Announcements and Requests

“Wren.”

“Yes, Mother.”

“Show us the garden again. I thought I saw a rare flower there. I want another look at it.”

“Of course, Mother.” ~Damn. I will never find peace in that garden once she has set foot in it.~

“Come, Lucy.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Wren looked back to where her father and Talon were seated. She turned to lead her mother back to the flower beds.

“You love him, yes?” Her mother did not waste any time as they stepped outside.

“Yes, Mother.” Wren sighed. There was no use lying.

“As if you know what love is,” she scoffed. “You had done better with Don. This one has no family.”

“Is it really that important?” Wren asked. “And I seem to recall Don trying to kill me, but perhaps I was just imagining that particular part of our relationship.”

“You were,” Claire confirmed. “Don was merely making sure you knew your place. This one, this one has no pedigree.”

“He has money.”

“Yes…true… He does seem to handle himself well in society.” “I checked into him, and it seems several of my friends know of him.”

“You have heard about him?”

“Yes.” Claire made a show of looking at a few flowers before continuing. “Just a few vague things about being rich and sought after by many women. I do not like the idea of you polluting our pedigree by entering into a marriage with a no-name, but since he has money and is highly thought of in our circle, I might tolerate it. For now.”

“For now? What do you mean; for now?”

Claire gave Wren a withering look. “I am sure Don would take you back if you groveled…and dropped these stupid allegations against him.”

“I will not.” Wren’s voice was emotionless and flat.

“Oh, please. You need a firm hand. Look at you.” Her mother gestured at her. “You have been allowed to run free, and it has not done you any favors. Don is able to curb this wild side of yours and make you behave.”

“Make me behave? I do not need to be made to ‘behave.’ I am not a child.”

Claire waved the words away as if they were unwanted flies swarming around.

“Enough of this unpleasantness. You will come to reason, sooner or later. For now, though, this person will do. Maybe you will finally be able to quit working and have a fami…” Wren’s mother stopped there.

It was a taboo subject between the two of them. Her mother had always wanted Wren to have children, whereas she had not been able to.

Wren had never told her mother about her miscarriage. It would not do any good; her mother would only blame her for the loss of the baby.

It was not a conversation she was strong enough to have.

“Thank you, Mother.”

As Wren had suspected, her mother changed the subject. “Are you making money?”

“Yes, Mother.”

“Mmmm.” She stopped to look at another flower bed.

~What do you want?~ Wren was developing a headache, and her mother’s stalling was beginning to irritate her.

~What drove you to come here? This is not about going back to Don. Something else is afoot.~

“At least the gardens are well kept.” She turned and headed back down the path.

“After all, your father and I gave up, having you come here, you think they would have compensated us better,” she commented.

“They compensated you quite well, if I remember correctly. You should have no problems with money.”

“True, but you know how it goes. I do not know now if we were given enough to have you taken off our hands. I mean, if you had managed to marry Don, we would have been set for life. Thinking of what we could have had makes me wonder if we settled for too little, is all.”

“This is not the nineteenth century, Mother.”

“Still…”

“What do you really want?”

“I just think we should be given a bit more for what we gave up.”

“How much more?” ~Of course it is money. It is always money.~

Wren knew it would come down to this eventually. Her family was not hurting for money.

Her mother was too shrewd a businesswoman to mishandle money, but Lucy was another matter, and she had a feeling this was for her.

“After all, we still have to find a match for your sister.”

“How much, Mother?”

“Oh, I do not know… Only a couple hundred thousand would be perfect for your sister to take into marriage.”

Wren turned to look at Lucy, who had been silently walking behind them. “Are you getting married?” Wren asked, knowing her mother would not bring it up otherwise.

“Yes,” Lucy smiled smugly. “To a doctor.”

“I see. Congratulations. When is the wedding?”

“In another week,” Lucy commented. “We did not think we would be able to see you, so we did not plan for you to attend.”

“That is all right. I cannot leave right now anyway.”

