Chapter 29
Canadian Sunset
"Welcome to the Fairmont Chateau Whistler," the doorman said after opening the door to the Hummer stretch limo and helping Peggy Peabody climb out. She was followed by Shane, Carmen, Alice and Helena, all of whom had flown from LAX to Vancouver in the Peabody corporate jet, and then taken the limo up Highway 99, the Sea-to-Sky Highway to Whistler two hours and some 75 miles to the north. The road ran along the eastern shoreline of the fantastically beautiful Strait of Georgia, then through forest, and then along the western shore of Daisy Lake before finally turning northeast into the town of Whistler. The resort itself nestled at the foot of Blackcomb Mountain. Not only did it include two mile-high mountains with some of the best skiing in the world, it even had its own glacier, and you could ski on it, too.
"Wow, look at this place," Shane murmured in appreciation. There was no place like it in Texas, where she had spent the first two-thirds of her life, or in LA, where she'd spent the last third.
Carmen got out of the left side of the car, turned, and looked out over the snow-covered valley. The view was incredible. The sun glistened off the snow-crusted mountainsides that ringed the huge resort hotel. Carmen had been born and raised in the barrio, but she had traveled much further and wider than Shane ever had. She'd even gone on ski trips before, and she loved mountains and forests just as much as she enjoyed oceans, beaches and deserts. She could hardly believe it, her fairy-tale wedding taking place in such a fairy-tale environment as this. Cliché or not, it would be the memory of a lifetime.
"Here comes the bride," Alice said from the steps of the grand hotel.
"Look at this!" Carmen marveled, throwing up her hands and gesturing at the landscape. She inhaled the crisp winter air happily. She and Shane had their arms around each other as they went up the steps and into the chateau's immense lobby.
And then there they were, the six of them. Carmen's sisters Patricia and Anna, and their husbands, Freddy and Pablo. Her cousin Evi, the hairdresser. And at their center, pouring over a map of the resort, was her mother Mercedes.
Carmen saw them and stopped short. Mercedes looked up from her map.
Shane looked at Helena, who had a broad, happy grin on her face. She realized what Helena had done, that she had somehow brought Carmen's family here for the wedding, as a surprise. Alice, too, had a Cheshire-cat grin on her face; she'd been in on it with Helena.
"They're all dressed in the same clothes," Peggy murmured to Alice. And indeed they were: all six of Carmen's clan wore identical red snow parkas trimmed out in gray and white accent panels. All four women wore white boots.
"Carmen didn't know they were coming, though," Alice told Peggy. "I think Helena might have had something to do with it."
Carmen slowly stepped forward in shock, looking at her mother. This meant ... this meant ... . Slowly she shook her head no, she couldn't believe it. And then Mercedes threw herself forward, laughing and crying, hugging Carmen to her, words of endearment tumbling out in Spanish and English. "I couldn't miss it! My baby! Getting married!"
Patricia went over to greet Helena, who stood beaming at them all. "Everybody," she called out, "this is Carmen's friend Helena, the one who phoned me, and invited us all, and paid for our plane tickets and hotel rooms." The co-conspirators had outed themselves.
Carmen went to Helena and hugged her, saying "Thank you, Helena." Both their faces were wet.
"My pleasure," Helena said, returning the hug. Before they knew it, the entire Morales clan had come forward, surrounding them, hugging, clapping Helena on the back.
Peggy turned to Alice, who could read Peggy's mind perfectly. Peggy did the money math in her head: round-trip plane tickets for six, shuttle to and from Vancouver, hotel rooms for a couple of nights ... . "I guess it grows on trees," she said to Alice, who merely smiled.
Mercedes grasped Carmen's hands. "Anna says you bought a dress." Carmen nodded; she had been in more-or-less constant contact with her sisters, if not her mother, for weeks now. "You bought it yourself? I need to check it!" Mercedes said, overriding Carmen's attempts at protest. "I want to make sure that the jewelry goes with it! And look, we have Evi to do your hair."
Carmen laughed and waved at Evi, who blew her a kiss.
"And Chane! Chane!" Mercedes said, pulling Shane over to join them. "Aww! You're going to make such a handsome bride!" Carmen pushed Mercedes' arm. "Groom!" Mercedes corrected, laughing as Shane laughed, too.
"Thank you," Shane said, her hands grasped by Mercedes lovingly. She couldn't believe the sudden change in her fortune, that she had regained the mother love of Mercedes and the Morales clan she'd thought had been lost.
"So handsome!" Mercedes said. She turned to her daughter. "Carmencita! You are coming with us. We are going sight-seeing at the Whistler Village." She waved a finger in Shane's face. "You're not allowed to see her now until the wedding! Okay?"
Shane, beaming, said, "Okay."
Evi came and joined them, and together Evi and Mercedes carted Carmen off between them.
"Bye," Shane said, helplessly, watching them go out the front door. She turned and saw Helena standing there, smiling. She went to her and hugged her. "I'm ... speechless ... I can't ... you'll never know ... ."
"Oh, I think I do," she said.
***
"So, Shane, where is your lovely bride?" Peggy Peabody asked. They were in a private dining room off the one of the hotel's restaurants called "The Chalet," a separate building from the main hotel and located by the resort's golf course. They'd all been transported to The Chalet by horse-drawn sleighs. Helena had booked the room in advance for the evening's dinner ... and entertainment.
"Peggy, this is Shane's bachelor party," Alice explained. "Brides are excluded."
Jenny, Max and Lara had joined them all for a glass of wine before dinner was served, and the others were expected momentarily.
"Oh, my goodness, I had no idea you were all such role-playing lesbians," Peggy said.
"Come on, we're not," Shane protested. "Actually, I'd like for her to be here, but her family's so traditional, so I stepped back."
"I think that's nice," Max said.
"I think that's regressive," Jenny had to put in quietly. Lara looked at her, mildly annoyed. It was so Jenny.
"Well, we're pretty traditional in our family too, aren't we, Mummy?" Helena said. She was sitting on the arm of the chair Peggy was ensconced in, and rubbed Peggy's back fondly.
Peggy rolled her eyes and looked at her daughter incredulously, as if to say, Have you lost all your marbles?
"Oh, look, Bette and Tina are here now!" Helena said, saving the moment and still oblivious to Peggy's reaction. "Time for dinner. Please, take my hand," she said, helping her mother rise up out of the chair, "and let me bury my head in your ample bosom if I get a little too emotional."
Bette and Tina had arrived, Tina pushing baby Angelica in a stroller. A minute later Kit and Mangus arrived, and the Friends all seated themselves around a single long table in a private room, with Shane seated in the middle in the guest of honor's position.
The meal was The Chalet's famous and popular three-course fondue, starting with a cheese fondue with vegetables. Then came the main course, Fondue Chinoise, a broth-based fondue featuring pieces of beef tenderloin, prawns and salmon. Dessert was -- what else? -- a gloriously decadent chocolate fondue.
Then it was time to get down to business: Shane's bachelor party event. Jenny and Alice stood up at their end of the table and Alice tapped on a glass to get everyone's attention.
