by Linda Ellen
Little Flock Community Church
Three Weeks Later
The time had finally arrived for Steve and Mary June’s wedding—Valentine’s Day—and once again, Gary found himself in the pastor’s office/groom’s dressing room in the basement of the little neighborhood church, helping a jittery brother get ready for his big event.
The weeks after Gary’s induction had been packed with so much activity and emotion, he wondered at times if he would lose his mind. On more than one occasion, he seriously contemplated calling the recruiter and asking if he could arrange an earlier transport. But, he didn’t.
After that first evening when he and his father had worked through some issues in their relationship—or rather, Gary thought they had—Gareth, Sr. seemed to vacillate back and forth on his opinion of Gary’s decision. One moment he was bragging to a fellow businessman that his son had offered his services to the Army Air Corps and would surely be the best pilot the army had ever seen—and then the next, he would question Gary’s abilities as if he believed he would fail or crash and burn on his first mission. It kept Gary’s head spinning trying to keep up.
They did, however, come to a decision about who would be the head of the Louisville plant while he was away—Gareth, Sr. himself. They had tapped several of their supervisors and managers in Texas to offer them the temporary job, but none had wanted to make the move—especially since no one knew how long of a time span it would be. All of the men were married and had families to consider.
Gary and his father had toured the facility several times as the old man acquainted himself with the operation and the employees. After that first week, Gary had seen Julie quite often at the plant, and her immediate supervisor had given high praise as to her job performance. Gary noticed his father had been polite to the girl, but not familiarly so, and he figured that was for the best as it wouldn’t do to make it appear that she was getting special treatment.
As for Gary, he had come to believe that the girl had not been feeling the same chemistry between them that he had felt the two occasions they’d spent time together. He told himself he had done his part to help her out, and once he had gone to Florida, they would both move on with their lives. A fleeting image of attending her wedding—to another man—zipped through his mind, but the chill that gave him caused him to quickly push it out of his thoughts. He’d cross that bridge when the time came.
Just now, he was chuckling at the antics of his siblings. Steve, who had been Mr. Cool while Gene was attempting to prepare for his nuptials, was now a bundle of nerves who couldn’t even get his tie straight—and Gene was the Rock of Gibraltar who was helping him out. Since they were identical in their uniforms—except for the number of stripes on their sleeves—it was a case of déjà vu for Gary.
“Isn’t this where I came in last time?” he cracked, unable to keep the twinkle out of his gaze as his brothers turned their faces his way.
“Okay, okay. I’ll be the first one to say I was wrong and you can say I told you so to your heart’s content,” Steve mumbled, his head tipped back enough for his brother to finish knotting his tie.
Gene laughed and then shook his head in wonder. “It’s different when the shoe is on the other foot, huh? I don’t know why a man gets nervous right before he weds the girl he loves, but I can sure relate.” Then cocking an eye toward Gary, he added, “You just wait. We’ll flip a coin to see who helps you with your tie.”
Gary perched a hip on the edge of the desk as he eyed his brothers, and dipped his head in acknowledgement. “All right. I’ll be more than happy to dine on crow. But I think you’ll have a long wait. After all, I haven’t even met my future bride yet.”
“Well, take it from me, brother. Love has a way of sneaking up on a fella and biting him in the a—” Steve began, his declaration cut off by a knocking at the door.
“Yes?” Steve called.
A female voice replied, “Are you decent?”
“That’s a matter of opinion!” Gene called back, followed by an, “Oof!” as Steve elbowed him in the ribs as all three men broke into laughter.
“Yeah, Mom, come on in.”
The door opened to reveal an attractive woman in her early 50’s standing at the threshold. The three men admired her appearance—dark blonde hair lightly traced with silver becomingly framed her still youthful face, and she was wearing a lovely champagne-hued silk dress, its sheer overlay delicately embroidered in a lace pattern of the same flaxen color and finished in a flirty, handkerchief hemline. A matching sheer jacket sporting a white corsage completed her outfit.
