Hope Springs - 05 - Wedding Cake by Lynne Hinton

and she had not known that she was even dating. All kinds of questions rolled across her mind.
Who was Farrell Monk? How long had they known each other? Why hadn’t she told her mother anything about the relationship? Why hadn’t Beatrice met her future son-in-law? And where was Cabo San
Lucas and why would Robin choose to get married in another country instead of in her hometown?
    Beatrice was not even able to name all the emotions she was feeling. There was betrayal and disappointment, but mostly there was just hurt. She and Robin had certainly gone through hard times together. They started fighting when Robin was a baby, and the fights never seemed to stop. But Beatrice thought they had moved beyond that. She thought they were closer now that Robin was an adult. They had not had a disagreement in years. Beatrice would have never imagined that her daughter could leave her out of something so important as her wedding, as the event of falling in love, even the engagement. Beatrice sat with her head in her hands, the invitation fallen at her feet, and began to cry. She was so lost in her sorrow that she didn’t even hear Eldon Macintyre, the mailman, as he walked up and stood in front of her.
    “I came to say I was sorry,” he said, surprised to see Beatrice in tears.
    There was no reply.
    “Are you okay, Mrs. Witherspoon?” It was clear that she wasn’t, and he was suddenly awkward and embarrassed that he had returned to her house.
    “Did you know about this?” she asked.
    “What?” Eldon responded. And then he glanced down at the invitation. He blushed. “I shouldn’t have looked at your mail but I just noticed it when I was organizing the stacks for this route.” He glanced away. “I only saw that it was from South Carolina. That’s all I read about it, I swear.” He paused. “I’m sorry I looked and I’m sorry I brought it up a little while ago.”
    Beatrice shook her head. “Eldon, I am not upset that you notice postmarks on my mail.”
    “I could lose my job for telling you what I saw,” he noted.
    “You’re not going to lose your job. I’m not telling anybody anything,” Bea responded.
    There was a pause. A car pulled down the street in front of Bea’s house. They honked their horn as it was a neighbor who knew both Bea and Eldon. Eldon waved, but Bea just dropped her head again.
    “I just came to tell you that I’m sorry that I yelled at you about Lily. I didn’t mean to snap.” He kept waiting for Beatrice to look at him but she did not. “I came back to apologize for that and to let you know I wasn’t going postal or anything,” he added.
    “My daughter’s getting married and I found out from the wedding invitation,” she explained, not paying attention at all to his apology.
    “Robin?” Eldon asked. He knew all of Beatrice’s family. He grew up with the three children and was the same age as Beatrice’s son. “That’s odd,” he said. And then he explained, “I never thought she was the marrying type.”
    “Well, neither did I,” Beatrice said. “But I guess we are both wrong. I guess she’s been the marrying type all along, she’s just not the type who shares this information with her mother.”
    Eldon glanced around. He looked at his watch. He had a lot of mail to deliver but he knew he couldn’t leave Beatrice as she was. He dropped his bag of mail by his side and sat down next to his old friend.
    “Who is it?” he asked, referring to Robin’s fiancé.
    “Somebody by the name of Farrell Monk,” she replied. “Sounds like a priest with rabies or some mental disorder, doesn’t it?” she asked.
    Eldon laughed and shook his head. “I wouldn’t know about that,” he replied.
    “What kind of child doesn’t tell her mother she’s engaged? What kind of daughter lets her mother find out she’s getting married from an invitation? An invitation that she sends to acquaintances and coworkers and people she doesn’t even care about?” Bea wiped her nose on the