“I know, girl, and we do appreciate your help,” said Emma. “Your idea to hide the cake ingredients and then make it here was a stroke of brilliance. This should be the last installment except for the baking soda, so no one will suspect anything.”
“Emma! Emma!” Lynn shouted from the front bedroom.
“What?” Emma asked as she reached the kitchen's door frame. Bea was right on Emma's heels.
Lynn draped herself in the quilt top that had lain across the bed. “Isn't it beautiful?” Lynn asked. “I've never seen anything so pretty. I didn't know it would look this nice when we cut all of those pieces.”
Bea and the other women from town had taken hundreds of little fabric diamonds and joined them in a way that a swirl of color swished across the quilt top.
“The girls from town and I got that much put together yesterday. We still have to finish piecing the one lower corner and the border, then we'll be ready to stretch her out on the frame and secure the batting.”
“Amazing,” whispered Emma, fingering the fine stitches. “You are a true artist and the fact that you have taught the rest of us to piece a quilt is a miracle.”
“Oh, I don't know about a miracle, but you all have really learned quickly and pulled together; otherwise, it never could have gotten done this quickly. I'd say two more days and we'll be done. A half day for piecing and a day and a half for the quilting.”
“And none too soon,” said Emma. “Can you believe the wedding is this Saturday? Only five days away. Lynn and I have the Branham's house done and the sheets finished—we even made pillowcases to match. The men have loaded the trailer up with some cooking utensils, food, firewood and such for the honeymoon. They aren't taking it over to the house 'til Saturday morning, the day of the wedding. We don't want it stolen.”
“Tell Bea about Rich's plan to scare them.” Lynn grinned mischievously.
Bea glanced questioningly at Emma.
“Oh, that ol' coot is planning a shivaree.”
“What in the world is a shivaree?” asked Bea.
Lynn didn't let Emma answer. “It's like a party where you make the married couple get out of bed on their wedding night. Mean, huh?”
“Why would you do that?” Bea asked.
“For fun, I guess, if you're an ol' coot,” said Emma. “It's an old, old custom. It originated back in France, or somewhere like that. It was something the young folks did out in the country, all in good fun. There wasn't a lot to do back then like there is now. That old man has his mind set on it and he's recruited Dennis and Jose. He's a prankster and I don't think I can stop him.”
“I haven't even heard of it,” said Bea, still with a puzzled look on her face.
“Oh, they quit doing it back in the 1950s or even earlier.”
“I'm just excited about the wedding, and the cake... and the quilt,” said Lynn.
“I know, isn't it thrilling?” said Bea, practically giddy, her voice a little squeak by the end of her sentence. “Your Kelly, such a beautiful young girl and that young man, so handsome.”
Chapter 21
Kelly sat in a grey folding chair in front of her mother's dresser, which she could imagine as a gilded bench. Her knees knocked against the ornately carved, 1980s drawers. This was the closest thing in the small house to a dressing table. Makeup and hairpins littered the white linen table-topper, edged in lace, lying on the dresser. She stared at the reflection in the mirror of a young lady, her hair in rollers. It seemed foreign.
My wedding day.
The thought brought a smile to Kelly's lips that spread to her entire face. How long had she dreamed of this day? For as long as she could remember, she supposed, just like most other girls. Focusing on her hair, she removed the rollers one by one, and long tendrils fell over her smooth shoulders. It had been so long since she'd been able to pamper herself, to see herself as a woman, that she fingered the soft curls longer than she may have otherwise.
There was a knock at the door. “It's only me,” Emma's voice came from the hallway.
“Come in, Mom.”
Emma breezed into the room like a whirlwind, her voice rushed as she said, “Lynn and I have gotten most of the food done and finished the decorations for the arbor. Oh, wait until you see the lovely wildflowers we found at the top of the canyon! The men are...”
“Slow down, Mom. I don't think you've taken a breath.” Kelly turned to face her mother. “I'm sure it will all be lovely.”
