“That’s my good girl.” Carlton sighed in relief. The spanking and the crisis were both over. It had gone much better than he had expected.
“Carlton?”
“Yes, baby?”
“Do we have to take back everything? Cause I got some awesome Christmas gifts for people.”
“Yes, I saw that, but you know the rules. Your mom wants a homemade Christmas, and that is what we are doing.” He paused. “I’ll tell you what, why don’t you just leave the gift making to me?”
She looked dubious, but she was smart enough to not comment further on the subject.
“Carlton, can you take this stupid thing out of my ass now?”
“Mmm. Just a minute, there’s something I want to do first.” And with that, he parted her legs, and buried his face between them.
Chapter 9
Honey, do you think we should move the furniture around to give people more room to mingle?”
“Mom, I think if you don’t relax, Jeff is going to change his mind about the party tonight.”
Cecily laughed when her mother’s only response to that statement was a sad frown, because she knew how much truth there was in it. It was five days before Christmas, and Jeff had finally relented and agreed to let Venia host a small dinner party for some of their closest friends, but only if she made it potluck or had it catered.
That detail alone had been a daily battle, as Venia was unable to fathom a season without making her favorite Christmas goodies. Somehow, she had managed to con Matt Renton and Danny Lawrence into taking a few of her favorite recipes and preparing them for her in the kitchen at Amore. The rest of the meal would be potluck, with each of their friends bringing some of their favorites, a detail that both pleased and worried Venia.
She had to laugh at how spoiled her mother actually was by the other residents of Corbin’s Bend. Cadence certainly hadn’t been exaggerating when she had said that Venia was a mother to all of them. Matt and Danny had nearly fallen all over themselves offering to help.
Cece herself had gotten roped into making a large tray of Christmas cookies. She had warned her mother that she was a terrible baker and her cookies always came out like crap—and tasted terrible—but Venia insisted that with her supervision, it would turn out okay. Just in case, Cecily had called and put in an order with Ange of Ange’s Angel Cakes for backup. If by some miracle, the cookies she made actually turned out, the ones from Ange would just be extra.
“Who all did you say was coming tonight?”
“Char and Brent, Cadence and Marcus, Danny and Phillip, Matt and Julie, Jonathon and Benjamin, Lizzy Mayfield and Marilyn, and Laney and Josiah.” She rolled her eyes. “Jeffrey said our house was too small to invite more than six couples.”
“Mom that was seven.”
“Was it?” Venia asked in her most innocent voice. “Oops!”
It was hard for Cecily to blame Jeffrey for being such a stickler now that she had seen firsthand the lengths her mother went to to get around him. The man had his hands full, that was for sure. Had her mother been this difficult with her own father? Cecily couldn’t remember.
Cecily frowned at the dough she was rolling out. “Hey, Mom, is it supposed to look like this? It’s awfully sparkly.”
Venia hobbled over on her crutches and frowned at the pile of dough on the cutting board. “What did you do?” She grabbed the recipe card off the counter and read it with a strange expression before bursting into laughter. “Okay, this was my fault. I wasn’t paying attention and I gave you the recipe for salt-dough ornaments, instead of ornament sugar cookies.” She shook her head. “It’s a good thing I put in a backup order with Ange!”
“You did?” Cecily gaped at her mother. “I put in a backup order with Ange too!”
“Oh, well, I guess we’ll have lots of extras! It’s okay, dear, we can try again next year.”
Cecily opened her mouth, ready to say that she might not be here next year, or that Venia would be able to handle everything herself next year, but decided against it. The truth was, Cecily had no idea what was going to happen. With five days until Christmas, she and Carlton were no closer to making a decision about their future than they had been ten days ago.
“I’ll clean up this mess, Mom. You go get ready. People will be here soon.”
Venia looked around worriedly, as if she wanted to find another decoration to put up, or another something that needed to be cleaned, but the truth was, the place was a spotless winter wonderland.
