Love Letters From Ladybug Farm - Donna Ball [35]
“We’re making real wine,” Cici objected. And she frowned a little. “I guess.”
“Practical experience is everything,” Lori insisted. “And when I found out about this internship ... well, how could I not go for it?”
Cici chose her next words carefully. “You know, Lori, before you moved out here, you were planning to spend the summer in Italy on an archaeological dig, remember? With that professor you had a crush on?”
“Oh, him.” Her tone was dismissive. “He was a jerk. But Italy is my destiny.”
“I just don’t understand why you didn’t mention it to me. We could have talked more about this.”
“Well, there was no point in mentioning it until it was certain, was there?”
“Is it? Certain?”
“Just about,” Lori returned cheerfully. “I have one more exam, and if I pass it, I’m in! That’s why I really have to stay and study this weekend. I’m really sorry” she added, and the contrition in her voice was genuine. “I promise I’ll be more help as soon as finals are over.”
Cici sighed. “Don’t be silly, sweetie. You are being a help by staying in college and studying hard. Just keep your eye on the goal, okay?”
“Don’t worry about that! Love you, Mom.”
“I love you, too, sweetie. Good luck on the exam.”
“Bye.”
She pressed the Disconnect button and stood up, waiting for the dial tone so that she could enter her ex-husband’s number. But before she could punch the first digit, the telephone rang in her hand.
“Darling, it’s Catherine.” Cici closed her eyes at the sound of the familiar sultry voice, and was glad the other woman couldn’t see through the telephone. “I just wondered if I could ask a teensy-weensy tiny favor.”
Cici replied, as pleasantly as she possibly could, “Of course, Catherine. What is it?”
“We would just love to include a little information about the site with our change-of-venue cards, wouldn’t that be darling? Nothing elaborate, you understand, just a paragraph or two about the history of the place, a description of the facilities, directions, of course, a list of nearby hotels and restaurants, that sort of thing.”
Cici drew a breath to reply but Catherine went on. “And of course we’ll need some pictures of the house and the garden, particularly of that lovely mountain view—without the tree branch, of course—a front view of the house from the drive, and, oh, I’d love a picture taken from the entry hall, looking up at the staircase, wouldn’t that be marvelous? Or maybe a shot of the living room, and the stained glass window. Oh, what the heck, just send me both and I’ll decide when I see them.”
Cici mounted the front steps and crossed the cool, shady foyer. Ida Mae had used lemon oil on the banister and the citrusy aroma lingered. Her voice echoed a little in the highceilinged room, but she tried to keep her tone light. “With all of that, we could have a brochure.”
“You have brochures? Well, that certainly makes it easier!”
“No,” Cici corrected quickly, “no, we don’t have a brochure. We’re not a business, we’re just a house.”
“Well, now I’m confused. I thought—”
“What I mean to say” Cici explained patiently, as she reached the office, “is that all of this will take some time to put together. The photographs, the descriptions...”
“Oh, that’s all right, dear. As long as you can e-mail it all to me tonight, the printer says he can have something ready to go out with the cards tomorrow.”
Cici felt a small needle of desperation prick her skull as she sank into the desk chair and picked up a pen. “Don’t you think it would be better to send out the information about the site in a separate packet? Maybe after you receive the RSVPs?”
“Well, I don’t know.” Catherine sounded just uncertain enough to give Cici the advantage.
“I think that’s the way it’s usually done with a destination wedding,” Cici said confidently, making it up as she went along. “You give the destination address—Ladybug Farm, Blue Valley, Virginia—on the card, and in smaller print, after the RSVP, you add a line that says, ‘further information to follow.’ You should check with your wedding planner for the exact wording.”
“Well,