Family Matters by Margaret P.
(A big thanks to my betas, Terri Derr and Cristy Wyndham-Shaw) (2017—Words: 2,394)
Chapter Four
"Oh my goodness, I'm not surprised Julia skimmed over how you met up yesterday." Katie spluttered, and Scott had to rescue her glass of punch. He, Katie and Bob had escaped the reception following Olivia and Lachlan's wedding to have a private catch up. With Katie a bridesmaid, it had been their first opportunity. They found sanctuary in a garden rotunda, and between them, Bob and Scott filled in the missing details from Friday's adventures. "Papa would confine her to the house if he knew."
"If I'd known about her escapade at Harvard, I might not have agreed to stay quiet. What the devil was Jamie thinking, leaving her alone with what's-his-name in the first place?"
"Davenport Granger—he's one of the Davenports on his mother's side." Katie arranged the skirt of her pale peach gown and took back her glass. "Jamie had to go to class. He didn't know Granger was a lowlife slug. Jamie left them in the college gallery with lots of other people. Mamma was expected to arrive at any moment. He couldn't have foreseen that she would be delayed, or that Julia would be sweet-talked into a walk in the gardens without a chaperone. She had only just been introduced to Mr Granger. I don't know what she was thinking."
"Thank goodness for the gardener, it seems." Scott chuckled, trying to make Bob and Katie lighten up. Friday's incident wasn't the same and neither sounded entirely Julia's fault.
"The gardener lost his job over it," Katie said indignantly.
"I didn't know that." Obviously, the Harvard drama had more serious consequences than Scott had first realized. Shades of Johnny and wild horses: things had gotten way out of hand.
"Apparently, you're not supposed to whack the son of a college benefactor with a spade even if he is forcing himself on a lady."
"That's ridiculous."
"Papa got the poor man another position in the hospital gardens, but it didn't help his temper when it came to dealing with Julia. Yesterday was the first time since then that she's been allowed out without Mamma or one of our grandmothers going too."
"What did the old man do about Granger?"
"Jamie says Papa was so furious, he named Davenport Granger to Grandmother Eliot."
"He didn't?" Bob leaned back against the central post supporting the rotunda roof and roared with laughter. "That'll teach Granger. He'll wish he'd never set eyes on Miss Julia Eliot."
"Sorry, I'm lost. What's so bad about telling your grandmother?"
"Telling her in general terms was a given, but naming the culprit…that's bringing out the big guns. It would be like me court martialling brawling sailors instead of letting them sober up in the brig for a couple of days."
"I thought you'd met Grandmother Eliot, Scott." Katie looked at him surprise.
"We've been introduced, but that's about all." To be honest, that was about enough.
"I see; well, maybe living in an all-male household limited your understanding of her influence. Grandmother Eliot controls high society."
"I beg your pardon?" He shouldn't really be surprised by Katie's statement. The late Senator Eliot had exuded wealth and power, and his wife had been the grand duchess of Boston's elite. Dripping with jewels and wielding a lorgnette, she appeared to look down on lesser mortals. Scott had preferred to avoid her company, but most fawned over her at every opportunity—to be invited to one of her soirées had been among Julie and Mr Dennison's aspirations.
"Davenport Granger is now persona non grata in every household of any standing in Boston. No family wishing to associate with the Eliots—which is most of them—will invite him to anything for the next year at least. He'll be lucky if Davenport households set a place for him at a family dinner. He may as well pack his bags and leave Massachusetts now." Katie sipped her punch with an air of serenity. It was as if Granger had gotten his just deserts and all was now right in the world. "Jamie thinks he'll transfer to Yale."
Scott stared. She was serious.
"Take note, my friend: it pays to stay in the old dowager's good books." Bob took a flask out of the inside pocket of his frock coat and filled their empty glasses. "I don't suppose Granger would join the navy."
"It might damage your career prospects if he did." Scott sniffed at what was in his glass. Good, it was whisky, not rum. "I still can't get over how a rogue like you made commander so soon. I thought the navy were sticklers for years served and obeying orders?"
"There are exceptions to every rule, but I admit I wasn't expecting it. Of course, you know things about my carefree youth that blind you to my superior qualities and impeccable service record. On duty I'm actually very responsible. Damn good at what I do, in fact."
"And if you weren't so modest, you'd be perfect, dear brother."
"It's true. Modesty is my only weakness." Bob winked. It was a glorious day, and they had all had enough alcohol to make them happy even on a grey day. But then Bob turned solemn. "There is one down side to this promotion."
"And what's that?" Scott loosened his tie. No more seducing a different lady in every port or getting drunk on liquid sunshine at a guess; as commander, Bob would have to set the standard for his officers and crew.
"I won't be able to attend your wedding."
"Oh, but Bob, you must." Katie grasped her brother's hand. "It won't be the same without you there. Surely the navy will give you leave?"
"I doubt I'll get more than a day or two's leave at any one time for the next year. Once the Libby is fit to sail, we deliver the new ambassador to Japan and then patrol and survey the South China Sea. Unfortunately, the commander of a ship is not as dispensable as one of its lieutenants, and the odds are I'll be thousands of miles away."
Damn! Scott wanted to hit something; he hadn't realized how much he'd been counting on Bob being there. Putting on a brave face, he and the others returned to the reception, but none of them seemed as cheerful as before.
"I'll be honest, Johnny, I was hoping Bob would stand up with me if you couldn't. It made the idea of marrying back east a little more palatable." Scott passed Johnny another drink, and they watched Bob and his grandfather, James McIntyre, escort Katie and Emily onto the dance floor.
"You'll be fine. You've got plenty of friends in Boston—and your grandfather." Johnny's eyes narrowed.
