“Whatever,” James said. “Is she coming to the wedding?”
“God, I hope not,” Daniel responded.
This interested Roosevelt who moved closer. The whole scenario was perplexing him starting with his sister sitting on Daniel’s lap. He didn’t know what to make of her behavior. She was being so clingy to this man. George and she never had PDA. He was concerned that at any moment she was going to lean upwards and lick the damned man.
“Are you two on bad terms?” Roosevelt asked.
“Not in the least, but this is Darlene’s wedding. She is the star of show. Angela will be a distraction from my beautiful bride,” he said as he kissed her on the lips this time. Darlene was waiting for the kiss as she looked up just in time to receive it. Her hand stroked his chin as her fingers ran through the fine hairs of his beard. Roosevelt wanted to throw up.
“Will DJ be there?” James wanted to know. “I saw his last movie. He is really moving up. There were a lot of big names in that last flick. The kid had lots of lines and plenty of screen time. He is going to be the next action hero!”
“He is my best man, so yes he will be there,” Daniel said softly.
Before anything else was said, Darlene’s cell phone rang. It was in the pocket that was pressed against Daniel’s belly. The gentle vibration brought a small smile to his face.
“Excuse me while I take this,” she said. She rose slowly, as if she didn’t want to leave the comfort of his embrace.
His hand rested on the arm of the chair as the warmth of her body left him. Daniel’s eyes went to the beer in his hand that he’d barely touched. Her brothers eyed him closely to see if he would watch their sister’s backside as she walked away.
He did not.
“She really digs you,” James said as he pulled the steaks from the grill.
“I really dig her,” he told them.
“You aren’t worried that you can’t give her all of this?” Roosevelt asked him.
Daniel sat the beer down, “It seems to me gents, that she doesn’t want all of this. What she wants is a calmer, easier life with me where living is simple and loving is uncomplicated,” he told them. His ego had decided to stand back up and take its place in the center of the menfolk.
Roosevelt only nodded. “I guess you are right.”
“She said yes, so I know I’m right. With your blessing, I would like to make it official, propose and get our life underway,” he told them. “I’m not poor by any means. She will have a good life and want for nothing.”
“I’m good with it,” James said.
“Works for me,” Roosevelt said.
Darlene returned with a smile. “That was my real estate agent. I just sold the house. I have 30 days to clear out so, if there is anything in it either of you want, you better call dibs, because I am selling it all.”
Daniel stood up when she walked back out to join them. “I was going to ask if I needed to rent a truck to drive out the things you wanted to bring to Wyoming.”
“I am driving the SUV, and bringing a suitcase and some family photos. James, if it’s okay, I may want to store some family things in your attic,” she said firmly.
“Are you certain about this Darlene?” Roosevelt asked.
“Oh yeah,” she told him. Her eyes wandering back to Daniel. She moved closer to him and wrapped her arms about his waist. “I am sure.”
“I will drive the vehicle back with you after the wedding,” Daniel said as he stared at her. Her gaze was soft as he pulled away from her to take to one knee. From his back pocket he withdrew a hand crafted ring, made of polished wood with a jade and diamond flanked stones.
“Darlene Hill Patterson, will you marry me?” he asked her.
She eyed the hand crafted ring and it was possibly the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her life. He took the time to sit and polish and shape a piece of wood to be the symbol of his connection to her as well as his connection to the earth. The filigree of gold was hand spun as it caressed and embraced the polished stones. Tears came to her eyes because this man had made the ring just for her.
No store.
He made it.
“Yes, Daniel. I can’t wait to be your wife.”
James, not one known for his tact, asked, “Man, did you make that ring out of wood?” His face was twisted as he said it. Roosevelt punched his younger brother in the arm.
Darlene answered for them both, “This is made from the same wood you showed me from the 200 year old tree branch isn’t it?”
“It is,” Daniel said to her.
“It is the most perfect thing anyone has ever given me,” she said as her lips pressed to his.
James was still outdone. “If I gave a woman a wooden ring, she would hand that shit back to me and tell me to get lost!”
“You need to date less materialistic women,” Roosevelt whispered.
“Naw, I need to find a chick that would be happy with a wooden ring! That’s what I need to do!”
“Leave it to you to always throw some shade, James. Let’s just have lunch, I’m starving,” Roosevelt said.
Chapter Fourteen – Say What Now?
The weekend sped by entirely too fast for Darlene’s liking. Each time she tried to be alone with Daniel, her brothers would occupy the conversation or his time. Over breakfast on Saturday morning they were shocked to find out he didn’t eat pork.
“What do you eat for breakfast?” James wanted to know.
Daniel sipped at the tea he had in a mug. “I usually do a whole grain cereal for breakfast with maybe some fish,” he told them.
Darlene couldn’t wait to add the next bit. “Yes, he walks out the back door and over to the river, casts his line and comes back with fresh trout. It is amazing.”
Roosevelt’s eyes were wide. “Seriously man? Fishing right out your back door? On a bank or deck?”
“Off the bank,” he told him. “The river is a bit aggressive in spring from the snow melting from the mountain, so building a ramp is out of the question.”
