Express Duet

by Jody Day

  “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way

  to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”

  My heart swelled with the healing taking place. I stood after she sang the last note. Could I get it out without breaking down? “I just wanted to say a few words.” I looked at Pastor Jack, who nodded affirmative. “Thank you good folks so much for hanging in there with me. I want to apologize for the ornery way I’ve behaved. I’ve learned so much about myself these past few months. But all of you loved me through it. If I hadn’t been such an idiot, I’d be getting married today.

  “My fears acted just as Pastor Jack said. I was in a prison that I built myself. I’ve been thinking about my parents’ marriage. Mom and Dad handled everything together. I realize that I can’t control everything. But marriage is a team effort. Bailey and I want to make it official just as soon as we can get it together. I just want you to know how much I love and appreciate you all.” I sat down. Whew, at least I didn’t cry.

  “All right, now, amen and amen.” Pastor Jack clapped his hands once and then rubbed them together. He looked at Bailey’s mom as if she were next on the program.

  Mom stood and addressed the crowd. “Please, everyone stay put for just a minute.” She walked over to Bailey and me. “Could I see you two in the kitchen?”

  Her mysterious smile intrigued me. More secrets?

  Once the kitchen door swung closed, she grabbed each of our hands. “So, would you like to get married today?” Tears welled up in her eyes.

  “We were just talking about that. Wish we could, but we’ll set a date for real soon.” I put my arm around Bailey and sighed deeply. This could have been our wedding day. I promised myself that I wouldn’t let anything get in the way of our plans from now on.

  “No, I asked if you’d like to get married today.”

  “Well, of course we would, but you know we postponed and although it’s all planned, nothing has been done.” Bailey looked at her mother with squinted eyes.

  “What if I told you that it had all been done?” She clapped her hands and giggled like a school girl. “What if I told you that we have a decorated prayer garden, prepared reception, and the preacher? I have the licenses that you already acquired, and well, it’s all ready!”

  Tears flowed freely from Bailey’s eyes. “Are you serious? But...how?”

  “There’s been a heck of a lot of praying going on among your friends. Tracy felt strongly that you would both be ready today. She insisted on continuing the plans. In fact, she wouldn’t hear of anything else. So, why wait? Toppy and I agreed, and we’ve all pitched in and put the whole thing together, just like you planned it.” Gwen grabbed our hands again.

  Toppy peered through the kitchen door window.

  Everyone was behind him trying to get a look see.

  Tracy pushed her way into the kitchen through a pile of folks hovering around the door. “Of course, it was a mad dash when we learned you wanted to get married at the gazebo in the prayer garden. We just canceled the church and redirected everything else here.” She hugged Bailey and reached for my hand. “We managed everything you said you wanted, but the snow. No harm done or hurt feelings if you don’t want to do it today. We just felt that God would have us go ahead and live with whatever you decide.” She actually held her breath.

  I looked at my fiancée. “Today?”

  “Yes, yes, yes!” Bailey threw her arms around me, her mother, and Tracy.

  A cheer rose in the dining room.

  “You stole my wedding planner, didn’t you?” Bailey pulled on Tracy’s pony tail. “And I thought you were hugging your purse for comfort the day I told you the wedding was off.”

  “Yes, but fat lot of good it did me since you changed your mind.” Tracy threw her arms around Bailey.

  “After you left for rehearsal this morning, I laid out your wedding dress. Let’s go put it on and get your hair ready.”

  “Wedding dress? But I never bought one,” Bailey exclaimed.

  “Another surprise, Dear. After Pinewood Manor burned, I learned that your Gran had a storage building. She stored away many things she’d planned to give you, including her wedding dress. I think it will fit.”

  “Gran’s dress? Are you kidding? Oh, Mom...” Bailey wept into her mother’s arms.

  “Scott, your tux is upstairs, pressed and ready to go. Toppy will help you. The boys will dress at home and be back. We’ll have the ceremony as soon as everyone is ready.”

  We left the kitchen to find that everyone had scattered.

  “They’ve all got a job to do. We’ll get dressed and then when you’re ready, we’ll go to the prayer garden. Come on, sweetie, I’ll drive you.” Gwen reached for Bailey’s hand.