Emma took a deep breath as she caught sight of Kelly's hair, and the tears came fast. “Oh, Kelly. You look… you look like a princess.”
Kelly put a hand on one of her mother's and turned, looking back at herself. “Do you really think so?”
“I know so. Since the first moment I held you as a newborn, I've felt an overwhelming sense of pride watching you grow into a fine woman.” Emma's eyes glistened with tears. She turned her back on Kelly quickly. “And now it's your moment, your time, to marry that young man and start your own branch of the family tree.”
Kelly sniffled.
“Don't get me started...” said Emma, avoiding the word crying and wiping her face with her sleeve. “I have all day to be sentimental and there are too many things to get done right now.”
The bride batted her eyelashes quickly, then waved her hand in front of her face to dry her own sparkling eyes.
“Can I help with your hair, just like I did on your first day of school?” Emma asked, taking a long lock of hair in her fingers and stroking it gently.
“Please,” Kelly answered eagerly. “Remember when I used to beg you not to brush my hair?”
“I even let you go to school one day with a rat's nest, just to let the kids tease you,” Emma said between sniffles. “Didn't work.” Mom and daughter laughed and cried at the same time.
“Stop that,” Kelly said, “let's make this a happy day, Mom—no tears.”
“Oh, I can't guarantee that. If I didn't cry, the neighbors would talk,” she said teasingly. Emma gathered one-inch locks of hair and wound it with her fingers, then secured each tidy roll at the back of Kelly's head with a hair pin. The long hair made a mound of joyous curls from crown to nape, then Emma took a can of hairspray from the dresser and drowned the updo.
“There, your veil should sit nicely just there,” she said. Her hand, veiny and sun spotted, brushed back a few stray wisps of hair from Kelly's forehead up to the crown of her head.
“It's lovely, Mom, thanks.”
Feeling her eyes going misty again, Emma turned and rushed toward the door. “I really should check on things, and people should be arriving soon.” She turned back, hanging onto the door frame, and smiled softly at Kelly. “You have about half an hour. Call if you need anything. Sorry, Sunflower is a little short on caterers right now.”
“Go on,” Kelly said chuckling. “I have to get my makeup on. I shouldn't need any help 'til I have to get into the dress. Say, twenty-five minutes?”
****
The men had worked for several days to ready the backyard for a wedding. They built an arbor for the ceremony that was constructed from curvy sycamore branches, its smooth, white bark making a perfect bridal statement. The grass had been hand cut with a scythe, which was laborious work but resulted in a smooth lawn for the wedding. Every chair in town had been collected and hauled to the barn, stacked to ensure they were ready for the special day. Long, flat, wood planks lay across stacks of firewood, which would serve as tables for the reception.
Two days ago, Rich and Jess constructed a barbecue pit big enough for a side of beef. Emma, along with Dennis and Jose, had slaughtered a cow, hung meat to jerk in the new smokehouse, packed beef in water-softener salt, canned beef all day long in the pressure canner, and still saved enough for the wedding.
Yesterday, sunup to sundown, everyone baked and prepped food for the reception, finished their sewing, and prettied up the house and yard. Except for Lynn and Emma, no one knew that the women of Sunflower were doing their own baking and d
ecorating of a wedding cake.
That morning, before dawn, the men put the beef on the barbecue. Lynn decorated the arbor with the pods and wildflowers that she and Emma had collected, then spread petals along the aisle between the two rows of chairs.
The only thing left was a few minutes of nervous waiting.
****
Guests had started to arrive about a half hour before noon, the time set for the ceremony. The townspeople came on foot, horseback and wagon. Everyone wore their finest: the women in nice dresses if they had one, and the gents in suits, or at least their best western shirt and bolo tie. Many carried presents they had scavenged or made for the young couple.
“Run in and help Kelly get into her gown, would you, Lynn?” asked Emma.
“Me?” asked Lynn. It was nearly a gasp.
“Of course you. You are her bridesmaid aren't you? There are a few things I just have to get done, then I'll be in.”