James asked, “What about the rest of the seasons?”
“The fish tastes different in the summer. We are having the waters tested to see if there is something in the life cycles of the fish causing the odd taste. In the fall is hunting season, so no time and winter is too cold.”
“You hunt too?” Roosevelt asked.
“Yeah, one elk and a buck can carry me for a year,” he told them. “My dog, Sheila D, is partial to rabbit stew, so I have a few of those in the freezer.”
James was grinning, “Sheila D?”
“Yeah, the E was taken,” Daniel laughed.
After several tries, she finally got her brothers to give them a bit of privacy during the afternoon. Daniel sat on the couch, looking at the paintings on the wall and all of the little touches in the living room. His cabin was pretty sparse in comparison to this.
Seated in the chair next to him, she leaned over and touched his hand. “I didn’t pick any of this stuff. I worked. I fought in the court room. I came home to cooked meals, completed homework and a man who only talked to me about business,” she told him. His lips turned downward as he listened.
“I have no issues leaving any of this shit right here,” she told him.
He stood up. The jeans molded to his thighs and there wasn’t an ounce of flab or fat on him. It wasn’t muscles that were built in a gym either but muscles from being outside and actually doing something with his hands and that body for a living.
Damn, is it warm in here?
“What about this little bowl. It seems out of place in the room with all of these fine porcelain china pieces,” he told her as he picked up the candy dish. He turned it over on the bottom to see if it had a brand name. The bowl only held the initials DH.
“Oh you made this?” he said.
A smile crossed her lips as she rose to walk over to his side. “Yes. I took a pottery class right before we got married, because I was planning to make all of our dishes. Out o
f all the pieces I made, that is the only one to survive the move,” she told him.
She held the lopsided bowl in her hand remembering a simpler time in her life. A time when she wanted to be a home maker. She thought back to Darrel in Orlando, go back to who you wanted to be.
“Darlene, I do want to talk to you about the wedding,” he said softly, to bring her back from wherever her mind had wandered off to with the bowl.
She sighed deeply. “Honestly, I am okay with the courthouse. I had the big wedding already, so a small reception will suit me just fine.” It was the look on his face that made her change her approach to it. “This isn’t about just me. It’s your wedding as well. What did you have in mind for the ceremony?”
He took a seat back on the couch. She was learning his tells. When he was uncomfortable, he rubbed his hands on his thighs.
“I dunno...you know that moment at a wedding, when the music starts and the doors open for the bride to enter...,” he said sheepishly.
“Yeah...go on,” she encouraged him.
“I want that...”
“You want what?”
“I want that moment to turn and look down the aisle and see you standing there. The one second in life when I know that you are committed to a life with me. To see you walking down the aisle in all your finery, taking the steps necessary to show all of our family and friends that you are coming to meet me...to join with me...that you trust me as a provider, a mate...a partner so that we can begin our life together,” he said as he dropped his head. He chewed on his bottom lip a bit, almost embarrassed by his openness with her.
Darlene sat the bowl down and walked over taking a seat in his lap. Her fingers caressed his jaw as she said to him, “Then that is what you shall have Daniel Wilstrom. I shall dress in my finest and walk down that aisle to meet you. I will take the steps in front of our family and friends, letting all who bear witness know that I have chosen you as my mate, my partner, my provider so that we may join us as man and wife.”
His hand rubbed his thigh again.
“Am I missing something?”
“Yes,” he said softly. “Are you willing to do all of that in Atlanta?”
“Atlanta?”
“Yes, my family is in Atlanta and my family is whole lot bigger than yours, I mean I have 29 nieces and nephews!”
“Say what now?” she said as she leaned back to look him in his face.
“I am serious. I have six sisters. Camellia alone has 8. Her twin Calla has 6, Petunia has 5, I think Iris has 6, Violet has 3 and Gardenia, she is the youngest, and only has one,” he told her.
Her mouth was wide open. “I don’t know which is more shocking...the 29 nieces and nephews or that all you sisters are named after flowers.”
“Oh yeah, it gets worse. You know my middle name is Larkspur?”
She started to laugh hard. She smiled when she asked, “You do know that is a type of buttercup right?”
His hand remained still on her hip. “You would know that off the top of your head wouldn’t you?”
“Oh, don’t be so hard on yourself park ranger, I think you are the biggest, sexiest buttercup I have ever seen,” she told him.
His smile had faded and his look was serious. “You think I’m sexy?”
“Oh yeah, buttercup,” she told him.
“Works for me,” he told her as his hand slipped into her hair at the base of her neck. His lips met hers with a kiss fueled with more than compassion and friendship. His kiss was fired with a promise of what was to come. She was ready for whatever her big buttercup had to dish out.
Getting time alone with Daniel had been pretty tough since her brothers took a liking to him and consistently interrupted any minutes they took to be alone. It became a bit of a joke after a while as her two brothers pelted her fiancé with all kinds of questions on hunting, fishing, hiking, camping and guided tours through national parks.
