Diary of an Engaged Wedding Planner (Tales Behind the Veils Book 3)

by Howe, Violet

  I caught some attitude from a few cousins and community friends who were put out that they weren’t invited, but it couldn’t be helped. Even if we had done the potluck, I still wouldn’t have wanted all the other costs that rise with the guest list.

  If I hadn’t been so worn out from the past few months and the drive today, I probably would have enjoyed having company a whole lot more. My cheeks hurt from forcing a smile and my patience with small talk had worn thin long before the crowd started getting smaller at the end of the night.

  I had just sat down on the couch while Cabe took Deacon outside when my cousin Danielle plopped down beside me.

  “Where y’all going for ya honeymoon?” Danielle had never been out of the state to my knowledge, and it was quite possible she’d only left the county a dozen times.

  It was probably the fiftieth time I’d answered the same question tonight, and though I appreciated everyone’s interest, I also was about ready to make a sign with all the pertinent details and hang it on the wall to keep from repeating myself. “Costa Rica,” I answered with my pasted-on smile.

  Her eyes widened in amazement. “Where’s that?”

  I’d gotten used to that follow-up question as the night wore on. Turns out a large percentage of my family and hometown had never heard of Costa Rica or if they had, they had no clue where it was located in relation to them. It is rather small, after all.

  “Central America.”

  “Central America? You mean like, Kansas?”

  I did a double-take when she said it, unsure if maybe she was joking. I’d given geography lessons to many people tonight, but those had all been about the specific location of Costa Rica within its region. This was the first confusion I’d encountered over the location of Central America.

  I was tempted to tell her yes. To say that we would be ziplining, white water rafting, and surfing along the coastline of the dense rainforests of Kansas. But before the wicked soul inside me could lie to the poor girl, Cabe came back in with Deacon and I had to grab Boo to keep him from getting all territorial again. I never did make it back to talk with Danielle, so I hope she learns from someone that Central America doesn’t mean the Midwest.

  By the time the last people had left and we had dragged our tired asses up the stairs, I was ready to collapse across the bed fully clothed and lay there ‘til morning. The temperature difference between Orlando and home was brutal, and Cabe and I were both thankful Mama had turned on the wall heaters in our rooms before we came upstairs.

  “So I guess I’m sleeping in Carrie’s old room again, huh?” Cabe whispered as we stood side by side in the hall bath brushing our teeth.

  I nodded as I brushed and then bent to spit in the sink. “Yep. As far as the world out there knows, we ain’t married yet. I’m going to freeze without you next to me.”

  Cabe was like a human furnace. All I had to do was snuggle up next to him for a few minutes, and I’d be toasty warm. He made an excellent foot warmer.

  He rinsed his mouth and leaned toward me to whisper again. “Your mama has about twenty quilts piled on my bed. I think she’s trying to suffocate me.”

  “Ha! What you don’t realize is that Patsy don’t run the heat at night. Too much electricity. She’s gonna make you turn that heater off before she goes to bed, so you may be thankful for those quilts before morning.” I dried my hands and playfully twisted the towel to pop him on the butt with it, which ended up in all-out war until we heard Mama coming up the stairs.

  She was carrying the broom and dust pan, and she handed them to Cabe and walked away. “Night y’all,” she said as she waved over her shoulder. “Get on to bed. Busy days ahead.”

  Cabe looked at me in confusion, and I shrugged. “Wait. Mama? What’s the broom for?”

  She never even turned around. She just called out the answer over her shoulder as she shut her bedroom door.

  “I thought maybe Cabe might not mind sweeping all the leaves off the roof of the porch if he takes a walk tonight. I gave him a few extra quilts in case he’s cold when he comes back through the window.”

  So she knew he’d snuck into my room on our last visit.

  Cabe grinned and slid his arm around my waist. “Does that mean it’s okay if I come in? So could I just use the hallway?”

  “Hell no,” I whispered, pushing his arm away. “She was letting you know she ain’t stupid and you got caught. She wasn’t saying you can do it again. Why do you think she set you up in the other room?”

