The Guest List (18 page)

Shane led Betty and Mick to the kitchen table, where he got them firmly planted in their seats. Her mother stared with distaste at the pamphlets that Cara was doing her best to spread in front of them, as if she was systematically covering their table with rubbish. The confused expressions had not left their faces.

‘I’ll tell you what happened. Remember I was telling you about that wedding we were invited to, my old friend Audrey’s? Well, we went at the weekend, and it was just awful, horrible really. The families were miserable, the groom was drunk and upset and the bride . . . well she was insane, wasn’t she Shane?’ She looked to her fiancé, who nodded in agreement. ‘They’re up to their necks in debt over it and Shane and I know that’s not what we want for our wedding. So we started thinking about what we did want, and this is exactly it. A lovely, intimate beach wedding in a beautiful destination and a small selection of guests and a simple ceremony that will allow us to celebrate with the people we love. And even better – we can all have a holiday afterwards and soak up the sun while we celebrate.’ Cara smiled happily, trying to encourage her parents to share in her excitement. ‘Like I said, I called Danielle and she put me in touch with a contact of hers who gave us a really fantastic rate on a wedding package in this resort. We are getting married in September. September twelfth.’

‘So is Danielle going to be there then?’ Betty asked cagily.

‘Well, yes, of course, I’m sure she will be, especially when the Caribbean is so close for her. Why wouldn’t she be?’

Betty shook her head, and Cara was about to press on, wondering exactly what the problem was with having her older sister at her wedding, when Mick jumped in.

‘Well whatever about Danielle, we can’t go, Cara. Sure we don’t even have passports. How long is the flight to that place anyway? St Lucia – sounds expensive; I’m not sure we can afford to go swanning off somewhere like that.’

Cara’s face fell. So this was how they were going to play it, she thought, feeling wounded. Just a moment ago her father had been ready to write them a blank cheque for a wedding there and then. But now they couldn’t afford plane tickets to cross the Atlantic? She looked again at Shane, who seemed to read her thoughts.

‘Well Mick, like we already said, this won’t cost you a thing,’ he said, putting mugs of tea in front of his future in-laws. ‘As for the passports, there’s plenty of time to get them sorted before we leave. With regard to the plane tickets, well, that’s already taken care of. Here are your booking confirmations, so really, you don’t have to do a thing,’ he continued matter-of-factly, pointing out the airline information. ‘All you will have to do is pack your bags. Easy as that.’

Mick was considering his future son-in-law, looking for a point to argue, when Betty chimed in.

‘September, you said – but that’s only four months away! However do you plan a wedding in only four months? There’s no way we’ll be able to get your dress made in that short a time. Why, it took at least nine for Heidi’s.’ She looked completely perplexed. ‘Although how you are supposed to navigate a great big gown on some beach is beyond me . . .’

Cara shook her head. ‘Don’t worry, I’m not having a dress that is anything like a great big gown, Mum. That’s not my style. And it’s not going to take any length of time to organise a suitable dress either. I can always get one off the rack. Not to mention that I wouldn’t wear a big Cinderella dress in that heat in any case.’

Mick saw his opening. ‘The heat? What do you mean – heat? Now, you know I don’t take the heat well. It’s bad for my arthritis.’

‘And the bugs, what about the bugs?’ Betty chimed in. ‘Swarms of insects, and mosquitoes in places like that, we’d be eaten alive out there, probably all come back with typhoid or malaria or that kind of thing.’ She was beside herself with consternation. ‘Which reminds me, what vaccinations will we to have to get? And what type of food do you get in these places? You know I don’t like strange food. We might all end up with food poisoning . . . can you even drink the water?’

‘Mum, the food will be perfectly lovely and the water is fine,’ Cara said, feeling the beginnings of a headache beneath her temple.

‘Ah this is madness, Cara. Why can’t we just stay here? That way no one will die from dengue fever or diphtheria. Plus, we will have food that everyone is going to like. No one will have to try anything new and no one will get sick from lack of proper sanitation.’

