Wedding Tea Page 17

  I’m not sure if it wouldn’t have been better if they just hadn’t showed up.

  A.J. was polite. He didn’t really introduce us. I’ve met his parents before, but he did kind of “do the honors,” as my mother would say. Suzi looked at her parents and excused herself.

  My father came over and reintroduced himself. A.J.’s father shook his hand while his mother said, “I’m sorry your wife wasn’t able to be here.”

  I know what she was trying to say, but she made it sound like my mother wasn’t at my wedding because she was off bowling.

  Daddy was gracious as always, but I could tell it cost him.

  Teagan helped them to a table. It was open seating, but Teagan was careful where she suggested they sit. Not too close to A.J. or Suzi, not too close to Carolyn. They ended up at a table with Seamus and Valerie. Later, Sinead and Howard joined them.

  Seamus actually made an effort to talk to them.

  I’m grateful.

  I shouldn’t have worried. Before we had dinner served, they came up and said they would have to be leaving. They have an event to go to. Had the tickets long before we sprung the wedding on them.

  Suzi and A.J. didn’t seem overly upset that they left.

  By the time the sun went down, we were all full of some very good food, the lights came on like magic — technology is grand — and there was a hint of Irish music playing from speakers in the flower beds.

  By the time the candles were lit and the tree lights came on, our neighbors had joined us, and we were having a great time.

  My brother Seamus stood and offered an Irish prayer.

  May love and laughter light your days and warm your hearth and home.

  May good and faithful friends be yours, wherever you may roam.

  May peace and plenty bless your world with joy that long endures.

  May all life’s passing seasons bring the best to you and yours.

  Sinead and Howard stood together and recited their toast.

  May your joys be as bright as the morning.

  Your years of happiness as numerous as the stars in the heavens.

  And your troubles but shadows that fade in the sunlight of your love.

  Daddy’s toast was tried and true.

  May joy and peace surround you,

  Contentment latch your door,

  And happiness be with you now and bless you evermore.

  A.J. got me good. He stood, took my hand, and recited one of my favorite wedding blessings.

  You are the star of each night.

  You are the brightness of every morning.

  You are the story of each guest.

  You are the report of every land.

  No evil shall befall you on hill nor bank,

  In field or valley on mountain or in glen,

  Neither above nor below,

  Neither in sea nor on the shore

  In skies above nor in the depths,

  You are the kernel of my heart.

  You are the face of my sun.

  You are the harp of my music.

  You are the crown of my company.

  He kissed my hand and sat me back down.

  All my sisters melted. As they should.

  We had our first dance. I chose the song “Could I Have This Dance (For the Rest of My Life).” It was one of my mother’s favorites. When it came on the stereo, we all had to be quiet. She and my father would dance to it in the kitchen. Daddy and I danced to “Because You Loved Me.” There’s this one part of the song where Celine Dion sings, “I’ll be forever thankful, baby”; by then my sisters were singing — with me — and replaced the word baby with Daddy. I almost lost it.

  We cut the cake when people were done eating.

  Lots more pictures, and then the photographer excused herself.

  I didn’t miss that A.J. had his camera available. I’m guessing he’ll be our family paparazzo for the night.

  Then it was Teagan’s turn. I should have known it was gonna be classic Teagan. She even kicked off her shoes.

  “We gather here tonight, not just to celebrate the joyous occasion of the wedding of A.J. and Cara, but also the sad occasion of laying an old friend to rest. Yes, our dear old friend dingleberry has died. No longer will I be allowed to use the name. Our little Cara is now a married woman and feels she is beyond the silliness of youth. So I take just a moment to share with you some of my very favorite moments of our youth, just this once, before we bid adieu to the berry of Dingle.”

  Everyone laughed.

  I prayed.

  A.J. took my hand and gave me a slightly What have I gotten myself into? look.

  I whispered in his ear. “Too late. We’re married. You can’t run and hide now.”

  Teagan told story after story. All in their abbreviated form, thank God. No secrets were safe. The time she and I sneaked out of the house and down to the park where Teagan was able to charm her way into two free popsicles from the ice cream truck guy, only to go home and have Mom catch us with blue tongues. We had to eat veggies until there was no more color on our tongues. I hate veggies.

  The time Teagan and I got in a fight, and Mom made us hold hands. Then Seamus had to make fun of us for holding hands, and Mom made him join us. By the time our lesson — Mom rarely called it punishment — was over, most of the kids in the family were holding hands.

  The time we played boys versus girls strip poker with the two boys that lived across the street, knowing full well that Teagan could make her living playing poker, even back then. She just wanted to teach them a lesson. We never planned on the anatomy lesson that followed. It was actually pure and innocent, and nothing untoward happened, but the way Teagan told it, we were next to tears from laughing so hard.

  She confused and surprised me when she said that she’d always been jealous of me. Of who I am. What I do naturally. But it was when she was talking about A.J. and me that I almost lost it.

  She described the night the three of us went out to dinner. Me eating my chicken tenders and her eating half a cow. Them sitting at the table like they were on a date and me sitting there like the doofus I can sometimes be. She said A.J. only had eyes for me.