Lynn took off like a shot.
“I could smell the beef cookin' from my house, and that's a long way,” said Bill.
“Glad to have you,” said Rich. “Come take a seat, we can talk.”
“I brought a peach cobbler, Emma, where would you like me to put it?” asked Janet Nichols, sticking her head through the open door.
“And I brought potato salad,” called out Patty Johnson, Bill's wife.
“How about in the kitchen for now, ladies, and thank you. Let's keep it away from the bugs 'til we eat,” said Emma, hurrying into the house herself. Janet and Patty followed. “I'll get the bride, I mean Kelly,” she said, flustered. Janet patted her on the shoulder.
“You've got some time,” said Janet. “I think it's taking Bea a little longer to get here with the cake because she's afraid of tipping it over. I told her not to worry—there isn't a wedding on this planet that has ever started on time.”
Emma made her way down the hall to Kelly's room. “Ready, dear?” she asked, knocking softly.
“Almost,” came the muffled reply. “Okay, come in.”
Lynn slipped from the room as Emma entered, giving Emma a wink as she passed her.
A gasp escaped Emma when she saw Kelly for the first time in the dress.
“Do you like it?” Kelly spun nervously. “It fits, doesn't it?”
“Of course, of course, turn around.” Kelly turned slowly in the small bedroom, the train catching on the bed frame. “Stunning, stunning… it's just… amazing,” she sighed.
“Mom, you're rambling.”
“Am I?” She composed herself, then turned back to her daughter. “Well, I should be allowed. The whole town's shown up. It's about time to start but...”
“But what?”
Emma didn't want to give away the cake secret. She thought for a second, then said, “I don't think Jared's ready yet.” Why had she chosen that?
Kelly's nose wrinkled and she looked at her mother incredulously. “I thought he was already ready.”
“I'll check and be right back, when it's time, to bring you out.”
“Okay, hope your stuttering is better,” Kelly called after her.
“J-ju-just... never mind,” Emma said and headed down the hall. “It won't be long.”
****
Emma closed the bedroom door behind her and leaned back, thinking of her little girl as she appeared twenty years ago, her long blonde hair in pigtails. Wiping a tear from her eye with the sleeve of her shirt, she noticed Bea standing near the solar oven. Bea gave her the thumbs-up and winked one eye. That must be the signal for the cake's here, Emma thought.
Jared stood near the arbor, anxiously shuffling from foot to foot. Dennis waited in the middle of the arbor, dressed in his finest blue jeans, borrowed white shirt, and prayer shawl. Neighbors milled about the yard. Normally they would be waiting for music to begin to signal the need to take their seats. Emma frowned, wishing she had arranged for their porch band to play, but then again, they were all busy.
“Everyone, everyone, can I have your attention,” Emma called out. “Would you please take your seats, the ceremony is about to begin.” Emma saw Lynn sitting in the chair that they had positioned facing the guests on the bride's side, violin in hand.
Jess moved to Jared's side, nervously taking his spot, his hands in his pockets. Dennis leaned toward Jess and whispered something, and Jess's hands came out of his pockets and rested at his sides. With a final glance of approval and confidence that things were all in order, Emma motioned Kelly to approach the door. She gave her daughter a kiss on the cheek, then placed Kelly's veil over her face, fighting back tears.
“Mom, I need to tell you something,” Kelly whispered.
“Can we talk after? I'm afraid if you say one more thing, I'll burst into tears and bawl all the way through the ceremony, and I won't hear a thing.”
Kelly laughed out loud. “I just wanted to say I love you.”
“I love you too.” Emma felt her eyes fill with tears, but quickly composed herself. Leaning out the door, she waved—the signal for Lynn to begin playing The Wedding March.
Emma stepped out onto the stoop and held out her hand so that Kelly could steady herself coming off the step. There was a small, audible gasp from the assembled guests, and Jared reached up to wipe his shirt sleeve across his eyes.
