I genuinely thought that was why they worked.
\nShe pushed him out of his comfort zone. Got him on dance floors. Got him to try sushi and skydiving and a trip to Iceland.
\nHe seemed to smooth out her sharp edges. Slowed her down. Made her listen.
\nI\u2019d watch them at dinner. At my yellow kitchen table. Vanessa talking a mile a minute. Grant watching her with this small, amazed smile.
\nOpposites, I thought. That\u2019s good. That\u2019s healthy. He needs somebody who\u2019ll make some noise.
\nI didn\u2019t see it.
\nOr maybe I did.
\nMaybe I just didn\u2019t want to.
\nThe first thing I noticed was the phone calls.<\/p>\n
Grant used to call me every Sunday. Since college. Every Sunday at five o\u2019clock. Twenty minutes. About nothing. The weather. Work. The Browns.
\nAbout six months after he met Vanessa, the calls got shorter.
\nTen minutes. Then five.
\nMom, I can\u2019t really talk. Vanessa and I are heading out.
\nThen they stopped.
\nI\u2019d call him.
\nVoicemail.
\nI\u2019d text.<\/p>\n
Sometimes he\u2019d answer two days later. Sometimes not at all.
\nSorry, Mom. Crazy week.
\nI told myself it was normal.
\nHe was in love. He was busy. He was building a life. Mothers aren\u2019t supposed to be the center of their grown sons\u2019 lives.
\nI told myself not to be needy.
\nI told myself not to make it difficult.
\nNot to make it difficult.
\nI\u2019d spent twenty years with Richard not making it difficult.
\nI was very good at it.
\nThey got engaged last Christmas.<\/p>\n
Grant called me on Christmas Eve. The first time in six weeks.
\n\u201cMom,\u201d he said. \u201cI asked Vanessa to marry me.\u201d
\nI started crying.
\n\u201cOh, honey. Oh, Grant. That\u2019s wonderful.\u201d
\n\u201cShe said yes.\u201d
\n\u201cOf course she did.\u201d
\nHe was quiet for a moment.
\n\u201cI\u2019m happy, Mom,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said it like he was trying to convince somebody.
\nI didn\u2019t hear that part.
\nNot then.
\nI didn\u2019t hear much about the wedding planning.
\nVanessa\u2019s mother was handling most of it.
\nMargot Ellery. Vanessa\u2019s mother. Sixty-two. A widow. She lived in Upper Arlington in a big Tudor house with a three-car garage. She\u2019d been a paralegal for thirty years. She chaired the women\u2019s auxiliary at her church. She ran things.
\nI\u2019d met her twice. Once at the engagement dinner. Once at a bridal shower I was invited to as an afterthought, by email, four days before.<\/p>\n
She was polite. Very polite. The kind of polite that makes you feel like a guest in your own life.
\nThe wedding was set for June. At the Fairmont. Downtown. Two hundred guests.
\nI asked Grant if there was anything I could help with.
\nHe said Margot and Vanessa had it handled.
\nI asked if I could help pay for anything. The rehearsal dinner. That\u2019s traditionally the groom\u2019s family.
\nHe said Margot was handling that too.
\nI asked if I could at least host a dinner for his friends. The night before. At my house. Like I\u2019d always imagined.
\nThere was a long pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ll ask Vanessa.\u201d
\nHe never got back to me.
\nA week before the wedding, Vanessa called me.
\nI was at work. Between patients. A six-year-old named Bryce had just bitten my finger. I was wrapping it in gauze when my phone buzzed.
\nVANESSA.
\nShe\u2019d never called me before. Not once. In three years.
\nI answered.
\n\u201cJoan! Hi!\u201d
\n\u201cHi, Vanesa. Is everything okay?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything\u2019s great. Totally great. I just have a tiny favor to ask.\u201d
\n\u201cOf course.\u201d
\n\u201cCould you please not wear blue to the wedding?\u201d
\nI stood there in the hallway of the dental practice with gauze around my finger.
\nI was confused.
\nI\u2019d already bought a dress. Two months before. At Nordstrom. Navy blue. Tea-length. With a little cap sleeve. Simple. Elegant.
\nIt cost three hundred and ten dollars. More than I\u2019d spent on a dress in ten years.
\nI\u2019d tried it on four times in my bedroom mirror. I\u2019d sent Grant a photo.<\/p>\n
He\u2019d texted back: You look beautiful, Mom.
\n\u201cWhy?\u201d I asked. \u201cIs there something wrong with it?\u201d
\n\u201cNo, no!\u201d Vanessa said. Fast. \u201cIt\u2019s lovely. I\u2019m sure it\u2019s lovely. It\u2019s just\u2014blue is part of the wedding palette. And I don\u2019t want it to look weird in the photos. You know. Clashing.\u201d
\n\u201cI didn\u2019t know blue was part of the palette.\u201d
\n\u201cOh, totally. Navy and gold. It\u2019s all over everything. The flowers. The linens. The bridesmaids are in gold.\u201d
\n\u201cThen wouldn\u2019t navy match?\u201d
\nThere was a short pause.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s just better if you don\u2019t,\u201d Vanessa said. \u201cOkay? For the photos. Mom thinks so too.\u201d
\n\u201cOkay,\u201d I said.
\n\u201cYou\u2019re the best, Joan! Thank you! See you Saturday!\u201d
\nShe hung up.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t want to make a fuss over a dress.
\nThat\u2019s what I told myself.
\nIt\u2019s her wedding. It\u2019s her day. If she doesn\u2019t want navy in the photos, she doesn\u2019t want navy in the photos. Don\u2019t be difficult.
\nSo I went back to Nordstrom.
\nI returned the navy dress.
\nI bought another one. Dusty rose. A little more expensive. Three hundred and forty dollars. The saleswoman said it was very flattering.
\nI didn\u2019t like it as much.
\nI didn\u2019t say anything.<\/p>\n
Then I showed up at the wedding.
\nThe ceremony was at four o\u2019clock. In the Fairmont\u2019s garden courtyard. White chairs in rows. An arch covered in white roses and gold ribbon.
\nI arrived at three-fifteen. Early. I wanted to see Grant before.
\nI walked into the courtyard.
\nAnd I froze.
\nMargot Ellery was standing at the front. By the arch. Talking to the officiant.
\nShe was in blue.
\nFloor-length. Silk. A deep, rich sapphire blue. Off the shoulder. With a little beaded jacket. Her silver hair swept up. Sapphire earrings.
\nShe looked stunning.
\nShe looked like the mother of the bride.
\nIn blue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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