According To Jane Part 32

I glance at Sam. He squints at the phone book then holds out his open palm for it. I can tell from his determined expression that he's deep in planning mode.

"Why don't you let me take care of this?" he whispers to me, flipping rapidly through the crinkled pages of the book, looking so much like that music-loving teenage Sam that I get a vivid flashback of our soph.o.m.ore-year dance. "I'll figure something out."

"No, Sam. You're here as a guest. I should be the one to-"

But Angelique races up to us and interrupts me. "Where are all the flowers, Ellie? I'll pin the boutonnieres on the guys and the corsages on the moms, but we're going to have to get started soon. The men are almost ready to walk in."

I point her toward the table of roses and tell her to grab the bridesmaid bouquets, too. She's about to leave when my dad and brother jog in, read the nervous expressions on our faces (it's hard to miss) and halt in place.

"Diana," Dad says quietly. "Is everything all right? Do you still want to do this today?"

"Get married?" my sister asks. She looks shaken from the stress, but she still manages to snort. "h.e.l.l, yeah. But it might be a freaking boring reception if we don't have any music."

"What?" Dad and Gregory say together.

Mom explains the problem to them while Di turns to Sam. "The dance is supposed to start at seven-thirty," my sister says. "Can you help us?"

Sam studies my family members huddled around him. I see him look at each and every one of us until, finally, his blue eyes return to me. "I promise I'll take care of it," he says, meeting my gaze. "Trust me." Then, to Di, he adds, "I've got a favor I can call in, but I'll probably have to miss most of the ceremony to do it."

"Hey, you can watch the video later if you really wanna see it." She leans in and gives him a peck on the cheek. "Thanks, Sam." Then she arches a brow at me, and I can see the familiar deviousness dancing in her eyes. "Ellie, find Sam a quiet spot to make his phone calls and then get your b.u.t.t back out here. Pachelbel's Canon is gonna start any second."

Sam and I step away just as Aunt Candice emerges from the playroom.

"What do you want me to do with these smart little rugrats?" she says, unable to contain the pride in her voice, however unwillingly bestowed. "When do we release them on the public?"

I check my watch once again. Clifton and the triplets are scheduled to scatter rose petals down the aisle, shepherded by Lyssa, the official flower girl. "In three minutes," I tell her as I pull Sam away from my family.

He follows me to Reverend Jacobs's office, strides inside and points to the door. "Get out there," he tells me gently. "You've got a wedding to go to."

My heart is trying to hammer its way out of my rib cage. "Sam, this is awful. First you get a last-minute invitation to this wedding, and now you're going to spend the next hour trying to fix our mess for us. I'm so sorry we roped you into this-"

"I'm not," he says. "I'm not sorry at all." He looks deep into my eyes. "If I can't always keep from hurting someone, Ellie, I can at least try to fix a few things sometimes." He kisses my hand. "Now, get going. I'll see you soon."

And the way he says this lets me know his promise is as much a certainty as the sun s.h.i.+ning and the earth revolving around it.

Twenty seconds before the ceremony...

I glance over my shoulder and see Sam grinning at me. Then I scurry back to the foyer where everybody is lined up and waiting to walk down the aisle. Here we go.

Forty-two minutes later, I'm strolling back toward the front doors on the arm of Alex's brother, Nick. Alexander Sinjin Evans has been united in holy matrimony-again-with Diana Lynn Barnett Evans, and the two of them lead us out of the church.

I catch a glimpse of Sam in the hallway as the procession heads outside. He's leaning up against a marble pillar, the cell phone still in one hand and, in the other, a stray pink rose that must've escaped one of the bouquets.

I mouth, "Well?"

He nods, raising the rose like a champagne flute in my direction, toasting me. "It's done," he mouths back.

We exchange weary smiles before Nick escorts me to my place in the receiving line. I give Di the news via a thumbs-up, and my sister whispers, "I'm thinking maybe you should marry this Sam guy. I know you said he can be a pain in the a.s.s, but he's hot, and I kinda like him."

High praise indeed.

I laugh at her suggestion, but a tiny niggle of hope begins to tango within me, kicking at the dust in my soul and stirring up all sorts of things it probably shouldn't.

