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Well. This was kind of pathetic.
And yet, somewhere in the back of her mind, Carolyn Lam had suspected that she would end up here at some point in the evening. "Here" being seated -- almost huddled, really, if she were to be perfectly honest, but that wasn't necessarily a wise thing to be at a family occasion -- on an overstuffed chair in the fancy ladies' room near the Royal York Hotel ballroom. Just far enough that she couldn't quite tell which questionable cover the wedding band was playing now.
Even yesterday, she had been secretly grateful that Uncle Tuan had refused to invite Dad. Mom might finally be on speaking terms with Dad again, but that didn't qualify him as family in her big brother's eyes. That decision had no doubt averted all kinds of drama, especially when there was an open bar involved. But to her surprise, Carolyn found herself missing him.
Obviously, Stargate Command was messing with her head.
She was taking a literal deep breath in preparation for heading back out there when the door swung open to admit her cousin Kate, adjusting the shoulder strap of her ice-blue bridesmaid's dress with one hand. The other clutched a vodka tonic like her life depended on it.
"Now, that's the way to hole up." Carolyn gestured at the glass. "Bring provisions. Wish I'd been that smart."
Kate answered her with a crooked almost-smile. "I'd get you one, but there are two aunts between me and the bar."
"Yowch. No, that's a suicide run. Way too much to ask."
A weary groan escaped Kate as she sank into the other chair. "I was this close to asking my partner to pretend to be my date."
Carolyn winced. "That doesn't even turn out well in bad TV-movies. But I can see why you'd be tempted."
"Mike owes me big. I should have called it in."
"That big?"
Kate took a swig of her drink and considered that for a moment. "Maybe. Pretty damn close, at least." She shook her head. "Does being a doctor count for any more than being a cop?"
"Not really." The answer was punctuated with decidedly unladylike snort. "Grandma Hué is particularly unimpressed by the part with the top-secret government project inside a mountain."
Kate's snort was nearly identical. And here Mom insisted that Carolyn must have picked it up from Dad. "You want hours of fun, get her started on the subject of carrying a gun. 'You girls all crazy! What you need that for?'"
"Ooh." Their grandmother, a retired teacher, was a stickler for correct grammar. "Losing English is never a good sign."
"Tell me about it."
Before Carolyn could, the door opened again, and the scowling and very real silver-topped head of Hué Thi Lam poked in. "Katherine! Carolyn! There you are!" Both women jumped automatically to their feet as she went on, "You want to miss bouquet?"
"Coming, bà," they answered in stereo.
Confident that they would follow, Grandma Hué had already vanished when they looked at each other and burst out laughing.