No Ordinary Romance

by Smith, Stephanie Jean

  My son thinks he's an expert on women. Everything has always come easy for my Tommy, school and especially girls. After you two had your little disagreement, for the first time in his life, his good looks couldn't get him out of a situation. I'm so glad you two worked out your misunderstanding. Watching you two dance around each other was heartbreaking."

  "Tell me something is it possible to love someone so much and still want to shove a pie in his face. Thomas is very considerate and loving, at other times he becomes demanding and bossy."

  "Oh Connie that's all men, both of my husbands' were kind men and at other times they turned into control freaks, I'm afraid that Tommy is no different. He'll take control of a situation and make you believe that it's for your own good."

  "Oh trust me, I've seen that side of Thomas, that's what led to our breakup, he took the decision out of my hands and did what he thought was best for me."

  Tommy's controlling nature is probably one of his worst habits. Tommy's natural father could be so loving and thoughtful, but once he got a little liquor in him, he became mean as a snake. After my mother's death, my father and I moved from the reservation about 20 miles away. My father was a master artisan; he made the wood come to life. He took on Thomas Terrell as an apprentice, and the working relationship between the two of them was beautiful.

  I liked everything about Thomas from his disarming green eyes, his dark good looks, and he was terribly shy. Liking turned to love and eventually to pregnancy. My father made us marry for the benefit of the baby and I was happier than I'd ever been. When Tommy was born, my husband had tears in his eyes. He confided in me that he was scared of becoming a father because he never had a relationship with his own father."

  Connie swallowed sensing that the tone of the conversation was about to change. "Let me guess, his father was Caucasian and for whatever reason he wanted no part of his Native American son."

  Joanie took a sip of tea before proceeding. "Well my husband's father was the son of a big landowner in Texas. He was a farmer, and he ran a cattle ranch. I don't know how he met Thomas's mother, but she used to sneak out meet with him. When my husband was born his father bailed because there was no way his family would sanction a marriage between him and what his family called reservation trash."

  "Your husband didn't have a very happy childhood, did he?"

  "My husband was born at a time when marrying outside your race was frowned upon, and life for a single mother was truly hell. His father's family never accepted him, and his mother's people shunned him and his mother. A young child with no place in either world must go through a lot of pain."

  "How old was he by the time he worked for your father?"

  "By that time he was nineteen years old, my father warned me that Thomas had a lot of healing to do before he would make a decent mate. What did I know? I thought my love for him could cure all of his problems. Tommy was around two when I began to notice my husband's destructive behavior. He had a little too much to drink one evening, and I caught him trying to gouge out his eyes. He told me that it was his white eyes that kept him from being accepted by his mother's people."

  Connie lost her appetite, her heart felt heavy for the lost boy he must have been. "Is that when the beatings started?"

  "The beatings didn't start until my father died. My father was the only positive male influence in his life and when he died a piece of Thomas died too. My father was truly a gifted man, but my husband's woodworking skills were unbelievable. People would come from miles around to purchase his work, at first this motivated him to press through the loss of my father.

  He started drinking more and working less, we couldn't afford the taxes on the land, and eventually we lost my father's property. I withstood the drinking, whoring, and gambling because a good wife stood by her husband in good times and bad. Then the beatings started, he was always sorry the next day, and I would forgive him. I would pack Tommy up, and we'd stay with Thomas's mother a few days, but I always came back. Then he came after my son, a little helpless child, well that's the night I left forever."

  "Did you ever see Thomas's father again?"

  "No. An acquaintance told me that he died five years after I left him; he had cirrhosis of the liver. The only thing in his possession was an old picture of Tommy and me. It was such a sad ending for a man who had such a beautiful heart."

  "So how did you meet James Galvin?"

  Joanie smiled, her eyes became all misty as she recalled precious memories. "I was fresh out of nursing school when I met surgeon Dr. James Galvin. He was on my floor checking on a few patients, and he was a total ass. He had a wonderful beside manner, but he barked orders at the nurses. One night I was tired and Tommy was sick that day, he started barking orders, and I told him to stick his chart up his ass."

