a corduroy sport coat with leather patches on the elbows, and his normally messy hair was neatly combed. No sign of the X-rated tattoos.
“Hello there!” She waved and steered him closer.
I knew Gus because our community was so small, but I couldn’t say I actually knew him. He traveled in different circles, and besides that, he was a Mahoney, and until the recent cease-fire in the Callaghan-Mahoney feud, there had been no reason to deepen the acquaintance. The two families didn’t really mingle, but I guess when Gigi had decided to break down that barrier, she’d decided to really break it down.
“Afternoon, ladies. Young man,” Gus said politely, extending his hand to Ryan first, then to me and Emily. We’d all stopped walking as the rest of the crowd continued on.
“This is my great-granddaughter,” Gigi said, patting Chloe on the head like a puppy. “Isn’t she beautiful?”
Gus gave a slight bow. “A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Chloe. I’ve heard so many things about you. About all of you,” he added, looking at each of us once more. “I’m looking forward to getting to know you better, and rest assured, I hold your Gigi in the highest esteem.”
I’d never heard anyone proclaim to hold Gigi in high esteem before. Generally, people liked her, but she wasn’t the sort to be . . . esteemed. Maybe Gus saw something I didn’t. I mean, I loved her, but that’s because she was family. I was morally obligated to love her.
“Such a lovely ceremony, wasn’t it?” he added. “So wonderful to see two young people in love.”
He was soft-spoken and so polite it was hard to believe he was related to the table-pounding June Mahoney. Maybe Gigi wasn’t so crazy after all.
“It’s good to meet you, Gus,” Ryan said. “Are you two heading to the reception?”
“Of course we are,” Gigi answered. “We wouldn’t miss a chance to kick up our heels and party a little, would we, Gus?”
“No, we would not.”
“Well, let’s get a mosey on, then.”
The reception room at the hotel was fully decked out, with white satin ribbons twirled around all the posts and light fixtures. They fluttered as people walked by, as if they were waving hello. Linen-draped dining tables were set up on one side of the room, and even the day-old flowers looked sweet and welcoming. The Reynolds band, normally dressed in torn black tees and banging out hard rock, was today dressed in pale colors, and my surprise quadrupled as Georgie Reynolds stood at the microphone and sang one beautiful love song followed by another.
“I had no idea she could actually sing,” Emily confided to me. “At work all I ever hear her do is screech at her brother and complain about her cramps.”
There was a bar off to one side, and I found my eyes going to it again and again. Clancy McArthur from the Palomino was mixing drinks, and somewhere deep down, I guess I was hoping Leo might be there, too. I hadn’t heard from him since we’d had lunch. I knew he’d left for Washington that evening, but he hadn’t said when he’d be coming back. Maybe he wouldn’t come back at all. It wasn’t as if he owed me anything. He really didn’t even owe me a phone call. Still, a text might have been nice, that bastard.
Damn. I needed to get some food. I was starting to feel hangry.
I got some cheese and crackers from the snack table and ate them while I stood in line at the bar. As the sun lowered outside, casting golden beams around the room, the reception grew louder, and when Tiny and Gloria arrived, the cheers were deafening. The room was full of happy, celebrating people who ate, drank, and grew merry over marriage. Booze flowed, people shouted their congratulations, and I tried my best to get into the mood of it all. Missing Leo was kind of a waste of time, and I desperately wanted to shake it off, but the glum was sticking to me like saltwater taffy.
Dinner was served, toasts were made, laughter was abundant. After the food was cleared away, the Reynolds band switched from romancey ballads to up-tempo reception classics. Gigi danced with Gus, while the Mahoney sisters sat at a table and glared at them. Dmitri danced with Shari from the post office. Emily danced cheek to cheek with Ryan, and even Chloe got out on the floor with a couple of cute local boys. No one asked