‘Oh Dad, for goodness sakes, St Lucia is not a third-world country. It’s one of the premier islands in the Caribbean. The place is a playground for celebrities – it’s like the French Riviera of that part of the world!’

Mick was unimpressed. ‘Yes, so you say, but you’ve never been there, have you? Fancy brochures are all very fine and well but really, you have no idea what you are getting into.’

‘Well, neither have you. You’ve barely been outside of Ireland,’ Cara retorted bluntly.

‘I bet you can’t even drink the water without spending the rest of the day on the loo.’

‘So drink bottled water then.’ She hated this. Why were they being so difficult?

‘Cara . . .’ Shane put in gently, evidently sensing her distress and trying to calm things down. ‘Mick, honestly, it’s a luxury resort. There won’t be any problems.’

‘Chances are they won’t even speak English out there,’ her mother went on as if Shane hadn’t spoken. ‘How are we supposed to communicate?’

Cara wanted to cry.

‘I can’t believe you’re subjecting us to foreign travel,’ Betty continued with a scowl. ‘And only having family, you say. What will our friends think? Shane, what will your parents think? It’s embarrassing, shameful it is. Running away, leaving the country like you purposely do not want anyone to be around. You are going to be insulting a lot of people. Especially you, Shane, seeing as your family is so well connected. We thought the guest list would be a mile long. And just think, your poor mother will be devastated,’ she bemoaned. ‘Her only son. Getting married on some desert island.’

Shane shook his head. ‘My parents have nothing to do with the matter at hand. It’s not their decision. They will either go along with our wishes, and attend the wedding with smiles on their faces, or . . .’ he paused ominously, ‘they can sit at home and watch it on DVD when we return. I suppose you both have that option as well. We have already paid the deposit. This is happening.’

Cara winced at his bluntness, but there it was. End of discussion. Shane had delivered the necessary ultimatum. Take it or leave it.

She was about to open her mouth to speak, but Shane caught her eye and shook his head ever so slightly. No more talking on their end; important to make it clear that this wasn’t a subject for negotiation. Mick and Betty were going to come to their own acceptance on it and stop acting like children, or they would miss out.

Her parents locked gazes and Cara knew that they were communicating non-verbally, the way couples did who had spent years together and who knew each other inside and out. It was killing her that her parents seemed so set against their plans, but what could she do? This was what she and Shane wanted.

Finally Betty spoke. ‘So, you really are leaving us no options . . . I hope you know we’re very upset with you,’ she said sternly.

‘Mum, that is your right,’ Cara replied, tears in her eyes. ‘But try and understand that this is what Shane and I want and this is what we are doing. With or without you,’ she added defiantly, although inside her heart was breaking. She couldn’t imagine not having her parents at her wedding, and desperately hoped that they’d come round. ‘But it would upset me terribly if you weren’t there,’ she added softly, meeting Betty’s gaze. ‘This is a big deal and it would mean a lot to both of us if you would just respect our decision and be happy for us.’

‘Well, of course we are happy for you, but I just don’t know why you have to go to such lengths to get married,’ Mick said. ‘For God’s sake, Heidi didn’t get up to such nonsense.’ Cara noted that, although he was still complaining, his voice had lost its original bluster.

‘No, Dad, Heidi got up to her own brand of nonsense, which you are still paying for. That is exactly what we don’t want. Heidi and I are very different.’

‘You know she’s not going to be happy about this either,’ Betty said, and then her eyes widened, remembering. ‘The baby! How is Heidi supposed to travel with the baby on the way?’

‘I’ve already thought of that Mum, it’s only four months away, and it will be entirely safe for her to travel. Kim, too.’

Betty harrumphed and shook her head. ‘I don’t know what has got into you, Cara.’ She looked at her husband. ‘Mick, it’s like I don’t know this daughter of ours all of a sudden. Go and have your island wedding. We’ll be there of course, but we won’t like it, just so you know in advance.’

The rest of the evening progressed uncomfortably, with the dinner table conversation consisting primarily of sporadic complaints. Complaints about the length of the plane journey, the time difference, the various diseases they’d be exposed to, as well as the notion of getting sand in uncomfortable places. Cara and Shane tried their utmost to deflect each comment good-naturedly and tried not to let the whining affect them.

