XANDER

“I don’t know why they’re having the wedding all the way upstate.”

“Shh. They’ll hear you.”

“Good. They should know that it’s very inconvenient for their guests.”

“We’re here now. Let’s just make the best of it.”

Merry touched Xander’s arm and said, “Hey. I love you.”

Reaching out, he pulled his fiancée closer and wrapped his arms around her.

Drawing in a calming breath, he delivered a closed mouth smile and said, “I love you too. But we should have eloped.”

Then he wouldn’t have to stand there in one of his favorite places on earth with the woman he loved pretending to not hear his ill-mannered, self-centered parents complaining just a couple of yards away.

He’d clenched his jaw until his teeth hurt and they’d only arrived about two hours ago. If they couldn’t even be nice while being plied with free drinks and food in a five-star hotel lakeside there was no hope.

Merry tipped her head to the side. “And I would have been fine with that. But it’s a little late now.”

She was right, of course. There were dozens of out-of-town guests already checked into the Otesaga in Cooperstown. And dozens more driving in for the wedding tomorrow.

“I know.” He drew her closer, resting his chin on the top of her head as he sighed.

He let his gaze settle on the view of Lake Otsego in front of him, its water a near perfect match for the deep blue June sky above.

Then again, the lake was magical in winter too, covered in acres of ice as the bare trees sparkled in the sunlight. And in autumn, when the water reflected the rich, brilliant colors of the surrounding fall foliage.

He would have married Merry anytime, anywhere.

She’d chosen June in Cooperstown—a surprise considering he’d have bet money she’d choose a Christmas wedding knowing how much she loved the holiday. He would have lost that bet.

Weather wise, they couldn’t have asked for a more perfect weekend. Guest wise… things were not so great on that front.

He flashed back to Rex’s wedding a year and a half before. His friend and groomsman, who was around here somewhere, had warned him that though marriage was great, the actual wedding was a challenge.

Rex’s problem had been his mother turning into a momzilla during the wedding prep. Weddings apparently could make families insane.

Xander couldn’t fault Merry’s mother. Or any of her family. They were perfect. The problem was his own parents and he had no idea what to do about it.

It was like he’d invited them to a war zone instead of upstate New York.

They acted as if leaving the Hamptons for forty-eight hours was an inconvenience they only tolerated as a favor to him.

He was tempted to tell them not to do him any favors and send them packing.

Merry, as if reading his mind, squeezed him a little tighter. “It’ll be over soon.”

“I don’t want you to wish away what’s supposed to be the happiest day of your life because of me.” Or them.

“I’m not wishing it away. I think you might be though,” she said, leaning back to meet his gaze.

“I’m trying not to.”

“Oh, my God.” Evan Klein, best man and the polar opposite of Xander’s parents in his views on this wedding, bounded over to them. “This place is freaking amazing! I can’t believe you’ve been hoarding it all to yourself for like a year and a half.”

Xander cocked up a brow. “I’ve hardly been hoarding it. You knew exactly where I was when I worked remotely from here.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t know it was so nice. Damn, Merry. I’m kind of sorry I fixed you two up. Had I known, I’d have kept you for myself.”

Merry, used to Evan by now, laughed. “Sorry. Better luck next time.”

“Oh, I’m counting on it. That’s why I came without a date. Little known fact, weddings are the best place to meet single women.”

“Is that so?” Xander shook his head.

Now he was going to have to keep an eye on Evan. Make sure he didn’t embarrass them all by trying to score with one of Merry’s friends or relatives.

“I have great hopes—holy shit! Is that a bald eagle?” Evan stared out the wall of windows. “There in the tree. By the lake.”

Merry nodded. “Yeah. We see them all the time while we’re on the golf course, and when we take the boat out.”

Evan spun back to face them. “Golfing. Boating.” He let out a humph. “Yup. I totally screwed up giving her to you. I’m getting a drink.”

With that, he slunk off to the bar.

“I’m sorry about him,” Xander apologized.

“Eh, I think it’s cute he thinks he had a shot with me.”

“He didn’t?”

“No doubt he’s handsome. And successful and—”

“This isn’t very reassuring,” Xander interjected.

Merry continued over him, “…sweet in a golden retriever kind of way. But next to you? The mysterious, brooding, oh so serious, grumpy, Christmas-hating workaholic—”

“Still not reassuring,” Xander pointed out.

“…he never had a chance.”

She stood on tiptoe and pressed a kiss to his mouth. It was like a balm to his soul.

Hauling her closer, he tipped his head and deepened the kiss, not caring they weren’t alone.

“Get a room, you two. Seriously, though, the rooms here! Frigging awesome.”

Xander smiled against Merry’s mouth at Evan’s comment as he walked by with his drink. “At least he’s happy about our choice of wedding venue.”

