“How about this–you call Syd and Jill, and I’ll whip us up some pancakes. Then we’ll both eat, and by then, I’ll be ready to deal with your folks. How does that sound?”
Her smile grew. “Like you’re my knight in shining armor.” She reached out for his hand and he took it in his. “I love you, Austin Coleman.”
“I love you more,” he said, kissing her hand.
Truthfully, he could have lingered there like that for a little longer, but ultimately his growling stomach won out. He got up and went about making breakfast while Mia called Sydney. While he was mixing up the batter, his phone rang, and when he saw his mother’s name on the screen, he knew he needed to answer it.
“Good morning,” he answered as he did his best to multitask.
“Good morning, sweetheart. How are you and Mia doing?” Her voice was laced with sympathy, and he knew she was just as upset as they were.
“We’re resigned to what’s happening, and our plan is to have some breakfast and then make all our calls. What about you, how are you doing? We weren’t supposed to get this much snow, so are you okay? Do you have enough food?”
She laughed softly. “My pantry is always well-stocked, so I’m fine.” She paused. “I just feel so helpless. Is there anything I can do? Any calls I can make?”
He didn’t even have to think about it. “I’m sure everyone’s figured it out by now, but if you can get a phone tree going to make sure all the local relatives know what’s going on.”
“Do you have a new date yet?”
It was his turn to laugh. “Honestly, Mom, we can’t even think about it right now. There are so many things going on with this storm and canceling services and donating things and then the holidays that it’s almost too much.” He groaned. “I have a feeling we’re going to be making calls all day, so if you can maybe call Aunt Susannah and have her call Aunt Georgia and have each of them call their families…you’ll know what to say better than I would. Plus, I don’t want to have to explain how we’re feeling to dozens of people.”
“I completely understand.” She sighed. “I’m so sorry, Austin. I know how excited you both were for these plans.”
He nodded and carefully put a pan on the stove. “You know what the worst of it is? I feel like it’s all my fault. Mia wanted a summer wedding and I went and bulldozed things to get my way. It’s like I never learn.”
“You love her and you want to be married. That’s not a bad thing,” Grace countered.
“Yeah, but look what happened? Right now, if we had done things her way, we’d just be happily enjoying the snow and maybe wrapping Christmas presents and talking about how we were going to see everyone over the holidays. Now we’re both depressed, and the thought of planning a wedding again is just…it’s going to be painful, and I’ve got no one to blame but myself.”
“Austin…”
“We’ll probably end up going to the courthouse to a justice of the peace and then we’ll always have to look back at our ruined wedding,” he murmured. “I don’t know how to make this right or how to make her feel better.”
“Seems to me like you need to feel better too.”
“I don’t deserve to feel better,” he grumbled as he gave the batter one more stir. “I need to go, Mom. I’m making some pancakes and the pan’s ready. Can I call you later?”
“Absolutely. No rush. If I don’t hear from you, I’ll wait to call you until tomorrow, okay?”
He smiled. “Thanks. I love you, Mom.”
“Love you too. Tell Mia I said hello.”
“Will do.”
In no time, he had a platter of pancakes on the table, fresh coffee in both of their mugs, and was sitting down. Mia had just finished talking with Jill and shut off her phone.
“I want us to at least be able to eat in peace,” she told him, and he readily did the same with his phone.
He made her a plate before his own and they ate in companionable silence for several minutes. “My mother is going to call our side of the family and let them know what’s going on, so…that’s fewer calls to make.”
“That’s good. I didn’t have a lot on my side, but I’d rather be the one to call them instead of my mother because you know she’ll just have nothing but negative things to say.”
Unfortunately, she wasn’t exaggerating.
“That’s why I’m calling your parents as soon as we’re done eating.”
“You really don’t have to. I know I said you could, but…”
“Don’t,” he cut her off. “I’m handling it.”
And twenty minutes later, he was back up in his office doing just that.
“Honestly, Austin,” Beverly Kingsley said in her usual haughty tone. “Mia could have at least been the one to call. I left her several messages earlier and last night. It’s rude for her to ignore her own mother.”
It was the opening he’d been waiting for.
“She wouldn’t have to ignore you if you would have shown even an ounce of compassion,” Austin replied mildly, proud of himself for keeping his anger in check. “In case you haven’t noticed–and I know you haven’t because you’ve somehow managed to make this all about you–your daughter is devastated! She cried all last night because our wedding had to be canceled! And instead of trying to comfort her or even listen to her, all you’ve done is talk about all the ways this has inconvenienced you and how we should have done things your way!”
“You have no idea what I was going to say to Mia if she had called me back,” she challenged.
“Were you going to comfort her?”
Silence.
“Were you going to tell her how sorry you were that things had worked out this way?”
Beverly sighed loudly. “This didn’t just affect you and Mia, Austin. Do you have any idea the position this debacle has put us in? The number of calls we’ve had to handle and everyone agreeing with us on how this wedding was a mistake?”
Raking a hand through his hair, Austin let out a very audible growl. “Beverly…”
“Well, if you had…”
“That wasn’t the wedding either of us wanted!” And this time, he did shout. “You had your wedding, Beverly! This was Mia’s! Ours! And considering that we were paying for it ourselves, it wasn’t your place to tell us how or where or when it should be!”
“But if you had taken my suggestion,” she pushed and Austin had no idea how Mia hadn’t strangled the woman yet.
“This was a freak storm,” he countered calmly. “There hasn’t been anything like it in over a hundred years, so…” Closing his eyes, he let out a long breath. “It’s unfortunate and heartbreaking for us. But if you can’t show an ounce of compassion for your daughter and what she’s feeling, then she’s not going to call you. I refuse to let you make her cry more than she already is.”
“That’s ridiculous! You can’t tell me…”
“I can and I am,” he said firmly. “Your daughter means the world to me and I would die to protect her from any harm, and you, Beverly, are harmful to her already-broken heart and well-being.” He paused and was surprised when she didn’t have anything to say. “Now, I would appreciate it if you gave us a few days to deal with all of this, and when we know what our plans are moving forward, I promise we will let you know.”