  Funny little stories about things she had observed since we got together.

  A.J. trying to memorize how I make my beloved cup of tea. Everyone cheered when I jumped in and said how he had mastered it. Troya said it was probably the reason I married him. No one else would bother trying to perfect it.

  She talked about how A.J. was affected when I was in the hospital after Barry beat me up. She did such a great job of it that Suzi didn’t have to feel bad. She almost sounded like Mom, which for the first time in a long time made me feel better instead of sadder.

  She ended with something about looking forward to watching A.J. and me grow older and have children and live a life that others aspire to. Always kind and understanding, with just a tiny bit of not-boring. A very tiny bit.

  It was lovely.

  She bullied me into a short Irish jig. It’s amazing how short of breath we both were. We used to jig for hours. Two minutes in, we both begged off. I need to start working out.

  Sinead was barefoot. Suzi had changed clothes so that Evelyn would be more comfortable crawling around on her. The kids were playing or asleep.

  My dad thanked Ben once again for taking the initiative and suggesting we take down the fence. His wife Kathy assured us their party had been vastly improved by our agreeing to share yards with them.

  Everything in me wanted to say something about their daughter’s ex-boyfriend. Now that the wedding’s pretty much over, it doesn’t really matter if they get mad at me. Her parents should know that he’s out there and that their daughter might want to be extra careful.

  At the same time, I didn’t want to complicate — or worse, ruin — the lovely time everyone was having by bringing up such a negative subject.

  When A.J. went over and asked his grandmother to dance again, it gave me the perfect opportunity.
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br />   “Kathy, I have something I need to share with you.”

  “What’s that?”

  “We talked to your daughter’s ex-boyfriend. He admitted he was the one that was in our backyard.”

  “I’m so sorry. We’ll pay for any damage.”

  “It’s no problem. There was no real damage to speak of. I just thought you might want to know so that you can inform Racquel so she can watch her back.”

  “I’m sure it’s over. He’s a really nice kid. Never gave us an ounce of trouble. I don’t even know why Rikki broke up with him. I’m constantly on her to get back together with him. She could — and has — done a lot worse.”

  I didn’t know what to say.

  Someone tells you your daughter’s ex is pulling a stunt like messing up the neighbor’s backyard, and you don’t even ask why? You continue to think that he’s a great kid?

  Something’s not right there.

  Not my place to do anything or say anything, but it’s strange.

  My brother was dancing with Adeline. Seamus took dance classes when he was younger because he knew he would be a success, and he figured he’d have to dance with his employees’ wives. He’s actually pretty good. Adeline is great. Everyone stood back and watched. It was so much fun.

  We danced and talked and picked at leftovers most of the night. The kids were all asleep, one parent or another checking on them every few minutes.

  I know that everyone is safe in my house.

  I know that now.

  But I’m still a little bit uneasy.

  Evidently, so is everyone else.

  Everyone decided to leave at about the same time.

  Teagan shook her finger at me. “Don’t you dare clean anything! Our parting gift is a cleaning crew that will be here tomorrow to make everything right.”

  “You know how I am.”

  “You know the people that cleaned up the apartment after they broke in and got blood everywhere and dumped everything out of your cupboards and bathroom?”

  “How could I forget?”

  “That’s the crew coming over. Roland gave me the contact information.”

  “That has got to be too expensive, Teagan. You guys have done enough.”

  “It’s a gift from Adeline, Carolyn, and Anna.”

  “The girls?”

  “Yep.”

  “I don’t know what to say.”

  “How about thank you?”

  “I can do that.”

  A limo picked up the girls, and Suzi and Evelyn followed them over to Carolyn’s house where she would be spending the night.

  A.J. told me that we would be leaving on our honeymoon tomorrow.

  Two weeks.

  Adeline knows all about it.

  Everything’s under control, and I didn’t have to lift a finger.

  By the time I got all the layers of makeup off and my hair brushed out, followed by a very quick shower, I figured A.J. would be asleep for sure.

  Wrong.

  He had candles lit and a smile on his face.

  “Well, how does it feel to be Mrs. Cooper?”

  I never really got to answer. Not with words, anyway.

  We left the house at about nine thirty. Somewhere in the middle of the night, A.J. explained that we’re having a non-honeymoon honeymoon. We’re simply going to get in the car and drive. When we want to stop, we stop. When we want to see something, we go there. No pressure. No expectations.

  On our first anniversary, we’ll do a traditional honeymoon.

  I’m praying for a babymoon, but I didn’t say that. They say the second trimester is the safest time to travel.

  Yeah, I looked it up.

  So maybe by our first anniversary it will be too late for a babymoon.

  We packed light.

  A.J. knew he didn’t have to worry. I can pack for any trip in ten minutes. I have this thing about laundry, so it’s almost always all done, and I’m not really high maintenance.

  We got in the car and decided to go north since the only thing south is more Florida, and although Florida is an absolutely beautiful place, we wanted to see something different.

