Free The Spinster Sisters by Stacey Ballis

him for that. But Jill is seething, and the aunts are building a case to hate these people, and Hunter has been cowed speechless. Time to step in.
    “Okay, let’s all take a deep breath for just a moment,” I start. “Now, obviously we have a conflict, but we’re all rational adults, and I am sure there is a compromise to be made here.”
    “Well, honestly, Jill here seems very inflexible . . .” Cleve starts. “Not that I’m surprised, your whole little enterprise seems to be about undermining marriage in general. No wonder you want to downplay the wedding.”
    “Dad . . .” Hunter says in the defeated tone of a child who has long given up trying to get a parent to not embarrass him.
    “I’m sorry you feel that way about me and about my business,” Jill says through clenched teeth. “But I know who I am and what I believe, and I’m afraid I won’t be bullied on this.”
    “Cleve, Jill, please. Bear with me.” I turn to Jill and place my right finger on my right temple. This is our secret sign to just follow the other person’s lead. We have used it since high school for everything from getting out of a boring party to negotiating a major business contract. “Jill, have you and Hunter made final plans about your honeymoon as of yet?”
    “No, we thought we would wait until after the wedding to plan the trip. We are just going to get a suite somewhere in town for a couple of nights after the wedding, and then probably go somewhere later in the summer or early fall.”
    “Good. Good idea. Now, the weekend after the wedding is Memorial Day weekend. I seem to remember that last year, Jill attended a wonderful barbecue at your home on that holiday.” It was her first meeting with Hunter’s family, and there were so many other guests and party preparations that she barely got to speak with them at all over the weekend.
    “Yes,” Cleve says through gritted teeth. “We’ve been hosting that party annually for over thirty-five years.”
    “I assume this year will be no different.”
    “Of course. It’s a tradition,” Grace says, as if not having the party would be the end of democracy.
    “Hunter, Jill, would the two of you be available to attend that event again this year?” I nod at Jill, who immediately sees where I’m headed.
    “Of course,” she says. Then she turns to Cleve and says demurely, “It was a wonderful weekend and a fantastic party.”
    His nostrils flare, but he stays silent.
    I continue on my way. “Weddings are hard. They are at once very personal and very public. Everyone has different expectations and needs. But I think we can use the geography of the situation and the timing of the wedding to our advantage. Jill and Hunter will have their wedding as they want it here, and the rest of us will attend with our hearts full of joy and send them into their life together with all the love we can bring into that room.” I see both Cleve and Grace tense, so I speed into the next part of my plan. “But the following weekend the five of us will come out to attend your annual Memorial Day party, which can serve as a sort of East Coast wedding reception for Jill and Hunter. All of the people who might be slighted by not being invited here will be invited there. They will get to meet Jill and her small family. You can say that the decision was made to save everyone the trip to Chicago, and even claim that we were too proud to accept financial assistance but couldn’t afford a larger event, whatever you need to do to save face on your end.”
    There is a huge silence. And to my great shock, Grace speaks first.
    “Would I get to plan the party as a real reception?” she asks me.
    Jill speaks up. “Of course, Grace. It can be anything you want it to be.”
    “Would you help me make the decisions, food and such?” Grace turns to Jill.
    “I’d love that,” Jill says, smiling.
    “Well, um, I . . .” Cleve seems somehow deflated.
    “Oh relax, Cleve. Your lovely wife is going to put