“So Beth is kind of a tech whizz and she set me up with this countdown to the wedding on my cell phone. If you want, I can have her set you up with one counting down to when our out-of-town guests leave,” Merry offered.

He knew she wasn’t talking about Evan, who was harmless and entertaining. She was most definitely empathizing with his feelings about his obviously unhappy parents.

“I might take her up on that. In the meantime, I suppose I should talk to them. They don’t know anyone here but me.”

“Let me handle this.”

“You?” His brows rose.

“Trust me. You go, get a drink, and take Evan outside. Show him the pool or the putting green or I don’t know. Whatever you think will entertain him and put some distance between you and your parents. Leave the rest to me.”

Merry patted him on the chest and turned away. And he braced himself for pretty much anything.

MERRY

Merry pulled out her cell phone, navigated to the family group text and entered two words—Code Black.

In seconds, she was surrounded.

Eddie, baby on his hip, frowned. “Code black? In all the years since we’ve instituted this system, we’ve never had one of those before.”

The system had been invented for all the many fundraisers, parties, meetings and other assorted events the family attended, en masse.

Sometimes someone needed rescue from a boring person who had grabbed their ear and wouldn’t let go—code blue.

Sometimes there were people who just liked to argue with the defacto first family of Cooperstown. Especially when there was an open bar, discussions could turn loud and ugly fast—code red.

Code black was pretty much the 9-1-1 of codes. Emergency. All hands on deck.

Looking concerned, Beth asked, “What’s up?”

“I’d like to venture a guess,” their grandfather said, walking up behind Merry and laying a hand on her shoulder. “In-law problems?”

“How did you know?” she asked.

“I’ve been around the block a few times, kid. I also have excellent hearing.”

“Thanks to that hearing aid you finally got after we begged you to for years,” Beth pointed out.

“Yeah, yeah,” he grumbled. “Anyway, your mother-in-law is not a soft talker. In fact, she’s quite a loud bitcher.”

“Dad!” Susan Clark, Beth and Merry's mother, arrived and shot her own father-in-law a censuring glare.

“I only speak the truth,” he answered as his son, Merry’s father, walked over.

“What’s this code black about? And what truth is Dad speaking now?” Ambrose Clark asked.

“That Merry’s mother-in-law is a b—”

“So anyway,” Merry began, cutting off her grandfather’s comment before anyone else heard. “I need help. Xander’s parents are…”

She searched for the right word and couldn’t find one.

“Am I allowed to finish that sentence?” Grandpa asked.

“No,” her mother said.

The rest of her family remained silent, too polite to supply their own adjectives although she was sure they all had some.

“They’re getting to Xander. I’m afraid they’re going to ruin the whole wedding for him.”

“What about for you? It’s your wedding day too,” Beth said, her tone accusatory.

“I’m used to people underestimating me. I wouldn’t even care or bother with them if I didn’t know how much it bothers him.”

“So what would you like to do, sweetie?” her father asked. “We’ll follow your lead.”

“I think we need to show these people who we are. What we stand for. We’re the Clarks. We don’t have to be loud or showy. We walk with quiet pride. We live by a strong set of values of charity and empathy. And we choose to do it here, where our ancestors settled. A place so majestic that James Fenimore Cooper immortalized its natural beauty forever in his prose. They don’t get to look down on Cooperstown. They don’t get to belittle me or you, or Xander because we chose differently than they would have. Because they only value what their closed-minded society chose for them to value. I could have been married in the Hamptons. I could have been married at the Plaza. I chose to be married here and I’d do it all over again. And it’s time they knew it.”

Merry concluded and glanced around the group.

Wide eyes stared and mouths gaped.

All except for her grandfather who was smiling. “If I knew how to use this phone you gave me I would have recorded that speech for posterity. It’s right up there with the classics. Win one for the Gipper. Walk softly and carry a big stick. A day that will live in infamy. We few, we happy few…”

“All right, Gramps. We get it.” Eddie turned to hand off the baby to his wife Anna who’d just arrived and turned back to the group. “All right, team. Let’s divide and conquer.”

Eddie clapped his hands once and leaned in like a quarterback during the big game.

“Jeter’s right outside. We need to make sure they see us with him. Chumming around with a Hall of Fame baseball star should impress them. Right?” he asked.

“If they’re baseball fans,” their mom pointed out.

“And if they’re not, I think the fact the governor is here might impress them. Perhaps I need to swing by and introduce them,” Merry’s father suggested.

“His parents are hanging around by the bar and Barney’s working. He’s worked here for twenty years. I’m sure he’ll be happy to talk up both the hotel and its fabulous founding family,” Beth said. “I’ll talk to him.”