I open myself up to the feeling anyway, and I find I'm overwhelmed by a happiness I can't sweep away.

If you can overlook Mr. Blaine's endless infractions toward you merely because he rushed to your aid at long last, Jane complains, you are ridiculously forgiving. Either that or incredibly foolish.

And you, Jane, are unbelievably prejudiced against him, I retort, unable to contain the silly grin that's found its home on my lips. Sam's grown up. I believe he really- Is unchanged, Jane interrupts. For all your romanticism, you must realize the gentleman has done nothing worthy of note. He has not saved your family's reputation or partaken in any pursuit that requires his specialized skill or resources- What do you mean? He DID use his resources. He called in his contacts to get us some music for tonight.

Perhaps he may have acquired the musical entertainment for your sister's wedding dance, but this hardly indicates a grand commitment of time or effort. It fails to show an improvement in his character or his temperament or- Sure it does. Jane, you're being absurd!

After a long, silent moment she says, It has been my private mission to see you happily settled in this life, Ellie. Because I care about you and...and because you are the descendant of someone very dear to me. There. I have said it at last. She pauses. But I fear I have failed you.

No, you haven't! You've been amazing. You tried to direct me away from hurt and harm even when I seemed determined to screw things up, and I-Then it hits me. Wait, your Clergyman By The Sea? He's a relative of MINE?

Yes. He died, of course, but his brother the doctor-an arrogant man, similar in temperament to your Mr. Blaine and an individual I confess I did not much like-DID marry and have children. You come from the last branch of that family's line.

I cover my mouth with both palms and close my eyes as I try to process this. Oh, Jane.

She sighs softly. Ellie, I waited almost two centuries to find just the right one of his ancestors with whom to share what I know of human nature, what I recognize to be true about love and pa.s.sion. I waited to try to connect with his one descendant that I felt shared an outlook on life most like mine, in hopes of making her life better. Perhaps it is a small gift. Perhaps it has been hopelessly ineffective, but it is the only one I have left to give to the memory of the man I loved. And to you.

I hear her out, and my heart fills with appreciation for all she's tried to do for me since the moment I first held that paperback copy of Pride and Prejudice. My heart fills also with the pain of love's loss-one she's carried with her for far, far too long.

I love you, Jane, and I'm indebted to you, I tell her. I'm so honored to be the one you chose...I can't tell you how much. But now you need to let me handle my own destiny. Or at least the tiny bit of it I control. I promise I'll try to make you proud.

18.

If you will thank me...let it be

for yourself alone...your family

owe me nothing. Much as I

respect them, I believe I thought only of you.

-Pride and Prejudice Four hours later, at the reception, the Glen Forest Four Seasons Hotel glitters with tiny white lights on the outside but, on the inside, in Di and Alex's reception ballroom (the Manitoba Room, not the Winnebago), the color scheme sparkles with deep violets, smooth lavenders and accents in lilac.

The lovely dinner, complemented by good wine and humorous, heartfelt toasts to the couple, has ended. The photogenic cake-cutting ritual has, likewise, pa.s.sed. And, at last, the dance party begins.

"Oh, my G.o.d," Di says, pointing at Sam and the just-arriving, hunky-looking DJ, who are busy making final adjustments to the sound system. "You know who that is, don't you?"

I study the DJ's chiseled profile but can't recall any similarity to anyone in our acquaintance. "No," I say.

"It's Wild Ted in the Morning!"

"Can't be."

Di grins. "Yeah, it can be. WXRJ's Wild Ted. He always does the weekday morning show and those eighties retrospectives you love."

"How can you be so sure that's him?"

"Seen him on a billboard out near O'Hare, and he was a guest VJ on VH1 once."

"Oh, wow," I say. "I never would've guessed he looked like that. I mean, he sounds great on the air and everything, but DJs aren't usually so-"

"Scandalously gorgeous?" Di concludes for me. I nod. "Yeah," she says. "But he's also got one of the most famous voices in Chicago. I wonder what your Sam had to do to convince him to come here...and last minute like this."

"He's not my Sam," I say, mentally adding not yet, "and I don't know." But Di is right to wonder. Getting Wild Ted to work a non-celebrity wedding on one of his free Sat.u.r.day nights has to be an expensive venture, even if there's some kind of favor-payback involved. "I'll go ask Sam how much we owe him."

