Noble Pursuits

by Chautona Havig

  As Nolan told the story, Grace could almost hear his mother’s voice telling the tale to him repeatedly as a child. The phrases that Nolan used indicated years of storytelling behind them. Grace reached for Nolan’s hand as he continued.

  “The Warners, the family that took in Great Grandmother Melinda, had a daughter, Emily-Jane, who was a very good friend to Melinda. Grandfather Bart conspired with Emily-Jane to pick out the dress that Melinda would have if she could afford any dress she wanted. Then, Grandfather Bart prayed. He wasn’t a wealthy man, but he’d saved as much as possible, almost from the day he met her, in hopes that they could start life with a healthy nest-egg.

  “Melinda and Emily-Jane found the wedding dress late one afternoon. The town only had one old fashioned mercantile. The dress had been sitting in the window for quite some time and had become dusty, but Melinda loved it. It was made of a cheap cotton material, but she didn’t care. Emily-Jane showed Bart the dress, and he immediately went to discover how much it would cost. The storeowner was so happy to find someone interested in it that he gave Grandfather Bart a significant discount. The dress was wrapped up and sent by the owner’s son to Melinda’s house.”

  Nolan took a drink of his water before he continued. As he sipped, he glanced around the room, trying to judge the family’s reaction. He wasn’t sure, but at least they didn’t look angry.

  “It washed up beautifully,” he continued. “When Melinda finished with it, the white was spotless and every wrinkle ironed out. A few stitches in the sides helped to make the dress fit better, and the following weekend, they were married.

  “Almost thirty years later, Melinda pulled her wedding dress out to show her daughter in law to be. As she told the story, the young girl held the dress up to her in front of a mirror and twirled a bit. Ellen Jackson, my grandmother, begged to wear the dress. Grandmother Melinda was delighted to hear that it would be worn again. With four sons, and no daughters, she had just assumed that the dress would stay in its wrappings until it turned to dust. Those two women worked hard to remove the yellowing of age and repair the places where the stitching had grown weak. When my grandfather saw his bride coming down the aisle, she was wearing his mother’s wedding dress…” he choked, trying to hide the hope the sprung in his heart as he saw Grace smile at the story.

  Grace sighed as she thought about the pretty muslin dress. She was certain that the dress was a simple muslin dress, but how pretty it sounded! She imagined that Nolan was about to tell them that his mother had also worn the dress. Would he want her to wear it as well? She wasn’t sure if she liked the idea or not. There was something sweet and sentimental in the idea, but what if it looked terrible on her? Nolan’s voice broke through her thoughts.

  “… Mom was too big for the dress, and it had disintegrated to the touch in some spots. Her father wanted to buy her a dress, but with the medical bills that his wife’s health incurred, he just couldn’t afford it. Mom decided to wear her navy blue suit, like most of her friends did during those war years, and she determined to be happy with wearing her mother’s veil. Dad remembered the stories that he’d grown up hearing and was sorry that his wife couldn’t wear the dress that both his father and grandfather had seen their brides in. Taking a risk, Dad went to dinner one evening at Mom’s family’s house, and he told the story. Then he talked about how he wanted to carry on the tradition but the dress just wasn’t a possibility.”

  Nolan took a deep breath. “Dad requested permission to pay for Mom’s dress as his wedding gift to the bride. Grandmom Winston was irate. She cried, she shrieked, she wailed. She was kind of an overly emotional woman, according to Dad. Well, Dad started to back-peddle, but when he heard something about surprises and maidenly modesty, he realized that his future mother-in-law thought he wanted to pick out the dress—to see it before the wedding. Once he assured them that all he wanted was the privilege of assuring his bride of the dress of her dreams, things calmed. After some consultation among the family, it was announced. The tradition could be continued. Mom would choose her dress; Dad would pay the bill. My father loved giving gifts, but I think he considered the greatest gift he ever received was seeing Mom walking down the aisle of that little chapel wearing ‘his’ dress. Their wedding was really small. Most were those days. He shipped out to the South Pacific two weeks later, but he carried their wedding picture with him through battle for ‘good luck.’”

