Mixed Blessings Read Free

he wished them well for their journey.

    "You're ready for it. You know what you're doing, and he's a good man.

    You won't go wrong, sweetheart. And we're always here for you . . .

    and for Andy. I hope you both know that."

    "I do." Her eyes filled with tears as she looked away. She suddenly felt so emotional to be leaving him, and this house, even though she no longer lived there. It was harder leaving him, in some ways, than her mother, who was busier and more matter-of-fact, and had been engrossed in straightening Diana's veil and keeping the children from stepping on her train before they left for the church. But there were no distractions now, only love and hope, and an avalanche of feelings, as she stood in the living room with her father.

    "Come on, young lady," he finally said, his voice gruff but loving.

    "We have a wedding to go to." He grinned at her and offered her his arm, and he and the driver helped her into the car with her long train and full veil, and a moment later she was settled in the backseat, carrying her huge bouquet of white roses. The fullness of the gown was spread all over the car, and she was suddenly startled as they drove away to see children waving and pointing at her. "Look! . . .

    Look!

    . .

    A bride, It was funny to realize that she was the bride, and she felt giddy with excitement as they drove away. Suddenly she could feel her heart pounding, as she readjusted her veil and straightened the lace bodice and huge satin sleeves that had been adjusted endlessly in the fittings. The dress was very Victorian in style, and extremely formal.

    They were having three hundred people to the Oakmont Country Club for a reception afterward. Everyone would be there-her old school chums, her parents' friends, distant relatives, people she knew from the magazine, Andy's friends, and a host of people he had invited from the network.

    His closest friend from work, William Bennington, was going to be in the wedding. And a few of the stars he had worked closely with on their contracts were coming. His parents and all three of his brothers had come too. Nick, who'd been in Scotland, was working in London now, and Greg and Alex, the twins, were at Harvard Business School, but they had all come. The twins were six years younger than Andy, who was thirty-two, and he had always been their hero. They were crazy about Diana, too, and she was looking forward to seeing more of them, to having them come out during vacations from school, or maybe even talking them into moving to California. But unlike Andy, the other Douglas boys preferred the East, and Greg and Alex thought they would probably wind up in New York or Boston, or maybe even in London, like Nick.

    "We're not star-struck like our brother," Nick had teased him good-naturedly the night before at the rehearsal dinner.

    But it was obvious that they admired his success, and his choice of bride. The three boys were clearly very proud of their oldest brother.

    Diana could hear the organ music in the church as they stood outside.

    She took her father's arm, and she felt a little tremor of excitement run through her. She looked up at him with eyes as blue and electric as his own, and as they started up the steps of the church she squeezed his hand.

    "Here we go, Daddy," she whispered.

    "Everything's going to be just fine," he reassured her, just as he had the night of her first play . . . and the time she'd fallen off her bike and broken her arm when she was nine, and he drove her to the hospital, telling her funny stories and making her laugh, and then holding her tight against him when they set it. "You're a wonderful girl, and you're going to be a great wife," he said to her as they stopped just outside the main door, waiting for a signal from one of the ushers.

    "I love you, Daddy," she whispered nervously.

    "I love you, too, Diana." He bent and kissed a froth of veil, as the pungent smell of the roses seemed to surround them. It was a moment