“I probably would, too,” Jo said.
Just then, the door opened and Jayce walked in with a bag of groceries in his arm. “Well, hi there,” he said, walking through the living room into the kitchen. He set the sack down on the counter and walked toward me. “Haven't seen you in a while. How’ve you been?” he asked, giving me a hug.
“I'm good,” I replied, wrapping my arms around his tall, yet solid, frame. “How are you?”
“I'm tired and very busy, but good,” he answered, heading back over to the counter to get out the milk and eggs.
“That's what I've heard.”
“Yeah, well, I think once the holidays are over, it won't be so hectic. Plus the fact that I'm new doesn't help.”
“It never does,” I said, taking my empty coffee cup over and setting it in the sink. “Well, I think I'm gonna go take a quick bath and get ready.”
“You're not gonna eat?” Jayce asked, turning on the waffle iron.
“No. I told my mom I would eat there before church since my brother, sister, and my nephew, Sam, are all in town at the same time. I have to be there by 8:45. Thanks anyway, though.”
“Oh, okay, but aren't you guys all getting together on Tuesday to open gifts?”
“We are, but with it being Christmas Eve and all, she wanted us to go to church as a family because there's no Christmas Eve service tonight. If it was any other day of the week, my sister wouldn’t have driven over.”
“Oh, okay.”
With that, I went down the hall and got ready. Before I left, I made sure that I had all my makeup and all my other paraphernalia. Jayce and Jo were both sitting at the table eating as I entered the kitchen.
“Well, I’ll see you guys later.”
“I'll carry that out for you.” Jayce got up from the table.
“Thanks.”
“Oh, no problem.” He took the bag off my lap and headed outside.
“You've got everything right?” Jo asked.
“I think so. Thanks again for letting me stay last night.” I hugged her.
“Oh, no problem and Merry Christmas, if I don't talk to you tomorrow.”
“Merry Christmas to you, too.”
“Oh yeah, let me know when he calls,” she said, as I headed toward the door.
“Don't worry, I will,” I assured her before leaving.
When I got to the truck, Jayce was putting my bag in the front passenger seat.
“Thanks.”
“Oh, you're welcome,” he said, shutting the door and walking around to the back of the truck.
“Thanks for letting me stay last night.” I hugged him.
“No problem, anytime. Maybe next time, I won't be working so much and we'll catch up.”
“Yeah.” I chuckled, getting on the lift and in the truck.
“Drive safe, and have a Merry Christmas.”
“I will. And you have a Merry Christmas, too, and try not to work so hard.”
“Yeah, really.” He laughed a little, shutting my door.
He waved as I backed out of the driveway and headed home.
Chapter 6
After church and going for Chinese with my family, I headed to the mall. It was so packed I thought I might have trouble finding a parking space, but to my surprise there was an open one outside Von Maur.
My first stop was the bathroom, I checked my hair and makeup, adding a touch of lipstick, after using the facilities and then headed downstairs and through the mall to the jewelry store.
Once there, I made my way to the counter. The saleswoman behind it was well dressed and looked to be in her twenties.
“Hello. Can I help you with something?” she asked when I reached the counter.
Her voice was so soft that I almost couldn’t hear her.
“Yes. A friend of mine bought this a few months ago and now it doesn't work,” I told her, putting the watch on the counter. “He doesn't think it's the battery because it's only a few months old.”
“Well, I wouldn't think so either,” she replied. “Let me take a look at it and see what I can do. Give me about fifteen minutes or so.”
“Great, thanks,” I said, and started to drive away.
Before I got too far, I heard, “Wait!”
I immediately stopped and turned around.
“Sorry,” she apologized, “I forgot to ask if you have the receipt.”
“Oh, that's okay.” I reached into my jacket pocket. “I was going to ask you if you needed it and I just forgot.”
