so over-the-top, and I really didn’t want to deal with the fuss of a couture gown—you know, having to fly back and forth to Paris for all those fittings,” Rachel said a little bashfully.
“Oh you poor thing, what torture, having to go to Paris for your fittings!” Sylvia teased.
Peik Lin patted Sylvia on the arm. “Aiyah, I’ve known Rachel since she was eighteen. She’s much too practical—we’ll never change her. At least this dress looks like it could be haute couture.”
“Wait till you see it on. It’s all about the way it drapes,” Rachel said excitedly.
Sylvia narrowed her eyes. “Hmm…that’s not a typical Rachel Chu statement. We just might make a fashionista out of you yet!”
Rachel’s cousin Samantha, looking rather authoritative with a headset on, entered the room all flustered. “There you are! I’ve been searching everywhere for you. Everyone’s arrived, and we’re all waiting to start the rehearsal.”
“Sorry, I didn’t know you guys were waiting,” Rachel replied.
“Found the bride! We’re on our way back!” Samantha barked into the headset as she shepherded the girls out of the main house and across the great lawn toward the Palladian-style music pavilion where the ceremony was to be held. Sylvia marveled at the mountains in the distance on one side of the lawn and the views of the Pacific Ocean on the other. “Tell me again how you guys found this amazing property.”
“We got really lucky. Nick’s friend Mehmet told us about Arcadia—the owners are friends of his family. They only come here once a year for a few weeks in the summer, and never lend the place out for events, but they made a special exception for us.”
“Is Mehmet the hunk with the stubble and those incredible hazel eyes?” Samantha asked.
“You got it. The Turkish Casanova, we call him,” Rachel said.
“Imagine how rich you have to be to maintain this huge estate all year to use it for just a few weeks,” Sylvia said in astonishment.
“Speaking of rich, some of the women who just got here look like they stepped out of the pages of Vogue China. There’s a tall, leggy, supermodel type wearing boots that clearly cost more than my Prius, and there’s another stunning girl in the most to-die-for linen shirtdress with such a posh English accent—Aunt Belinda already has her nose halfway up her hoo-ha,” Samantha reported.
Rachel laughed. “I’m guessing that Araminta Lee and Astrid Leong have arrived.”
“She goes by Araminta Khoo these day,” Peik Lin corrected.
“Ooh, I can’t wait to meet all these women I’ve been hearing so much about—it’s gonna be like an issue of Vanity Fair magazine come to life!” Sylvia said gleefully.
The ladies entered the Tuscan-stone portico in front of the pavilion, where everyone involved in the wedding ceremony had assembled. The decorating crew was still putting the finishing touches to an intricate bamboo trellis entwined with wisteria and jasmine that led up the aisle to an arch where the couple would exchange their vows.
Belinda Chu rushed up to Rachel, looking rather distressed. “Your floral designer promises that the wisteria will be at its peak tomorrow, just in time for the ceremony, but I’m not convinced. Look at how small some of these buds are. They won’t be blooming for days! You’ll need to put hair dryers on them! Tsk, tsk, tsk, you really should have used my guy, who does the flowers for all the best homes in Palo Alto.”
“I’m sure it will be just fine,” Rachel said calmly as she winked at Nick, who was standing in front of the arch talking to Mehmet, Astrid, and one of the crewmen.
Astrid greeted Rachel warmly with a hug. “Everything looks so beautiful, it makes me want to get married all over again!”
Nick’s phone began to ring. Not recognizing the number, he ignored the call and put the phone on vibrate. The crewman standing next to Nick waved at Rachel shyly, and she realized with a start that it was Colin Khoo. With his shock of dark hair grown out to his shoulders, she hadn’t recognized him.
“Look at you! Now you really look like a Polynesian surfer!” Rachel exclaimed.
“That’s rad!” Colin replied as he gave the bride-to-be a kiss on the cheek. Araminta, who stood out from the crowd in her vintage Yves Saint Laurent safari jacket and gold leather caged thigh-high Gianvito Rossi sandals, was next to greet Rachel with a double-cheek kiss.
“That’s the heiress whose wedding Rachel went to where all the trouble started,” Auntie Jin murmured under her breath to Ray Chu.