by Susan Kohler
“I was just trying to find out when you two are getting married,” Laura asked him.
Bob got a laughable look on his face and turned to Laura. “Give us a few minutes alone, okay Laura?”
Then he turned to face Kate and waited a minute to let Laura walk away. Laura went, but not very far. This sounded promising! She strained her ears, trying to listen.
Ida saw her interest and came over to join her. “Is he finally proposing?”
“I think so.” Laura took the older woman’s hand. “Isn’t it romantic?”
Ida laughed, “Only if she says yes, my dear. Only if she says yes.”
Bob looked at Kate, wondering how he could keep his knees from knocking. She looked back at him in an agony of suspense. Ask me, she willed silently, ask me. Her heart was beating so hard she thought everyone could hear it, but she looked at him silently, finally raising one eyebrow and tilting her head.
Bob took a deep breath. “Kate, will you marry me?”
“Yes.” Kate laughed and threw her arms around his neck. “Oh yes. Even though that was the least romantic, skimpiest proposal I ever heard. No loving declarations, no down on one knee. Just five short words.”
“Do you want all the fancy stuff?” Bob looked around the room. “I can get down on one knee if you want.”
“No, love. You give me all the romance I could handle everyday.” She hugged him. “Besides, I accepted the proposal you gave me. I had already heard all the other pretty words from you; those five were the exact ones I was waiting for.”
As they kissed, Laura and Ida came over. “So is it finally official?”
“Yes,” Kate smiled at her friend, her face glowing, “we’re going to be married.”
The two women watched as Bob produced a small jeweler’s box that held an engagement ring and slid it onto her finger. It was an emerald cut diamond with baguettes that fit perfectly.
“The ring’s gorgeous! When?” Laura questioned. “When is the wedding? God! There’s so much planning to do!”
“I don’t know, yet.” Kate turned to Bob and asked, “When do you think we should get married?”
“I’d like to get married right now.” For the second time that day Bob had a strange look on his face.
“So would I, but we need blood tests and a license, all that stuff.” Kate dismissed the idea. “And a minister or somebody who could perform the ceremony.”
“Actually, I meant it,” Bob said, looking a little flushed. “You may not realize this but we had our blood tests when you were in the hospital, and I pulled a few strings so we also have a license. It was so easy to get your signature on the form; you’ll sign anything I put in front of you.” He smiled and then paused, catching his breath. “Everybody we know and love is here, and your kids are dressed up. They’ve even managed to stay clean.” He nervously pointed out a man across the room. “And that’s Fred Dawson, the minister from my church.”
“You mean it?” Kate was stunned and excited. “Now?”
“Just pick out your Maid of Honor, and I’ll ask my brother to be my Best Man.” Bob looked at her, a look that filled her heart. “I even have a rack with several wedding dresses stashed nearby in case you wanted to wear a more traditional gown. As long as you don’t feel rushed or forced into anything.”
“No, you’ve just saved me the trouble of dragging you to the altar. Plus you saved me all the bother that goes into planning a wedding.” She grinned. “So what’s the hold up? Let’s do it.”
“Laura, do me a favor,” Bob asked her. “Go get my brother and Fred. Oh, and ask the waiter by the door to tell the banquet manager the wedding’s on. He’s got the flowers and cake.”
Laura agreed excitedly to run the errands. As she turned to walk away a thought struck her, “Bob, what if she’d said no?”
“That’s easy,” Bob grinned, “I’d have sicced you on her.”
After Laura left Kate looked up at Bob, a question in her happy eyes. “How did you manage to do all this?”
“It was easy, I got hold of one of those books on wedding planning, hired a team of wedding planners, and enlisted all the help I could without giving myself away,” he bragged with a cheeky grin.
Soon, Bob and Kate were standing on the dais at the front of the room. There was a microphone and Bob spoke into it.
“Excuse me, everybody. May I have your attention?” He waited for the guests to settle down and look up at him. “I have two things to tell you. The first one probably won’t surprise any of you. Kate has accepted my proposal of marriage.” He paused for a long moment to let the group react. “Wait! There’s more.” He held up his hand to stop the guests from rushing up to the stage to congratulate them.
“Don’t tell me, let me guess.” Kate’s mother had made it to the dais and hugged her daughter and Bob. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you it was tacky to announce your wedding and your pregnancy at the same time?” she asked in a low voice.
Bob’s face got red and he looked at Kate with a question in his eyes. She shrugged, grinned sheepishly, and made a gesture with her hands that seemed to say, “Who knows?”
“No Mom, that’s not it.” Kate grinned. “At least it would be news to me.”
“So what’s the second announcement?” she asked her daughter with exasperation and maybe just a touch of disappointment in her voice.
Bob went back to the microphone. “The second announcement may surprise you. It surprised Kate.” He grinned at Kate who gave him a companionable but slightly off-kilter grin in return. “The second announcement is that the wedding is right here and now. Jeff, I need you to act as my Best Man.”
There was a surprised murmur from the guests. The hotel staff got busy opening a partition and expanding the banquet room, revealing that it had another dais surrounded by flowers. There was an aisle with a long white carpet runner down the middle of the chairs. The seats lining the aisle had a long garland of white ribbons and pale roses that matched Kate’s dress stretching from the first row to the last.