I handed her the receipt and headed out of the store. Since I had time to kill, I decided to pick up a drink at Starbucks. It took me a few minutes to figure out what I wanted, but ended up with a Mocha Frappuccino before heading back into the mall to window shop. The Christmas decorations had me mesmerized, and I was so in my own world that I almost lost track of time.
Noticing a clock, and realizing the time, I returned to the jewelry store.
When I got to the counter, the young lady smiled and grabbed Steve's watch when she saw me coming.
“Hello again,” she greeted me, when I reached the counter.
“Hi.”
“Here you go.” She handed me a small bag. “I put it in a case for you.”
“Thanks so much.”
“No problem.”
“Were you able to figure out what was wrong with it?”
“Yeah. Apparently, somehow, a screw was loose. That's all.”
“That's weird,” I said, a little stunned and confused.
“I know. I thought so, too. No, no... it's free.” She stopped me, as I pulled out my debit card.
“Really?” I asked, kind of shocked.
“Really. It is still under warranty. Plus, it was just a loose screw... no big deal.”
“Thanks.”
“No problem. Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas to you, too,” I returned, with a smile, and headed back to Von Maur.
Before leaving the mall, I decided to hit the bathroom one more time and throw my Frappuccino away. Once I got in my truck, I set both my purse and the small bag beside me in the passenger seat then started it.
When I made it back home, I grabbed all my gifts, the wrapping paper, and the Scotch tape, and headed to my room. While I wrapped my gifts, I got a text message. When I saw who it was from, I almost cut my finger off with my adapted scissors.
“Steve!” I said in shock.
After staring at my phone for what seemed like forever, I finally snapped out of it and hit read:
Steve: Hey, beautiful! Just wanted to say I had a great time last night and I hope you did too. I hope you're having a great day and hope to hear from you soon. Take care.
I decided not to text him back right away and finish wrapping so I could figure out what to say.
By the time I finished, it was five-thirty, quarter to six, so I decided to see what was for dinner. When I went into the dining room and saw no note about leftovers, I didn’t know what I was going to eat. Then I remembered that I had chicken left over from lunch, so I heated it up. While I ate, I decided to text Steve back.
Me: I had a great time, too. Call me any time, except tonight.
After finishing dinner, around 7:30, I went back to my room and put on my pajamas before doing my nightly routine and going to bed because I was still extremely exhausted from the night before.
The next thing I knew, I was in a church—the one I grew up in, to be exact.
As I walked through the doorway into the fellowship hall, I was wearing a beautiful white wedding gown. Once I made it through the doorway, I stopped and looked down at my gown. It was absolutely perfect and exactly what I wanted. I could see it clearly because I wasn’t wearing a veil.
Since I wasn’t wearing a veil, you could really see how my hair was fixed. My hair was done in the same half up style that I had done for my cousin's wedding awhile back. All of my bangs were pulled back in a pon
ytail, so they stayed out of my face, except for one strand that was banana-curled and hung down the right side of my face, but was bobby pinned back just enough to stay out of my eyes. The ponytail was also banana-curled, and had a small poof at the top. The other half that was not pulled up was banana-curled as well. With no veil, instead of having a tiara, I had rhinestones throughout my hair that sparkled.
My gown was plain white satin with a glittery texture on both the bodice and the skirt. The bodice was a sweetheart neckline, strapless, and formfitting; and had a ‘U’ shaped waistline. From the waist, the gown was huge. It was very full and wide and made a circle shape at the bottom. Although the skirt was very full and wide, it didn’t have a hoop under it because I hated them. It went all the way down to the floor and had a few extra inches of fabric on the ground that went all the way around it. Finally, the train was detachable and it sparkled like the rest of my gown. It went from my waist to the floor. Once it reached the floor, it was ten feet long and as wide as my gown itself.
Once I finished looking at my gown, I looked up and turned to my brother. He took my hand and put it under his arm and smiled at me. So, of course, I smiled back at him.
He said, “You’re absolutely gorgeous, even though your gown is strapless.”
