CHAPTER 40

The party continued until two in the afternoon when the caterer announced that dinner was served. We began with crocks of French onion soup, complete with melted cheese. I had to admit that it was great. That was followed by salad—lettuce wedge with diced plum tomatoes and bacon bits with excellent bleu cheese dressing and capped with plenty of crumbles of real bleu cheese. Everyone commented on the salad, but Mrs. Osborne made her husband promise that he'd take her to Peter Luger's in Great Neck. I wondered what she would say when we had the main course.

A lot of people think that boiling lobster is the best way to cook it, but steaming is really better. There were several propane stoves set up on the deck, each with a huge pot and a number of rounded stones to keep the lobsters out of the salt water boiling below. Each pot could hold six of the large crustaceans easily so all of the entrees were served at the same time. We also had huge Idaho potatoes baked in rock salt and fresh corn. I had wanted it on the cob, but Sara reminded me that everyone would be dressed up and that corn could be sloppy. That was when I reminded Sara that we were eating lobster and we'd all have those little bibs tied around our necks. That was one of the few "discussions" that I actually won.

The bottom line was that everyone enjoyed the meal immensely. Once the table was cleared the waiters brought bottles of cordials and liqueurs—only the best. I had paid more than a thousand dollars to ensure our guests the best wedding experience imaginable. Of course, Sara and I could enjoy them for weeks, reliving our big day. The drinks were accompanied by Italian cookies and petits fours—you know--those tiny and impossibly rich pastries that are always irresistible.

We chatted and drank for almost an hour before retiring to the living room for more dancing. We were all paired up so I almost had Sara all to myself. Dad did cut in once and I heard him say how thrilled he was to welcome her to our family. "He's right, you know," Mom whispered. "You took a huge leap up when you got involved with Sara. She's so much better than Daisy ever dreamed of being." I leaned down to kiss my mom's cheek. I agreed with her one hundred percent. I'd dodged a bullet when I overheard Daisy and her mother on the phone.

We'd returned to the table for the final time when Aunt May asked, "What did Sara mean when she said she was sorry that she tricked you?"

Cara, Sara and I laughed, but I turned to Cara, telling her, "Go ahead. Tell everyone what you guys did and don't leave anything out." Cara blushed immediately, matched by Sara who with a wave of her hand gave Cara the okay to begin.

"Okay…I guess I should start at the very beginning—when I began working for John. Sara was working at the hospital and she asked me about my new job. I told her how thrilled I was working for John and how the work we were doing was so important. We spoke every night about what we each were doing, but after a month or so we were only talking about John. I realized early on, as did Sara, that we'd never said even a single negative word about him. I've never seen him lose his temper even though we've had some really big screw-ups. I think that's because he's so smart.

"At the time John had been living with Daisy and had eventually proposed. Based on what I saw when she came to the office I didn't like her at all. Then suddenly John was working insane hours and I could see a change in his personality. After almost a month of that I asked him to level with me and he told me the whole sordid story about how Daisy and her mother had tried to hurt him and how he had thrown her out. Then he asked where he would be able to find a replacement. John's not exactly into the bar and club scene. I remember telling him that I thought his solution wasn't all that far away.

"I told Sara about our conversation that night and we came up with a plan. I love John, but I'm not ready to settle down. Sara is, so on Friday afternoon she and I exchanged clothes in the ladies' room and at 5:30 she went into John's office, sat in his lap, and kissed him. From what she's shared with me it must have been some kiss. They went out to dinner and then came here where they spent the night together. Of course, John thought that he was spending it with me. He didn't even know that Sara existed then.

"I had been sitting outside in my car since about eleven o'clock and around 1:00 or so Sara walked downstairs to let me in. She cuddled up in front of John and I snuggled up behind him and we went to sleep. Oh yeah, did I mention that we were all naked?" She had to stop then because everyone was laughing like crazy. I knew it would get worse when she told them about when I woke up. That came next.

"I had my arm draped over John's body when he woke up. He looked over and saw Sara before realizing that someone else was in bed with them. Then he turned and saw me. I swear—his eyes became the size of saucers as he looked back and forth several times." She had to stop again. My Aunt May was laughing so hard she was crying. Uncle David was holding his sides and Natalie was shaking her head in disbelief.

"Okay, I know it's funny, but please let me finish. We confessed to him then and explained why we had tricked him. Basically, we knew that he would never have allowed himself to be fixed up. I remember that the last thing he said was, 'what am I going to do with two of you?'" Everyone at the table was howling with laughter at that remark and it continued until Cara reminded everyone that their scheme had worked far beyond their wildest dream.

Mom always had a great sense of timing. She stood and said she thought it was time for them to leave. Rob and Allison went to their room for their bags. Mr. and Mrs. Osborne congratulated us and thanked us for a wonderful day. Cara, her date, Natalie, and Sheldon left together and just a few minutes later we were alone at last. I held Sara in my arms, looking into her face for several minutes and I would have continued had she not asked why we were wasting time. She had a sly look on her face as she led me upstairs to our bedroom.