  He squeezed Grace’s hand as it stole into his during the story. “It was over there, you know, that Christ claimed my father’s heart. Mom was home, getting letters sporadically. After a time, she noticed that he was sharing insights to things more than he ever had. He mentioned praying for her, and his letters took on deeper meanings. Somehow, even through the cuts by the censors, Mom could see that Dad was a new man. By the time he got home, she was ripe for the gospel. I was born a good eighteen years later.”

  Nolan finished his story and the room fell silent again. Craig seethed in his corner, not quite believing that this wasn’t about money. Grace looked from Nolan, to Craig, and finally at Melanie in complete confusion.

  “Nolan, would you excuse us, I think we’d like to discuss this alone, if you don’t mind. Maybe you can take a prayer-walk or something. Give us about thirty minutes or so?”

  Nolan nodded, kissed the top of Grace’s head, and whispered, “No matter what you decide, I’ll support you. What I want most is for you to be happy with your wedding day.”

  As the door shut, everyone began talking at once. Melanie, despite her proper Southern upbringing, grew frustrated and whistled an ear-piercing whistle. All three of them glanced at the baby, who ceased her coos. The baby wiggled and blew raspberries as if to beg for more.

  “Whew. I thought I’d scared her. Now listen, you two. I have something to say.”

  Melanie waited until Grace and Craig both were paying full attention to her words before continuing. “You know that this proposition goes against everything I have been brought up to expect, to appreciate, and to believe to be right. A man just doesn’t buy his wife’s wedding dress. If Craig had asked, it would have hurt me to do it, but I would have refused. I would have worn a twenty-dollar clearance dress from a department store before I would have allowed Craig to buy my dress. Then again, I’m just a traditional Southern girl with a father who loved providing me with the wedding that I had with all its own traditions and things. Craig almost went crazy a few times because we were concerned with things he thought were no big deal.”

  Craig’s face began to clear. The thundercloud that had covered it when Nolan had made his request slowly dissipated. He should have known his wife would speak rationally.

  “Grace, you should know,” Melanie continued, “Craig planned to purchase your dress himself. He wanted to give you the gift of whatever dress you’d like to have. Like Nolan, he didn’t want to pick it out for you or even see it. He just wanted that honor, and I knew you’d understand it and at least you’d have a dress that you loved.”

  Melanie took a deep breath. With eyes begging patience from her husband, she turned back to Grace and concluded her thoughts. “But, Grace, this is your dress—your wedding. This is your special day, and if you want to bless Nolan by allowing him to give you this gift, I think even Craig will stand beside you and support you. And, Grace, it is a beautiful thought. Really, I understand his desire to give this to you, I truly do. I think even Craig, if he thought about it, would admit that he would have done the same for me. And if a similar tradition was in the Buscher family, Craig would have wanted to continue it as well.”

  Craig sat silently. He was livid. To him, the idea of Nolan paying for any piece of Grace’s wedding was preposterous. He knew Nolan’s net worth. He’d paid for a background check and done a little research on Nolan and the Barnes family when Grace’s neighbor-turned-fiancée first arrived. This was not a man who would miss any amount spent on a lavish wedding. He actually felt insulted that Nolan would mention it.

  Before he could
speak, Grace spoke absentmindedly. “Well, I know it’s not about money. He knows I have the money. So, we can’t take offense about the money. I’ve already hurt him by being bothered about him spending so much money on me. I’m not going to do that again.”

  Craig sighed, gritting his teeth as Grace nailed him with her comments. “Grace, as much as it kills me to say it, Melanie is right. This is your decision. I won’t try to influence you, so if you don’t want to be influenced, don’t ask my opinion. You’ll have to let us know what you decide. Talk to Mel if you like. I think she’s capable of being a little more objective.” Craig stood, picked up his infant daughter, and left the room.

  “Mel, does Craig really want to buy the dress, or did he just think it would be a nice gift and one that would help stretch the wedding dollars? I looked at the bank statements; there is just over three thousand dollars in there. That’s a lot of money, but we both know it’ll only pay for a very, very simple wedding.”

