Page 5 of Red Mountain Burning
3
Size Eight
“Iknow as well as anyone that a second wedding isn’t supposed to be as big,” Margot Pierce told her sweet terrier mutt, Philippe. “But you know what? I don’t care. My first wedding was a billion years ago, and I can barely remember it. Remi Valentine is the love of my life, and I intend to have a befitting ceremony.”
The winds of March had finally slowed, and April had brought the warm and teasing days of spring, reminding Margot of why she’d left everything behind in Vermont to open a bed and breakfast—or inn, as she most often called it—on the other side of the country.
Philippe was in the center of her plush, white comforter, watching her put away clothes, his head moving back and forth as though he were sitting center court at a tennis match. Margot was taking her midmorning break to get caught up before returning to her inn for the rest of the day. Now that the season had started again, she was booked almost every night—which was great for the business plan and not so great for her personal life.
As she held and folded a pair of her fiancé’s boxers, she found herself giddy at the idea of second chances and doing this wedding the right way. Remi had proposed in such grand fashion on the stage behind Lacoda, and she wanted their small wedding to be equally magical.
Margot already had her list of bridesmaids. They weren’t inviting many out-of-town guests, but Margot’s best friend, Erica, who lived in Vermont, was definitely first on the list and would serve as maid of honor. Joan, Emilia, and Adriana would also be included, as well as Remi’s estranged daughter, if she resurfaced.
As Margot hung a pair of wool pants, she glanced at the neighboring closet, which was full of Remi’s things. “Philippe, I’m still getting used to this whole one-closet thing. I’m happy to share most everything with him, but let’s be honest. I may need more space.”
When she reached the bottom of the basket, Margot set it near the door, approached Philippe on the bed, and leaned over for a kiss. “Come down when you’re ready,mon chou.”
She pulled on a pair of jeans, a flannel shirt, and a sweater. As she was closing her closet door, she couldn’t help but take a look at the stunning antique white wedding dress she and Joan had found on a recent trip to Seattle. It was a form-fitting, size-eight stunner that she somehow needed to fit into by September. A size eight was the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but Margot was determined to lose the necessary weight. Knowing she would have ripped it at the seams, she hadn’t even attempted to try it on before she’d bought it.
A size eight.
Ha!
She’d worn a size eight in college and also toward the end of her marriage, the year she’d committed to winning back her husband by dropping almost every ounce of fat on her body. It was nice to take a sabbatical from eating from time to time, and this was the perfect excuse. A size twelve would have been much more doable. In fact, that’s what Joan had suggested. But when Margot balked, Joan had said, “I’m certainly not going to stand in the way of what will make you happy.”
Margot had thought about Joan’s words a lot lately, but she wasn’t ready to address her body image problems quite yet. Maybeafterthe wedding and honeymoon.
Though she’d done it a million times, Margot counted the months out loud. “May, June, July, August, September. Less than six months.” She’d been exercising (walking with a smattering of jogging) and eating much healthier (no more second helpings), but she needed to do more. She was already dreading the difficulties of her old diet again, the one that had worked back in Vermont, where she ate mostly air and ran far, far away from any refined carbohydrates.Oh, the things we women put ourselves through,she thought.
Margot looked at the lace dress one last time. A bride dreams her whole life of wearing such a work of art. She stuck out a finger. “You’re slipping easily onto my body in September. Believe me. You just wait.”
Saying goodbye to her adorable little doggie, Margot left the bedroom and descended the stairs. It was odd not finding Adriana and Zack at the dining room table, eating their cereal as usual. Margot’s former roommates had moved down to Brooks’s house, where he and Adriana had formed their own family of sorts. Considering that Margot’s fiancé had been living in an Airstream on his gentleman’s farm along the Yakima River, it washewho would have to move to her.
She was delighted to hear Remi burst through the door and announce his presence with his latest silly entrance.
“Honey, I’m a gnome!” He smiled with his bushy black eyebrows. He was tall and burly and spoke with a low, husky voice, but his jokes reminded her how playful he could be.
She rolled her eyes. “You’re such a ding-dong.”
“Oh, I should have rung the bell then.” He pressed an imaginary button in the air. “Ding-dong, the gnome’s home.”
Margot stood on her tiptoes to kiss him. “I forgot to ask you to pick up radishes.”
He was chewing gum, and his breath smelled like cinnamon. “Uh-oh.”
She followed him to the kitchen. He set the cloth bags on the kitchen counter and reached inside. Drawing out a bunch of radishes, he said, “It’s a good thing I’m a mind-reading gnome.”
“Oh, youdidget them,” she said, thinking,That’s the way it should be between lovers. She held up a nearly empty carafe of coffee. “Did you want any more before I pour this out?”
“No, thanks.” Remi produced a box about two feet long and skinny. “I bought you a gift.”
“A bug zapper?” she asked, squishing her face together in insult. “You know I don’t kill bugs.” As a matter of fact, even if Margot found a black widow in her bathtub, she’d go out of her way to capture the pest and escort it back outside.
“That’s just it,” he said, opening the box. “It doesn’t zap them.” Wielding the new toy like a light saber, he said, “It sucks them up gently so you can return them to the wild unharmed.”
Margot curiously took her new toy. “How have I not owned this all along? Sure beats my cup-and-piece-of-paper technique.” Margot kissed him again. “Are you buttering me up for something?”
Remi’s head kicked back. “Nowyou’rethe one reading minds.” His face straightened, growing serious. “I’m not exactly slathering you with butter—though that would be fun—but something has come up. Amber called while I was in the store.”
