A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Your Wedding

by Cindy K. Green

  “We’ve been talking to your parents,” said Emily.

  Randy returned his attention to Emily and John. “My parents? Ah, so you see where I get my handsome looks and sense of humor.”

  “Oh, Randy,” said Emily.

  “Well, we should probably all get on over to the church. I think the service starts in fifteen minutes,” said John

  “Is it really that late?” asked Randy as he glanced down at his watch.

  “We’ll see you over there,” said Emily as she and John headed for the door.

  Kari started to follow when Randy called to her.

  “Kari,” he touched her arm gently.

  She turned to him with a soft smile on her face. As she looked at him, he completely forgot what he wanted to say. He hesitated and finally let some words stumble out of his mouth. “I…I’m glad you were able to make it. It’s been awhile.”

  She smiled again. “It sure has. I’m sorry I haven’t been the best correspondent lately. I would have come over to speak with you earlier tonight but you seemed busy.” She tipped her head toward a group of young ladies to their right.

  “What can I say; a host’s job is never done.”

  “Well, let’s talk sometime soon. I have so much to tell you. I’ve actually wanted to talk to you.”

  “You have?” he asked, trying his best to tone done his delight.

  She nodded her head with another closed mouth smile. “I suppose we all should get over to the church now.”

  Her words woke him to the realization that he had to be at his duties. He glanced over at his parents and then to the watch at his wrist.

  Kari touched his arm. “I’ll take your parents over with Alice. I’m sure you need to be at the church by now.

  The very idea of removing Kari Montgomery from his life vanished from his heart. He had to win her. She was everything to him. He took her hand and, instead of cradling it inside his own as he wanted to, he shook it. “Thank you, I really appreciate it.” He looked at her one more time before leaving to walk over to the church.

  A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Your Wedding

  A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Your Wedding

  Chapter Sixteen

  The first Thursday in December, Kari stood in front of her class, finishing her lecture on the role of women during the American Revolution. “So, here we have a first hand account of a woman who did her part at patriotism during the fight for independence. I think it becomes strikingly clear she knew exactly what she was doing. She was being a patriot not just fulfilling her domestic duties. Are there any questions or comments before we end today?”

  “Dr. Montgomery, I find this topic fascinating. Do you have any book suggestions for further reading?”

  “Definitely including my own dissertation since this was my topic for my PhD. Email me tonight for a couple book titles. All right, everyone, be finishing up your final papers which I will remind you are due in two weeks, and I guess I’ll see you all next time.”

  The students loudly filed out of Kari’s classroom as she shuffled her notes and other papers back into her satchel. Before leaving the room, she looked up to some unexpected visitors.

  “Geoffrey…Blair. How are you both doing?” Kari asked, feeling a sense of relief to see them together again.

  “We’re doing well, thanks to you,” said Blair.

  “I’m glad to hear it. Have you started going to church somewhere?”

  “Yes,” said Geoffrey. “It’s near our house. We joined the young married class and we’ve already made some friends.”

  “That’s terrific.”

  “We were just down here visiting my mom, and I wanted to stop by and say thanks for everything,” said Geoffrey, looking more sincere and contented than she’d ever seen him.

  “Well, I’m really glad you two are together and happy. Come on, let me take you both out for some campus coffee which, though not the best in town, is the closest.”

  ****

  At five o’clock, Kari entered the residence hall. She was perusing through her mail as she walked up to her second floor room when she almost tripped over someone sitting in the stairway.

  “Alice, what are you doing here?” Kari asked with an innocent smile. She noticed that Alice didn’t return her smile. In fact, she could see wet and dry tears all over her face. Kari dropped her satchel and mail on the stairs. “What’s wrong? What’s the matter? Has something happened? Is it Randy?” A sudden panic welled up within her heart. She knew something must be terribly wrong because she’d never seen Alice cry before.

  “It...It’s Daddy.” She sobbed some more before she could continue. Sitting beside her, Kari wrapped an arm around her.

  “Tell me what happened,” said Kari in a calm, motherly voice.

  Alice looked up through teary eyes. “My Dad…Mom called and said he’s had a heart attack.”

  Kari felt her heart flip flop inside her chest again. Oh, but thank God it isn’t Randy. Randy! This is going to devastate him.

  “Alice, your father is going to be okay, isn’t he? He’s not …”

  “Mom said he’s in the hospital right now, resting. They aren’t sure how severe the damage is yet, but he might need surgery.” Alice started to cry again. Kari very naturally pulled her arm even tighter around the weeping girl, letting her get it all out.

  “Alice, why don’t you come into my room and rest for awhile,” Kari suggested.

  Alice didn’t reply. She just stood and followed Kari into her room. They both sat on the couch for a few minutes in complete quiet despite the loud girls racing down the hallway.

  Alice looked about the room listlessly. Then out of the silence she said in a toneless voice, “I should call Randy.” As she spoke her eyes never moved from the flower arrangement on the coffee table.

  “Alice, maybe I could call him for you. Did your mother say she was going to try to reach him?”

  “I don’t remember,” she said in an eerily calm voice.