In her hand she held a box of boutonnières—and Gareth, Sr. stood at her side.
Gary and Gene smiled appreciatively and were waiting for Steve to invite her in, but he was frozen where he stood, just staring at her. She stared back, smiling patiently.
Finally, he swallowed and moistened his lips. “Mom? You look…swell. I’ve never seen you so decked out before.”
She let out a happy little laugh, glanced at the man at her side, and then admitted, “I had a bit of help with that.”
Gareth, Sr. smiled in return and responded as he tipped his hat, “My pleasure, Madam.”
Gary’s eyes widened a bit. He’d known, of course, that his father had offered to pick Mrs. Wheeler up at Union Station when she had arrived the morning before, due to the fact that Steve couldn’t get an extra day of leave. But now that he thought about it, he had wondered when his father had begged off dinner, saying he had a prior commitment. Now it appeared that he had been instrumental in helping Steve’s mom jazz herself up for her son’s big event…hmmm.
She waited a beat and then, “Well? Are you going to let us in, or aren’t you?”
Steve shook his head as if to get his mind back in the moment and gave her a nod, adding, “Yeah, yeah sure, come in.” The two walked in and Dad Tucker closed the door behind them before turning to take the box from the woman.
Steve managed to remember his manners, quickly making the introductions, “Uh, guys, this is my mom, Charise Wheeler. Mom, these are…my brothers. Gene Banks and Gary Tucker…Jr.”
She politely smiled at both of the other young men and answered, “Pleased to meet you.”
They responded in kind as Gareth, Sr. began removing white carnations from the box, one each for Gene and Gary, and then a fancier one for Steve. “Mrs. Wheeler was kind enough to allow me the pleasure of helping with the purchase of some wedding finery, in honor of her position as mother of the groom,” he began. “Since I never had a daughter to spoil and ‘give away’, it pleased me to help out a fellow parent for one of your weddings—triplet weddings, that is.”
At that, Charise gushed, “Oh my goodness, Steve! I still can’t get over the fact that you are one of triplets!” She turned so that her view encompassed the other two and nodded. “But looking at the three of you together, I swear the only difference is the clothes you are wearing!”
Before he could stop himself, Gary countered, “Soon, there won’t even be a difference there, either.”
His father shot him a look as Gene and Steve exchanged quick glimpses.
Charise went on as if she hadn’t noticed the sudden tension. “Yes, your father told me you signed up, Gary—I believe you are heading to Officer Training School day after tomorrow?”
“That’s right. Miami Beach,” Gary answered. Then, resisting the urge to frown at his father, he added, “I’m going to fly bombers, hopefully over Berlin or Tokyo. But then again, I don’t really care where, just so I get the chance to help inflict some major damage on the enemy.”
“I’m sure you will, young man—if you’re anything like your brother, here,” Charise replied, sending a proud, loving smile her son’s way before she turned to the third brother. “And you, Gene—Sergeant 1st Class and in charge of the tanks out at Fort Knox—very impressive…” Gene grinned at her praise, and then she playfully smacked at Steve’s sleeve and admonished, “But I’m still mad at you that I had to find
out about my own son’s heroic exploits from an account in the Carmel newspaper.”
Steve had the grace to cringe in shame. “Sorry Ma. I’ll keep in touch better from now on. Mary June said she’ll get after me with a switch if I don’t,” he added with a snort. Gene chuckled with him as both men imagined her doing just that.
Steve’s mother smiled happily, stepping near and smoothing his already perfect tie and shirt collar. Then taking the boutonnière from Gareth’s hand, she expertly began to pin it on her son’s lapel. “I can’t tell you how happy I am that you’ve found such a wonderful young woman to marry. I’ve only had the chance to talk to her for a few minutes, in the bride room just now, but already I can tell that she adores you, and she’ll make you a wonderful wife. She seems to be spunky, too,” she added with a mischievous twinkle. “I imagine she will keep you on your toes, Corporal Wheeler.”
