“What do you mean she’s not coming? It’s her wedding. She needs to pick the venue, not us,” Abigail said, putting the call on speakerphone so Sarah could hear Chase, too. “We’re on our way to the airport. Your father’s driving us. And now she’s going to cancel?”

Chase’s voice came through loud and clear, even though the car was so old it didn’t even have a wireless connection. “Mom, it’s work and it’s important to her. And it’s important to us. This is a big opportunity and she doesn’t want to blow it.”

“And your wedding isn’t a big opportunity?” Abigail snapped back, more annoyed now than ever that the couple couldn’t be persuaded to have the wedding in Fair Harbor instead of this California nonsense. She knew having the wedding in the groom’s hometown instead of the bride’s was not traditional, but she was hoping the smashing success of the engagement party and the press coverage would make them see the light. Why not an easy, elegant East Coast event? What could be more traditional than that? But no, Penny would not be swayed and now this mess! She’s the one insisting on California and now we have pick the soulless venue from a list without her, Abigail seethed. “I’m not sure I understand Penny’s priorities.”

Chase was silent on the other end of the phone for a moment, gathering his thoughts. Then he answered his mother as if she were an annoying journalist who’d asked the same question five times hoping for a different response. “Mom, Penny and I both prioritize work. I’m in public service, that means it’s likely she will be the primary breadwinner in our family. We are partners in this enterprise, equal partners. So, if she needs to work this weekend, she needs to work this weekend. I’m working, too, as a matter of fact. Headed out to Long Island for a planning session with the mayor. Work is important to both of us.”

The Blakemans let that statement settle. There was that implication again that his parents had not only chosen a different path, but the incorrect path. George turned to his wife and could see she was starting to build up a head of steam. He gave her a one-handed “settle down” gesture.

They’d had this conversation before when Chase or Sarah had made comments about how they’d never be able to buy a house because their parents’ generation had sucked up all the wealth. But, their children boasted, they were going to change the paradigm! They believed themselves to be so much smarter than their parents, as if all the opportunities they thought they deserved for their own children would be delivered in a beautifully wrapped package, thanks to their deliberate, enlightened choices to share household chores with their spouses and buy their kids nongendered toys.