  “You just sit here. I’ll call him.” Kari walked over to her desk and pulled out her address book. After looking up Randy’s home number, she picked up her phone and dialed without even remembering to be nervous about talking to him.

  After three rings, the answering machine came on. Kari hung up. She looked over at Alice who sat slumped back on her couch, the listless look still on her face. “Alice, does your brother have a cell phone?”

  Alice looked toward Kari again and nodded her head to signify that he did.

  “Do you know that number?”

  Before Alice had a chance to answer, a loud bang sounded at the door. It made Kari jump with her own heart pounding as it was. She rose from her desk, giving a quick glance at Alice before she opened the door.

  “Hey, Dr. Montgomery, do you know where Alice is? We can’t find her and her brother is downstairs looking for her.”

  Kari glanced over at Alice for a moment and then back to the girl in the hallway. “She’s here. She’s just had some bad news. I’ll go down and talk to him.”

  “All right, Dr. Montgomery. I never met Alice’s brother; I didn’t know he was so cute.”

  Kari smiled for a quick second before following the girl downstairs.

  As she reached the last step, Randy saw her and flew over to her.

  “Kari, do you know where Alice is? I’ve got to find her. I…I need to find her.” His voice cracked on the last word. His brilliant eyes couldn’t hide his anxiety. But he kept his expression stoic and guarded.

  ****

  As Randy reached Kari, the apprehension within him felt like it was likely to burst out at any moment. She stepped down, looking calm and consoling. “I know where she is. She’s in my room. She told me what happened and then she fell apart. I’ve been trying to get a hold of you actually.”

  “Thank you, Kari.” He took her hand into his own. The touch of her soft hand made him tingle from his fingertips to his toes. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.”<
br />
  He didn’t want to let go of her hand. In fact, he wanted to plant his head on her shoulder and cry a few tears to release all that he was feeling.

  “Is she ready? Mother told her to get ready, and I was going to come get her and drive her home.”

  Kari shook her head. “I think this has all been a great shock to her. She’s in my room barely even able to respond to simple questions. She isn’t ready.”

  “I should go see her.”

  “Follow me.”

  Kari led the way back to her room. When they walked in, Alice glanced in their direction. Kari slipped in close to Randy, touching his shoulder and whispering in his ear. He felt a tingly sensation at the back of his neck. “She looks better. The color seems to be returning to her cheeks and her eyes don’t seem so clouded over.”

  When she saw Randy, Alice jumped up and ran to him. Pressing her face into his chest, she started to cry loudly. Randy quickly wrapped his arms around his sister and patted her back as he said calming words to her.

  Kari took a step back out of her sitting room to give them some privacy, but Randy stopped her.

  “Kari, don’t leave. This is your room and you have been so good to us.”

  Alice stopped crying and lifted her head wiping her tears away with her hand. “Kari, please stay with me. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

  Alice’s words hit Randy to the heart. He knew he loved Kari, but seeing how kind she had been to his sister, especially at this troubling time, made him love her even more. She truly was a loving, caring woman—a woman he would be proud to call his wife and proud to love all the days of his life.

  “Okay, why don’t you two just sit down for a moment?” suggested Kari.

  “We really have to get going.” He was reluctant to leave, but he knew he had no choice. “Mother is expecting me. She really needs me there. I know she’s been handling all this like a trooper, but I think she really could use my support.”

  “Of course she needs you,” said Kari.

  “Randy, I’m not ready,” said Alice, seeming to have broken from her trance. “I haven’t packed or anything.”

  “Well, how about I take the train and you can drive my car up later.”

  “Me, drive your car all the way home? That’s over 250 miles. I’ve never driven it before.”

  Randy tried to think of what to do. He knew he needed to get going quickly and the last train of the night left in twenty minutes.

  “Randy,” spoke up Alice, “I’ll do it. I’ll drive your car and meet you at home.”

  “Are you sure?” Randy asked with concern. He knew Alice hardly ever drove especially since leaving home, and a four to five hour trip wasn’t the way to break her in again.

  “Yes, I mean, what choice do I have. I’ll see you at home. You better get going. Mom needs you now.”

  “All right,” he said as he handed the keys to Alice. He turned his attention to Kari. “I really want to thank you again for helping out Alice. She rarely breaks down like this.”

  “I just hope your father is okay. Tell him I’m praying for him.”

  Randy nodded. “I will,” he said softly as he turned to leave. He glanced back at Kari again wanting to tell her how much it meant to him that she had done this but when he opened his mouth he had no words. He just nodded at her again, left the room and walked on to the train station.

  ****

  “Kari, I can’t drive all the way alone. You have to come with me,” announced Alice.

  “What?” said Kari. The very idea caused a knot to form in the pit of her stomach.

  “I need you to come with me. Besides, whether my brother said it or not, he needs you too.”

  “I can’t.”

  “Please, I really need you. I know you don’t have any more classes until Monday. You could come back Sunday night.”

  Kari thought about surprising Randy and just showing up at his parents’ home. It wasn’t as if she was a stranger. She knew his parents now and they seemed nice and liked her. She really did want to be there for both Alice and Randy.

