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Matt greeted Rachel with an offer to take her to lunch.
"Thanks," she said, "but it's really not necessary."
"Oh c'mon, Rachel. Not only are you a client, you're about to become my sister-in-law, once removed, or something to that effect, so I'm buying you lunch. There's a little soup and sandwich deli down on the ground floor that serves the best chicken salad sandwich in town, and I know Emma would love to say hello to you as well. She's an assistant with another law firm down on the fifth floor, so she can meet us there."
"Well, if you're going to twist my arm..."
He picked up his phone and called his wife, telling her to meet them downstairs. Rachel followed him to the elevators, and once the door opened on the ground floor, he led her to the sandwich shop. Emma arrived as their sandwiches were being delivered.
"Nice to see you again," she said to Rachel as she sat down to join them. "I take it you met with Debra today."
"I did indeed. I've tried my best to avoid this, but the other day I got a letter from the justice court. Craig is contesting the injunction, so I don't I have a choice now."
"No, you really don't," said Matt, "but trust me, you're in very capable hands."
"I agree," said Rachel. "I like Debra. She really made me feel at ease, and she tells me I have a winnable case. Hearing that was such a relief. I've been dealing with this on my own for far too long."
"Then I'm glad I was able to help."
Emma changed the subject. "So, Rachel, how are the wedding plans coming along?"
"So far as I know, they're coming along fine. The invitations have all been mailed, and apparently most of the guests responded right away. The last time I spoke to Alice, she said fifty-seven have confirmed they're coming, with one waiting to see if she can get the night off work. About the only noes we're getting are from extended family out of state."
"Sixty or so would be a nice size," said Emma. "It's about how many came to our wedding. It was just enough for a fun party at the reception, but not so big that it felt like a circus."
"Exactly. We should have just enough people to fill the room. She's booked a DJ, so we'll have dancing. She's also keeping the menu fairly simple, and we'll of course have a wedding cake."
"Good to know, and her bridal shower is this coming Saturday, correct?"
"Yes, it is," said Rachel. "Are you coming?"
"Of course."
"She's registered at Macy's, and I'm afraid I've been such a bad sister. I've been so busy lately I simply haven't had the time to get her a gift, so this afternoon I'll order something online and have them giftwrap it, then I can pick it up on the way to the shower. I looked at her registry the other night and noticed she hadn't picked out any china or crystal. I hear a lot of brides are skipping it these days, so I picked out a set of towels."
"Then I guess you didn't know."
Rachel suddenly looked confused. "Know what?"
"Your grandmother Alice is giving your sister all of her china and crystal, along with all of her sterling flatware."
Rachel was dumbfounded, but she tried to keep her shock to herself. "Really? I just assumed she'd pass all that stuff down to Aunt Laurie, as she's her only daughter."
Emma shook her head. "No. I spoke to Alice the day before yesterday. She said her grandmother told her that with your grandfather being gone now, she won't be doing the big holiday dinners anymore, so she wanted Alice to have all of it."
A server arrived with Emma's soup while Rachel tried to take it all in. She had always had the feeling that her grandmother favored Alice over her, but her mother always insisted it was only her imagination. She picked up her fork, and as she tasted her salad, she reminisced about the big holiday dinners at her grandmother's house while she was growing up. Grandma Alice had been so proud of her fine china and crystal, but if Aunt Laurie didn't want it, then why would she give the entire lot to Alice without at least offering part of it to her? It was yet another reminder that she wasn't a full-fledged granddaughter.
"Is everything alright?" said Emma.
Rachel brushed it off. "I'm fine. I was just thinking about my case."
"And you're in the best of hands," said Matt. He then thanked her for referring Pilar, saying he was helping her with the legal paperwork regarding her son and his father.
"She's been a lovely woman to work with," he said
"She's been a good friend to me as well," said Rachel. "I'm glad you were able to help her. It's not easy being a single mother."
The conversation soon steered back to the wedding, but Rachel's heart was no longer in it. She was still in shock over her grandmother's lavish gift to her sister, and her decision to not include her in any part of a family heirloom. Hopefully it was because Grandma Alice simply thought she wouldn't want it. As she finished the last bite of her sandwich she glanced at her watch.
"Hey, guys, it's been fun, and Matt, thank you so much for the lunch, but I really do need to get back to work. I promised my client I'd have his project done by Friday."
***
AS PROMISED, SHANE stopped by on his way home from work. "You seem a little down," he said as he took his seat at the bistro table. "Did everything go okay with the attorney?"
"Actually, the meeting went well. I like Debra. She says I have good chance of winning, and she has a good track record, but I still can't shake this dark, foreboding that nothing good will come from this."
"It's probably just nerves. As we've discussed before, Craig's a bully, and he won't give up without a fight, but I'm in your corner, and so are your folks."
"I know."
Shane's brows furrowed. "But I can see that something else is bothering you. So what is it?"
"Nothing really. Just silly woman stuff." Rachel glanced down at the empty table. "Besides, I'm being a terrible hostess. Here you are, coming in out of the hot sun, and I haven't even offered you anything to drink."
"I'm fine, and I can't stay too long. I have to go walk Lucy, but I'll tell you what. Why don't you stop by my place, in about a half an hour or so? I'll order some pizza, and maybe we can watch a movie."