Appeased, she shuffled off on her crutches towards the bedroom.
When the doorbell rang an hour later, the kitchen was spotless once again, and Cecily and Venia were both ready to entertain their friends. Jeffrey and Carlton, who had stayed scarce most of the day working on some super-secret Christmas project, had showed up minutes before and were getting themselves ready.
They arrived in two large groups. Danny, Phillip and the Rentons came ready to set up all the food with Laney and Josiah helping them. Before they had even managed to carry everything in, the Mayfields, Carmichaels, and Devons arrived with even more food.
Cecily stifled a laugh when she saw Jeffrey come in and start counting heads, before shooting an annoyed look at his wife.
There was so much food. It was overwhelming and covered both of the tables they had cleared for food, and half of the kitchen counter. When Lizzy came in with a tray of baklava and handed it to her, Cecily carried it into the kitchen and stared helplessly. There was enough food here to feed a small army. Sure, there were eighteen of them altogether, but she swore they had each cooked for a hundred.
“Where am I even supposed to put this?” she whispered, relieved when Char and Cadence came and Char scooped it out of her hands.
“I’ve been looking for this. It goes on the coffee table. Lizzy’s baklava is always the first thing to go.”
“Oh, okay, good,” Cecily mumbled to Char’s retreating back.
“Are you okay?” Cadence asked, coming up and gathering her in a hug. “Can I help you with anything? I’ve been hoping for a chance to catch up with you. We haven’t really gotten to talk much since the other night. This time of year gets so busy for me, with the kids.”
Giving herself a mental shake, Cecily forced herself to focus on the matter at hand. “I’m fine. Everything’s done. The only thing I really need right now is a stiff drink.”
“Coming right up.” Cadence knew her way around Venia’s kitchen almost better than Cecily herself did, and in no time at all, she produced a bottle of champagne and two crystal champagne flutes. “This will have to do for now. I don’t know where Venia keeps the stronger stuff or if she even has any.”
“She used it all up in the eggnog,” Cecily lamented, taking the offered glass and promptly downing it in one gulp. “That’s better.” She smiled sheepishly. “I’m not usually a big drinker, but I needed that. My mom is a Christmas fanatic. I loved it as a child, of course, but that was before I realized how much work she puts into every single detail, every single day.”
“And before you had to help her with everything,” Cadence added with a smile.
“Exactly. She has every Christmas tradition you can think of, and she’s not willing to forsake any of them.”
“Yup,” Cadence agreed. “For the record, I think this year has been a little more fanatic than others, and it’s because you’re here. She wants everything to be perfect for you, and for Carlton too.”
“Well, perfect for me would have involved a lot more down time, and actually getting to do real Christmas shopping,” Cecily snarked. “Carlton is loving it though, so I guess I can’t complain too much.”
“Technically, you did go Christmas shopping,” Cadence reminded her. “You just had to take it all back.”
“Ugh, I know! And I don’t even get my credit cards back until after Christmas! Talk about unfair!”
“I’m sure you’ll manage. Hey, so how is the Christmas from the heart thing going? Did you ever figure out what you were going to d
o? And have you even had time? It sounds like Venia is keeping you pretty busy.”
“Carlton took over on the gifting front. He told me not to worry about it. That he had it under control.”
Cadence looked at her with bug eyes. “Really? I thought you said he wasn’t creative at all? Do you know what he is doing? Does he?”
“I have no idea what he’s doing, but he must because he has been off working on something nearly every day.”
“Wow. I’m kind of jealous. I can’t wait to see what he comes up with.”
“Did I hear my name? Are you ladies in here talking about me?” Carlton snuck up behind her, kissed her neck, and plucked the champagne glass out of her hand with a raised eyebrow. “So this is where the party is, hmmm?”
“We were just catching up, we’ll come out and join the rest of the party now.” Cecily simultaneously kissed his cheek, and rescued her champagne glass, smiling as he winked at her.