I laughed and said, “I’m not. You’re going to make me cry for no reason.” I’d never thought of myself as being very pretty, let alone absolutely gorgeous.
“Well, we don't want that.” He grinned. “Are you ready for this?”
“I've been ready for this my entire life,” I replied, with a huge smile.
We started walking, and I looked straight ahead. I had a smile on my face that would not go away. As I looked ahead, I saw a sanctuary full of people. I could see them clearly because there was no wall separating the fellowship hall from the sanctuary. Reaching the back of the sanctuary, we stopped and waited behind my bridesmaids, the flower girls and my nephew—the ring bearer—for the other music to start.
While we waited for our cue to go, I looked to my right and left. Some guests were smiling at me, some were crying, and some even had a look of amazement on their faces. At that moment, I sensed that I had a shocked look on my face and I felt the tears start to well up in my eyes. I looked down at the floor so I wouldn’t cry.
“See, I told you that you are absolutely gorgeous, and you didn't believe me,” Morgan teased a little, when he saw me looking down. “Do you believe me now?”
I just smiled and nodded, yes. What was I supposed to do or say when I was proven wrong?
Once I regained my composure, I looked up and straight forward. When I did, I realized just how beautiful the sanctuary was, especially the front. I couldn’t believe how beautiful it turned out. At the very front of the sanctuary, there were hunter green-tipped white rose petals on the altar. In the center, after a couple steps, there was a very beautiful wooden table with a hunter green tablecloth that had plain white rose petals all over. In the center of the table was a big cylinder container and on either side of it was a smaller cylinder container with a handle. The one on the left was filled halfway with hunter green sand, while the other one was filled halfway with white sand. Off a little to either side there were a group of lit white candles.
After looking at the sanctuary, I thought, I’m so glad that we settled on a winter wedding, then started to laugh, quietly.
“Are you okay?” Morgan whispered, leaning down because he was a lot taller than me.
“Yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking.”
“What about?”
“About the fact that Steve’s probably really happy we decided to have a winter wedding.”
“He probably is,” he whispered. “It's better than the alternative.”
“Hey!” I looked up at him, then playfully elbowed him.
We both started to laugh. We couldn’t help it. Especially me because I knew he was right. Steve wouldn’t have gone for a pink wedding no matter what... he wasn’t that kind of person.
When we looked up, everyone was looking back at us, and we started laughing again. At that moment, I realized that the only ones left at the back of the sanctuary were Morgan and me. So to stop laughing, I looked down a little at the aisle in front of me, which had been unrolled minutes earlier by the ushers. It looked like white egg shells made of satin. On top of it lay numerous hunter green-tipped white rose petals, which had been tossed about by the flower girls seconds earlier.
All of a sudden the music started to play.
“That's our cue,” Morgan said, quietly. “Ready?”
“Yes,” I answered, looking up, and we started walking again.
Walking toward the front of the sanctuary, I looked to either side of me. First, I looked to my left and saw my dad, my mom, Matt, a little girl who looked to be one, or a little younger, sitting between them, and all of my extended family. I also saw my friends, some of whom I hadn’t seen in a long time. Finally, I saw my bridesmaids, my sister, Jo, and eight of my closest friends—five of whom were my PAs, and the empty space between Jo and the next bridesmaid. Their dresses were hunter green, satin and strapless, and went to the floor. The front was plain with a stripe of thicker satin at the very top that went all the way around. The back had a ribbon that went down their backs.
After seeing everyone to my left, I looked to my right. There I saw Steve’s family, his parents, and his grandparents, and friends, some of whom had become my friends as well. Finally, I saw the groomsmen in their black tuxes. They were all smiling.
