“Hey,” Rachel said, raising her voice a little. “We’re having a nice dinner.”
“I was only stating the obvious.”
“If it’s obvious, why state it?” Rachel asked. “Go on, Mom. What’s the bad thing?”
“I was going to say I don’t have one, but I suppose it’s that my girls don’t always get along.”
“Mom,” Courtney began.
Maggie held up a hand. “No. We’re doing our one-good, one-bad. We can talk later.”
Rachel scooped chicken, salsa and tomatoes onto her plate. “My bad thing is I got on the scale the morning after the party and realized I’ve gained thirty pounds.” She grimaced. “Josh is eleven. I can’t call it baby weight anymore. So I joined an online diet group. The program’s pretty easy to follow.”
She held up her glass. “I saved all my extra calories for the week so I could have a margarita tonight. That’s my good thing.”
“We could go walking, if you want,” Courtney told her. “Do laps at the high school.”
“I’d like that.”
“I’ll join you,” Maggie told them. “I want to be in shape for the wedding.”
They all looked at Sienna, who was busy dipping her chip into guacamole.
“What?” she asked. “No, I don’t want to do laps at the high school.” She took a bite and chewed. When she’d swallowed, she said, “My bad thing is I’m not a joiner, which you all know already. So stop glaring at me.”
She turned to Rachel. “I’m glad you’re losing weight. You’ll feel better about yourself.”
Courtney winced. Really? That was Sienna’s way of being encouraging?
“What’s your good thing?” Maggie asked.
“Seth has found another duplex that’s coming on the market. It’s in bad shape and the price will reflect that, so we have a chance of buying it.”
Rachel leaned toward Courtney. “So not the engagement, then,” she said in a low voice.
“Are you surprised?”
“Stop whispering,” Maggie instructed. “That’s excellent, Sienna. I’ll talk to Neil and see how much we’d like to contribute.”
“Thanks, Mom. I’ll get you the information on the building.”
“Is Jimmy the listing agent?” Courtney asked.
“He is. He knows the family that wants to sell. They’re being transferred and the tenant living in the other unit is moving out, so the timing is perfect.”
Sienna’s ex-fiancé had become a successful real estate agent in town. All Courtney’s former flames had been of the loser variety. She wouldn’t have wanted to stay in touch with any of them. But Sienna had better taste, so it made sense she and Jimmy had stayed friends.
The three of them turned to Courtney. Rachel raised her eyebrows. “And you, young lady?”
Courtney thought about the praise from her instructor and how she was only two semesters away from graduation. She thought about the different responsibilities she’d taken on at the hotel.
“My good thing is that the party went well,” she said at last. “I wanted it to be everything you’d dreamed of.” She smiled at her mom. “If you’re happy, then I’m happy.”
“Thank you, sweetie.”
“You’re welcome. My bad thing is one of the toilets backed up at the hotel and I had to clean the mess.”
Everyone groaned.
“That is a bad thing,” Rachel said. “Poor you.”
“Thank you all for sharing,” Maggie told them. “Now let’s talk about the wedding, shall we? We barely have three months to get everything planned, and there’s so much to do.”
She looked at Courtney. “You got my text about the swans?”
“Yes, and we already had this conversation. Remember? The poop? The chlorine?”
“Fine. I’ll come up with something else.” Maggie refilled her glass. “I’ve decided on my colors.”
Courtney braced herself. “Not just shades of pink?”
“No. The entire spectrum between vanilla and pink. With an emphasis on pink. I don’t know what I want to do about my dress. I’m leaning toward something traditional. I thought we could all go shopping together. But I don’t know if I want it more vanilla-colored or pink.”
Courtney exhaled. While it wasn’t exactly a broad palette, it was one she could work with. There would be a lot of options.
“We could have fun with the colors,” she said. “You could serve pink champagne. Decorating will be easy. There are lots of flower options and the foliage will be a beautiful contrast. Oh, we want to make sure the bouquets aren’t the same color as the dresses. If they are, the flowers disappear into the dress and the pictures aren’t wonderful.”