Sunday morning came far too soon as she took him back to the airport. Daniel asked, “How long do you think you are going to need to get everything closed out?”
“I think I may be able to get it all done in a month,” she told him. Her fingers lingered on his solid chest while in the background horns honked, obscenities were being yelled, and others barked at them to get a room. She did not want to be rushed.
“This is why I hate living in the city,” he told her.
“I am so looking forward to the brightness of our home,” she told him.
He could not stop the smile which took over his face, as it radiated down his right leg and made his toes tingle. “Our home?”
“Our home park ranger,” she said as she raised up on her toes to kiss him.
Daniel responded by lifting her from the ground into his arms. He kissed her deeply, his mouth slanting over hers again and again. “I can’t wait to make you my wife,” he mumbled into her mouth.
“I don’t know what it is about you Daniel, but in my heart, I feel like I have been waiting for you all my life,” she told him.
“And I you,” he said as he reluctantly let her go.
She watched him walk through the doors, making his way to his departure gate. Slowly she moved back to her car amid the bevy of horn honkers and middle finger gestures which came her way.
“Oh blow your nose!” she yelled back as she cranked the SUV and pulled away from the curb.
The rest of the day seem to crawl along at a snail’s pace as she meandered from room to room making a mental inventory of what she could unload to antiquities dealers, friends, and others. She hoped that her brothers would take much of it and save her a headache. Daniel had left some of his tea for her to enjoy which is what she truly planned to do. A large cup in hand, she made her way to the patio for a change of pace.
The sun beat down on her head as she stared out into the large backyard that she never really used. The perfectly manicured lawn was symbolic of her life with George. Everything was in its exact place, flawlessly groomed, and camera ready. Underneath the perfection of lawn maintenance were grub worms eating away at the roots. Life with Daniel was going to be unordered. They were going to live off the land. A warm feeling roamed through as she thought about making love whenever the mood hit them versus scheduled interactions.
Roosevelt walked up on her. “I don’t know what to make of all of this girly behavior Sis...I have never seen you this way.”
For the first time since they were children she let down her guard with her big brother. “I went out with George because I was hungry,” she told him.
The shock on his face was evident.
“I told him what he spent on dinner for the two of us, I could furnish us with groceries for a whole month, so he stopped at an ATM and gave me the cash to prove it. So, we were basically having dinner together every night for a month. In the interim, he set up meetings for me with people whom before I couldn’t even get into their buildings during lunch to grab five minutes of their time,” she said to her brother.
“After that, he bought a few nice dresses, some nice shoes, and gave me a strand of pearls for my birthday. I was rubbing elbows with people I had only read about. The change I was craving to create by protesting was happening with handshakes at cocktail parties, not with a bullhorn and picket sign. I moved into his townhouse, we became like this up and coming Washington power couple, and then I met his folks, he met mine, I got pregnant, we got married and here I sit. I am in a home where I didn’t pick a single thing in it. I have a closet full of clothes and designer handbags that I didn’t buy and don’t give a shit about. I didn’t know my own kids and I lost sight of myself,” she told him.
“I had no idea...I always thought you were happy,” Roosevelt told her.
“I never knew I wasn’t, because I was so busy,” she confessed. “George and I had a business arrangement not a marriage. So now, I get to experience what it is like when I see women light up when their man walks in a room. I get that with Daniel. I feel everything with him,” she said with a sm
ile.
Roosevelt was shaking his head. “I tell you, I mean...I don’t want to be crass, but ya’ll women—once ya’ll get some good luvin’, you lose your damned minds!”
Darlene jumped up from the patio couch. “I haven’t slept with Daniel!”
“What? The way you were cuddling up and cooing in his lap, I thought that big joker had blew your back out and put your ass to sleep with a big ole baby leg!” he said with a chuckle.
She swatted him on the arm. “I am not that kind of woman. I will wait to my wedding night with him,” she said and gave a wink. “Then I am going to blow his back out, because it has been 4 long years!”
“Yuck! Yuck! And double yuck!” he told her.
“You started it,” she laughed.
“And I am going to end it. Let’s go out and get some shrimp,” he told her as he tugged at her arm.
It was his thing whenever he came to town. This was also the first time in almost four years she would be going out with him versus him showing up with the food. He liked this new version of his sister. Now, he didn’t have to worry as much, but he didn’t know how he felt about his little sister moving to Wyoming; even if you could walk out the back door and catch fresh fish.
Chapter Fifteen – Are Those Nuts?
To say that it was unusual for a bride to be on the outside of planning her own wedding would be an understatement, but that is what happened to Darlene. She was assured by Daniel’s sisters that all was taken care of and all that was required on her part was to show up and look beautiful for their brother. Several times during the next two months she tried to interject a few ideas into the planning process but she was shot down by one of the flowers. Futilely, she tried to object to one particular idea but again, her objection was over ruled even though it was her wedding. She explained, with passion to her groom to be, that the entire concept of being married in the south in the middle of summer in a tent was the not a very smart idea, yet that was only the beginning of issues with the wedding that went horribly, hilariously, and embarrassingly wrong.
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