I looked back straight, and when I did, I saw Steve ahead of me. I couldn’t see him clearly because my eyes were full of tears. Although I couldn’t see him clearly, I knew he was smiling at me and starting to cry. I thought it was mostly because I was actually walking down the aisle. I wanted it to be a surprise for him and everyone else, except Morgan and Jo. I could also tell by their faces that not only was he starting to cry, but so were one or two of his groomsmen as well. One or two of them including his best man even had a look on their faces like, “Damn!” That made me cry even more. I’d done a pretty good job of not crying until then.
Once Morgan and I reached the front of the sanctuary, my sister joined us. The three of us went over to a small wooden table on our right. There on the table was a small hunter green tablecloth and two candles that were white, tall, and fat. One had two wicks, while the other one only had a single wick. The double wick was for our Grandma and Grandpa Smith, who had passed away.
After lighting the candle for our grandparents, my sister went back and got in line, then Morgan stepped back a few feet when Steve joined me, and we lit the other candle. After a few seconds, Morgan, Steve, and I, hand in hand, walked to where Jamie was standing. Once we were all in front of her, Morgan turned to me and gave me a kiss on the cheek and I closed my eyes.
When I opened my eyes, I was no longer in the church. I was in bed and I realized it was a dream, and, at that moment, I started to freak out a little. I turned my head and looked at the clock. Seeing that it was 7:30, and I’d slept for twelve hours, I got out of bed. Once I was somewhat situated in my chair, I grabbed my short-haired Shih Tzu, Will, from the foot of the bed and gave him a good morning hug before putting him down on the floor. I went into my bathroom, started the shower, and decided not to tell anyone about my dream... at least not yet.
Chapter 7
After showering and getting dressed, I headed into the dining room to get some breakfast. I decided to wear my red hoodie-sweater to be a bit festive for Christmas.
“Merry Christmas,” Mom said, as I came in, her short, blonde highlighted hair still wet from a shower.
“Merry Christmas.” I smiled. “Where's Matt?”
“Where do you think?” she replied, in a somewhat sarcastic, but playful tone.
“Oh, okay. Anyway, what's for breakfast?”
“Well... we're having biscuits and gravy and fried mushrooms.”
“Yum,” I sa
id, and scooted up to the table. “Hey, when are we leaving?”
“We're eating at noon, so we figured about 9:45.”
“Okay. Are we taking your truck?”
“I think. Is that a problem?”
“No. I thought that's what we were doing, but I wasn't sure.”
After breakfast, I went back to my room and used some mouthwash, dried and curled my hair, and put on my makeup, jewelry, and perfume. When I finished with everything, it was 9:35 so I put on my socks and my knee-high boots, and my jacket. I grabbed Steve's gift off the card table and put it in my jacket pocket, just in case, and just waited to go out to the truck.
A few minutes later, Matt came in and saw that I was ready so he opened my door. When we got to the truck, he opened the door and lifted me in, and I noticed how red the top of his head and ears were already getting from the wind and cold. He put Will in the backseat beside me. Matt had to lift me in because their truck wasn’t adapted like mine. After he put my chair in the back, he got in the truck and put on his seatbelt, then backed out of the driveway and we were off to West Terre Haute.
When we got to the lodge, around 11:45, I was thankful that we weren’t the last ones there—we were next to last, but we weren’t last... there was a big difference in my family—because I got to have more choice in what I ate since no one was in line yet. After putting Will down and taking off my jacket, I said, “Hi, Merry Christmas!” to my brother, sister, and nephew.
As I hugged Leigh, her light brown-dirty blonde hair swung into my face. I didn’t care though. “I love that sweater on you, Leigh, the blue really brings out your eyes. Is it cashmere?”
“Thanks, yeah it is, Charlie sent it to me.”
“Well, he's got good taste,” I told her. I turned to Morgan, who had to bend his five foot ten frame practically in half to hug me. “You look great, Morgan.”
“Thanks, Beth.” He took Sam from Mom and handed the eight month old to me. “He’s getting big, isn’t he?”
“He is! When are you gonna cut his hair? Poor kid can barely see!”
Something New & Unexpected Page 4