Her sister had no sense of money, and she was always struggling to get out of debt. Her mother must have had to give this doctor a lot of money to take Lucy.

Which is why they were here. Her mother would not want to spend that kind of money on Lucy, but she would not want to continue hiding Lucy’s financial strain on the family.

“How much is your debt?”

“I do not have any,” her sister replied. “Alan, that is his name, Dr. Alan Shlickerbum, has taken care of it all. That is why I have decided to pay him back for his generosity.”

“I thought that was why you were marrying him.”

“Of course not. I am marrying him because he has money and power.”

“I see.”

“Anyway.” Claire interrupted. “It is just a thought since you will not be able to make the wedding.”

“I did not know of the wedding.”

“That is not an excuse. You know it now.”

“I will see.”

“That is not a good enough answer.”

“It is the only answer I can give you. Besides, I have not been officially invited, so I am not obligated to provide a gift.”

It was always the same. Her sister hit her mother up for money. Her mother, in turn, hit her up for money.

“Oh. Here is your invitation.” Lucy handed an envelope to her. “Just in case you can make it, not that we will be expecting you. There now, you can provide me with a gift.”

“Thank you,” Wren took the invitation.

It seemed they thought she would be their cash cow still.

~Some things never change.~

“I will be expecting you to do what is right,” her mother said.

Wren did not reply to her mother’s words.

“Come. Your father will be expecting us back. We cannot ask him to entertain this Talon person all afternoon,” her mother said.

Without another word, they turned back, heading to the main house where Talon and Jon stood, waiting for their arrival.

Wren watched as the two men shook hands, and Jon turned toward her.

“I hear you have some congratulations of your own,” he said.

Wren could tell he was not pleased to make this announcement.

It would seem she was competing with his princess.

“What?” Claire looked at her daughter.

“I see you have approved.” Wren turned toward her mother and sister, dreading their reactions to her next sentence.

“Talon is my partner and fiancé,” Wren told them. “He wanted to ask for Father’s permission before announcing it to anyone else.”

Wren watched as her mother and sister stiffened at her words.

“So you let me say…?”

~Here we go. I can withstand this as I have withstood all her other criticisms. This one will be no different.~

“I do not see the need for you to be engaged. We simply will not be able to support this.” She turned to her husband. “You agreed?”

“I did not have a choice,” Jon informed his wife. “It seems he wanted to ask my permission but did not need it.”

“This is outrageous. I will not stand for this.” Claire turned to Wren. “I will not have you marry this man. Not after what you did to Don. You have made a mockery of this family enough.”

“I thought you agreed to it in the garden.”

“Of course I did. It was not going to happen, so what did it matter what I said?”

“As what you say now does not matter. Wren and I will be married,” Talon said.

He gave her a smile that caused her to take a step back.

Wren remained silent, waiting to see what her mother’s next move was.

Claire drew herself up. “Well,” she said, pursing her lips, knowing she was backed into a corner she could not talk her way out of. “If it will make you happy…Congratulations.”

She reluctantly gave her hand to Talon, and Lucy followed suit.

“Lucy will be married next weekend,” Wren told Talon.

“Congratulations,” Talon told her. “We will have to try and make it. That is, if you will allow me to escort Wren?”

“We would be delighted to have you,” Lucy replied, her displeasure at the thought of them being there evident in each word.

~Oh, we will be there now.~ Come hell or high water, Talon would make sure of it.

He was not going to miss an opportunity to ruin this family’s day.

“I think we had best be going,” Jon spoke up. “Did you get to have your chat?” he asked his wife.

“Yes. I can do no more.” She turned back to her daughter. “Goodbye. Let me know if you are coming so I can adjust the schedule and find a place for you to sleep.”

“You do not need to worry. We will contact you if we are coming, and we will find our own sleeping arrangements. You will not have to be inconvenienced,” Talon said, reading the tension in the air.

“Of course,” Claire responded stiffly.

There was nothing left to say, and they stood in awkward silence while a car was brought around for them.

Wren let out a long sigh after they had gone.

Their absence had not come soon enough.