  Melanie smiled. “Craig is a man. He would think it fine if you showed up in your denim skirt and favorite flannel shirt. It only matters to Nolan because it’s a tradition.”

  “He won’t have family there, only his father’s partner and his friends. I’ve always thought that the groom’s family got short-changed in a wedding, but I don’t know. I know that Nolan would handle me telling him ‘no’ better than Craig would. Maybe it means more to Craig then?”

  Melanie shook her head. “No, the Buscher pride is just stronger than Nolan’s desire to continue a tradition.”

  “I know you wouldn’t do it, Mel, but I don’t know if I can break a tradition like that.” Grace seemed more bothered by the idea than Melanie expected.

  “Grace, I don’t think Nolan is bothered by breaking tradition. I don’t think that matters to him at all. I think that he’s more interested in the joy he’d receive in continuing it. Does that make sense? It’s like when you want to buy a friend a birthday present for their party and then hear that they’ve requested no presents. You’re not sorry the present buying tradition has been broken, you just miss honoring the friend with a gift.”

  With a hug for Melanie, Grace went in search for her brother. “Craig? You know I’ve considered you my ‘protector’ since Daddy died. You know that I’ve tried to give you the respect and honor that a role like that deserves. I’m not going to give Nolan any answer until I either have a ‘no, I do not approve at all,’ or a ‘you have my blessing to do this.’”

  While Grace and Melanie had been talking, Craig had stood before the Lord in prayer. He knew that it wasn’t a sin for Nolan to buy the dress. He knew that he could care less if they just got the whole thing over with the next weekend. He knew he was choosing to have his pride hurt by the offer, and he knew, without a doubt, his reaction was sin. “Grace, you have my blessing to make any decision about this dress that you like with two provisions.”

  “What are they?” Grace wasn’t sure she liked the idea of provisions.

  “First, you pray about this before you even consider it. I think we’re all making a mountain out of a molehill here, but maybe it’s for a reason.” He paused before continuing. “Second, that you do what you really want, and what you really think the Lord would have you do, not what you think will make everyone happy.”

  Grace found Nolan in his kitchen, drinking a cup of his favorite coffee. “Care to take a walk?”

  Nolan dumped his coffee out and followed Grace from his house. “Well, we’ve decided that we don’t know. Craig said something that is making me wonder, but I’ll let you know in a day or two, ok?”

  Nolan stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. Neither of them noticed that they were standing in front of Mr. Wirth’s picture window. The elderly man sat in his recliner and watched as the couple talked, remembering days gone by.

  “Grace, if I thought you would feel at all obligated, I wouldn’t have asked. I thought it would be nice to carry on traditions, but not at the expense of relationships. If you decide to allow this, just have the bill sent to my house. I’ll know then. Otherwise, let’s not speak of it again, ok? I’ll understand either way, but I don’t want you to feel obligated to come to me and tell me yes or no.”

  “You are too good to me. You really are. I’m so happy that I could just—”

  Nolan found Grace’s abrupt silence amusing. Pulling a sprig of mistletoe from his pocket, he held it over Grace’s head. “Kiss me? You could kiss me perhaps?”

  Verily silently cheered as Nolan held the mistletoe above Grace’s head. He seemed to hesitate until Grace nodded. Unaware that they had a witness to their first “real” kiss, Grace and Nolan seemed reluctant to part.

  Nolan’s voice was deep with emotion as he whispered. “Merry Christmas, Grace.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  December

  As he entered Brunswick Haven, Nolan asked a passing attendant where to find Fran Buscher and was directed to her room. Fran opened the door holding a tissue to her nose and scowling. “What are you doing here?”

  “I’m very happy to see you too. We were sorry you didn’t feel well enough to spend Christmas with us.”

  “I wasn’t. All that yammering about Jesus and stars. It’s ridiculous. Grace brought me my gifts this morning. She always makes me food, and this year she gave me a scarf.”

  “I brought you a gift as well.” Nolan pulled a box from his jacket. “Merry Christmas.”

  Fran glared at him suspiciously. “You’re here about Grace. I thought she looked too happy. I should have checked her hands.”

