Three sisters. One wedding. Itd be enough to drive anybody crazy.
NEELY: Reliable, hardworking, pragmaticand single. That is until new beau Robert suddenly pops the question. Neelys as stunned as the rest of her opinionated Southern family. But shed rather drink warm ice tea before introducing Robert to that clan.
SAVANNAH: Suburban, almost-empty-nester Savannah is having the mother of all midlife transformations. Sure, shes still gorgeous, married to a doctor and a whiz in the kitchen. But lately shes just been feeling so darn invisible. Only one way to change that
VI: Whats going on with the Mason family? Composed Neely is cracking jokes, Savannah has lost her perky glow and Viwell, infuriating, eccentric, contrary baby-girl Vi is actually making sense for once. Could it be shes finally growing up?
Tanya Michaels
Tanya Michaels enjoys writing about love, whether its the romantic kind or the occasionally exasperated affection we feel for family members. Tanya made her debut with a 2003 romantic comedy, and her books have been nominated for awards such as Romantic Times BOOKclubs Reviewers Choice, Romance Writers of Americas RITA® Award, the National Readers Choice and the Maggie Award of Excellence. In 2005, she won the prestigious Booksellers Best Award. Shes lucky enough to have a hero of a husband, as well as family and friends who love her despite numerous quirks. Visit www.tanyamichaels.com to learn more about Tanya and her upcoming books, or write to her at PMB #97, 4813 Ridge Road, Suite 111, Douglasville, GA 30134.
The Good Kind of Crazy
Tanya Michaels
www.millsandboon.co.uk
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In honor of my sister and dear friend, Lara Spiker
CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 1
So this is what it feels like to be the unpredictable one in the family. A definite first for Neely Mason. One of four siblings, forty-five-year-old Neely was known for being reliable, hardworking, pragmaticand single, much to the chagrin of her cheerfully opinionated Southern relatives.
But running the risk of becoming a sixty-year-old unwed cat lady had been Neelys sole nod toward eccentricity; it was her twenty-six-year-old sister, Vidalia, who habitually caught people off guard. Vi had been a surprise from the moment Mrs. Mason learned that her early menopause was actually a pregnancy. The unexpected late-in-life baby had grown into a quirky career student who still delighted in startling others. For a change, Vis pretty bow-shaped mouth was hanging open in the same gape as everyone elses.
Ten minutes ago, the clank of silverware had been the background music to Savannah fussing that everyone got enough to eat and Douglas charming their parents with the latest anecdote starring Douglas. Now, silent shock was as tangible in the dining room as the heirloom mahogany furniture and the brass antique chandelierthe one Neely had always thought looked like a spider with lightbulb feet. Though rarely fanciful, Neely could swear her announcement had halted not only conversation but the rhythmic ticking from the wall clock.
Well, how did you expect them to take it?
Since shed never actually told her family that shed been seeing Robert Walsh for the past six months, possibly the last thing theyd expected to hear from Neely was, Im getting married.
To a man? It was Vi who finally spoke. I mean, you never bring guys home and rarely date, so I always wondered if you were a les
Vidalia Jean! Mrs. Beth Mason flushed red and actually crossed herself.
Neely rolled her eyes. Mom, were not Catholic. And, Vi, Im not a lesbian.
Well, congratulations on your engagement, Savannah put in smoothly. Im sorry Jason couldnt be here today, hed want to pass on his felicitations, as well.
Felicitations? Vi snorted at their older sister Savannah beat out Neely by eleven months. Im working on a second Masters, and even I dont talk like that. Cant you just say Way to go, sis?
Douglas, their thirty-nine-year-old brother, stopped eating long enough to tease Vi. Criticism from someone who had to ask the fiancés gender?
Vi shot him a look that was the slightly more mature version of sticking out her tongue, then studied Neelys left hand. So, wheres the rock?
Were going to pick it out together.
Robert had proposed last night, on her birthday, giving her two small jewelry boxes after the sumptuous dinner hed prepared. The first had held a pin, the infinity sign in her birthstone, aquamarine. The second had been empty; hed told her hed found his perfect woman, and that if shed do him the honor of spending the rest of her life with him, theyd find something perfect to fill the ring box. Her lips curved, remembering. He was such a sap, she thought affectionately, not at all who she would have pictured for her husband. Robert was definitely a surprise.
Especially to her family.
Beth cleared her throat, staring pointedly toward her own husband, Gerald Mason, who sat at the head of the table. Dont you have something to add, dear?
Hmm? The Professor, as everyone called Neelys father, glanced up, his faded blue eyes characteristically preoccupied behind his bifocals.
For instance, his wife prompted, asking about who this young man is weve never heard of before today!
Youve heard of Robert lots of times, Neely said. Ive worked with him for three years, ever since I left the accounting firm and went to work in-house at Becker. I think some of you have even met him.
Yeah, but thats hardly the same as knowing youre bumping uglies with him.
Vidalia Jean!
What? Vi looked at their mother, all owl-eyed innocence. She just turned forty-five. You dont think shes a virgin, do you? Douglas isnt married anymore, but Ill bet no one expects him to lead a celibate lifestyle.
Hey, Douglas protested around a mouthful of potato salad, my love life isnt the issue today.
Beth could have been a ventriloquist with the way she enunciated her words from behind primly set lips. Some topics are not appropriate to the dinner table.
But hearing about Uncle Darnells colonoscopy last month was okay? Vi muttered.
Savannah stood, a purposeful smile on her attractive face. Vi, darlin, why dont you help me clear the table and get candles for Neelys cake? Mama did all the work preparing dinner and its Neelys celebration, so I think we should be the ones to clean up, dont you?