Mother and daughter walked arm in arm toward the guests to the music of the wind and a lone violin. When they arrived at the closest row of chairs, Emma stopped and lifted her daughter's veil. She kissed Kelly on the cheek once again, then motioned for her to continue on down the aisle without her. Kelly's eyes, questioning at first, looked in the direction her mother had suggested. Her eyes met Jared's, and she was drawn to him.
Kelly continued alone. Her dress flowed out behind her. It was a simple but spectacular gown, fitted from the collar to her tiny waist, a reminder of how painfully thin she had become in the last five months. There wasn't a wrinkle in its many yards of aged, cream-colored satin. The skirt was full, the sleeves long and fitted with ten satin-covered buttons climbing up each wrist. It was boat-necked in that elegant 1960s style with thousands of tiny iridescent seed beads making delicate patterns near the neckline and over the skirt. The gown shimmered in the sunlight. Yards and yards of tulle hung delicately from a comb in Kelly's hair.
She made her way up the aisle to the arbor, toward her waiting groom. Jared reached his hand out to her and she took it willingly.
“You are so beautiful,” he whispered, taking her hand. It took everything he had to take his eyes away from his bride long enough to guide them both to their places in front of Dennis.
“Dearly beloved, we have come together in the presence of God and this company,” Dennis began.
Kelly struggled to hold back tears as she repeated her vows, then listened intently as Jared repeated his. The ceremony was a blur, and before she knew it, she heard Dennis quoting from the King James Bible.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
“By the power vested in me by you, our good neighbors, and God, I now pronounce Jared and Kelly man and wife. Jared, you may kiss your bride.”
Jared took Kelly in his arms and bent her backward, supporting her under her waist, pressing his lips against hers as the crowd cheered him on. He kissed her long and thoroughly. He started to lift her, then dipped her one more time. Kelly looked a little taken aback as Jared brought her back to standing. She felt for the comb on her veil and adjusted it.
Lynn played an upbeat piece that Rich had taught her for the recessional. Jared and Kelly started back down the aisle, now husband and wife. The crowd stood and clapped, tossing agave seed
s that Lynn had been collecting for weeks into the air. Whoops and hollers abounded as the bride and groom ducked and weaved, trying to escape the barrage of seeds.
Jess waited in front of Dennis for Lynn. Still playing, she met him in the middle and they made their way back down the aisle together.
Dennis lifted his arms joyously skyward, motioning for the crowd to follow. Some picked up their folding chairs, taking them to the makeshift tables, before joining the receiving line near the back stoop.
Emma and Lynn stood next to Kelly, Dennis and Jess next to Jared, until each neighbor was greeted and thanked for coming.
“Let's eat,” Emma finally said.
A cheer rose from all assembled as Dennis and Rich made their way to the fire pit. Both donned heavy work gloves and stood at opposite ends of a heavy metal plate. Smoke rose in a massive plume as the cover cleared the pit. The men's muscles visibly strained against their shirtsleeves as they lifted, revealing a dark brown, crispy, glorious side of beef. Another cheer.
“Bride and groom first,” Emma cried, handing Kelly and Jared their plates and hustling them to the pit. Lynn grabbed for the bride's train and lifted it just as Kelly started moving.
Rich took a long, two-pronged fork and held it in the air ceremoniously. “Bride's choice,” he exclaimed. “My dear, what shall it be, rib or steak?”
Kelly pointed to a fatty piece near the shoulder and Rich dug the fork into the tender flesh, lifting her out a queen's portion amidst more cheers.
“Thank you, kind sir,” Kelly said.
“Now for the king.” Rich bowed to Jared.
“It all looks heavenly,” Jared replied. “Give me what you will.”
Kelly and Jared lifted their plates above their heads and shimmied through the crowd toward the “sides” table. She and Jared took small portions of everything offered. There were baked beans, spaghetti with spaghetti sauce, canned pineapple, green beans, peach cobbler and potato salad.
Post Grid: An Arizona EMP Adventure Page 29