"Mrs. West," the masseuse in the spa called Dotty's name. Dotty, wearing a white spa robe, stood and smiled and followed the dark-haired woman into the other room.
"Francine, this was the perfect idea for this morning. I mean, Mother has been so stressed and nervous about everything, this is the perfect distraction," Amanda smiled.
Francine smiled back at Amanda as she looked around the small waiting room. They were waiting their turn for a hot stone massage along with Debbie Ann, Billy's wife, Jeannie, and Carrie. The spa offered a prenatal massage which delighted Penny, who was waiting as well, flipping through a magazine. "I'm glad. It's hard to keep everyone busy and happy, I would think, but Billy seems to have this all under control," Francine laughed. "Who would have thought?" she added.
Jeannie laughed as she looked up from her magazine, "He's always the most organized at home."
"Mrs. King? Miss Desmond?" the attendant called out for them. They stood and followed the attendant to the dimly lit room and layed on the massage tables they were instructed to.
Amanda closed her eyes as the hot stones were placed along her spine, the soft music soothed her mind and she quickly fell asleep. Ninety minutes later, she was blinking slowly awake, completely relaxed. She looked over at Dotty who was still asleep, the attendant smiling beside her. Francine was just standing and stretching. "This was perfect," Amanda stated again. She crossed the room and gently shook Dotty. "Mother, it's time to go get some lunch," she stated softly.
"Uhmmm," Dotty mumbled as she shifted her position, tucking her hand under the towel supporting her head.
Amanda shook her mother once more, "Mother. Come on, wake up."
Dotty slowly turned over, blinking, as she held the towel close to her chest. "What time is it?" she asked, sounding slightly confused.
"It's almost lunchtime, Mrs. West," Francine chuckled.
"Oh, really? We've been here for two hours already?" Dotty shook her head slightly, trying to process the time passing.
"And after lunch, we need to meet with Ms. McClure to go over the last-minute details, seating arrangements, that stuff," Amanda reminded her.
Dotty perked up at the mention of the last-minute details, "That's right. After listening to Aunt Edna and Aunt Lillian go at it, I think it would be best to separate them for dinner, don't you think?"
Amanda shook her head, "I don't understand it, Mother, how your sisters could be so alike and yet fight so much."
"You should have seen them when we were growing up. The catfights over the simplest things. I guess that's what happens when you have too many girls so close in age. But you never had to worry about that. The boys have always gotten along, for the most part anyway. But who knows, it's not too late…" Dotty's voice trailed off.
"Mother!" Amanda whispered sharply, her face and neck immediately pinkening.
Francine furrowed her brow for a moment as she listened to the exchange between Amanda and Dotty. It wasn't until Amanda blushed that Francine realized what Dotty was insinuating. She laughed loudly as she said, "Mrs. West, if you think Lee and Amanda are going to have a slew of kiddos, well, I don't want to disappoint you, but that's not really Lee. I mean, one maybe, but he's never-"
"Francine! Don't you think this is something Lee and I should make a decision on, not everyone else just assuming what we're going to do or not do?" Amanda snapped.
"Amanda, I'm sorry. I just meant," Francine stopped then admitted, "You know what, I don't know what I meant. You're right. Lee's changed so much in the last few years. All in good ways, I can assure you."
Amanda looked at the floor and smiled before she looked up again, "Thank you, Francine. That means a lot to hear you say that."
"Well, don't go around telling everyone I have a soft spot for the two of you," Francine laughed. "But, enough of this, I'm starving! What do you think they are serving for lunch in this place?" she announced.
"Come on, Mother! When Francine's hungry, watch out!" Amanda replied cheerfully as the trio headed into the changing room.
Several hours later, Amanda, Dotty, and Francine were leaving the ballroom, Dotty's hands fluttering about as she went on and on about how beautiful the flower and candle centerpieces were, the band was going to be perfect and the colorful wildflower bouquets in yellow and blue flowers for Amanda and Francine were a wonderful touch. "Does she always do this?" Francine whispered, leaning close to Amanda.
"Only when she's really excited," Amanda whispered back. Louder she said, "Mother, I'm really glad you got that blue dress to wear. The flowers in your corsage are going to match perfectly, and I didn't even tell them what color you were wearing."
"Oh, and the boys. I'm so glad you went with the navy jackets and khaki pants for them. The yellow roses wiill stand out nicely on their lapels. Did you bring the white shirts or the light blue ones? I hope it was the light blue ones. They are going to look so handsome," Dotty rambled on again.