The party went well into the night, and Cecily was shocked when they finally stumbled to the bedroom after the last guests left that it was nearly one in the morning. “These Corbin’s Bend people sure know how to party!” she exclaimed, feeling more than a little buzzed, and slightly horny. “I don’t think I’ve stayed up this late since our wedding night!”
“I have, but it was usually because I was working.” Carlton fell backwards onto the bed with a big smile. “That was really fun. I had a good time. Can we move here?”
“You’re drunk,” Cecily laughed. “How much eggnog did you have?”
“It tasted just like my mom’s.” Carlton’s voice was happy and child-like when he answered, and when Cecily looked over at him two minutes later, he was fast asleep.
Cecily, however, couldn’t sleep at all. She spent all night watching her husband, thinking about how happy and relaxed he had been over the last few weeks, and how much he appreciated everything she often took for granted. It occurred to her that she had never given much thought to all he had lost, or how much it would mean to him to have some semblance of it back. His parents had died before she had met him, and he had always been serious, studious, and yes, more than a little uptight. She loved him the way he was, but it had never occurred to her that maybe there had been more to him. Now that she had seen him within the context of a family, she truly saw the enormity of what he had lost. If he wanted it back, and he thought that Corbin’s Bend was going to give that to him, could she in good conscience say no? Even if she was still unsure that it was the right thing for her?
When she finally fell asleep at the light of dawn, she still didn’t have an answer.
Another day, another party. As far as Cecily was concerned, Corbin’s Bend at Christmas time could be summed up with those four words. There was always something. A church service, a dinner party, a community event…it had been nonstop since the middle of December. It was Christmas Eve, and Venia was insisting that they spend it the community center for the annual Corbin’s Bend Christmas Party, which was to her understanding supposed to be a grand affair. All Cecily wanted to do was take a nap.
She had spent a good portion of the day trying to bow out of going tonight, but nobody was about to let that happen. Not even Carlton, who had left early to do more work on his secret Christmas project.
“Are you ready, honey?” Venia called through the bedroom door. “I want to get there early in case they need my help.”
“Almost.” Cecily frowned into the mirror, wishing Carlton had let her buy a new dress for the night. Her little black dress was fine, of course, she just felt blah. In truth, she would much rather spend the evening lounging around in her pajamas. She was totally Christmased out.
One more look in the mirror, a fresh coat of lip-gloss, and she was ready to go.
“You drive,” Venia said, thrusting the keys at her. “Oh, and I need to stop at the church, Pastor Mitchell wanted me to bring something over to the party for him. He’s dealing with some sort of emergency and doesn’t know when he will be able to get there.”
So he asked the one crippled person in Corbin’s Bend to do it for him, Cecily thought to herself. Makes perfect sense. The non-denominational church Venia was referring to was easily within walking distance of the community center.
She pulled up to the church and parked, waiting for Venia to get out. Her mom just glared at her. “C’mon, girly, I can’t do it myself. I need help carrying stuff.”
“Right. Okay.” Cecily rolled her eyes, but got out of the car and helped Venia out, walking slowly beside her mother into the church.
Pastor Mitchell, who Cecily had met only once before, greeted them just inside the door. Instead of the cake for the party that Cecily had been expecting, he has holding a wedding dress. And it wasn’t just any wedding dress.
“How…what?” Her brow furrowed in confusion as she stared at a dress she had seen many times before. It was Venia’s, the one she had worn when she married Cecily’s father. Why did Pastor Mitchell have it?
“Mom, what is going on? Where’s the cake?”
“There is no cake, silly. Think about it. Why would Pastor Mitchell have the cake instead of Ange? The man can’t bake.” Venia took the dress from Pastor Mitchell, who turned and disappeared behind the door to the sanctuary.
“Oh, my god! Then why are we here?”
Venia thrust the dress into Cecily’s arms. “We’re here for your wedding, dear. It is your gift from Carlton, Jeffrey, and I, so stop gaping at me and go get dressed. Your guests are waiting.”