  They stepped outside the diner. A light dusting of snow laced down upon them.

  “I don’t believe it.” Gwen turned her face to the sky.

  “Me either,” Bailey whispered, as though the sound of her voice might make it stop.

  “I’d believe anything today,” I wrapped my arm around her neck and pulled her to me.

  “Mom, you go ahead. I want to walk. This rarely happens.” Bailey waved her mother on.

  Her mom beamed at us and nodded. She got in her car and drove toward the inn.

  A gush of wind blew a tiny pine cone to our feet.

  Bailey bent to pick it up.

  Just as I also bent down our foreheads bumped. I checked Bailey’s forehead and then broke into a laugh.

  Bailey’s jingle bell giggles gave me shivers and warmth.

  “Seems we’ve come full circle,” she whispered.

  I pulled her face to mine and kissed her.

  Cotton flakes moistened our noses.

  “You sure about this?” I asked.

  “As sure as the Queen o’ Sheba.” She pulled away from me, hugged her hands under her chin, flashed a brilliant smile and then broke into a jog toward the inn. She floated away through the falling snow; it seemed her feet weren’t even touching the ground.

  I turned toward the sky in thanks. An idea zinged in my heart. I’d better get upstairs and get dressed, but first I had to make a call.

  ~*~

  My heart did flip flops as I walked toward the inn with the snow swirling around me like a bridal wreath. If only I could find my necklace. At least I’d get to wear Gran’s dress, but I’d feel incomplete. I ran my thumb over my engagement ring. A few moments more, and I’d be wearing the full set. Ring! I’d never purchased a wedding ring for Scott. How had I neglected that important detail, given he’d cared enough to give me his mother’s engagement ring? I’d just have to find a ring to use for the ceremony, explain to Scott, and then get one later. I rushed back into the diner to find a married man and borrow his ring. Could, or should, one do such a thing?

  Greg, Todd, and Toppy were heading upstairs to Scott’s room.

  “Toppy, can I ask you a favor?” Surely he and Mom would understand.

  He turned and took the stairs down, two at a time.

  “I’m ashamed to admit it, but I haven’t bought Scott a ring. Is there any way I could borrow yours until after the ceremony?” I reached for his hand to see the ring my mom had given him.

  “Sure, but I can do you one better. I wondered if you might need this.” He pulled something from his jeans pocket and then placed a simple gold band in the palm of my hand.

  I turned it over. It looked like it might fit, but then I saw the inscription, and tears sprang from my eyes like Old Faithful. “Paul. It’s Peeps’s ring!” I threw my arms around my new stepdad.

  “Better get on young lady, time’s a-wasting.” He chuckled with a tear in his eye.

  I fairly floated out the diner door heading back to the inn again.

  “Bailey!”

  I turned to find Phoebe running toward me. Had she been in the diner earlier? I hadn’t seen her.

  “Slow down, Phoebe, you’ll slip and fall.” I jogged to meet her.

  “Serves me right if I did.” She
breathed hard, and tears made tracks in her makeup. She reached inside her purse and pulled out a folded square of tissue. Instead of wiping her tears with it, she unfolded the paper to reveal my necklace.

  I gasped as I took it from her hand and held it to my chest. “Where’d you find it?” Oh, thank God.

  “I didn’t find it. I...” she stopped and clasped her hand over her mouth, her tears dripping across her fingers. “I stole it,” she said, muffled behind her hand.

  “What?”

  “That day I fell at the diner and you took me to the inn. I saw it on the coffee table and just picked it up while you went to the kitchen for supplies.”

  “But why? It’s just a simple little cross. Precious to me, of course, because my grandmother gave it to me. But you have plenty of nice jewelry. I don’t understand.” Confusion and a little anger flashed through my heart.

  “You always touch it, grasp it. I thought it was the secret to your happiness. I want what you have, Bailey, and I never seem to get there.” She broke down sobbing.

  A former Miss Texas wanted what I have? Well, she’d certainly tried to take it, but I knew she didn’t mean boyfriends or property.

  “People like you, love you. Scott loves you. You have...skills. I don’t have anything but incredible beauty.”

