“Well, duh… I hope you’re planning on staying for the night, sir. We can’t possibly throw together a wedding on less than ten hours’ notice.”
“If I stay the night, is a home cooked breakfast involved?”
“Certainly.”
“I’ll stay until after supper tomorrow if you need for me to. Wouldn’t want to rush things. A wedding is a special occasion, you see.”
“Precisely. Tom, why don’t you show the reverend to the good guest room, and Linda and I can start planning?”
“Okay. Which one is the good guest room?”
“The one at the top of the stairs. The only one without bullet holes in the ceiling.”
Hannah hugged Linda as Tom hustled Reverend Massey into the house, being sure to keep the preacher between himself and his bride.
Reverend Massey had a mild look of panic on his face and repeated a small selection of words he’d gleaned from Hannah’s comment.
“…bullet holes?”
While the good reverend was in his guest room unpacking his backpack and getting settled, Hannah brought Linda into the house and made the big announcement.
“Hey, everybody! Linda and Tom are getting married!”
Linda forgot all about being angry at Tom, and he eventually got up the courage to rejoin her.
But he still slept with one eye open that night.
-16-
It would have been joyful enough for the compound to plan their first wedding for Tom and Linda. But Linda wanted more.
“God only knows when we’ll have a preacher here again. Now’s a perfect time for Jordan and Sara to be joined also.”
“Hmmm… a double wedding,” Hannah said. “I love the idea, but won’t Scott want them to wait until he returns?”
“I’ve already checked with Scott. He agrees with me. As much as he’d like to be here for the wedding, he understands this is an opportunity that doesn’t present itself every day. After all, Tom spent almost two days scouring all of San Antonio just to find Reverend Massey. Next time we might not be able to find anyone at all.”
And so it was that the last Saturday before the start of the summer harvest, Linda and Sara stood side by side in almost matching white gowns. They weren’t really wedding dresses, but that didn’t matter. They couldn’t have been happier.
At their sides, decked out in black suits, were Tom Haskins and Jordan Harter.
They looked a little bit like Mutt and Jeff, but no one was going to mention it.
Reverend Massey stood before the two couples in a tired and worn gray suit and read the nuptials.
The wedding took place under an arbor that was rather hastily built by the two grooms. It was so hurriedly done, in fact, that it leaned to one side and swayed precariously in the afternoon breeze.
But that was okay, they figured. The next wedding would be several years away, and they had plenty of time to strengthen the structure before then.
Only Linda had known that Scott had fallen in love again, and was planning to bring Becky home with him.
And with everything else going on, it simply slipped Linda’s mind. No one else had a clue that the arbor might be needed again much sooner than anyone expected.
The ceremony went off without a hitch with Scott and Becky listening in from San Antonio. Zachary had made sure of that by moving the ham radio out to the arbor and taping the microphone key down.
For their honeymoon, Tom and Linda went on a week-long camping and fishing trip in the hill country around Junction. Tom made darn sure the compound was watched over in his absence by the deputies of the Kerr County Sheriff’s Department.
It was an over precaution. Hannah, Jordan and Zachary were quite capable of keeping watch over the compound and calling for help if it was needed. But they pacified Tom and his concerns by not arguing too strenuously.
Once Tom and Linda returned, Jordan and Sara went on their own honeymoon, of sorts. It was to an empty house Deputy Paul told them about overlooking the Lower Llano River.
“I went there doing a check for dead bodies,” Paul had told them. “There were no bodies, and the homeowners had left a message that said they were leaving and trying to make their way back to Ohio. To find their relatives. They said they wouldn’t be back, and for future visitors to make themselves at home.
Sara and Jordan did just that. He loaded up a Gator with a generator, a small TV and DVD player. Sara packed a handful of movies and a large picnic basket of food. They spent the weekend watching movies and walking along the river. And making love occasionally.
“It’s not as much fun as going to the Bahamas or something,” Jordan told her. “But it doesn’t matter. You can take the worst place in the world and make it really wonderful, just by you being there.”
“Oh, how sweet. Thank you, baby.”
While the young newlyweds were at the river relaxing, Linda had her hands full with a teething and very cranky Chris.
But she didn’t mind that the kids took their sweet time in coming back. The world was a different place now. It was much harsher, with far fewer creature comforts than before. There was less confidence that one would survive into their golden years, and some even stopped planning for their future.
But still, some things stayed the same.
Like a grandmother’s love for her first grandchild, for example.
So despite the long hours of crying and the diaper changes and frequent feedings and everything else… at this particular place and time Linda considered herself the luckiest woman on earth.
-17-
“This is Scott in San Antonio, calling all of Scott’s loved ones in Junction. Who’s manning the desk tonight?”
“Hi, Mister Scott. It’s me, Misty. How are you?”
“I’m fine, dear. Hey, aren’t you up past your bedtime?”
“No. I’m all grown up now. Mommy says I don’t have to go to bed until ten o’clock.”
“Wow! Ten o’clock? I guess you really are a big girl now. Would you do me a favor?”
“Sure.”