  Smiling, Nolan nodded. “Yes, you should have. The left one is sporting a new ring.”

  The disgust on Fran Buscher’s face surprised him. “You could have any woman in Rockland—almost. Why not someone more sophisticated?”

  “Because then she wouldn’t be Grace. I want Grace.”

  “Can you put up with her Jesus talk?”

  Nolan sighed and sank into her extra chair uninvited. “Ms. Buscher, I wouldn’t want her if she wasn’t a child of the Lord.”

  “Oh, not you too! How did I get stuck with a family of raving fanatics? I have managed just fine without Jesus all of these years—”

  “I beg to differ.”

  “What?” Fran protested indignantly.

  “Jesus has been with you every moment you’ve been near Grace or Craig—even their father and mother. Jesus was with them and therefore, you haven’t gotten along without Him.”

  “Well, He hasn’t done anything so grand for me, so He can just stay away.”

  Nolan stood and smiled sympathetically. “Ms. Buscher, if it wasn’t for Jesus, you’d be all alone. Without Jesus, your family would have given up on you years ago, and you know it. They love you, but love can’t cover pain, unless something deeper heals the wounds.”

  ~*~*~*~

  Paige, Melanie, and Grace sat at Melanie’s kitchen table making lists of things to do. Grace wrote down the money she had to spend on the wedding and everyone looked at it with determination. This wedding would stay on budget and would be the nicest wedding anyone could come up within seven weeks’ time.

  Paige was in her element. “Ok, Grace. The dress is the first thing. We can spend weeks searching stores, websites, catalogs, etcetera, or we can decide what you want it to look like and just take it to a seamstress.”

  “I just assumed Grace would make it.” Melanie looked at Grace with huge question marks in her eyes.

  “I did too. I even sketched a few of them last night. I’m wearing Mom’s veil, though. I know that much.”

  Paige put on her professional mantle and spoke seriously to the two women. “We have seven weeks to come up with tuxedos, dresses, flowers, the cake, the photographer, the decorations, the food—she won’t have time to make her dress.”

  Grace nodded. “And I’ve never been good at making myself highly tailored clothes. It’s easier on someone else. You’re right. So who do we get to do the dress?”

  They called Nolan se
veral times as they tried to determine a color scheme. After the fourth or fifth call, Nolan gave up in mock despair. “Grace, choose whatever color you want and don’t tell me what it is. It’ll be a surprise for me.”

  London and Mickey were nominated flower girl and ring bearer. Nolan named Mike as his best man and Craig and Nathan as groomsmen. Grace asked Paige to be her maid of honor and chose Melanie and Traci as attendants. The entire wedding party would be odd. It was quite unavoidable with Craig walking Grace down the aisle and then standing with Nolan during the ceremony, but this was how Grace wanted her wedding and everyone stood behind her.

  Melanie secured the church and called her friends until she found someone who knew how to get wholesale flowers. Paige found dresses for all the attendants and a flower girl dress for Amber in the exact same shade of eggplant. She ordered tuxedos with matching ties, and to Grace’s relief, the attire for all attendants was found, purchased and on its way the first week.

  Grace planned a menu of hors d’oeuvres that could be prepared beforehand and frozen. A call to several bakeries made her angry. “I had no idea that cakes were so expensive! If I’m not careful, I could spend several hundred dollars just on flour, sugar, and eggs. What do I get for my money? Cake for everyone and someone gets carpel tunnel syndrome from squeezing the silly bag of frosting. I’m going to tell Nolan I want to elope. That solves the dress issue, saves a ton of money, and everyone can just congratulate us at church.”

  “No you won’t, missy, I’ve already reserved a room at Grimsbey’s for your shower. It’s in three weeks, by the way, so I need a gift list by Friday. I’ll register you to save time.”

  “You make me sound like a purebred dog. Ick.” Grace laughed as she joked with her friends.

  This would be a wonderful wedding. Even if it killed her. And if she continued to feel as badly as she did now, it would kill her. Grace couldn’t wait for Dr. Kline’s medication to start working.