  Looking over at Alice with a stern stare, she said slowly, “All right. I’ll go. I’ll even drive, but don’t tell Randy. I just want to show up.”

  “Sounds like a plan. Now I better go pack. I’ll meet you later.”

  As Kari packed her own suitcase, she was nervous. She knew she wanted to go and she wouldn’t change her mind, but she wondered deep down inside if Randy might resent her coming. Their friendship was so strained right now and this was a family matter. She would just be intruding. Well, I will just keep out of the way and go home tomorrow if he doesn’t want me there.

  When Kari finished with her packing, she called in to her office answering machine to inform her student callers she would be out until Monday. She left a message for the head of her department that there had been a family emergency and she would be out of town over the weekend. Then she made one more call.

  “Hello?”

  “Emily.”

  “Kari, what are you up to tonight?”

  “I’m on my way out of town for the weekend.”

  “Oh, where to?”

  “Sackets Harbor.”

  “Sackets Harbor? Isn’t that where Randy…Kari, are you two…what’s going on here?”

  “Actually it’s not as nice as it sounds. Randy and Alice’s father had a heart attack this morning and they’re headed home.”

  “Oh, Kari, that’s awful.”

  “Randy already left on the train, and now I’m driving Alice up in his car.”

  “You’re going too, huh?”

  “Alice was supposed to drive up on her own, but she says she can’t do it so she roped me into coming along.”

  “Does Randy know?”

  “No. I just thought I’d surprise him.”

  “Have your feelings about him changed?”

  “Maybe…I don’t know. Emily, now is not the time. I’m just trying to be a friend to both of them.”

  “You’re right. Now isn’t the time. But I’ll be praying that the right time comes along this weekend. Take care, Kari.”

  “Bye, Em. I’ll call you soon.

  A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Your Wedding

  A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Your Wedding

  Chapter Seventeen

  “We’re almost there, Kari. This next street leads to our house. I really can’t thank you enough for driving me.”

  “I’m just glad there was no snow all the way here."

  “Thank God, He led us here safely. Oh, here take this street then go down past that stop sign. It’s the third house on the right.”

  Kari glanced about at the immense mansions all around her. She’d never been so near to such grandeur in all her life. The house she grew up in had three bedrooms and 1600 square feet. It had been enough for her threesome of a family, but these houses were unbelievable. A great nervous feeling crept up her spine and traveled to the back of her neck as she thought about going inside and seeing Randy and his mother again. The idea that she was imposing on them took over. She almost suggested to Alice that she drop her off and then catch a ride to the train station tonight. She knew they’d never hear of it, but she almost wished they would.

  At the front door of the Steele home, they were met by a housekeeper who graciously welcomed “Miss Alice” home and took their bags. Kari walked into the vestibule to see a ceiling that seemed to go a mile into the sky. She found herself lifting her head up all the way looking to the left and to the right at all the beautiful crown molding. When Alice called to her, she dropped her head back down and followed her into the drawing room where Mrs. Steele was waiting for them.

  “Alice,” her mother called to her. Alice ran the rest of the way across the room to be enveloped in her mother’s arms.

  “Mom,” Alice said with a wavering voice into her mother’s cashmere sweater.

  “I’m so glad you’re here. When Randy said he let you drive th
at old car of his all the way here, I was so worried.”

  “Mom, there just was no other way,” interjected Randy who came to stand by his mother and sister.

  Alice moved away from her mother and looked behind her and then back to her mother and brother’s concerned faces. “I didn’t come alone.”

  As Kari moved into view, she was faced with Randy’s astounded expression. “I hope you don’t mind my intrusion. I …”

  “It’s no intrusion,” interrupted Mrs. Steele who took a step toward Kari and gave her a tight, loving hug.

  Kari thought she would just melt into her arms. She was so affectionate. Kari hadn’t had a mother’s hug in so long except for Aunt Patty and her aunt was just not all that mothering.

  “I’m so glad Alice didn’t take on this trip all alone.”

  Randy finally stepped forward and led Kari to the leather couch in the middle of the huge room. He sat beside her and just looked at her for a long moment with a serious look on his face, almost a frown.

  “I hope you don’t mind that I’m here?” Kari asked.

  “Mind? No. I’m glad Alice didn’t have to drive up alone.”

  Alice came and sat on the floor by Randy’s feet. “So, how’s Dad?” Her voice was touched with anxiety.

  “He’s resting well,” answered her mother as she approached the couch.

  “They’ve done a few tests, and it appears to have been a mild heart attack. It looks like he won’t need surgery after all,” said Randy to his sister.

  “Well, you girls must be exhausted,” said Mrs. Steele. “I’ll have Hayley turn down the bed in your room, Alice, and the adjoining room for Kari.”

  “I hope it’s no trouble,” said Kari.

  “No dear, no trouble. Now I’ll see to that and then turn in for the night. I am spent. I will see all you children tomorrow.”

  “Goodnight, Mom,” called Alice.

  Randy stood and walked over to his departing mother and talked to her in a low tone. She turned back toward the girls. “Have you eaten? Are you hungry after that long trip?”