Hotel Vendome

“I’m so excited and so scared!” Natalie said, torn between giggles and tears.

“You’re okay!” Heloise reassured her, and left her with Sally. In the ballroom Jean’s oldest son Brad escorted both Heloise and Jean down the aisle. Jean took her place next to her youngest boy, and Brad slipped in next to her. Their father had gone to find his sister and walk her down the aisle to give her away, and Heloise took her place beside her father at the altar. They were wearing matching sprigs of lily of the valley, and he looked nervous, kissed her, and squeezed his daughter’s hand. He looked as anxious as Natalie had, waiting in the hallway. The music was playing softly, and then suddenly, the orchestra began to play Debussy’s water music, and the vision that was Natalie appeared in the doorway on her brother’s arm and proceeded sedately down the aisle. She looked absolutely gorgeous and deceptively calm, and when Heloise turned to glance at her father, she saw that there were tears rolling down his cheeks as he looked at his bride.

The bride and groom both cried through the ceremony, and then finally the minister declared them man and wife and told Hugues he could kiss her. And as soon as he had, in a single swift gesture, he turned to kiss Heloise as well, and he had an arm around each of their waists. It was the most powerful message he could have given her that she would never be left out, and they were a threesome now. And then Natalie and Heloise kissed each other and both of them were crying, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

The music picked up as they formed a receiving line to greet two hundred and fourteen guests, and the wedding was under way. Sally came over to check with Heloise several times, but everything was going smoothly. There were no problems, everyone was having a good time, and the orchestra was very good.

Hugues and Natalie did the first dance, and then he danced with Heloise, and Natalie with her brother, and eventually people found their seats for the late lunch that Natalie and Sally had planned. And all the most important long-term staff members were there. Heloise was too excited to eat. When she finally sat down, she found herself sitting next to Brad, and they struck up a conversation about law school and the Ecole Hoteliere in Lausanne. He seemed fascinated by what she did, but mostly he was entranced with her. He asked her to dance shortly after she had danced with her father. And they hardly left the floor all afternoon. Natalie noticed them with a smile, and said something to Hugues. He glanced over casually and observed his daughter deeply engrossed in conversation with the tall handsome young man who looked totally mesmerized by her.

And then finally the moment came to cut the cake. As promised, they cut it, and Natalie fed him a forkful of it discreetly, and the waiters took it away to serve it after that. It had been a painless procedure for Hugues, who was having a ball at his own wedding. He danced with his wife, kissed her every chance he got, and told everyone he had never seen such a beautiful woman in his life. He wanted to dance with Heloise again too, but every time he looked for her, she was on the dance floor with Brad, and he didn’t want to interrupt or cut in, so he danced with Natalie again.

And at last it was time for Natalie to toss the bouquet. A small staircase had been set up to make it easier for her to do it and a prettier shot for the photographers and video camera. She stood at the top of the short staircase covered in white satin and flowers, as all the single women gathered round, and just as she had so often wanted to as a little girl, and occasionally managed when no one was looking, Heloise stood in the middle of the crowd and waited for the bouquet to fly over her head. There were easily two dozen women standing there, watching Natalie in rapt anticipation, and she took careful aim. Her eyes met Heloise’s for a knowing moment, and almost in slow motion, she reached up and tossed in precisely the right direction, and the tossing bouquet landed squarely in her stepdaughter’s outstretched hand. Everyone in the room cheered, and Heloise held it aloft like a trophy and smiled widely at Natalie and mouthed “Thank you!” It made up for all the times she hadn’t been allowed to reach for it as a little girl, and Hugues’s smile, watching her, was just as wide. It was an additional gift for him. The two women he loved had made friends.