The Marriage Agenda. Allison Leigh

sober right then and at least somewhat abashed after his behavior at the wedding, had the grace not to argue with her. “Pass those little red pepper things,” he mumbled.

      They were having take-out. Camilla had ordered five giant-size deep-dish meat-lover’s-style pizzas to feed the hungry cleanup crew.

      Niki grabbed a tissue of her own and blew her nose. Then she reached for another big slice. “Oh, I can’t believe it,” she sniffled and swiped at her still-leaking eyes. “Dekker and Joly…married. Dekker will be like my brother for real.…”

      There were more hugs, from Aunt Catherine and Uncle Stan. And lots of good wishes and hearty congratulations from Bud and Burly and Uncle Foley, too.

      Camilla did not cry. She didn’t say much, either, a fact that Joleen hardly noticed, since everyone else seemed to be talking nonstop.

      After they’d finished off the pizzas, Joleen said she and Sam had to get on home. Tomorrow, after all, would be a workday. She had laundry to take care of and she needed to fit in a trip to the store. Her refrigerator was empty. In the past few days DeDe’s wedding had put her own life completely on hold.

      Dekker said he had to get going, too. He walked her to her hatchback economy car before climbing into his battered metal-flake blue Plymouth Road Runner, which he’d had since time began and which bore the dubious distinction of being a year older than he was.

      Joleen strapped Sam into his car seat in back and then went around to slide behind the wheel.

      Dekker shut her door and leaned in her window. “I thought it went pretty well.”

      “I thought so, too. But there’s a lot more left to tell.”

      They hadn’t even mentioned the change in Dekker’s fortunes. That would take some explaining and seemed better accomplished one-on-one. Joleen would tell her mother and Niki the story privately. And she’d tell DeDe, too, as soon as her middle sister returned from her wedding trip.

      And then there was the news about the Atwoods. They’d have to get into that unpleasant subject with the family at some point.

      And the new babysitting arrangements would have to be handled, as well. As a rule DeDe watched Sam in the mornings, Joleen or her mother took over for a couple of hours after lunch. Then when Niki got home from school, she would be on duty until six or so, when Joleen got through at the salon. Dotty Hendershot, the sweet older lady who lived next door to Camilla, in the house where Dekker had grown up, would pick up the slack.

      All that would change now. But further discussion last night had brought them to the conclusion that they didn’t have to deal with the child-care issue right away. The wedding would be simple and soon—by the end of the week, they were thinking. And Dekker had proposed a honeymoon, one with Sam included. Dekker said he could afford it, and they both agreed it would be good to have a little time away together, just the three of them, at the start of their new life as a family.

      So they would take two weeks for a wedding trip—destination to be decided in the next few days. And when they came home, Joleen would begin looking for the right day care for Sam. By the time the Atwoods geared up to drag her before a judge, she and Dekker would have all the bases covered.

      Dekker touched the side of her face. “What is that frown for?”

      “Just thinking about how much has to be done.”

      “Worrying, you mean.”

      “Maybe…”

      “You worry too much, Jo. We’ll get to it. To all of it. Little by little.”

      She produced a smile for him. “I know.”

      “One thing you do need to deal with right away. Your blood test. I’m going to get mine taken care of tomorrow.”

      “I’ve got no appointments between one and three. I’ll see if I can fit it in then.”

      “Good. And what do you think of a week in L.A. and then maybe Maui for the other week?”

      “L.A.? Would we visit your brother?”

      “If that’s okay with you. I have a standing invitation.”

      “We’d stay at his house?”

      “That’s right.”

      “But wouldn’t that be inconvenient for him, on such short notice?”

      Dekker laughed. “We could stay at Jonas’s house for a month and never even set eyes on him, if he didn’t want to see us. Angel’s Crest is enormous.”

      “Angel’s Crest?”

      “The Bravo mansion.”

      “His house has a name?”

      “That’s right. Angel’s Crest is on a hill, in Bel Air. It’s an incredible place. Ocean and city views from just about every room in the house. It’s been in the Bravo family for three generations, I think Jonas said.”

      “This is sounding very interesting.”

      “And did I mention Mandy? I want Sam to meet her.”

      “Who?”

      “Amanda is two. She’s Jonas’s adopted sister.”

      “Wait a minute. Your, uh, real mother adopted a baby girl, before she died?”

      “That’s right. And now Jonas and Emma are raising her.”

      “So Sam will have an aunt who is two?”

      “I hadn’t thought of it that way, but yes. He will.”

      “Well, what can I say? Sam just has to meet his Aunt Mandy.”

      “Are you telling me yes to a week in L.A.?”

      “I sure am.”

      “And then Hawaii?”

      “Why not?”

      “Or maybe I’ll just wait. Keep it open-ended. We can decide what we want to do next after we get to L.A.”

      “That’s fine.”

      “Okay, then.” He stepped back from her door, touched his temple in a goodbye salute and headed for his own car.

      * * *

      Joleen returned to her mother’s at eight-thirty the next morning. Camilla had agreed to watch Sam for a couple of hours. Joleen planned to run a few errands without the distractions a toddler presented before she opened the salon at nine-thirty. When she came to work herself, Camilla would take Sam to Dotty next door.

      Camilla was never an early riser by choice. Usually, Joleen had to shake her awake and stick a cup of coffee under her nose any time she had babysitting duty before ten or so.

      But that morning Joleen walked into the kitchen with Sam in her arms and found Camilla sitting in the breakfast nook, her coffee already in front of her, wide-awake and fully dressed.

      Joleen started at the sight. “Mama. You’re up.”

      “Yes, I am, baby,” said Camilla in a determined tone.

      Sam put both hands on Joleen’s shoulder and gave a push. “Dow, Mama. Pway.”

      Joleen bent to let him to the floor. He toddled off toward the living room where Camilla kept a big bin of toys just for him.

      “Has Niki already left for school?”

      Camilla nodded, picked up her coffee and took a delicate sip.

      “Uncle Hubert and everyone finally go home?”

      “Yes, they did.”

      Joleen wondered why it felt as if something wasn’t right. “Everything okay, Mama?”

      Camilla answered by lifting a shoulder in a shrug.

      “Well,”