  It would not be a good idea to roll my eyes in the face of this honest confession. Her little speech touched my heart and anger dissipated. Her comment rang true, but that she’d said it out loud tickled me and made me sad at the same time. I prayed silently how to answer her.

  “Phoebe, it’s not the cross itself. It’s what it stands for. Jesus died on a cross to pay for our sins. He made it possible for all things to be new. He loves you, Phoebe, and has a plan for your life.”

  “I could use a plan, and love.” She used the tissue to wipe her face. “Go on, Bailey, get a move on. You’re about to be married.”

  “Listen, come to the wedding. Talk to Pastor Jack. He can tell you what this cross means.”

  “Really, you’d have me at your wedding after this? It’s that cross, isn’t it? It makes you sweet.”

  “In a way. Come on, Phoebe, you can help me dress.”

  “Now that I’m good at,” she said. She held my hand and skipped along with me toward the inn.

  Awkward? Yes, awkward and wonderful.

  24

  I let Phoebe work her magic on my makeup.

  “There. You look marvelous.” She stood behind me as I took a look at her handiwork.

  “On second thought, Phoebe, the little diamonds on my lids are too much. Nicely done, though, but could you take them off?” I hoped she wouldn’t be offended, but no way. It was amazing that she had all that makeup in her purse. I guessed a beauty queen, albeit former and fading, must always be at the ready.

  “If you insist. I thought you’d like to sparkle on your wedding day,” she said with a sniff.

  “Look at her, she’s positively glowing without the little diamonds,” Liz said as she plugged in my hot rollers.

  Phoebe removed the little gems and touched up my eye makeup. She hugged me and then fastened my gold cross necklace in place. She slipped a tube of lipstick into my hand and left for the garden without another word.

  “Where’d you find it?” Mother exclaimed.

  “I’ll tell you later. For now just know there are lots of lost things begging to be found, and prayers are in order.” I caressed my cross.

  Mom just shrugged as she began running up my hair in the hot rollers.

  Gran’s winter wedding dress lay on my bed. The fifties-era, luscious, velvet gown had weathered the years in pristine condition.

  Mom and Liz helped me into Gran’s dress.

  I ran my fingers along the neckline trimmed in white velvet and a swirling line of pearls.

  “Perfect, the bodice looks as if it was made especially for you.” Mom fastened the velvet-covered buttons that ran up the back. Liz worked on the long sleeve cuff buttons.

  I lovingly smoothed the winter white, ankle length velvet skirt. The modest train started at either hip and draped down into a perfect round. A white velvet waist band lay across the vanity chair.

  “I wondered if you’d rather a red velvet waist band, Christmas wedding and all. I made one just in case. Either or,” Mom said, taking the luxurious red band from a tissue lined box.

  “The red.” My voice shook slightly. Gran’s presence seemed to light on the scene. Mom attached the waistband. I slipped into a pair of bejeweled red pumps.

  They took the rollers from my hair and fingered curls around my face and neck.

  “We’d better hurry. Everyone’s waiting, and it’s still snowing. Folks are probably getting cold,” Mom said.

  “And loving it. A rare gift for our bride,” Liz said putting away boxes and bags.

  Mom lifted Gran’s simple sheer veil from the box and floated it over my head. She crowned it with a wreath of ivy, white satin ribbons, and tiny red roses.

  “You made it, didn’t you? It’s absolutely the sweetest thing. You read my mind.” I touched the circlet delicately.

  “More like you talked non-stop about what you wished. I’m glad you like it.”

  “No, I love it. It’s just all too wonderful.” I surveyed their handiwork on my hair, the veil, and the additions to Gran’s dress. Too wonderful for words.

  The warm red shade of lipstick that Phoebe left me worked somehow with the red waistband.

  “Ack! We forgot pictures,” Liz exclaimed.

  “There’s a photographer down at the wedding. But let’s take some photos of her with our phones.” Mom rummaged in her purse for her cell. She and Liz took many snaps.

  Liz took a picture of Mom and me together.

  “Showtime!” Liz laughed, hugged us both, and headed for the garden.

  Mom wrapped her arms around me.

  I tried not to cry, but don’t weddings and tears go together? At this wedding, for sure. “I’m so happy, Mom. I can’t believe this day has come. I love him so much.”