Di nods, worrying her lip a bit.

I walk around the edge of the dance floor, approaching Sam and the DJ just as they flip on the microphone.

"h.e.l.llloooo, Barnett and Evans families! Let's give a shout out to the reunited newlyweds, Di and Alex!" The DJ pauses while everyone cheers. "Congratulations, you lovebirds, and welcome to all your friends. I'm Wild Ted-" brief pause for delighted gasps, "and I'm here to kick off this rockin' party with the first dance. By bridal request, here's Billy Idol's 'White Wedding'!"

I catch Sam's eye as the distinctive electric-guitar opening bursts through the speakers. He winks at me, and I walk to meet him at the corner of the dance floor.

"So, is this good?" he asks.

I reach for his hands, squeeze his strong fingers, feel the current flowing between us. "This is great, but Wild Ted...how on earth did you-" I shake my head. "This had to take more than a phone call, Sam. We'll pay you back, of course, but-"

"No, you won't." Sam brings my fingers to his lips and starts to sway as if we're beginning to dance. "Consider it my wedding gift to your sister."

"Quite a wedding gift."

"Quite a wedding," he replies, eyeing Di and Alex with a raised brow. "Besides, my motives were ultimately selfish. I really was only thinking of you, Ellie...and how much I wanted to dance with you tonight."

"Oh," I say, the crazy pounding in my chest becoming more frenzied at these words. "Well, of course we can-"

"Excuse me," Nick says behind me. I turn to look at Alex's brother. A good-looking guy, to be sure, and a nice one, but he's just not Sam. I'm coming to understand that n.o.body, no matter how smart or attractive, is Sam...except for Sam. An obvious concept for most people, but a real lightning-bolt realization for me.

"We're going to need to join the wedding party in a sec, El," Nick says. To Sam he explains, "The best man and maid of honor have to dance after the bride and groom."

"That's right," I whisper, shooting Sam an apologetic look.

Sam nods and points to his watch. "Okay, but I demand a rain check within the hour."

I smile at him. "You got it."

So Nick and I dance, and it's all very pleasant, effortless, uncomplicated...and utterly bland except for the erotic vibes I'm getting from the blue-eyed doctor across the parquet floor.

Wild Ted begins working his way through Di and Alex's musical request list, featuring artists like Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians, Fine Young Cannibals, The Fixx and many other less-than-traditional wedding selections. When the sounds of Men Without Hats pour through the speakers, a lively cheer rises from the crowd and someone shouts, "Hey, dudes, c'mon! Let's all do the 'Safety Dance'!"

At that I leave Nick to his girlfriend and glance around for Sam. He's disappeared for the time being, so I seek out Angelique and Terrie. The three of us converge near the dessert table, chatting, nibbling on apricot-filled b.u.t.ter cookies and watching as Di and Alex's buddies take to the floor with spirited fort.i.tude. It's hilarious.

"You going to force Everett out there?" I ask Terrie.

She shakes her head solemnly. "For me, it's w.a.n.g Chung or nothing."

Angelique laughs. "I'm holding out for Bananarama. How about you, Ellie?"

"It'd take a pretty phenomenal song to get me to make a fool of myself like that," I say, chuckling. "At the moment, I can't think of one that would qualify."

"Hi, ladies," Sam says, appearing at my elbow from out of nowhere. "Enjoying the music?"

"Yeah," Terrie says. She exchanges a look with Angelique and me, glances at Sam, then onto the dance floor, then back at me. It's high school all over again. "You know this is way weird."

"Tres weird," Angelique contributes with a grin.

I nod and Sam's face reddens a bit.

"I know," he admits to us. "Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose. The more things change..." He winks at me, clears his throat and kind of laughs. "Um, Ellie?"

"Yes?"

"I came over here to tell you something."

"What's that?" I notice my cousin and my friend aren't even pretending not to listen in.

He clears his throat a second time. "I just wanted you to know we've got Spandau Ballet coming up soon."

I emit a sound that's a cross between "Uh" and "Hmm" before feeling my face flush hot.

"I was hoping we could dance," Sam says.