  He laughed and we kissed goodnight. Deacon came in my room and curled up across me on the bed. Our Florida dog isn’t used to the cold!

  Thursday, November 20th

  Go, go, go. That’s been the theme of the week. We’re up early every morning and off to run various errands and settle last-minute details. By the time we get back to Mama’s in the late afternoon, folks have already started arriving to visit for the evening. Luckily, they always bring food, so we’ve had plenty to eat and Mama hasn’t had to cook dinner a single night.

  She seems happy. In her element with a houseful of people laughing and telling stories. She’s been in a relatively good mood all week, in fact. So far, we’ve only had one little spat, and it was over the menu cards and programs.

  The card stock was beautiful. It was round, with silver snowflakes placed sporadically around the perimeter of the circle. Mama had sprung to pay the newspaper office to print them on their color printer so the words would be dark purple. It was really striking, and they’d done a great job with the printing.

  Unfortunately, they’d spelled my husband’s name as Gable.

  “I’m sure I told them Cable,” Mama said for the fifteenth time.

  “You probably didn’t, Mama. You say Gabe all the time. No matter how many times I correct you.”

  “Like that’s my fault. What kind of name is Cable? Who would name a child that? It’s a piece of equipment. Like something you’d plug into the wall to watch TV or something they string from the light poles. Who would look at a tiny baby boy and name him Cable? It don’t make no sense to me.”

  “We’ve had this conversation.” I had no desire to have it again.

  “I’m sure I said Cable. It’s unique. How would I forget that?”

  “You conveniently forget it all the time. It doesn’t really matter at this point what you said. This is what they printed, and now we can’t use them.”

  Mama clutched her hand over her chest and dropped her mouth open with a gasp. “Can’t use them? By George, we most certainly can. I spent a fortune on this paper and then paid an arm and a leg and a kidney to have them printed with that purple ink. I’ll get a marker and fix the G before I throw these things away.”

  “You can’t fix it. If it was a C, you could add the little line. But you can’t take the little line away.”

  “You hide and watch. I ain’t throwing these things. Might as well ride down the road throwing money out the window if I’m gonna do that. When we go by Lisa’s to pick up the mugs, I’m taking her these cards to see what she can do. She’s got all sorts of little fancy pens. She’ll fix it. You’ll see.”

  Lisa didn’t look so sure when we dropped them off.

  “I can’t take away the G, but maybe I could add another little snowflake or something silver to go over it. Make it look like it’s part of the design. I don’t know if I could finish ‘em all in time for the wedding though. I gotta double shift tomorrow so I can be off Saturday night.”

  “That’s alright,” Mama said. “You do what you can. Not everyone needs a program anyway. They can follow along with their neighbor if need be. We could probably get away with a few menu cards on each table. I may have to throw some of ‘em away, but I ain’t throwing all of them away. Work your magic, Lisa.”

  Thankfully, Cabe had run around with my brother all day so he didn’t see the cards. I didn’t want him to see his name spelled wrong, and I didn’t want him being all gracious and polite and agreeing to use programs and menu cards w
ith the wrong name. I could see him doing that, and I knew Mama would probably ask him to. She saw nothing at all wrong with using the wrong name when she talked about him; why would it be a problem to see it printed it that way?

  I thought we had shelved the name conversation for the day, but then Mama asked Maggie about it when we met her for dinner shortly after she got into town tonight. We’d just gotten our entrees, and Mama had already been talking Maggie’s ear off.

  “Cable is such an interesting name. Where’d ya come up with that one? Tyler said it’s a family name?”

  I glared at Mama as I sipped my tea, wary of where she was heading with her line of questioning. I’d already told her any conversation about Cabe’s dad was off limits.

  “Yes,” Maggie answered without any hesitation. “Cabe’s father had an older brother who was killed in Vietnam. His name was Cable, and we wanted to honor his memory.”

  “Such an odd name, don’t you think?” Mama asked. I kicked her softly under the table, and she grunted and gave me a sideways glance.