  We went straight up Interstate 75. Originally, we were going to turn left at Interstate 10, but we kept going straight into Georgia. Not far over the Florida-Georgia border, there’s a group of gas stations. We stopped for lottery tickets and a drink, got back on the freeway headed south, and grabbed 10 going west.

  By the time we got to Pensacola, we’d put in a pretty long day. We’d stopped for breakfast and lunch; we’d stopped to buy the lottery tickets. We’d stopped at a little roadside fruit stand and talked to a really old man about all kinds of Florida history I’d known nothing about.

  We’d spent the entire day driving, and we hadn’t really gotten all that far.

  And it was perfect.

  We decided to take 110 South and see where we ended up. Where we ended up was a lovely bed-and-breakfast on the bay.

  It was right across the street from the water and had a stunning porch. We sat and listened to the sounds of water and a little girl having the time of her life. We couldn’t see her in the dark, but she giggled and laughed and made both of us miss Evelyn.

  We decided on a fish place for dinner. It was amazing. They have a huge fish tank. I’ve never understood why fish restaurants have aquariums. It’s kind of like having a chicken place with a bunch of chickens in cages.

  The food was outstanding, and the server was charming. The views were amazing. We took our time and had a drink, unusual for me, and I loved their little square dishes. I keep thinking I’ll get some, but then I don’t see any I like.

  We stayed up half the night, talking about our future and what we plan to do next.

  A.J. has some really exciting things going on at work. He’s doing stills for a catalog, but the exciting thing is they are allowing him to do just about anything he wants. They’re going to let him decide what images he wants to use. What the scene will be. Their goal is to create beautiful pictures that not only market the item, but are art.

  He and Morgan are working on it together. If the company likes what they come up with, it’s a huge contract for A.J., and it will probably develop into some serious work for Morgan as well.

  A.J. is a little worried about his grandmother. He said she’s been kind of living beside herself for a while. I told him Roland had confided in me that the girls are thinking about a cruise, and he was pretty sure that Teagan and I would be invited.

  I confessed that although it sounded really good when I first heard about it, I thought it was a little soon after the wedding, and I thought that if it was too soon, I’d have to say no.

  He said it would be a favor to him for us to go. He wouldn’t have to worry about Gran if I was close. It would give him time to concentrate on the new catalog, and he really hoped I’d have fun.

  That last one was an afterthought, but I took it.

  Looks like I’ll be going on a cruise soon.

  And I don’t care what Suzi says. I’m going to have fun, and it won’t be boring.

  We got up really early and went for a walk. An older couple started up a conversation with us, and we had breakfast together.

  I think one of the things I love most about A.J. is his gallantry. I think most people would think he just has good manners, but it’s more than that. He’s exceptionally polite and attentive to women. Women of all ages. It’s not like he’s hitting on everybody he meets; it’s more a sense of protection and goodwill.

  It’s like flirting and me. I flirt with everybody. Nothing sexual. I flirt with little kids in the grocery store.

  People have lost the fun of subtlety.

  I don’t know how to explain it. All I know is A.J. and I blend well.

  Fit well.

  I have no doubt in my mind that we’ll be good together forever.

  I’m so sure of it, I’m not even superstitious about it.

  Our non-honeymoon honeymoon was basically two weeks
of small hotels, good food, and waking up every morning feeling like I was the luckiest woman on the planet.

  One day, we only made it twenty miles.

  It was the best two weeks of my life, and for me, it is just the beginning of every day being better than the day before.

  Can you imagine what my twenty-fifth wedding anniversary will be like?

  I can’t wait.

  TWELVE

  IT’S NEVER A good sign when you drive up to your house and there are cops everywhere.

  It’s a huge slap in the face when you’re driving up from your non-honeymoon.

  Neither of us said a word.

  A.J. pulled up to the curb and got out, looking as nonaggressive as he could.

  It dawned on me as I opened the car door that it couldn’t be anything too bad, or they wouldn’t have let us get this close to the house.

  As A.J. approached the first cop he came to, Suzi — holding a smiling Evelyn — calmly walked out the door.

  Seeing that A.J. was talking to the police, she walked straight to me.

  Evelyn put her arms out, and I scooped her up and nuzzled her neck while Suzi filled me in.

  “It’s got nothing to do with us. You know the girl from the neighbors behind us? She’s disappeared.”

  “Runaway?”

  “They don’t think so.”

  “Why are they all at our house?”

  “There are more of them at their house.”

  “This is a whole bunch of cops.”

  “Yeah.”

  “How long have they been here?”

  “Only about fifteen or twenty minutes. You arrived just in time.”

  “Did you call my father? He loves to be a voyeur in all this stuff.”

  “Actually, he called me about ten minutes ago. Wanted to know if I knew exactly what time you guys were getting home. I told him about it” — she smiled — “and here he is.”

  Daddy drove up. He had someone in the car with him.

  He walked up. “Ah, child. You are home at last. You were well and truly missed.”

  “I missed you too, Daddy.”

  “Don’t lie to your father. You were much too busy to miss the likes of me. As it should be.” I loved his smile. He looked much better than he had, even at the wedding. Maybe he’s put on a few pounds?