The House

“I have something to tell you,” she said timidly as Sarah looked at her. Sarah could sense more than guess at what was coming. But at Mimi's age, what could it be? Her life rolled along without incident, as long as she was in good health. There was a twinkle in her eyes as she looked first at Jeff, then at Sarah. “George and I are getting married,” she almost whispered. She looked faintly embarrassed, as though there was something slightly silly about it. But they loved each other and wanted to spend their final years together. The only bad news was that they were moving to Palm Springs. George had already sold his house in the city, and Mimi was putting her house on the market. They were going to use George's apartment in San Francisco, whenever they came to town, which Sarah suspected, sadly, wouldn't be often. They had too much fun in Palm Springs, and far less in San Francisco.

“You're marrying him and not me?” Jeff said, looking outraged. “I caught the garter, you know, he didn't.” He pretended to look disgusted, and sorely wronged, as the others laughed at him.

“I'm sorry, darling.” Mimi patted his hand lovingly. “You'll just have to marry Sarah.”

“No, he won't,” Sarah was quick to add.

“Yeah, fat chance of that,” Jeff complained. “She won't have me.”

“Have you asked her?” Mimi asked with eyes full of hope and wonder. She would have liked that, and she knew Audrey would, too. They had chatted about it several times.

“No,” Jeff answered honestly, sitting down to eat his pie, while Sarah poured champagne. It felt like déjà vu, from when her mother had announced the same thing at the same table in May. Now Mimi was getting married. Sarah reflected that all her female relatives were getting married and moving away. It left only her and Jeff in the city. She was already lonely at the prospect of Mimi leaving, although she was excited for them at their news, and it was obvious they were, too. George just sat there and beamed, while Mimi's eyes danced.

“If I ask Sarah to marry me, she'll probably dump me, or at least throw me out. She's committed to the notion of living in sin as a way of life,” Jeff said, and Mimi laughed. They all knew that Jeff and Sarah were living together, and it didn't bother her at all. She was nearly forty years old, and had a right to do what she wanted.

Sarah ignored his good-natured complaints and asked them when they were getting married. They hadn't set the date yet, but they wanted it to be soon. “At our age, we can't afford to wait,” Mimi said gaily, as though that were a good thing. “George probably wants to get married on the golf course, between games. We can't decide whether to do it there or here. We have so many friends down there, it might be too much fuss,” Mimi said pensively, as they all toasted the couple with champagne.

“Why don't you do it here, like Mom did?” Sarah suggested, feeling nostalgic about the whole event. It was so weird that all the elders of the family were getting married. She suddenly felt alone out in left field.

“That's an awful lot of trouble for you,” Mimi said. “I don't want to give you all that work. You're so busy.”

“I'm not too busy for you,” Sarah insisted. “I can use the same caterers Mom had for her wedding. They were great. They didn't even leave a mess.”

“Are you sure?” Mimi seemed to hesitate, but George looked enthusiastic. He liked the idea, and reminded her that she had been born in the house. It made sense to get married there. It was a nice, sentimental thing to do. Jeff's friend from New York was enjoying the exchange of plans and said his own grandmother had remarried the year before and moved to Palm Beach, and was very happy.

“When would you like to do it?” Sarah asked matter-of-factly, as Jeff continued to play the rejected lover, which delighted Mimi. She always referred to him to Sarah as “that sweet boy.” At forty-five, just recently, he was no boy, although he looked young for his age.

“We were thinking of New Year's Eve,” George interjected. “It'll give us something to celebrate every year. And I think it would be nice for your grandmother to do it here, in this house. It would mean a lot to her,” he added, and she blushed. She had told him only that morning that she didn't want to burden Sarah, but she had admitted how much she would love it, so everyone was pleased.

“Does Mom know?” Sarah suddenly wondered. Her mother hadn't said a thing. Mimi nodded.

“We called her this morning, and told her when we wished them a happy Thanksgiving. She approved.”

“Traitor,” Jeff muttered darkly. “I'm a much better catch than he is.” He glanced at George to everyone's amusement. “Although I have to admit, he's the better dancer. When I danced with Mimi at Audrey's wedding, I stepped all over her feet, and those pretty pale blue shoes. So I guess I can't blame you. But you've broken my heart.”

“I'm sorry, darling.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Come and stay with us anytime you like in Palm Springs. You can even bring Sarah.”