  Maggie was too gracious to do anything other than smile, but I swear I’m gonna go off on Mama if she brings it up again.

  Friday, November 21st

  Maggie had asked me weeks ago if I wanted to know the details of the rehearsal dinner. I told her I’d rather be surprised. After fighting so much with Mama over the reception, I had no desire to start a dialog with my mother-in-law about what I liked or didn’t like about her event. Besides, I trusted Maggie’s taste enough to know I wouldn’t be disappointed.

  And I wasn’t.

  The barn venue Sandy found was a hit, and her team pulled out all the stops to produce a fun and relaxing rehearsal dinner. They’d taken the barn theme and ran with it, using red antique lanterns with battery-operated bulbs, hay bales, red gingham tablecloths, and mason jar glasses. The menu featured several down-home favorites, including barbecued pulled pork sandwiches, roasted chicken, and a big cauldron of chili with all the fixings.

  Any concerns I may have had about Cabe’s family being overwhelmed by mine were unfounded. Maggie puts on parties for a living, and Bill and Peggy are the consummate hosts. By the end of the evening, I think every member of my family had invited them to come back and visit again sometime. My brother and Kelly seemed completely enamored with Galen and Tate. They hung together all night. Any time Galen interacted with me or Cabe, sugar wouldn’t melt in her mouth. At the risk of sounding cynical, I don’t think it was nearly as genuine as she’d like us to believe, but if it keeps her from being an ass at my wedding, I’ll take it.

  Even Mama let her proverbial hair down and had a good time. Much of which revolved around Oscar, the venue’s owner. At first, I thought he was just being an attentive site host. He brought in extra standing heaters to boost the efficiency of his central heating system in the record cold. He helped Sandy’s staff move tables. He took out the trash. He mingled and laughed with everyone. But he was most attentive to one guest in particular.

  Every time I looked up, they were chatting. The first couple of times, I thought perhaps she was asking him for something. Maybe an extra chair or another heater. But as I saw them together more, it was obvious their conversations were more of a personal nature.

  She tugged at her hair. She tilted her head to the side. She laid her palm across her chest when she laughed. Which was often.

  She wasn’t alone in her flirtation. Not by any means. He lit up when she was near, and he kept his eye on her when she wasn’t.

  “Carrie,” I whispered as I looped my arm through hers. “I think Mama’s flirting.”

  “What? No way.” I steered her body in the right direction and pointed as discreetly as possible. “She’s laid her hand across her chest at least five times already, which Cosmo says is a gesture women make subconsciously to show men the empty ring finger.”

  “Get out!” Carrie openly stared where I’d tried to remain nonchalant. “Holy crap, I think you’re right. Patsy’s gotta beau.”

  We made a beeline for my sister Tanya and alerted her to our discovery. “That’s old news,” she said with a wave of her hand. “She’s been meeting him for lunch in town a couple of days a week, and they’ve gone to bingo together every Wednesday night for a month.”

  Carrie and I both struggled to regain our composure. “You knew about this?” Carrie asked Tanya. “And you didn’t say anything to us? You dirty dog.” She playfully slapped our sister’s arm.

  “I couldn’t. She asked me not to! I don’t tell your secrets to her, so I ain’t gonna tell hers to you. We came out to look at the place when the catering lady first mentioned it. Neither of us had ever heard of it, or him, so we wanted to make sure Cabe’s mama wasn’t getting taken. The sparks flew from the first conversation. Blew my mind and creeped me out all at the same time.”

  Talk about huge news. My mama had not even so much as gone on a friendly date since my daddy died, much less engage in an ongoing relationship. I was beyond thrilled for her and a little hurt that she hadn’t told me. Although, I suppose I had been a bit preoccupied.

  “Weatherman’s saying it could snow tomorrow,” Mama said when I came out of the bathroom from taking a shower once we’d gotten home.

  “Snow? Really? In November?”

  She nodded. “It’s happened before, but not in many a year. It won’t stick, of course, but with the temperatures being so much lower than normal and a front moving in, it could happen.”