Scott would lay money it wasn't his grandfather his brother was thinking about. Emily had been corresponding with James McIntyre since March when she found out Katie's grandfather was an old friend of her father's. Now something was going on that Scott hadn't caught up with; at any rate, Johnny didn't look pleased ten minutes ago when Murdoch announced James and Mary McIntyre were coming to the ranch at the end of the month with the Eliots. Scott probably should be taking more notice of what was happening around him, but his own worries were taking priority. "I don't have any close friends left in Boston, and it's definitely not home anymore. In an ideal world..."
"That place don't exist."
"No, unfortunately not." Scott sighed. "I should be satisfied Katie is willing to live at the ranch. Where we get married isn't important." Good in theory, but he still yearned for what he couldn't have. The only way would be if Katie made more sacrifices for his sake, and he wasn't going to allow that. "There wouldn't be time to arrange things before Christmas, but if we marry in the winter…"
"Scott, we've been over this. With the army contracts we can't all be away for that long at the same time, even in winter."
"I know. The railroad isn't reliable then either."
"You know I want to be with you, but if it's in Boston, I'm the one staying behind. End of story." Johnny drained his glass and put it down on the table behind them. Straightening the tie of his hated 'monkey suit', he slapped Scott on the back. "Cheer up. I'm going to dance with my wife. That old coot has had her long enough."
Scott let him go. There had been less than eight weeks between Johnny and Emily setting the date for their wedding and the actual day. She had no family to speak of, so there'd been no problem about where it would be held. They'd married at the ranch and everyone had been happy.
"I wish it could be that simple in our case, but of course there are both family and distance to consider." Scott passed around wine glasses to Katie and her parents the following evening before sitting down next to Katie and taking her hand. As planned, they had borrowed Will McIntyre's study to talk over the options. A decision needed to be made before he and the others from the ranch caught the train on Tuesday.
"Scott and I have been over the possibilities a thousand times, Mamma. Unless you and Papa have any other ideas, we think our best option is to marry in Boston early March. It doesn't allow a lot of time to make arrangements, but we don't want to be apart any longer than absolutely necessary."
Beth smiled. "A spring wedding in Boston would make things easier for us and Mr Garrett, but would Johnny and Murdoch be able to leave the ranch at that time?"
"Not both of them, no." Scott tasted his wine and tried to appear unconcerned. "Johnny would stay behind and keep the ranch running."
Beth and Robert exchanged glances.
"Don't you want Johnny as your best man?"
"The needs of the ranch come first, sir. I'm marrying Katie, and that's the main thing." Scott gave a casual wave of his hand. "We'll see plenty of Johnny and Emily after we're married."
"I was going to say, I can't see Emily visiting Boston without Johnny." Beth put her glass of wine down on the walnut table.
"I'll have my sisters and Teresa." Katie forced cheerfulness. "And I'll be so busy preparing I won't have time to miss her."
Liar—Scott doubted she fooled her parents any more than she fooled him. Katie wanted Emily to be part of her special day. From the day Johnny and Emily got married there had been an unspoken understanding between them all that if he and Katie reached the same point their roles would be reversed.
"Not everyone can come if we marry in California either, but the numbers involved would be much greater. Grandmamma looks so frail. I couldn't ask her to make such a long journey again, and I do so want her to be there. Grandmother Eliot hates leaving Boston, and then there's the expense of it, particularly for the McIntyre side; so many made the effort to come to this year's weddings. At least if we marry in Boston, fewer people need to travel."
Beth looked over at Scott. "Would any of your friends here in California contemplate the journey?"
"One or two perhaps, but it would be beyond the means of most. We'll throw a party when we get back."
"It would suit me better if you married in Boston," Robert said after sipping his wine. "I'd have difficulty getting the time away from the hospital to come here again for at least a year, and it would be impossible for Jamie unless you marry during the summer break. We had a deuce of a job persuading Dean Ellis to let him have the time for this trip."
Scott nodded. According to Jamie, the Harvard dean only gave permission when the San Francisco Medical School invited Jamie to attend their classes, and that only happened when the highly respected Dr Robert Eliot, head of surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, agreed to give a series of lectures and surgical training sessions while in California. The next two weeks weren't expected to be much of a vacation for Jamie or his father. "I don't suppose it's ideal to have Freddy miss school either."
"Humph." Robert swallowed more wine. "If you were prepared to wait until this time next year I should be able to swing another vacation, and it would give the extended family time to organize things. Cost is not really an issue for most of them."
"It's a thought." Even to Scott's ears, he didn't sound enthusiastic. "If we delayed until next November or December Johnny and Murdoch might both be able to make the trip to Boston."
"But you don't want to wait that long."
"Not if we can help it, sir. And the fact is a delay until this time next year would still exclude Katie's grandmother and Jamie if the wedding was held here, and no time is a good time for a rancher to be away for more than a week or two. Even if we wait, something could crop up to prevent my father and brother both making a wedding in Boston." Scott sighed. He and Katie had already exhausted all the options; they were going over the same ground.
"Let's sleep on it another night." Beth rose from her seat. "I'd like to talk it over with some of the others involved, and we can all come back to the topic with fresh ideas when Scott and family come to lunch tomorrow."
"I agree, my dear, and in the meantime if you'll excuse me I have a lecture to prepare for." Robert finished his wine and got to his feet too. He offered his arm and escorted Beth from the room.
Scott watched his future parents-in-law until the door closed, and then he pulled Katie to her feet.
"It will be all right." He rocked her in his arms, enjoying the fragrance of her hair and its softness against his cheek. "We'll have a wonderful wedding day with most of our loved ones with us wherever it's held."
"I know." With head resting on his chest and arms wrapped around his waist, she sighed. "Boston is very beautiful in the spring."