“Half the board of Glimmerglass is here. Perhaps a loud discussion in his parents’ vicinity about this year’s opera schedule would impress them?” their mom suggested.

“True.” Beth nodded. “They probably don’t even know we host the stars of the Metropolitan Opera here every summer. Or how much money the Clark Foundation donates to help run the program.”

“Couldn’t hurt,” Eddie agreed.

“I’m just going to talk to them,” Grandpa said.

They all grabbed at him with a collective, “No!”

“Why not? You’re all too subtle. Someone needs to set these people straight. Plain and simple.”

Merry’s heart was filled with love for every one of them.

Possibly it was the glaring difference between her and Xander’s family that made her even more grateful for them.

Whatever the motive stemmed from, her heart or her head, she said, “You know what, Gramps? Go for it.”

Her grandfather might be a loose cannon, but she had to admit, Xander’s parents deserved whatever they got. No one got to make the man she loved feel bad.

She realized her grandfather was already halfway to where Xander’s parents stood looking snootily at everyone around them. She scurried to catch up.

Gramps stopped right next to the couple and leaned over the bar toward the bartender.

She reached the bar in time to hear her grandfather say, “Hey, you taking good care of my granddaughter’s future in-laws?”

“Yes, boss.”

With a nod, her grandfather turned to the Barringtons. Xander’s mother’s brow was cocked up as her gaze traveled down Robert Vanderpoel Clark Junior. Taking in his slightly wrinkled khaki pants, his red and white windowpane patterned, button-down, short sleeved shirt, and his unattractive but comfortable shoes.

“Boss?” Xander’s father asked.

“Yeah. Honorary title really now since I retired.”

“Oh. So you used to work here,” his mother announced with the twitch of a lip.

“In a sense.”

The middle-aged bartender leaned in. “The Clark family owns the Otesaga. One reason I’ve been working here since the year I turned sixteen. Best bosses in the world, the Clarks are.”

That sent Mrs. Barrington’s overly-Botoxed forehead into a frown. “Oh.”

“So, my Merry tells me you two like to spend Christmas in Saint Moritz. Have you been to the Badrutt’s Palace Hotel?”

“Yes. Do you know it?” Xander’s father asked, looking surprised.

God bless the old man. He delivered the answer to that question with the most perfect deadpan expression. “I own a forty-percent share of it.”

That response sent Mr. Barrington into a coughing fit as he choked on the unfortunately timed swallow he’d just taken of his Tanqueray and Tonic.

Pale herself, Mrs. Barrington finally turned to her wheezing, gasping husband, slapping him unhelpfully on the back as Xander came up.

“What happened to my father?” he asked, looking concerned.

“Gramps happened.” Merry smiled.

Xander’s eyes widened as finally, the elder Barringtons composed themselves.

“Hello, son.” Gramps moved to wrap an arm around Xander’s shoulders. “Has my boy here told you about his new hobby?” he said in Xander’s parents’ direction.

“Hobby?” his mother asked.

As Merry wondered where this conversational turn was going, her grandfather continued. “Yeah. He’s become quite the lumberjack. Every weekend he comes to visit, I find him outside chopping firewood. Says it’s a good workout.” The old man let out a gruff laugh. “Had to buy him his own coat and hat last Christmas so he’d stop stealing mine.”

Chuckling, Xander shook his head. “Yours was always hanging by the back door. It was convenient.”

“Yeah, well, now yours is hanging by the back door next to mine so you can wear your own.”

“Yes, sir.” Xander smiled.

“Just teasing you. Love you, son,” Gramps said, squeezing Xander’s shoulder.

“Love you too, Gramps,” Xander replied.

And if Xander’s parents hadn’t looked completely flabbergasted before, they certainly did now.

“Why do Xander’s parents look like they’ve just lost their fortune in a stock market crash?” Beth whispered in Merry’s ear.

More like they’d realized they’d lost something even more valuable. Something they’d never considered had value until now—their son.

“I unleashed Gramps on them,” Merry explained for the second time.

“Ah.” Beth nodded. “Sorry I missed it.”

“I’ll reenact it for you later.”

“Can’t wait. But right now, the manager would like the bride and groom to sit so they can serve dinner.”

Bride and groom. Merry smiled just at the words. But far more than being a bride, she couldn’t wait to be Xander’s wife.

He glanced back at her over his shoulder and mouthed the words, “I love you.”

She mouthed her reply and decided to let him enjoy the aftermath of his parents’ lesson about what a real family looked and acted like for a few minutes more.

“Can we have five more minutes before we sit?” she asked Beth.

“You’re enjoying watching the Barringtons squirm,” Beth accused.

“Guilty.”

Her sister laughed. “You got it, sis.”

“Thank you. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

Friends. Family. Xander. Today was absolutely the perfect day. And things were only going to get better.

The End

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