“What is she—” Nate’s face went white.
She lowered her underpants.
“Is she mooning us?” I asked.
“She can’t see us. I need to find Dad.”
Glyn squatted.
“She’s…powdering her nose,” I said.
“God in heaven, how much has she had to drink?” Nate stood there, stupefied.
Daddy turned the other way, but didn’t retreat.
Then Glyn lost her balance. She cried out as she tipped forward and went ass over teakettle, rolling down the front of the sand dune, which was covered in sea grass, sea grapes, several members of the cactus family, and other erosion resistant plants.
“Oh my God,” Nate said. He took a step towards the walkway to the beach.
But Daddy was closer. He’d turned around when she hollered and he was already on top of the sand dune.
“Nate, it will just embarrass her more if she knows you saw that.”
Daddy walked sideways down the other side of the dune. “Hold on, Glyn. I’m coming.”
After a minute, we heard him say, “Here, take my hand. Let’s get you up.” We couldn’t see either of them, but the breeze carried their voices in our direction.
Daddy said. “It’ll be easier if we walk down the beach a ways and go over the walkway back inside.”
“No, no,” said Glyn. “I prefer to go back indoors the way I came. I need to go to the ladies room.”
“We shoulda done that before we came out here, shouldn’t we?” asked Daddy.
“If you could just help me back up that hill, I’d be in your debt.”
They argued for a few minutes.
“All those plants will just scratch you again. You’re already scraped up pretty bad,” Daddy said.
“Very well,” said Glyn, her words slurring. “I can climb this hill the same way I came down it. By myself.”
“Here, here. Let me help you, then.”
“I don’t freakin’ believe this,” Nate said.
There was relative silence for a few minutes. Then Daddy said, “We’re never going to get up to the top of this sand dune like this. We’ve got to get your britches up.”
Nate sat in a deck chair and dropped his head into his hands.
Glyn said, “I’ll lose my balance again if I bend over.”
Daddy said, “Here. Put your hands on my shoulders.”
A few minutes later he said, “There, that’s got it.”
Presently, the tops of their heads came into view.
“They’re up. She’s fine,” I said.
“Does she have all of her clothes on?” Nate asked.
“Well, I don’t know what happened to her shoes. Let’s go find your dad and let him know he may need to get her back to the hotel.”
“I…” Nate was speechless.
“Sweetheart, it’s going to be fine,” I said. “No one but us saw that. She’ll have a few scratches, but she’s okay.”
“I don’t think I can ever look her in the eye again.”
“Yes, you will. Family is family.”
“Well, if you didn’t know before what you were getting into, you sure as hell know now.”
“Oh, I had a pretty good idea.”
“I hope Blake has a lot of bourbon on that houseboat.”
“I’m sure he does.” I gentled him back into the restaurant.
Twenty-Nine
Saturday dawned sunny and mild. I’d stayed in my room at my parents’ house after the bachelorette party. Mamma, Merry, and I met Olivia, Moon Unit, Calista, and Sarabeth at Dori’s Day Spa for all day pre-wedding primping. Brunch, complete with mimosas, was catered in. We had the run of the place. At Mamma’s insistence, the photographer started at nine that morning and tailed us all day.
I slipped into the ladies room to check in with Sonny only once, in the early afternoon. Still no sign of Henry Prioleau, but they’d found a large knife with a leg sheath, some dark athletic clothes, and a ski mask when they searched William Calhoun’s house.
We all dressed at St. Francis Episcopal, ladies in the bride’s room. Mamma adjusted the brooch in my hair and stepped back. In the background, we could hear the string quartet playing “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring.”
Mamma had tears in her eyes. “It’s almost time. I never told you this. Maybe I should’ve. I knew Scott was a mistake from the first moment you brought him home. It tore me up inside to see you marry him. But you had your heart set.”
“Mamma—”
“Hush now,” she said. “Just as I knew he was wrong, I know Nate is the right one. You could’ve looked the world over and not found a better man.”