Mother and son smilingly stared into one another’s eyes for a few moments, with each one conveying more than just words. Gary remembered what Steve had told them about his tumultuous relationship with his mother and all of the negative aspects about his childhood. How she had practically given up after his adoptive father had been killed in a tragic oil rig accident, had run from Texas back to the small town in Indiana where she had grown up, with eight-year-old Steve in tow, and hadn’t been much of a mother after that—and how Steve hadn’t spoken to her since he left their meager existence to join the CCC’s the day he turned eighteen. Gary wondered what had occurred to bridge that gulf and mend the breach—but it was obvious that mother and son were well on their way to healing. He figured they had spoken over the phone more than once since Steve and Mary June’s engagement, and Gary stifled a grin as he imagined that the feisty Mary June no doubt had something to do with it.
“I think this is a perfect time to tell you this,” Gene began, all faces turning toward him as he met eyes with Steve. “Brother of mine, I heard some scuttlebutt that you’ll soon be sporting three chevrons with a T underneath, which will sure take up more real estate on your sleeves—not to mention, produce more jingle in your pockets.”
“Promotion? To Technical Sergeant?” Steve gaped at him.
“Technician Fourth Grade, to be precise, but yeah, Sergeant Wheeler.”
Steve’s eyes narrowed as he searched his brother’s purposefully placid face. “And just how do you know this?”
Gene’s eyebrows rose and he shrugged innocently. “Could be I heard about someone putting your name in for commendation for your cool-headedness in handling that attempted sabotage incident last year.”
Everyone in the room realized Gene was that “Someone.” As Steve laughed, his pre-wedding jitters began easing up a bit. “Well then, I’ll have to buy that someone a beer.”
“Not if that someone doesn’t drink,” Gene shot back, making everyone burst out laughing.
Gary watched the exchange with a myriad of emotions rumbling in his gut. A strange mixture of pride and envy at his brother’s accomplishments, as well as feeling a bit out of the loop regarding Gene and Steve’s camaraderie. But all of that didn’t diminish his love for his triplet siblings.
Watching them as they laughed together and smacked one another on the back, the bond that had been forged in the womb and put on hold until a miraculous coincidence had brought them back together again swelled so strongly that it nearly bowled him over. He knew in that instant he would willingly give his life for either one of them, in a heartbeat—and without either of them ever having articulated the sentiment, there was no question in his mind that they felt the same toward him. They were a team, and no matter where he ended up in his service to his country, nothing would drive a wedge between them.
He looked away and blinked quickly to try and clear the sudden mist from his vision.
Thankfully, someone knocking on the door to announce that the wedding was about to start saved him from embarrassment.
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here together in the sight of God to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony…” the minister’s voice began once the wedding party was in position.
Gary looked over at the front pew where his father and Steve’s mother were seated side by side—and saw his father reach over and pat her hand as they exchanged smiles. Well, well. So there’s still some fire left in the old locomotive, eh? Good for him.
Distracted from the business at hand, Gary barely heard the words of the minister—he was too busy thinking back over the years and realizing he’d never seen his father pay attention to a woman, but the man certainly was now. He seemed to be acting quite solicitous of Steve’s mother. And he’d even paid for a new outfit for her to wear to the wedding? How did this happen? When did those two get so chummy? A lot must have happened while I was at the office tying up a few loose ends before I ship out…
The more Gary thought about it, however, the more he liked the idea of his father and Mrs. Wheeler keeping company. Of course, this might just be “ships passing in the night”, especially when she goes back home to Carmel… But, that was their business.
Determinedly turning his attention back to the proceedings at hand, he allowed his gaze to glide over his brother’s new bride. Mary June looked radiant in her mother’s wedding dress. It was an older style, white satin, full-length gown with dainty, hand-embroidered lace and fitted lace sleeves that reached to the wrist. Steve was just then folding back its gossamer veil to reveal her lovely face.
Gary thought his brother looked quite debonair in his uniform, brass buttons gleaming, pants pressed to perfection, and shoes polished to a glossy sheen. He couldn’t help a proud smile.