Kate stared in amazement as she saw the banquet staff wheel a small table over near the buffet. It contained a four-tiered wedding cake with forks, plates and a champagne fountain. While the last few details were being seen to, Bob and Kate walked around the room accepting hugs and congratulation from friends and family. She sipped a glass of champagne, feeling dazed.
Her mother and father volunteered to keep the kids for that night, but it was decided that the kids would stay with Bob’s brother. Bob had booked a suite in the hotel for their honeymoon night. Then he announced they would both take a full week off work leaving Laura slightly overwhelmed with all the responsibility, and take the kids to the local amusement parks: Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm. Laughing, he invited his brother and his wife to stay over a few days to join them at Disneyland.
“It may be a little unconventional, but so is this whole wedding. Besides, your kids should get to see Mickey while they’re in California.” Bob grinned.
Laughing, his brother agreed.
Later, on her way around the room, Kate was surprised to see the doctor who had treated her at the emergency room after her kidnapping.
The doctor hugged her and took her aside. She explained to Kate, “I told Bob that my price for sneaking that blood test through was an invitation to the wedding.” She continued, “I thought a surprise wedding sounded so romantic.”
“I never did get around to making an appointment for that other test, and I definitely should take it,” Kate told her.
“I knew it. Well, call me when you have time, unless you already have a regular doctor.” She told Kate where her practice was.
“I will. To tell you the truth, I think it’s a strong probability. I guess Bob isn’t the only one who can spring surprises on people.” Kate was floating, still feeling surprised and shocked. “I may have to go to some extreme lengths to top his though.”
She made her way over to her father. “Happy for me, Daddy?”
“Beyond wo
rds, sweetie. He’s a wonderful man. He’ll make you very happy.” Her father kissed her gently on the forehead.
The office staff came over as a group to congratulate both of them; Kate was swept up in a storm of loving tears and hugs. Leaving that group she went over to where Bob’s parents and his sisters were standing.
“I hope you’re all happy. This is a complete surprise to me, but I couldn’t be happier.” She hugged Bob’s mother.
“I knew I would get a new daughter someday, but I never dreamed she’d be so special.” She kissed Kate on the cheek. “And I get three more grandchildren, adorable grandchildren, as a bonus.”
All of Kate’s new family made her feel loved and welcomed. Kate wouldn’t have believed she could get any happier, but she could. She found Bob and linked her arm in his, still accepting heartfelt congratulations and love from her friends.
There was a broad smile on her face as she considered the very real possibility of becoming a mother again sooner than anyone expected, but she kept that thought to herself. She would share it with Bob later, in private. On her wedding night, she thought to herself, feeling giddy.
Laura came over to her and together they went to the room where Bob had arranged for a selection of bridal gowns to be waiting. She found one that fit her perfectly. It had a square neckline with a beaded bodice and a softly flowing, floor-length skirt of silky satin.
Finally everything was arranged for the wedding and the hotel staff turned their attention to organizing the first banquet room for a wedding reception. They had napkins imprinted with the couple’s names. There were small picture frames with the couple’s names and a menu at every setting. The head table was set up for the bride and groom.
Seeing some of this, Jack asked Bob, “Hey old buddy, how did you know about all this stuff?”
“I bought a wedding planning book.” He seemed slightly embarrassed as he admitted it. “Plus I remembered one of my sisters going on and on about something on Oprah, about some of the fanciest wedding of the year. When I called her she said there was a story about the wedding in Women’s Day magazine and faxed me some of it.”
Seemingly, from out of nowhere, a photographer and a videographer appeared. The minister, Fred, and Bob’s brother, Jeff, made their way up to the dais. The banquet manager handed Kate a bridal bouquet and pinned a matching corsage on Laura. He pinned boutonnieres on Bob and Jeff.
Then Bob, adding a touch of extra love and humor to the wedding, handed both the Best Man and Matron of Honor a leash. Charger, standing by the best man had a white tuxedo collar and a black tie, and Teddy, standing by Laura had roses fastened to her collar.
Kate’s kids all got flowers, too. Sam, in a miniature tux with a boutonniere, was drafted to act a ring bearer, and Suzy and Sarah were in lacy peach dresses with matching ribbons in their hair, had tiny corsages as they acted as the flower girls.
The kids made their way up the aisle, Sam solemnly carrying the rings. Sarah and Suzy got a little mixed up with the rose petals, however. The little angels threw them directly at the guests. They were a little surprised at the reaction that got as all the guests started laughing. From the back of the room Kate, filled with amusement and pride, looked at the little girls, then met Bob’s eyes and saw the same proud expression shining in his eyes.
When the girls were seated by Kate’s mother and grandmother, and Sam was standing next to Jeff, Laura started down the aisle. When Laura was in position at the front of the room, Kate took a deep breath. She slipped her hand into her father’s arm, looked up at him with a nervous, eager little smile and began to walk down the aisle. Once at the front of the room, her father kissed her on the cheek. The minister opened his book.
“Dearly beloved,” the Minister intoned, “I see we have the whole family here, including the four-legged members of the family, and friends. We have gathered together . . .”
And so the simple, loving, beautiful ceremony joining their lives together began.
Other books by Susan Kohler
The Paddle Club
Hot Crossed Buns
Another Batch of Warm Buns
The Heart of The Beast
Coming soon...
Read about Kate and Laura as they play matchmaker for Frank in:
Who’s Taming Who?