The Two Miss Parsons by Jill Marshall

Author:Jill Marshall
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: womens fiction, hen lit, fun, new zealand, single mum
Publisher: Jill Marshall

Chapter 28

Text message:

----------------------------------------Cally--------------------------------------------------------

0044 207 988 1576

Char, my mum calling yours! Act surprised! I’m gonna be a bridesmaid…

Paigexxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 29

It might have been expected that Pete would have heard about the upcoming nuptials from his son, but no, of course, it was me who called him, in charge of organisation, as one might expect. We had an odd conversation, marred by caution on my behalf and something – shock, I think – on his.

“Do you love him, Cally?” he asked.

I laughed. “As much as I ever did, Pete.”

“And how much is that?”

“Enough, I think, to make a life together. A life for Paige, too.”

He paused, thinking. “Well, Paige does seem to want her father around, Cally. And you’ve always known how Alan feels about you. If you feel the same then that’s a remarkable formula. But if you don’t feel the same …well, you’ve always been so clear about your decisions, it seems to me, that I’m not sure you could live with a compromise, could you? And you certainly don’t have to do this through guilt.”

“Guilt?” I was very taken aback. “What guilt?”

“Well, apologies if I’m completely off the mark here, but I’d imagine you might feel guilty, for Paige’s sake. And maybe a little guilty about Alan’s feelings as well?”

“I’ve been a good mother, Pete. We haven’t needed anyone around. And Alan was old enough to deal with it responsibly if he chose to.”

“Well, there are options, you know. You could just have a civil naming ceremony. You could be the…the Morons.” I don’t know why he said that. Does he really think we’re stupid?

“What?”

“Oh, nothing. I’m just trying to be sure that the feelings you have for Alan are the type you could base a marriage on. Do you see what I mean?”

“Well, you’d know better than me! Which ones are the right ones?”

There was another pause as Pete thought about it for a moment. “Well, love, naturally. Made up of respect, I suppose, friendship, and…errrm… passion.”

“Okay. Well, you know what Meatloaf said.”

“Like a bat out of hell, I’ll be gone when the morning comes?”

“No, the other one!” Pete knows his Meatloaf! The man’s a constant source of surprise to me. He probably knows Shneee Schnaw Schnappy too. “You know, ‘two out of three ain’t bad.’” Well, I was just being honest. I’m not really sure that respect ever came into it, and how much it could now was very debatable. But friendship and passion could go a long way. And the thought provoked me into asking, “How…how was Simon?’”

“Sad.” Pete changed the subject. “How’s my grand-daughter doing? I do miss having you both around!”

“She’s fine, and you can see us both very soon. At the wedding.”

“You…you want me there?”

“Pete!” I was quite astounded he could even ask, but with everything that’s been going on, I guess he didn’t want to assume anything. “I’ve even got a special favour to ask you. I’m phoning my parents now, but I doubt they’ll make it at such short notice. I wondered if you…would you give me away?”

Well, for a long moment I thought I’d offended him horribly.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.