  "Bet that went over well."

  "Actually our relationship improved after that, when an opportunity arose at another hospital I applied for the job. It meant more money, and it was the day shift. I got the job, and it was on my last night that James cornered me in the supply room. He told me that I could quit the hospital all I want, but he wasn't going to let me quit on him. We got married the following year; Tommy was ten years old."

  "I always thought Thomas was younger when you remarried. He made it sound as though you remarried right away."

  "The hospital I worked at had family picnics and other family motivated programs, so Thomas and James met years before I actually married James. They were always close; James called Tommy his son long before he thought about asking me to become his wife. Of course, there's always the downside in any new relationship.

  James came from a privileged family, his father owned several businesses, and his mother was a socialite. His mother hated me on sight; I thought it was because of my heritage. There was no way I would subject Tommy to this woman. When James's parents met Tommy, they fell all over themselves to make him happy. My father-in-law informed me that his wife hated James's first wife too, and she was a pretty blonde, blue eye Anglo."

  "Did James have any children from his first marriage?"

  "Both his wife and son died in the delivery room. I never met a man who was so accepting of my son. We had a two for one deal; James adopted Tommy and married me in the same civil ceremony. A year later I gave birth to Charlene, three years after that Kimberly came into the world. Kimberly was a difficult birth and James nearly had a fit thinking he would lose me. I wanted more children, but James put his foot down.

  At first, I didn't get along with my mother-in-law; she was a meddling old battleaxe. James always put the children and me first, despite her meddling. When I came home from the hospital with Kimberly, my mother-in-law was my constant companion. From that day forward, we had peaceful coexistence."

  "Thomas really loved your husband; he said that James was the father of his heart."

  "James and Thomas were like two peas in a pod; James never missed a game or a birthday. Even after, the girls came, Thomas was always considered the first child. It takes one hell of a man to claim another man's child as his own and raise him. James got sick after Tommy was vindicated and Elise finally was convicted of fraud. He was diagnosed with stage three pancreatic cancer; he faded so fast, we lost him six months later."

  "I know that was a severe blow to your family. Thomas told me about losing his father and how he didn't think he could go on without having him there."

  "Tommy blamed himself for James death if we hadn't supported him during that long trial; he felt that James would have been diagnosed sooner."

  "Thomas and I seem to have that in common as well; we take the blame for everything that goes wrong."

  Joanie clasped Connie's hand. "I almost lost all hope that my Tommy would find someone. There's nothing greater in this life than to love and be loved in return."

  ***

  By the time Connie and Joanie made it to the boutique, Jenna and Samantha were already inside conversing with Jolene. Jolene took them downstairs to the showro
om. "Come on ladies, I already pulled some dresses based on the conversation I had with Connie this week."

  Samantha looked at Jenna with a furrowed brow before addressing Connie. "Connie if you already have it in your mind what you want, why are we here?"

  "We'll you and Jenna are here to give me an idea about hem lengths. You're the tallest of the bridesmaids and Jenna is the smallest in stature. Whatever looks good on you two, will work for the other bridesmaids. In addition, I need your honest opinion about my wedding gown; I called Jolene just to give her my preference. I don't want a one of those billowy organza dresses that make me look like the Michelin Man and I know you love me enough to keep me from looking bad. Thomas and his best man are wearing black suits, the rest of the groomsmen are donning white jackets. I think that the bridesmaids should be in black."

  Samantha faced Jenna, "Did you know her colors were black and white?"

  Jenna laughed at Samantha's frowning face. "No. Somehow I don't think it would have made any difference."