Neely was sure the answer to that question would be a resounding no, but Vidalia dutifully scooted her chair back across the gold-and-cream area rug. Then Vi grabbed a couple of dishes from the table, including her brothers plate.
I was still eating that!
Come finish it in the kitchen, his younger sister said tartly. Ive been exiled from the discussion, I dont see why you should get to stay.
As the three of them went into the adjoining room, Douglas explained that if he had stayed, Vi wouldve had a mole who could fill her in later. Neely barely made out Vis retort that, for a lawyer, Douglas was surprisingly unobservant, only noting guy things and skimping on pertinent details.
Neely couldnt decide if she was glad her siblings were gone, or if she felt more nervous facing her parents alone. Well, her mother, anyway, still formidable at sixty-seven. The Professor wasnt the sort who made anyone nervous, unless his history students had feared failing grades back when he taught at the community college.
You children. Heaving a sigh at her end of the table, Beth Mason shook her head. Her steel-colored curls, set for the last twenty years at Lanas Beauty Shop, didnt move so much as a strand. Some people think parenting stops when the kids leave the house, but thats just not so. Take Vidalia for instanceyou know the nights I stay up worrying about that girl? And now you, who has been nearly as dependable as my Savannah, give us a heart attack with this news that youre getting married out of the blue sky. Youre notin the family way, are you?
Pregnant? Neely choked on a horrified laugh. At my age? She had the urge to make the sign of the cross herself.
I was over forty when I had Vidalia. Turned out to be a good thing, since she would have driven me prematurely gray if Id had her young. But its nice to hear you arent getting married for that reason. Im glad youre in love. Still, youd think that would be the sort of thing a girl told her family.
Neely squirmed in her chair. When Robert had kissed her on the beach during an administrative retreat in Key West, she hadnt told anyonenot even her best friend, Leah. What if the incident had been the by-product of fruity green umbrella drinks and nothing more? But shortly after, hed asked her to come cheer him on at a pool championship and invited her to one of the meet-and-greet cookouts he and several of his apartment neighbors frequently threw. As she and Robert magically passed that invisible barrier between becoming a couple and actual coupledom, shed shared the news with Leah, but neglected to bring it up during the monthly Sunday dinners with her family. Shed told herself she was forty-five and hardly needed anyones permission to date, but that wasnt it.
Though her immediate family had finally stopped nagging her about having a man in her life, she knew the second they caught wind of one, the resulting matrimonial pressure would be intense. As would the pressure to have Robert over for dinner. Neely barely made it through these gatherings with her own sanity intact; she was reluctant to subject the man she loved to one.
Of course, she loved her family, too. She just didnt consider them confidantes. Vi was of a completely different generation, Douglas was normally wrapped up in his own life, and Savannahwell, Neely would just as soon keep her Savannah issues repressed. And Lord knew what Robert would make of her parents. Hed thought it was endearingly odd that the Masons had deliberately named all four of their children after Georgia cities, but that wasnt even the tip of her familys idiosyncrasies.
Robert was one of the few people not related by blood who could get away with calling Neely by her given name, Cornelia. The way her mother was glaring at her now, she was about to get the full Cornelia Annette treatment.
Im sorry, Mom. You know Ima private person. At first, I just wasnt comfortable telling you all about him because I wasnt sure where the relationship was going, if anywhere. Then, once a few months had passed, trying to figure out how to backpedal and tell you we were involved was awkward.
So you waited until the engagement? Beth arched an eyebrow. At least we found out before the wedding invitation showed up in the mail. I suppose thats something.
Neely bit back a groanher mothers sarcasm was partially deserved and entirely expected. It was why shed asked Robert to let her tell them alone. After shed accepted his proposal, theyd headed for his bedroom, and shed floated on bliss and champagne until waking at three in the morning to the realization that shed have to tell the Masons today. Hed wanted to come with her, but the second her family saw a man walk in, they would have known something was afoot. They would have ferreted out the engagement before shed even got past the foyer, and everything afterward would have been pointed remarks and interrogation. It seemed an inhospitable way to repay him for such a lovely night.
How old did you say he was again? Beth demanded.
I didnt. Forty-seven.
Her mother sniffed. Divorced, I suppose.
Neely bit the inside of her lip at her moms hypocrisy. To her mother, divorced still meant damaged goods and scandal; yet Beth thought her only son could do no wrong, was shocked that his wife had left him and just knew a more deserving woman lurked in his future.
Actually, Mom, Roberts never been married. We have that in common.
Pushing fifty and hes never settled down? Beth narrowed her sharp hazel eyes. Whats wrong with him that no woman would have him? Or is he the kind who runs from commitment?
Would you prefer he was divorced?
Dont you sass me. I dont care how old you are, Im still your mama and I wont be sassed at my own table. Im unhappy enough that this husband-to-be of yours didnt do us the honor of coming to meet us.
Thats my fault. I wanted to tell you alone and stopped him from coming. We argued about it this morning. Quibbled, anyway.
Beth looked somewhat mollified. Well, we should meet him soon.
As quickly as we can all fit it into our schedules, Neely promised. Ill call you this week.
You work with himis he an accountant, too?
Which was nicer than the way Vi would have asked. So is he another soulless number-cruncher? Neely figured her baby sister had plenty of soul for the whole familymaybe not the budget or discipline to pay rent regularly, but definitely spunk and imagination. Not exactly. He works in market analysis. We collaborate on reports for our boss, especially on prospective deals. Roberts a visionary who puts together projections on the potential benefits of a deal, and I work the figures to make sure its affordable and evaluate realistic profit margins. They were a good team.