I padded downstairs to see what everyone was up to. Surely, I couldn’t be the first one up. That never happened around here.
I didn’t find any of our overnight guests milling about the main floor, but I did spot the TV crew floating around the front yard as if one in mind and body. They had their equipment trained on the long-haired white cat while Sharon spoke animatedly from the sidelines. Whether she was trying to encourage her feline or steal attention, I couldn’t say for sure. It made me wonder what Chessy thought of all the constant fanfare. I hadn’t had the opportunity to ask him and doubted I would find it. If Octo-Cat were the star of his own show, he’d probably love the adulation but hate the intrusion on his schedule. No, if we were to one day share our exploits with the world, he’d probably prefer a different medium.
Maybe a book series.
I smiled to myself as I headed to the kitchen to pour yet another cup of coffee. I’d need all my strength and energy today, no matter where it came from.
“Oh, good. There you are!” Nan shouted, rushing into the kitchen as if I’d been the one in hiding.
“Here I am,” I agreed.
“Well, what are you waiting for? Let’s get you gussied up.” She took the mug from my hands, set it on the counter, and then yanked me toward the main stairway. We went to Nan’s bedroom where a host of cosmetic and hair styling supplies had been set up at her old-fashioned vanity. Grandma Lyn stood waiting by the large picturesque window where Nan typically worked on her various arts and crafts.
“We’re going to tag team this one. Right, Marilyn?” Nan said, pulling out the chair in front of the vanity and motioning for me to sit.
Grandma Lyn came over and set a hand on my shoulder, watching our reflection in the oversized mirror. “That’s right, Dorothy.”
It made sense that they’d call each other by their first names, but it still felt weird to hear them speak so formally, yet so chummily at the same time.
“I’ve got the hair,” Nan said, grabbing a curling iron and clicking it like a hungry crocodile.
“And I’ll do your makeup,” Grandma Lyn supplied without taking up any props to prove her point.
This was a good arrangement. I’d been worried that my former Broadway actress nan would attempt to put me in full stage makeup or use the hot pink lipstick she tended to prefer these days. Grandma Lyn’s style was much more understated. It had to be, since she’d been hiding a huge part of who she was for decades.
“Where’s your dress?” Grandma Lyn asked as she studied the array of cosmetics laid out on the vanity. “Dorothy told me what happened on our drive over. Such a shame.”
I nodded and stretched my neck to either side, enjoying the last few precious minutes of free mobility before I was twisted and prodded and warned to keep still. “I’ll put it on after we’re done. I want it to be a surprise.”
“Don’t we get a sneak peek?” she asked with a teasing smile.
“Nope. You’ll have to wait along with everyone else.” I shook my head, drawing an annoyed tsk from Nan who had just started dragging a brush through my sandy locks.
“I still can’t believe the raccoon would do such a thing. I thought you said he was turning over a new leaf?” Nan added with a frown.
“Um.” I paused and glanced around the room. “Hey, Grandma Lyn, can you close that window?” I nodded toward it, upsetting Nan’s progress on my hair once more. Still, I had to make sure there was no way this conversation could be inadvertently recorded for the reality show finale.
My grandma crossed the room and pushed the window shut, locking it for good measure. “I do always love hearing about the local animal drama. So many similarities, but also so much regional flavor.” Her eyes glinted as she returned to us at the vanity.
“Well, Pringle—that’s the raccoon that lives out back—he’s always been pretty nosy. That’s how we found out about…” I was about to say that’s how we found out about her, my long-lost biological grandmother, but I didn’t want to upset Nan. “Never mind.”
I moved on quickly, hoping my faux pas went unnoticed. “He’s started watching the local AA meetings through the church window and is going through the twelve-step program.”
“That’s a good thing, right? If only all raccoons attended such meetings, the world would be a much less chaotic place. When I started renting my last house, I chose a neighborhood far from the woods, hoping it would mean fewer masked gossipmongers, but no such luck.”
“Right.” I glanced at Nan in the mirror. She appeared to be following along just fine as she began to part and pin my hair. “Well, it would be a good thing, if he hadn’t been directed to join by Alpha. He’s a seagull I’ve kind of made an enemy of. And he threatened to ruin the wedding just days before helping”—I made air quotes here—“Pringle get his behavior under control.”
Grandma Lyn’s eyes grew wide as she took it all in. “Oh, so you think the bird is not-so-secretly controlling the critter.”
“Bingo.” I made a finger gun and pointed to her in the mirror.
“Poor raccoon. Doesn’t know enough to know he doesn’t know much of anything,” Grandma Lyn said with a sigh.
Nan remained contemplative as she worked my tresses. “I just don’t know, sweetie. While I can’t speak to the animals personally, I feel like I know them well. And Pringle has a vivid imagination, sure, but he’d never intentionally hurt you in that way. He knows what a big day this is for you.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know what’s going on, but we’re past it now. You sent Mom’s dress to your seamstress friend already, right?”
Nan nodded while Grandma Lyn rifled through the cosmetics and selected a bottle of creamy foundation and a foam beauty blender to get her work started.
I smiled, choosing once again to focus on the positive, lest I allow the anxiety to consume me as it had for much of yesterday. “So it might not all be going to plan, but it is all going well. I’ll be fine. The wedding will be fine. At least I don’t have to worry about anything else going wrong now that Alpha’s gotten his revenge, right?”
I glanced in the mirror expecting to see twin nods of approval, but instead Nan’s face blanched right before my eyes.
“You’re mostly right, dear, but there is just one last little thing you should know,” she mumbled.
Uh-oh. I took a deep breath and braced myself for the bad news I knew I was about to receive.
“Both the rings for you and Charles… Well, they’ve gone missing, it seems. But we’ll find them! I’ve recruited Christine to help since your cousin is still working on that surprise for you. But if we don’t find them in time for the ceremony, I have other rings you can borrow, your grandfather’s and mine, actually. So see? It will still be special. And you can use your own rings when you do your renewals wearing your mother’s dress, and—”
“Nan,” I interrupted, otherwise she may have continued rambling straight up until it was time for me to walk the aisle. My heart dropped, but I quickly picked it back up off the floor. “The rings probably went missing last night, but we didn’t notice because of the dress drama. But it’s okay. I’d love to borrow your rings. Thank you for offering them.”
She studied me for a moment. “Are you sure?”
“Super sure,” I said with an enthusiastic grin. “But maybe we could listen to one of your guided meditation tapes while we finish getting ready?”