On This Day Read Free Page A

just minutes earlier. The people here have never heard of air conditioning, and you must leave your windows open for half the night if you want to cool down. I’m surprised they have indoor plumbing or electricity.
    I cannot imagine what these kids were thinking, to hold their wedding up here in the middle of nowhere. Oh, I suppose the lake is pretty enough, but there’s a perfectly decent man-made lake at the country club, just minutes from home. My hairdresser, who also does Catherine Fairbanks’s hair, told me that it was the bride’s family who suggested the “rustic locale for the destination wedding,” as she said Catherine put it, but then they apparently assumed the Fairbankses would also foot most of the bill, since they’re the ones with all the money. Whatever happened to thebrides family paying for the whole kit and caboodle? Kids these days! And I heard from another source, who shall remain unnamed, that it’s costing the Fairbankses a small fortune too. But maybe they write it off as a tax deduction anyway. I’ve heard some people do that, although I don’t have the slightest idea how the IRS responds.
    It’s not that Catherine and Alex Fairbanks can’t afford something like this. Everyone knows they’re loaded. Even when the rest of us took a beating in the stock market, Alex bragged about how he’d managed to “move some funds around just in the nick of time.” Jim says he’s exaggerating a little. But it’s obvious that if anyone could afford to lose a few million, it would be the Fairbanks family. Now I don’t want to sound like I’m jealous, although I sure wouldn’t mind inheriting a fortune like theirs. But I do try to be happy with what I’ve got. And as long as I’ve got Jim and can afford to live in the manner I’m accustomed to, I’m a happy camper
most of
the time. Well, as long as we’re not actually camping, that is! Camping is for the birds—and the mosquitoes.
    I know I’m fortunate. And my Jim is a hard worker. So I guess I shouldn’t have been all that surprised that he had to bring some work with him this weekend—after all, he is our main breadwinner. But I must admit I was a little vexed when he announced this would be a working holiday for him, not that there’s anything I particularly wanted to do up here. I hear the golf course is a bad joke, and you couldn’t pay me to go out in one of those horrible canoes. But I suppose I am feeling a bit neglected right now.
    If Jim’s secretary hadn’t been on the guestlist, he might not have been so tempted to go over this big case that’s coming up next week. But, as he said, this weekend is his last chance to get completely on top of it. Jim practices business law, and I usually don’t get too involved in his cases. They mostly involve contracts and money and things I’d just as soon not know much about. Jim accuses me of keeping my “pretty head in the sand” most of the time. But that’s fine and dandy with me. I guess I’m old-fashioned in some ways. I don’t mind being “the little woman” at home. I keep our place up and make sure I’m looking my best at all times, because I realize that images are extremely important in Jim’s line of work. And I feel I’m just doing my part to keep us both looking good.
    To that end, I spent the better part of the morning steaming his new Armani suit, since this hole-in-the-wall inn has never even heard of valet service! Fortunately, my Guy Laroche pantsuit is fairly wrinkle free, and it’s “dress casual” for the luncheon. But I’ll still have to go back to the room to steam the Richard Metzger dress before the ceremony this evening. Honestly, if I’d known we were coming to this mom-and-pop hotel, I wouldn’t have put nearly as much effort into our wardrobes. Still, you never know who you might run into. And the Fairbankses do have some pretty influential friends. Best to be ready for anything is always my motto. Well, anything but this fleabag hotel in