  Jolene brought in four black dresses for Samantha and Jenna try on. The first one was a tea length chiffon, the dress was beautiful on Samantha, but made Jenna look as though she were a little girl playing dress up. The next dress was a pretty handkerchief dress that didn't do anything for either of them. The next dress was a floor length, organza dress with a silver buckle. It was a very beautiful dress, but not quite what Connie was looking for. The last dress was a satin cocktail length with a white satin bow. Connie could tell by the expressions on Samantha and Jenna's faces that they both like the dress. "This is the dress!"

  "Wow that only took an hour and fifteen minutes. Connie I think you were more prepared than you gave yourself credit. Now why don't you go try on you selections while me, Jenna, and Samantha enjoy some wine."

  "Where did the wine come from, there was no wine when they were trying on dresses."

  "Don't over analyze it Connie, I just think Jolene felt that we need a little stimulus to get us through the next couple of hours."

  Jolene and her assistant brought down at least seven dresses for Connie to try on. "Connie I know that you were worried about white clashing with your hair, but white comes in many shades I think that you'll be pleased with the results.

  The first dress Connie tried on was a beaded lace on the net over satin princess gown, with a spaghetti straps, and a cathedral train. "It's absolutely beautiful."

  Jolene laughed, "Connie you seemed shocked, I have every confidence you'll find the dress of your dreams today. Let's go show the ladies."

  Connie walked back to the show room and stood in front of her friends and future mother-in-law. She could tell by their bland expressions that they weren't wowed. "Well don't everyone speak at once."

  "It's a pretty dress Connie, but I just don't think it's you." After saying her piece, Jenna took another sip of wine.

  Samantha nor Joanie said a word they just gave her a negative shake of their heads. "Oh God this is going to be a long appointment." The next dress she tried on was a form fitting satin with a flowing taffeta skirt. Connie liked this dress better than the last one. She went out again to show the women the dress; by the vibe she was receiving, they all liked this dress better than the first one.

  "Okay I like this one much better than the last one, it shows off your terrific figure, and you actually look like a bride." Samantha clapped her hands like a gleeful little girl.

  Connie looked at Jenna who gave her the thumbs up sign and Joanie gave her a little smile. "I understand you all like it, but you don't think it's me." This went on for the better part of two hours when Connie tried on her tenth dress, at this moment all she wanted to do was go home and crawl under the covers.

  Jolene came into the dressing room with one more dress. Unlike the others, it was encased in a black garment bag. The dress was the color of polished ivory. It had a sweetheart neckline, net over satin, re-embroidered lace dress with pearl and crystal beading. It also had a removable satin skirt. Jolene gave Connie a bridal headband with an elbow length veil to try on.

  The dressed looked as though it were made just for her. She brushed past Jolene eager for her friends to see her dress. They must have sensed her exuberance; Samantha, Jenna, and Joanie were on their feet as she burst out of the changing room onto the showroom floor. "This is my dress!" She stood in front of the three-way mirror as the women gave their approval.

  Joanie came and stood next to Connie and dried the tears from her cheeks. "You'll make a beautiful bride my daughter."

  The tears really began to flow. "I didn't really think I would find my dress." Jenna and Samantha joined her in front of the mirror, and they had one big group hug.

  Jolene gave her assistant the thumbs up sign; it was moments like this that made her go into business in the first place. She grabbed the bottle of wine and made sure everyone had a glass. "Ladies, let's hear it for the bride."

  ***

  Chapter 21

  Connie brought over snacks and finger food for Thomas's bachelor party. Thomas didn't feel that it was necessary seeing as he only had one real friend. She was going to enjoy margaritas with her friends tonight, and she didn't want to feel guilty if he was all alone by himself. "I invited all the groomsmen over for your bachelor party, so I want you to promise me that you'll have a good time."

  Thomas helped her unload her car, setting the food on the kitchen table. "I feel like my mother just made a play date for me. I can tell you right now; this is going to be one lame bachelor party. I barely know Allen and Mike; they probably got bullied into coming by their wives."