"I brought both, Mother, just in case," Amanda said with a smile. She spotted Lee and the boys walking across the hotel lobby, along with the rest of the group of men. "Speaking of which, here they come now." They got closer before she stated, "Hey, fellas, how was golfing? Did you have fun?"
Philip nodded enthusiastically as he said, "Mom, it was great! We should do that more often. I thought it was going to be stupid, but we had a lot of fun AND our team came in second!"
"That's wonderful, sweetheart! How did your team do, Jamie?" Amanda reached out and touched Jamie's shoulder.
"We came in first," Jamie said quietly.
"Well, you don't sound too happy about it," Amanda stated as she lifted his chin with her fingers.
"I just feel weird taking the money," Jamie stated with a shrug of his shoulders.
Amanda looked surprised as she asked, "What money?"
Lee put his hand around Jamie's shoulders and stated, "Everyone put in twenty dollars and the winning team won fifty dollars for each player. Billy put in the money for all the boys; Jamie, Philip, and Terry. He wouldn't let Joe or I do it."
"It doesn't feel right taking all that money. I feel like I should give it to Mr. Melrose. I mean he did put it in and he didn't have to. Mom, what do you think I should do?" Jamie looked up at Amanda, his face solemn.
"Well, Sweetheart. I think it's really nice that you want to give the money back to Mr. Melrose, but this is one of those times where I think you can keep it without feeling bad. After all, it was a game and you won fair and square, right?" Amanda offered.
"They only beat us by two strokes, Mom!" Philip inserted. He pulled his money out of his pocket and then made a suggestion, "Hey, Junior, tell you what. If you want to give Mr. Melrose back the twenty he spotted each of us, I will too. But we get to keep the rest!"
Lee nodded in agreement as he said, "Philip, I think that is a very adult way of thinking and a great idea. And I'll tell you, the only reason we beat you guys is because Jamie is a whiz on the green. He had the best putts of any of us."
Amanda smiled, "Must be all that practice at Goofy Golf. And I agree with Lee. Mr. Melrose is right over there talking to his wife, Jeannie, so why don't you boys go over and say thank you. Lee and I will wait for you right here."
Amanda and Lee watched as the boys crossed the lobby and spoke with Billy. Lee slipped his hand around her waist when Billy shook their hands before accepting the offered money. He touched Jamie on the head before they turned and walked back. Billy saluted Amanda and Lee with a wave of his hand and a nod of his head.
"There now, don't you feel better?" Amanda asked when Jamie got closer.
"Yeah, actually I do. Mom, do you think Philip and I have enough time to go swimming before we have to get ready? It's pretty warm out and I think they said the pool is heated too. Please?" Jamie asked, relief filling his voice.
Lee checked his watched and mentally calculated the time it would take them to swim, shower and get ready. He pursed his lips and stated, "You'll only have about an hour to swim, so if you think you can-"
"We can!" both boys shouted loudly before giggling. "We can get ready super-fast and we promise we'll be ready on time," Philip stated.
"Okay, okay, as long as you promise to be in the shower in one hour. We don't have much time after that," Amanda agreed. The boys didn't let her finish as they took off for the elevator. "You think they'll be ready on time?" she asked Lee.
"I'll make sure of it. I do want to get your overnight bag though, so we don't need to do it later. Do you have it all ready?" Lee asked.
Amanda smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder as they walked in the direction of the elevator. "I do. You didn't tell anyone which room you're in did you?"
"No way. But I have a little surprise for you and we won't have to worry about anyone bothering us tonight or tomorrow morning," Lee teased.
Inside the elevator, Amanda turned to him and asked, "What do you mean you have a surprise? What kind of surprise? Lee?"
Lee chuckled and pulled her close. He kissed her lightly on the lips as he said, "It wouldn't still be a surprise if I told you, now would it. Amanda, let me have this one, just for tonight."
"I'm not a big fan of surprises but I guess a surprise on our official wedding night is okay," she kissed him back. The elevator doors opened and hand in hand they walked to Amanda's room. As she opened her door, Philip and Jamie reappeared in the hall wearing swim trunks and carrying towels.
"I'll meet you boys down by the pool. I just have something I need to do first," Lee stated. "Then we need to get ready for the wedding."
"I think that's the best thing you've said all day," Amanda said with a smile as the boys walked down the hall to the elevator.