But by the time they left for home, Cara had a splitting headache and was ready to crawl into bed.

‘Right. One set down and one to go,’ Shane said tightly, on the drive back to their apartment.

Cara groaned, not only at the thought of telling Shane’s parents but also at having to initiate conversation with people who had been doing their best to ignore them for several weeks.

Shane put his arm around his beleaguered wife-to-be. ‘Look on the bright side though, at least my parents have passports.’

Betty couldn’t concentrate. No matter what she tried to do, her thoughts kept drifting back to Cara. Cara and her beach wedding. Cara and her need to rush them all off to some foreign country where they would all probably get sick and die of some strange tropical disease or, at the very least, all get food poisoning from eating something only fit for the natives. Why did her daughter have to be so complicated?

Betty stood at the sink aimlessly washing a dish that had been used at dinner. Even though Cara and Shane had only been gone for just over half an hour, Betty was already obsessing over this new idea for their wedding. Thinking back on it, despite all her posturing and her demands Heidi’s wedding had been so easy, Betty thought.

She understood that her daughters were very different and were entitled to believe and do what they wanted with their lives, but she had worked so hard to make sure that her children followed a certain path, did things a certain way – the right way. While some might call her controlling, she simply believed it was her right as a mother to have certain expectations met by her children. She had done the same for her own parents – now it was time for her children to deliver the same to her.

When Heidi got married, the entire process had in a way been effortless, as Heidi had clearly loved all of the attention that came with a big wedding. While Betty knew that her youngest did have certain flaws, namely a certain penchant for playing the damsel in distress, it also could be said that Heidi was the last person who would ever butt heads with another party who was simply looking to shower her with love and attention.

Which is exactly what she and Mick were trying to do with Cara. But no. She wouldn’t have it. Flat out refused their generosity, saying that she and Shane would pay for all of it themselves. Although, it wasn’t as if she and Mick could necessarily afford another wedding either, Betty admitted. Not when they were still trying to pay off the outlay for Heidi’s do, and then not to mention Mick wanting to retire soon. She wrestled with the reality of the situation.

She thought about the credit card statement she had received in the post the previous day, as well as the other card that was almost up to its limit. Then there was the second mortgage. Betty hated thinking about that, and still felt slightly nauseated every month when they went to pay it. If they ran up another big wedding bill, Mick would probably have to put off the idea of retirement for another few years at the very least. Truthfully, she might have to consider going back to work herself, at least part-time.

But notwithstanding this, she and Mick would never have denied Cara a big wedding. And they could get round the financial aspect if needs be. They could ask for an increase on their overdraft, and of course Betty had a bit of nice jewellery that she could sell. She would sacrifice,
they
would sacrifice whatever necessary, especially for their daughter. After all, didn’t every girl want a big white wedding?

Apparently not,
Betty thought. Not Cara. No going into debt over the Big Day, no fuss, nothing special. There was no denying that Cara had always been very practical and so smart, compared to Heidi who was a bit ditzy, and then Danielle, who was a completely different ball game. But that was really beside the point. Betty
wanted
Cara to have a big wedding. She loved everything that went along with it – the idea of showing off her beautiful daughter and throwing a big party with tonnes of guests to celebrate. But now she was being denied that too. It was hurtful because she and Cara had always been so close, and while she knew she shouldn’t admit it (and would never do so out loud), she couldn’t deny that Cara was also her favourite.

A wedding. In a foreign country. Hours and hours away. A celebration that was essentially being whittled away to nothing. A bare bones ceremony, no big dress and wedding cake, only a few guests.

That
didn’t sound like a wedding at all, thought Betty. Imagine the sand that would be getting in their eyes and their shoes? But hadn’t Cara said something about wanting to go barefoot, like some kind of peasant . . .?

Cara and Shane could travel where they wanted for their honeymoon. If only she could convince them to have the ceremony here in Ireland.

Betty put her hands in the soapy water and felt around for another dish. Finding one, she brought it out of the water and took out her frustration on it, scrubbing it mercilessly.