride and groom cut the cake, they moved to the dance floor for their first dance, the “Sleeping Beauty Waltz” by Tchaikovsky. For the reception, Caleb hired a small band from Crenshaw so Elizabeth, Blythe, Sophia, and Kael could dance if they chose.
As they whirled around the floor, Edith nodded in approval. Over the summer, many evenings she’d played the piano so Caleb and Maggie could practice waltzing. Before coming to Sweetwater Springs, Maggie had never learned to dance. The practice sessions also helped Ben hone his skills. Now, the bride and groom performed perfectly, and she glowed with pride.
After the bride and groom’s dance, it was Edith’s turn with her brother, while Ben took a turn with Maggie. When she and Caleb were younger, the two frequently danced together, so now it was easy for them to move and talk through Waldteufel’s “The Skaters’ Waltz.”
“Well, brother, I finally have you married off,” Edith teased.
“I had to wait for the right one.” He smiled and glanced over at Maggie, laughing with Ben. “She’s the most beautiful woman in the world to me.”
“And so she should be.” They whirled around the floor. “I’m truly happy for you, Caleb. May you and Maggie have a wonderful life and make me an aunt many times over.”
He laughed, his expression carefree. “How about afewtimes over?”
“I’ll take as many nieces and nephews as you two will give me.” Regret stabbed that she wouldn’t see those nieces and nephews—or at least not often.
Their dance came to an end. He relinquished her with a bow and kiss on the cheek. “Next comes Aunt Agatha and the Viennese waltzes,” he saidsotto voce.
“I’m sure they’ll be most enjoyable,” she teased.
Edith’s next dance, with Ben, was a pure pleasure—their first time in public. She enjoyed waltzing with a son as tall and handsome as he, with his formal suit and slicked back hair. He was a bit stiff at first, but soon relaxed and grinned at her.In a few years, he’ll be a heartbreaker.
After Edith did her duty waltzes with her Uncle Atticus and then Oscar, she escaped from the dance floor. The hotel staff started circulating with trays holding flutes of champagne and glasses of water and offered her a drink. She was thirsty, so she selected water. Champagne would come later.
Edith glanced over at her aunt and Hermione who’d also finished dancing. Knowing she should do her duty and go converse with them, she sighed. But she just wasn’t interested in hearing them pick apart the ceremony and reception.
On the other hand, seeing the line of men ready to dance with her cousin, Edith decided to leave them alone. Perhaps all the male attention, uncouth though it might be, would do her cousin good.
A man stepped in front of her.Cai!He flashed a grin and bowed. “My lady, I believe you’ve promised me a waltz.” He plucked the glass from her fingers, set it on the empty tray of a passing waiter, and held out a hand.
Edith knew she ought not dance with Cai. He was unlike any man she’d ever known and therefore dangerous in a way she’d never experienced before. He had a devastating effect on her senses and more than a little on her heart.And I’m leaving.
If Edith were wise, she’d simply remove herself from Cai’s presence. After all, she had plenty of excuses—a task to do, someone she needed to talk to, or a waltz promised to another.
But as the strains of Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake Waltz” started, instead, foolishly, joyously, she gave Cai her hand and allowed him to lead her to the dance floor.