Stunned into silence, Cecily allowed herself to be ushered into the small office beside the sanctuary. Venia did her best, balancing on one crutch to help her into the dress and fasten it.
She pulled a beautiful headpiece and veil out of her purse and laughed. “Now you know why I carry such a big purse. You never know what I’m going to be hiding in here.”
When the veil was secured, and Cecily caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror, it finally sunk in what was happening. They had given her a wedding. She was lucky enough to get to marry the love of her life, and remember it this time. It wouldn’t be the wedding of her dreams, but it was sure to top the wedding of her reality.
“Wait, who’s walking me down the aisle?”
“I am,” Venia said with a huge smile, waving a cane that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. “Who else?”
It actually was the wedding of her dreams. Not her current dreams of course, but her sixteen year old self would have been ecstatic. Every single detail had to have come straight out of her wedding notebook. She hadn’t seen it in years, and Venia had claimed that she couldn’t find it, but she must have. The church was literally just like the pages of the book come to life.
Cadence, Marcus, and their daughter walked in ahead of them, all decked out in traditional wedding gear. Cadence’s ice-blue bridesmaids dress was a perfect match for the flowers that lined the pews and covered the altar of the church.
Cecily’s bouquet was a beautiful cascade of white roses and blue orchids, with a few unexpected bells on picks tucked in to commemorate the season. The sanctuary was stunningly beautiful, and to her surprise, the pews were filled with guests.
As she allowed her mother to guide her slowly down the aisle, she took in all the smiling faces to each side. Nearly everyone she had met during her stay in Corbin’s Bend was there. The Mayfields, and the Carmicheals, the Jeffersons and the Davies, Jonathon and Benjamin, even Roy and Terri Sims.
She was floating on air and when she finally reached the front of the church, there he was—her husband, her HoH, the love of her life. Carlton looked delicious in a tuxedo. There was no other word that could possibly be used to describe him.
He was standing there looking at her with such pride, she melted. Tears of happiness streamed down her face as she said her vows. The entire ceremony was a blur. All she could remember was the look on Carlton’s face when he saw her.
When Pastor Mitchell pronounced them married once again and told Carlton he cou
ld kiss his bride, she leapt into his arms and kissed him deeply, forgetting for a moment that they were in a church, and that there were people watching.
Everyone clapped and hooted and hollered, and Carlton carried her down the aisle.
After the ceremony, and after she had cleaned up her tear-stained face, and fixed her make-up, there were pictures. Venia had found a teenager in the community who was a budding photographer and hired them to take pictures all day. Cecily would finally have a wedding photo she would be proud to put on the mantle.
When the pictures were done, Cecily assumed the surprises were over until they walked into the community center for the annual Christmas Eve party. The party was still going on, but the traditional red and green decorations had been switched out for the blue and white color scheme, and in the midst of all the food and goodies spread across the back table, was the most stunningly gorgeous wedding cake she had ever seen. Ange had truly outdone herself.
The surprises were never ending, from toasts from Venia and Cadence, to a pile of gifts at the door, to an actual first dance to her favorite song.
When she finally had a minute alone with Carlton as they danced, she hugged him tightly, resting her head on his chest. “You cheated.”
“What?” He pulled away from her and pinned her with a stern look, belied by the twinkle in his eyes. “How did I cheat?”
“This was supposed to be a homemade Christmas. This must have cost a fortune!”
“It was not supposed to be homemade, and it was never said that we couldn’t spend money. This was about gifts that couldn’t be bought at a store. Things that took a little more effort than walking in and plunking down cash for something on the shelf.” He paused and smiled. “Besides, I wanted a real wedding with my beautiful bride, and pictures to show the children we will have someday. Did you like it?”
“It was perfect,” she sighed happily. “It exceeded my wildest expectations. Everyone was here, and it made me realize something.”
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