“That’s true,” Hannah conceded the point, “but they’ll probably be staying at the Lake Eden Inn for the entire time they’re here. They may not even come into town.”
“They’ll come into town,” Andrea said, taking up the argument. “There’s not much to do out at the Lake Eden Inn. It’s way out on the other side of Eden Lake. You can’t swim this time of year and winter hasn’t really hit yet. There’s not enough ice to go ice fishing or skating, and it’s not the season for regular fishing. The lake’s beautiful, but you can only take so many walks around the lake. And that means they’ll be bored silly, especially since you said most of them are from big cities.”
“That’s right.” Hannah looked down at her notes again. “They’re from Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. I’m the only one from a small town.”
“Big cities have entertainment. The Lake Eden Inn is nice, don’t get me wrong. You can sleep in a beautiful room, eat great food, and drink fine wine, but that’s about it. You can’t cross-country ski, or go on the snowmobile trails if there’s no snow yet. And there’s no snow right now.”
“Andrea’s right,” Michelle said. “They’re going to get bored out there by the lake. If we can figure out some way to provide transportation, they’ll come into town at least a couple of times. I’m sure of it.”
Delores put her cell phone down. There was a smug expression on her face as she turned to Hannah. “Ross agrees,” she said. “I just texted him, and he said it was bound to bring business to Lake Eden. He said the film crew from the Food Channel works hard and they play hard, too. They’ll come into town to go bowling, hang out at the Red Velvet Lounge at the Albion Hotel, and do some background shots of your hometown. They’ll probably even interview some locals.”
Hannah stared at her mother in shock. “You sent a text message to Ross before I even had time to tell him about it?”
“Well . . .” Delores equivocated for a moment and then she nodded. “Yes, I did. I had no idea you hadn’t told Ross. He’s your fiancé. Why didn’t you tell him before you told us?”
There was no way that Hannah wanted to say that she hadn’t even thought of it, so she simply sighed. “I didn’t want to bother him at work. I was going to tell him tonight when I saw him for dinner. Really, Mother! It’s not like we’re joined at the hip.”
“I see,” Delores said, and everyone around the table, including Hannah, realized that the mother of the bride thought that her daughter was in the wrong.
Hannah turned to Andrea. “When you were engaged to Bill, would you have sent him a message telling him that the competition had been moved up before you told anyone else?”
Andrea looked down at the table. It was clear she didn’t want to meet Hannah’s eyes. “I don’t know,” she said.
“It’s a moot point,” Michelle pointed out. “They didn’t have text messaging then.”
“But they had phones,” Hannah argued, zeroing in on Andrea again. “Would you have called Bill, even at work, if something like this had happened to you?”
“Uh . . . well . . .” Andrea paused and the expression on her face resembled that of a rabbit trapped by a much larger predator. “I’m really not sure, but . . . maybe?”
“Was that a question?” Hannah asked.
Andrea sighed again. And then she took a deep breath. “Yes, I would have called Bill right away. But . . . it’s different for you, Hannah.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean . . . you’re older. You’re established. You’re more . . . secure with yourself. You don’t need the constant approval from Ross that I needed from Bill.”
Hannah wasn’t sure she liked what Andrea was implying, but she did understand. “You think I’m more capable of making my own decisions and I don’t need a husband the way you needed Bill.”
This time, it was definitely a statement and no one said a word. Except Andrea, who gave a nod and said, “Yes. That’s it, Hannah. You’re much more self-reliant than I was at nineteen.”
“Okay,” Hannah said, and reached out to pat her sister’s hand. “I ought to be more self-sufficient. I’m more than ten years older than you were when you got married.”
“And she wasn’t even preg—” Michelle stopped short and shot a guilty glance at Delores. “Sorry.”
“And I’m not either,” Hannah said, glaring at her, and then the humor of the situation got to her and she smiled. “Sorry. Grandma Knudson hit me with the same thing this morning. I really didn’t realize that people would think I was . . . you know.” There was an uncomfortable silence, and then Hannah went on, “Grandma Knudson is going to make sure that all the money people bet on the birthdate of the nonexistent baby is given to charity.”
“Good! It serves those people right!” Delores looked outraged. “I, for one, never thought for a minute that . . .”
“Of course we didn’t!” Andrea jumped in. “It was just that it was so sudden and nobody expected it, and . . .”