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Most baby shower/wedding receptions probably didn’t happen when the woman was eight months pregnant, but it had been the only time Vivian’s aunt Kitty, her two cousins and her friends from Vegas had all been able to attend. Karl hadn’t intended to schedule the party around a time when her father could come, but apparently fate had wanted to make sure he remembered his promise to Vivian not to exclude her father from their lives.
Victor Yap’s presence had delighted someone other than Vivian. Malcolm had abandoned his wife to the company of the Biadalas and was following Victor around the restaurant, practically sniffing after the man like a bloodhound on a trail. Whatever Malcolm was hoping to catch Victor in, Karl just hoped it didn’t happen at the party. And he was thankful Malcolm was on grifter babysitting duty so he didn’t have to be.
The concertina bellowed from the front of the room, scattering some unsuspecting partygoers and freeing up a path to the buffet for the people who hadn’t yet eaten their fill. The concertina player was soon joined in the warm-up by two trumpets. When the clarinet and bass players started in, Tilly, Dan, Renia and Miles began to push aside tables and chairs for a dance floor. Karl looked back over at Phil’s cousin and her two suitors. If they weren’t game for polka, they’d soon find themselves short a date. Phil’s cousin had been a popular dance partner at Phil’s wedding, and the crowd at this party wasn’t much different.
As Vivian’s court of admirers started to forsake her for the dance floor, Karl left his observatory for his wife’s side.
“Having fun?” he asked.
“Oh, this is delightful.” Her cheeks were flushed a bright red as she looked up at him. “I wish I could dance, but my bowling ball of a belly would probably knock down all the guests.”
He sat next to her, wrapping his arm around her when she leaned into him and feeling the warmth of her back against his chest as he continued his surveillance of the party. Miles and Renia were whirling about the dance floor, his sister with a small but delighted smile on her face. Tilly and Dan were feeding each other pierogies and laughing, his mother looking at his baby sister as if she’d researched marriage potions online and had spiked their food.
For the first time since he could remember, he wasn’t thinking that the moment would be perfect if only Leon, his grandparents and his father were here; they were present in the smiles and laughter of his family members.
He gave Vivian a squeeze. “I’m sure we can think of an excuse to do this again.”
“With my aunt and cousins? And father and Vegas friends?”
“We’ll throw a baptismal party the likes of which Chicago has never seen.” Vivian laughed. Karl kissed the crown of her head where she’d tucked it back against him. “You think I’m joking, but I’m serious. I’ll be even more serious if I can come up with a time to have the party when your father won’t be able to attend.”
“This,” Vivian said with a gesture to her father and then to her aunt, “is how I know you love me.”
Karl looked from Victor on one side of the room to Kitty on the other. As happy as Vivian had been to have all her family here for her baby shower, they were not happy to see each other and were acting like magnets in opposition. Push one too close and the other jumped away. They hadn’t yet exchanged even a single word. When it became obvious that Victor and Kitty were avoiding each other, Vivian had shrugged and declared it not her problem. “They can either behave like adults or go home. I’m too pregnant to care,” she’d said.
“Wait, what do you mean this is how you know I love you? I gave your father fifty thousand dollars. You didn’t know I loved you then?”
“That was for you.” She turned her head to look up at him, her words barely projecting above the polka playing at the front of the restaurant. “You were throwing money at my father to make him go away. Honest people do that to him all the time—it’s how he eats. What’s more impressive is that you invited him back. And you did that for me.”
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Keep reading for an excerpt from COWGIRL IN HIGH HEELS by Jeannie Watt.