  "That alone gives you something in common. All of you can piss and moan about how your women made you come. The fridge is full of beer, I even made you those double chocolate macadamia cookies you love so much, I left four dozen that's plenty enough for you to share."

  "Is that all you have for me?"

  Connie saw his heated gaze and quickly moved out of reach. "Yes. A word of warning, if any of you show up to the wedding with a hangover I will make all of you sorry."

  "Come here Constantina we have time for a little loving."

  "I told Aunt Mabel and Johana that I would be right back, besides you only have ten minutes before your guests start showing up. The next time you see me will be at our wedding."

  Thomas groaned as Connie blew him a kiss before disappearing out the front door. Exactly ten minutes later Aaron arrived with a six-pack of beer and a pizza. "Come on in and take a seat."

  "I can't believe I'm the first to arrive. Please tell me that I'm not the only person coming."

  "Oh no, we're not that lucky, Constantina invited the rest of the groomsmen, and God only knows who else so we should have a smashing good time."

  "I have a feeling that we're not going to have the time honored bachelor party with strippers and prostitutes. This wedding of yours is killing my social life this weekend."

  "What kind of trashy bachelor's parties have you been attending? If Constantina thought for one moment I had women over here she would castrate me for sure. Before I forget, lay off of Johana, she's not for you."

  Aaron set the beer and pizza on the table. He crossed his arms, giving Thomas a stern look. "What in the hell is that supposed to mean? I thought we clicked rather well at the rehearsal dinner last night."

  Aaron looked as if he wanted to argue, and Thomas was determined to nip it in the bud. "She's not one of your little bimbos, she's Constantina's cousin. I don't want you to shower her with attention and then drop her like a bad habit."

  Aaron chewed on the inside of his jaw as if he were actually considering Thomas's request. "Johana's a beautiful woman; you know how impossible it is for me to resist a beautiful woman."

  "She's not like the women you're used to dealing with. She's a lovely person raising a daughter on her own who doesn't need some asshole running a game on her."

  Aaron put a hand over his heart. "You wound me Tom, to think that you of all people think so little of me. If it's
that important to you, I won't actively press her for a quickie at the reception. If she gives me the least bit of encouragement all bets are off."

  Fifteen minutes later Mike, Allen, and Chad arrived. "Gentlemen come on in you met my friend and best man Aaron Colton last night at the rehearsal dinner. The food is in the kitchen, and the beer is in the fridge. I hope all of you know how to play poker or this is going to be a long night." All three men shook Aaron's hand and made a beeline for the food.

  "You can bet your ass that our women won't have that problem. Right now, they're drinking margaritas and discussing all of our flaws. So that means that Jenna will be doing most of the talking." Allen gave Mike a wicked grin as he piled his plate full of chicken wings and nachos. Hey Thomas did Connie make any of those Jalapeno poppers?"

  "Yeah I think they're in the fridge, she made potato salad too."

  Mike held two plates of food in his hands and was still searching the table for dessert. "What did she make us for dessert?"

  "I think maybe she forgot about the dessert. Judging by all the food on your plates you wouldn't have room for dessert anyhow."

  Mike sat across from Allen who remained focused on his food. "I don't like how this evening is heading; this is not going to be pick on Mike night. Thomas you can't convince me that Connie didn't make us any dessert, you've got to be holding out on us."

  Chad sat down next to Mike. "No way Connie didn't make dessert, hand it over."

  Aaron sat down next to Allen; he opened the pizza box taken out several slices of pizza, adding it to his plate of food. "I think I may have found something, there was a shopping bag hidden in the garage. Inside the bag were about eight bags of cookies."

  "When in the hell did you find time to search the garage?"

  "Tom I'm your friend; I just knew you had to be holding out on us." He held up the cellophane bag with six large cookies wrapped inside. "It looks like some type of double chocolate cookie. I can't wait to taste them. I've heard about Connie's baking skills, and I just couldn't believe that she didn't mean for us to have them. So I took the liberty of bringing the shopping bag inside."