Just then, his peripheral vision caught a bit of movement and he glanced across at Julie. Those emerald green eyes of hers, glimmering with unshed tears as she watched the two lovebirds at the altar, shifted their aim toward him—and his breath caught, followed instantly by a shiver skittering down and then back up his body that was both ice cold and white hot as a jolt of electricity.
Jumpin’ Jehoshaphat but she’s beautiful.
Of course, he had noticed how lovely she looked when he’d walked her down the aisle. That she had allowed her hair to cascade down her back in soft waves, adorned by matching emerald combs, and that she was wearing the same floor-length light green, puffy-sleeved, V-neck dress she’d worn at Gene and Viv’s wedding. However, for reasons that escaped him, she looked even lovelier in it this day than she had then, and that was saying something.
The minister was talking about how the Almighty knows just how to bring two people together who will make the perfect helpmeets for one another. When he stated that sometimes He uses strange methods and odd instruments, the wedding guests began to snicker and chuckle along with the bride and groom. Most there knew at least a few details of the couple’s tempestuous romance and the fact that it had taken running out of gas and getting stranded alone together in a remote cabin for the two to admit their love for one another.
The words the pastor was speaking over the couple in the center seemed to take on a different meaning as Gary couldn’t look away from the girl directly across and she certainly wasn’t looking away from him.
Gary wondered what Julie was thinking as she held his gaze. He curled his hands into fists, as he had to physically resist stepping across the space and taking her in his arms to ask that question—and was it about him.
For the first time, he almost regretted his decision to enlist—thus being sent many miles away and then even farther, and for who knew how long. The war could very well last many more years. He could easily be ki…no, he wouldn’t dwell on that possibility. But…what would Julie be doing and where would she be once he came back?
Now, he cursed the time he’d wasted when he could have been getting to know her—and letting her get to know him.
Gene moved just then and accidentally bumped against Gary’s arm as he reached inside his breast pocket to retrieve Mary June’s ring and pass it to Steve, thereby jarring Gary’s atte
ntion back to the event at hand.
He watched as his brother vowed to love, honor and protect the woman he loved, and slipped the ring on her finger. With a trembling smile, Mary June turned to her best friend and matron of honor—Gene’s wife, the lovely Vivian—and received the gold band that she then slipped on Steve’s finger as she vowed the same to him.
Seconds later, they were pronounced husband and wife and Steve was showing off, dipping his bride back to seal the deal with a red hot kiss as she held on to him for dear life and everyone laughed and whistled. Gary joined in the laughter when Steve let Mary June up and he tilted his head back and howled like a wolf on the prowl.
As the newlyweds headed jauntily down toward the back of the church, Gary stepped forward and held an elbow out for Julie to take so that he could escort her down the aisle as he had done before, and the look in her eyes and the strength in her grip spoke volumes.
How could I have been so blind? Could she be the one?
Sunday Evening, February 16
Oh, what a weekend! Julie mused as she climbed into the back seat of Gene’s car for the ride down to the Greyhound bus station to help see Gary off.
Her brother and Viv kept up a steady stream of conversation as they rode along, to which Julie mumbled affirmative answers now and then, but her mind was really on what had happened at Steve and Mary June’s wedding. Exactly, she softly sighed, shaking her head. What did happen?
She hadn’t been able to get out of her head those moments when she had looked across the altar at Gary and their eyes had met—and metaphorically fused. What had he been thinking? She couldn’t seem to look away, and he certainly hadn’t either. Not until Gene had bumped into him as he clumsily tried to get the ring out of his pocket.
But, those eyes of Gary’s…it was almost as if she could feel their touch, and the effect hadn’t lessened as the evening progressed. He had stayed right by her side throughout the picture taking and the reception. They had danced almost every dance together and spent hours talking—about their respective childhoods, and the differences therein, about their beliefs regarding God, the Bible, patriotism, science, and everything in between—and she had loved every minute of it. Every minute, that is, except when Gary’s looming departure had crossed her mind. He had let her know he felt the same way—that he wished he could postpone his leaving indefinitely.