“Would you call Tom or Linda on the radio and ask them to gather everyone up and take them to the control center? I have some big news to share with you guys.”
“Wow! We have some big news too. Tom said we could call you before I went to bed to tell you.”
Scott laughed.
“Well, it must be a pretty good day when both of us have big news to share.”
“Yep. I’ll call everybody, but my Mommy might not come.”
“Why? Is she not feeling well?”
“Well, I guess she is. But she’s in the bathroom with her honey droids, and she said not to bother her unless the world is caving in or worse.”
“Her honey droids?”
“Or something like that. She says they’re fierce and it helps her to soak in a warm bath.”
Behind Scott, resting a hand on his shoulder, Becky stood trying her best not to laugh.
“Oh, her hemorrhoids. Honey, that’s probably something your mommy wouldn’t want you talking about on the radio.”
“How come?”
“Because, well, on this radio people all over the world can hear what we’re saying. You’ll have to just trust me when I tell you that she probably wouldn’t want all those other people talking about her honey droids.”
Becky stifled a smile and imagined dozens of others, monitoring the frequency from all corners of the earth, laughing out loud.
“Oh, okay. Well, I’ll call everybody and get them together and then I’ll call you back.”
“Okay. Thank you, sweetheart.”
A few minutes later little Misty was back on the radio.
“Misty Castro to Mister Scott.”
Misty didn’t release the microphone key, and Scott heard voices in the background. Then she returned.
“Oh, okay. Just Misty to Mister Scott.”
Scott smiled.
“Go ahead, honey. Why are you going by ‘Just Misty?’”
�
��Oh, because Mommy told me not to use my last name on the radio. She said, ‘Don’t say Misty Castro, just Misty.’ And she’s here too by the way. She said she’d finish.”
“Thank you, dear. Can everyone hear me? I have some good news to share.”
Jordan got on the radio.
“We all know your good news, Dad. We’ve been waiting for it for a long time. In fact, we’ve got our own good news we’d like to share with you first.”
Scott was a bit taken aback, but willing to play Jordan’s game.
“Okay, son. Go ahead.”
“We finished the corn harvest last night, Dad. Just before sunset. And the yield was almost double what it was for the last crop.”
“Seriously? That’s great! How did you manage to do that?”
“Well, Tom said we’re just learning how to be more productive farmers. And Mom said it’s helped that we had extra rainfall this year. I personally think it’s because you and Tom made me the new alpha male and put me in charge of the operation.”
“I think that’s the primary reason, son. I agree with you completely.”
He turned to Becky and smiled.
Linda got on the radio and set the stage for Scott to make his big announcement.
“Okay, Scott, now what in the world could be such big news in San Antonio that you had to gather us all together to tell us?”
“We got the all-clear yesterday. We’re packing up our things and will be moving up to the compound in just a few days.”
On the other end, in the compound, everyone whooped and hollered and high fived each other. A couple of the more attentive ones, though, looked at each other and mouthed the question, “we?”
Hannah was one of them.
She asked into the open microphone, “Scott, did you say ‘we?’ Do you have a mouse in your pocket or something?”
“Becky and me. It took quite a bit of arm twisting, but she finally consented to come back with me.”
Zachary asked the question that everyone was thinking.
“Dad, who is Becky?”
Becky’s smile suddenly faded away, and she looked crestfallen.
“Becky. The nurse who saved my life. The woman who helped me heal after Joyce’s death. The woman I fell in love with along the way. And the one who for some strange reason fell in love with me. Linda, didn’t you tell them?”
All eyes in the room turned to Linda, who turned a crimson hue.
“Well, damn, Scott. We had two weddings going on. It slipped my mind.”
Her last words were addressed to those around her.
“I’m sorry, guys.”
Jordan added, “Hey, it’s no big deal. We’re all happy for you, Dad. And for Becky too. Is she there with you?”
Becky spoke up for the first time, a bit apprehensive now.
“Right here.”
Tom said, “Well, welcome to the group, little lady. If Scott has fallen in love with you, then I know the rest of us will too. He only picks the best,” winking at Linda.
Linda added, “We’re all looking forward to meeting you and getting to know you, Becky.”
Hannah spoke up. “Becky, it’s Hannah Castro. Do you remember me?”
“Of course I do, Hannah. It’s been too long since I’ve seen you and the girls. I’ll bet they’ve grown a lot in the last two years. John will be driving us up there. Did he tell you that?”
The girls’ faces brightened.
“No. No he didn’t, the little brat.”
“Well, he might be planning to surprise you. If that’s the case, you didn’t hear it from me.”
“No, of course not.”
Jordan added, “Gee, Dad. It’s too bad you couldn’t have been here when Reverend Massey was here. He could have married you too.”
“Well, we’ve already taken care of that. We looked high and low for a minister, and then found out the police chaplain has the authority to wed. Who knew?”
“You mean you got married and we didn’t get to be there?”
“Yeah, well, let’s say I just got even for missing your weddings.”
“Touche, I guess.”
