“Like the Alzheimer’s and baldness on your side of the family? And the heart disease and high blood pressure on Dad’s? I’m not sure I feel better knowing what lies ahead.”

“Don’t be fresh.” She loved her son’s quick wit but not when it was aimed at her.

“Penny has all the father figures she needs. She spent every summer in Greece with her uncles. Her grandfather on Patmos is still alive.”

Her grandfather on Patmos? Sudden realization dawned on Abigail. What if the wedding was on some Greek island in the middle of nowhere? It would be bad enough to have to go to California. The inconvenience of it all. The expense! But Greece? Nothing was worse than a destination wedding on an island. Nothing. Before she got carried away with the misery of travel by ferry, she refocused on her son.

“And she has a godfather who is like a father to her. She is very close to him. Fittingly, he’s a member of the House of Lords. Is that good enough for you?”

Abigail was laser focused. “He’s a British lord? How is that possible?”

“Remember at Christmas when Penny mentioned that her mother went to college in London? Simon Fox is her college mate, as they say. That’s Lord Simon Fox to you and me. His title is something like Baron Plumley. Or Plumfield. Penny sees him all the time. He comes to New York for work, and she’s spent holidays at his estate in the country. Somewhere with lots of apples because he makes hard cider when he’s not in Parliament. I’m sure he’ll walk her down the aisle.”

Abigail’s brain started to explode. Her disappointment at Sarah not being the first to get married at St. Mark’s down the street with a tented reception in the backyard and the remote possibility of an announcement in some decent publication was being replaced by a rush of exhilaration. A British baron! Walking Penny down the aisle! Along with her family’s own founding father credentials and Chase’s ties to the mayor, the event was a shoo-in for a prime wedding announcement placement. And Penny being half Greek must count as diversity, Abigail thought. This whole event could be NYT “Vows”-worthy and who knew where that could lead?

Abigail made a mental note to get in touch with her prep school roommate Bernadette Caruso, formerly of the New York Times but now known as wedding etiquette doyenne Aunt B. Bernadette might even be open to covering the wedding herself for her matrimonial digital empire, Dearly Beloveds and Betrotheds. Maybe this unknown girl from California would be an asset.