  “Don’t cry, honey, you’ll mess up your makeup! You know you deserve all the happiness you can find. I love you, darling.” She reached for my hand and pulled me to the door.

  “Mom, could I have a moment? I’ll be there in just a few minutes, I promise.”

  “Of course, I understand.” She kissed my cheek and hurried out.

  The falling snow outside my bedroom window brushed some soft, hushed melody as it whirled across the glass. My cold hands touched my warm cheeks and dabbed at little drops of tears clinging to my eyelashes. Wasn’t there? Yes. A small white Bible and lace handkerchief were tucked in a corner of the wedding dress box. I opened the little missive.

  The two shall become one. Helen and Rance, December, 1955.

  Prayers rose from my heart. Full of thanksgiving for all that came before, and all my future hopes, I lingered a few more minutes as a single woman. Just my Lord and me.

  Such a shame that my father chose not to be a part of our lives. Nothing to dwell on now, but with all forgiven, I’d start my life with Scott with a clean slate.

  The two shall become one.

  My mom stuck her head in the door. “Your bouquet. I almost forgot.” She handed me the most beautiful spray of red roses and ivy, laced with tiny satin bows and sprinkles of baby’s breath. She blew me a kiss and whisked herself away again.

  I carried the bouquet, grasped the Bible and small handkerchief to my heart, and walked downstairs and outside toward my new life.

  Scott waited for me at the gate. He seemed taller in his black suit and tie of hunter green. A tiny rosebud surrounded by baby’s breath, tiny ivy, and a red and green striped ribbon donned his lapel. He held out his arm for me.

  I couldn’t take my eyes off of those limpid blue eyes, glowing with emotion. I loved everything about that face, that forehead with the indentation of his usual baseball cap, his shock of black hair combed into place.

  As we turned toward the prayer
garden, awe transfixed my gaze. I nearly stumbled. The beautiful scene rendered me speechless. I merely caught my breath and held on tight to Scott.

  They’d created a pathway lined with English ivy and wrapped with small, white twinkling lights. Sheer white ribbons laced along the ivy so lovingly, expertly, that the ribbons looked as if they grew right out of the ground.

  As we stepped into the fairy path, O Holy Night began playing. Harp music accompanied our steps. We walked a few yards and soon approached rows of white chairs separated by the ivy path. They’d entwined the backs of the chairs with more winding ivy. Our friends and family stood as we arrived. Thousands of lights bedecked the gazebo, with yards and yards of ivy vines trailing and hanging, caught up with sheer white ribbons.

  My radiant mother held out her arms to me from the front row as I passed.

  We exchanged a precious embrace and a kiss.

  Blinking away tears, I marveled at the row of sweet girlfriends, and line of dashing guy friends waiting for us at the gazebo. Tracy, Mandy, and Macy wore their little black dresses and sheer black stockings. Each friend wore a soft, fuzzy sweater in Christmas red. No doubt from that secret shopping trip I’d observed. They held bouquets of ivy and roses. Lacy snowflakes decorated their hair. Toppy, Todd, and Greg wore the same black suit and a contrasting tie of bright red. Pastor Jack wore the same, but also his black cowboy hat sported his boutonnière. The ivy and roses were from the prayer garden, which made them all that much more precious.

  A beautiful table set with a lacy white table cloth and entwined with ivy, lights, and ribbons held framed photographs of my grandmother and Scott’s parents. Someone did some necessary snooping in my things to find that envelope of wedding pictures. The gestures blessed me and included those we loved but missed.

  We stood silently as the music played. “Chains shall He break...” Perfect. Hadn’t our chains been broken, Scott’s and mine? I’d been healed of a lifelong hurt in this loving little community. My beloved had struggled with grief and fear. “And in His name all oppression shall cease.” Yes, amen and amen.

  “Fall on your knees.” Scott took off his suit coat and spread it on the ground. He held both my hands and we knelt before the Lord. Not planned, but the most natural thing in the world. A holy hush overtook the garden as the ethereal soprano, harp and violin expressed our hearts. “Let all within us praise His holy name.” The snow subsided just as the music ended.