“Anyway, we’ll be there a week from Wednesday.”
“We can’t wait to see you,” Linda said.
She looked around the room and saw shaking heads and shrugs.
She looked at Misty and said, “Do your thing, little one.”
Misty, relishing the seat of authority, announced over the radio “Scott’s loved ones, signing off.”
The airwaves went silent once again, and the group turned to Hannah. She was the only adult in the room who knew Becky.
“So, Hannah, tell us everything you know about Scott’s new girl…”
-18-
Scott swore it was just a coincidence, and that he had absolutely nothing to do with the timing. But the people at the compound were giving him a hard time about it anyway.
“I don’t know, maybe it’s just me and my paranoia,” Linda said with a smile. “but it seems awfully convenient that the all-clear just happened to be given just after we finished that backbreaking harvest.”
Scott countered, “Convenient to you, maybe. But I’d have gladly helped in that harvest if it meant getting out of here three weeks earlier.”
“Well, it’s a good thing you feel that way, Scott. Because Jordan has scheduled the second planting for next weekend. Just in time for you to help out.”
“No problem. Looking forward to it.”
But although she couldn’t see his face, the tone of Scott’s voice gave him away.
Linda laughed.
The group debated constantly which was worse: planting two acres of seeds by hand, or harvesting the crop without the aid of modern equipment. Each was backbreaking work in its own right. Each bore heavily on a different set of muscles and joints. And each produced a group of people who, at the end of each day, could barely stand up straight. And now that they were planting and harvesting two crops of wheat and two crops of corn per year, they got to enjoy their misery twice as often.
Scott got permission to drive his police cruiser to the compound and pick up Sara, now that the all-clear had been given.
He still had some apprehension about taking her into her parents’ death house, but was willing as long as she was. He’d tried to clean up the place to some degree, but the stains still stubbornly lingered on the recliner and the carpet.
The worst part, though, was the stench of death which still hovered over the house like a dark and gloomy cloud.
Scott called Sara just before he left San Antonio. Just to give her one last chance to back out.
“Are you sure you want to take that trip? It’s never too late to change your mind, you know.”
“I know. It’s just that… well, I don’t know if I’ll ever be at peace about my relationship with them, or their deaths, if I don’t at least see the place where they passed on. I feel that I need to go there, and tell them some things. To share my feelings and frustrations and pain with them. I know it sounds silly, but…”
“Hey, it’s no sillier than painting a brick with fingernail polish…”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Never mind. Becky is teaching me that the grieving process is different for everybody. There is no right way or wrong way to grieve. I’ll be there around dinnertime tonight. Make plans to get up early tomorrow and we’ll get it over with. On our way back to San Antonio we can talk about whatever parts of your past you want to share with me. Or you can keep them to yourself. Whatever you choose to do is fine with me. I’m there for you, in whatever capacity.”
“Thank you, Scott. I love you so much.”
“I love you too, honey. Get a good night’s sleep. We’ve got a big day ahead of us.”
-19-
The following morning newlyweds Tom and Linda were missing at breakfast.
“I don’t know why they’re sleeping so late,” little Misty said. “When I said I was tired and wanted to go to bed at ten
o’clock, they said they were going to sleep too. I’m wide awake now. Shouldn’t they be wide awake too?”
Her sister Hannah, a teenager and therefore wise to the ways of the world, rolled her eyes.
She said to no one in particular, “Oh, to be young, innocent and naïve once again…”
Everyone else at the table smiled or chuckled. Misty, certain she’d somehow been insulted, said “Hey, I’m telling Mom.”
“You’re telling Mom what, exactly?”
“I… I don’t know. But I’m telling her something.”
Scott finished his plate and pushed it aside.
Sara had already finished. She peered at Scott with a look of determination.
“I’m ready to do this when you are.”
“Okay, then,” he said. “Let’s get it done. Have you ever ridden in a police car before?”
Zachary interjected, “I think he means the front seat, Sara.”
“Oh, shut up, you little twerp.”
To a chuckling Scott, she added, “No sir. I’ve never ridden in one, front or back.”
“Nice to know. Let’s go.”
The pair said their goodbyes and walked out the door.
During the ninety minute drive, Sara decided to reopen an old wound and tell him about her relationship with her parents.
“Scott, did Joyce and Linda tell you that I deceived you all on the day of the blackout?”
“Yes. They told me that you didn’t really leave a note telling them where you went. That you left an empty envelope instead, so Jordan would think you had.”
“Did you wonder why?”
“Yes. I wondered. But I didn’t feel it was my place to ask. I had the sense that Linda and Joyce knew. And that if you didn’t want to share it with me, that it was your decision to make.”
“I originally was ashamed, thinking it was somehow my fault. But eventually I accepted that I couldn’t have prevented my step-father’s behavior. That it was my mom’s job to do that. And that when she chose not to, that she was really telling me I wasn’t an important part of her life.”
“Your step-father’s behavior?”
“That’s a gentle way of saying he sexually assaulted me for years.”
The Homecoming: Countdown to Armageddon: Book 5 Page 7