"I'd like that," said Rachel with a smile, "and while you're out dog walking, I'll make a run to the store and grab some ice cream for dessert. As long as we're wrecking our diets, we may as well go all the way."
Shane wrapped his arm around her waist, giving her middle a pinch. "Funny, I don't feel anything fat. In fact, a few pounds on you would be incredibly sexy."
"Now you're making me blush," she said as she playfully shooed him away. "Go walk your dog. I'll be over with the ice cream in about thirty minutes. Got any chocolate sauce to go with it?"
"I'm not sure, but bring some, just in case." He stopped to give her a passionate kiss. "I can think of a lot of things that go well with chocolate sauce, and oddly enough, none of them are ice cream."
Rachel laughed. "Shane MacLeod. You are such a naughty boy."
"I know." He gave her a smirk as he slipped off his bistro chair and kissed her again. "See you in a bit."
***
RACHEL ARRIVED AT SHANE'S house thirty minutes later. As he opened the door, Lucy greeted her with a bark and a wagging tail.
"I still say my dog loves you more than she loves me," he said with mock exasperation.
"And as I've already told you, she and I are gal pals." Rachel presented him with her grocery bag. "Here, and I hope you like chocolate."
"My favorite."
He gave her a quick kiss before she put the ice cream in the freezer. Their pizzas arrived a short time later, but over the meal Shane noticed she still seemed a little distant. He reached across the table and patted her hand.
"Are you okay?" he asked. "I noticed you've been kind of quiet."
"I'm fine."
"Worried about your case?"
"A little."
He wanted to reassure her. "It'll be fine. I know you keep saying you have a bad feeling about it, but like I said before, you're just nervous, and who wouldn't be? Honestly, Craig scares me too, but we'll all be with you, and we won't let anything happen to you."
"I know, and I love you all for it."
He grinned. "Good to know. So, what else is bothering you? You said something before about it being just some silly woman stuff, but I can tell it really is upsetting you. So, what is it?"
Rachel took a deep breath and sighed. "After my meeting with Debra, Matt took me to lunch, and Emma joined us. We talked about Alice's wedding, and during our conversation I found out my grandmother will be giving all her china, crystal, and sterling flatware, to Alice. It's a family heirloom, but no part of it was offered to me, and I can't help but wonder if it's because I'm really not her granddaughter."
"I see." Shane thought it over for a moment. "Have you talked to your grandmother? Maybe she didn't think you'd be interested, and that's why she gave it all to your sister."
"I thought about calling her to just say hi, and then seeing if she says anything about it, but even if she did, it's still a done deal. And if I were to bring it up, she might think I'm being jealous or resentful, and she may hold it against me."
"I'm sorry, Rachel."
"Yeah, me too. I was three years old when my mother married Bruce, and some of my earliest memories were of me being daddy's little girl." She smiled for a moment. "Al was still around, and for a time I thought I was really lucky, because I didn't have just one dad. I had two." Her smile slowly faded.
"I was five when Alice was born, and it was never the same after that. Don't get me wrong. I love my sister, but kids can sense things. Alice was Bruce's real daughter, and he had a bond with her that he never had with me. It was the same with Grandma Alice. She was never unkind to me, but she was never overly warm or affectionate with me either. But with Alice, her namesake, it was different. Alice always got the bigger slice of cake, and the fancier toy, and the prettier dress." She sighed as her eyes turned misty.
"Maybe she wasn't aware of what she was doing, or if she was, she probably didn't think I'd notice, but I did. So now it continues. Alice gets the entire lot. There was never any family discussion about this, or if there was, I certainly wasn't included. I know I probably sound like I'm whining, but it's really not about the china. It's about the bigger picture. I've never felt like I belonged with the rest of the family. I was the bastard child, and I've always been an outsider. This is why I took the job in Reno when I finished college. I wanted to be someplace where I felt like I belonged, and we all know what happened next."
"I know." Shane reached over and squeezed her hand. "So, what about your other grandparents? On your mother's side of the family."
"They were even worse."
"Really? How so?"
"My mother was born and raised in Indiana, and she came to Tucson to attend the U of A. She was an only child, and both of her parents were extremely strict. They sent her off to college so she could become a teacher, but they also expected her to find a suitable husband while she was there. But when she broke up with the boy they wanted her to marry, had her fling with Al, and ended up with me, they nearly lost their minds."
"I'll bet."
"I can remember us taking a few family trips to Indiana to see my grandparents when I was a child. They were always cool toward me, but more open and affectionate with Alice. Not much, but enough for me to notice the difference. They came Arizona a few times too, and it was always the same. They never paid much attention to me, but they spent some quality time with Alice. My grandmother passed away when I was fifteen, and my grandfather is in an assisted living facility in Indianapolis. I haven't spoken to him in years, although he responded to Alice's wedding invitation. He's unable to attend, but sent a gift, and that, as they say, is that."
Shane looked genuinely sad. "I'm sorry, Rachel. I thought you had a good home life. I didn't realize they treated you like a second-class citizen."
"It's not as bad as it sounds. They still love me, and it was never that obvious. In fact, it was so subtle that the only one who really noticed it was me. Then, later on, Alice noticed it too. Sometimes I'm amazed she and I are as close as we are, all things considered. I think it's because she's a caring, compassionate person by nature, and, deep down, I think she feels a little guilty about it, even though none of it was her fault. Unfortunately, it is what it is, and I guess we have to learn to live with it, even it if hurts."