  “Wow. Wouldn’t that be awesome, to have snow for my winter wonderland wedding?”

  “No,” Mama said in a matter-of-fact tone. “It would be messy and slushy, and it would make the roads dangerous. Not to mention mess up your hair. You’d better pray for no snow, honey-girl.”

  I smiled at the term of affection. One I rarely heard anymore. Besides Aunt Clem and Daddy, no one had called me that.

  “Daddy loved the snow, didn’t he?”

  “He did, that. More than once, he’d load us all up in that green station wagon we had and drive us up north of Atlanta to see the snow. Craziest thing ever. We didn’t have no business being on the roads, but your daddy wanted y’all to see snow. So we’d drive up ‘til it got white on the ground, and then he’d drag y’all out of the car and roll around in it with you. Y’all would be bundled up so thick ya couldn’t hardly move, but he’d lie beside you on the ground teaching you to make snow angels. Then he’d insist we build a snowman, right there on the side of the road or the parking lot or wherever we’d stopped. When y’all got tuckered out and the snow had turned to mush beneath your feet, he’d load us back up and bring us home. Yes, Lord, that man loved the snow.”

  I smiled at the thought of snow flurries tomorrow. The meteorologists could talk all they wanted about record temperatures and cold fronts moving south. I knew without any doubt I’d see snow tomorrow, and I had no doubt who would send it.

  “It’s gonna take your room a few minutes to warm up. Wanna lay in here with me for a while? Watch some TV ‘til our eyes get heavy?” Mama patted her big king-size bed.

  I nodded as I crawled under the covers and snuggled up next to her with my head against her shoulder like I’d done a million times before.

  “You and Cabe had a nice turnout tonight,” she said. “Especially with the weather.”

  I nodded. My heart missed him, even though he’d only been gone an hour. He’d stopped by here after the rehearsal dinner to get his bags. He was staying at the bed and breakfast with his family for tonight to ensure the groom didn’t see the bride tomorrow on the wedding day. Never mind that we’d been secretly married a month already and seen every inch of each other from every angle.

  We had stood in the upstairs hall, listening to the din of family laughter downstairs and dreading saying goodbye.

  “I wish you didn’t have to go.” I tugged at the buttons on his shirt as I pouted.

  “Me, too. But this time tomorrow night, I’ll be able to tell the world you’re my wife. Then we can officially
sleep together with everyone’s permission.”

  I laughed and he kissed me, a slow and methodical exploration that made promises of things to come. My body responded with a yearning that didn’t want to wait until tomorrow.

  “I gotta go. They’re waiting for me downstairs. But meet me at the church tomorrow. I’ll be the one in the gray suit.”

  “I’ll be there. Look for me in a white dress.”

  He cupped the back of my head in his hand and pressed his lips to my forehead, holding me close against him. “I can’t wait to marry you again, Tyler Shaw.”

  I walked him to the door, my heart breaking ridiculously hard for a separation that wouldn’t even be twenty-four hours.

  I don’t know who missed him more, though. Me or Deacon. The traitorous mutt had howled when Cabe left and kept pacing back and forth upstairs in front of Carrie’s door where Cabe had slept the night before. No question where his loyalty lies.

  Deacon looked so depressed the rest of the night that Mama let him come in her room with us, though Boo made it very clear he wasn’t allowed on the bed.

  Mama and I watched TV for nearly an hour, commenting on the shows and programs and avoiding me leaving her room. It was one more separation for us, and this one meant a lot in the long run. I had wanted so badly for time to hurry up and bring it, but now that it was here, I hesitated to break the final ties for independence. I snuggled a little closer and breathed in the familiar scent of my mama. It was both comforting and sad.

  We’d had so much difficulty together in reaching this point, in pulling together the wedding for tomorrow. Yet here we lay, mother and daughter, side by side. On the cusp of a whole new chapter in our lives. Me, going off into a marriage and eventually a family of my own. Her, still here but with one more daughter hitched and a son on his way out the door. My heart hurt to think of her here alone after we’d all left.