***
Adam looked up expectantly as Alicia entered his office. He was back at work for half days now, although he insisted he could handle a full day. Alicia prevailed, however, insisting that he follow the doctor’s orders to the letter. Now she looked as though she could use some time off work. She was gorgeous, as always, wearing a chic and sexy slim-fitting wrap dress in navy with a pair of navy shoes that made him want to lock the door and have his way with her. He was staring at the graceful shoes with the low-cut vamp and enticing ankle straps so intently he missed what she was saying.
“Are you listening to me, Adam? I said the wedding is off, I can’t do this,” she said with true panic in her voice.
Adam rose from his drawing table and locked his arms around her. “Allie, baby, what’s the matter? Have I done something I don’t know about?” he teased her.
“It’s my aunts, Adam. They’re driving me insane with this wedding. Dresses and menus and themes and venues and invitations, I’m losing my mind. I don’t want any of this, I really don’t.”
Her face was so unhappy Adam had to kiss her and nuzzle her neck until she felt more relaxed in his arms. He walked her over to the long sofa across from the bank of windows and sat down with her in his lap.
“Tell me about it, baby. Tell me what would make you happy,” he said, smoothing her eyebrow with a long finger.
“I guess I don’t mind the idea of a big wedding, but it’s going to take so long to plan.” She sighed. “I don’t want to wait that long to get married. Everything doesn’t have to be color-coordinated and exquisitely formal. Those are Gigi’s words, not mine; I just want it to be happy and fun and soon. I want to be your wife as soon as possible. Is that so wrong?”
Adam smiled down at her and kissed her temple, slowly drawing the tip of his tongue gendy down to her sensitive ear, lightly tracing its curves and making Alicia squirm with pleasure. “Adam, stop it,” she moaned. “You know that drives me crazy.”
He relented and tried to look deeply serious. “You know, I’m not opposed to a big wedding, I think it’ll be fun. But I’m also all in favor of us being together as soon as possible. So, I propose a compromise, something I think you’ll like very much,” he promised.
***
Alicia still couldn’t believe they were really going to do it She and Adam were in the Range Rover heading for Idlewild with Nina and John in the backseat and Roxy and Bryant following them in Roxy’s new Chrysler 300. The only people who knew about this were the aunts and they’d been sworn to secrecy. Adam’s idea had been a wonderfully simple one: they were going to elope. As he put it, they could have My Big Fat Cuban Wedding later. Right now they were going to have something quiet, intimate, and simple, just for them.
John and Nina had different reactions to Idlewild and Baldwin. John thought the towns were charming and picturesque, Nina thought they made Ann Arbor, which she considered a backwater, look like Manhattan.
“My God, there isn’t even a Blockbuster here!” she said in horror.
“Yes, but there’s Video Schmideo where you can get a really great pizza and use the computer to check your e-mail. You can’t do that at Blockbuster,” Adam pointed out. Nina gave him a look of disdain but held her tongue. They had a brief tour of the area with Adam taking them to the site where the house was being built.
“Next summer, John, we’ll all be able to come here for vacations. Actually, the house will be done in time for Thanksgiving; maybe we can all come up here then. What do you think, Allie?”
“I think yes," she said happily. “And I think we’d better get ready.”
They went back to the Morton Inn, the venerable motel that had served generations of Idlewilders. Nina and Roxy insisted that Adam go to John’s room to get dressed because they needed the privacy for Alicia. He agreed good-naturedly and in an hour or so he was ready to concede they were completely correct. The feeling of anticipation was wonderful; it was exciting and humbling all at once. He didn’t see Alicia when he walked into the Baldwin Church of Christ although he looked for her. The women had left the motel before the men and were helping Alicia get dressed at the church. They were going to leave by the back door and come around to the front of the church for her grand entrance.
Adam, John, and Bryant went to take their places at the front of the small church. Roxy and Nina, each wearing a beautiful outfit that didn’t match anything but looked perfect on them, walked in next, Nina leading the way and Roxy following. Finally, it was time for Alicia to enter the church. She didn’t mind one bit that she wasn’t walking down the aisle on her father’s arm, because they would do that later. She did mind that her family wouldn’t be there, other than the aunts who were already seated. But all she really cared about was becoming one with Adam, right then, right there.
She was looking down at her bouquet when she entered or she wouldn’t have been so surprised when she felt a hand on her elbow. She looked up into the face of her father, Jose, who was holding his arm out for her to take.
“You didn’t think we were going to miss giving our baby girl in marriage, do you?”
Her tear-filled eyes also saw her mother, Leah, Martha and Benny, Marielle, and the rest of the Cochran brothers with their wives and children. Raphael and Carlos were missing, but this was a Saturday in August and the Tigers were playing. Her aunts were there, though, all looking fabulous. She was so startled to see everyone she could feel the tears starting, but the deep, sonorous voice of Brother Sims calmed her down.
“There should be no tears on this day of joy. Come forward, daughter, and claim your husband.”
Brother Sims was the handsome, articulate, and totally eloquent Minister Emeritus of the Baldwin Church of Christ and a very good friend of the aunts who’d asked him to officiate.
As Jose escorted Alicia down the aisle to meet Adam, a small commotion at the back of the church made everyone turn around. “We object!”
It was Raphael and Carlos, accompanied by a very large Michigan State Trooper.
“The game was rained out and we may or may not have been speeding, it’s a matter of interpretation,” Carlos said hurriedly as he attempted to put on his sport coat. Raphael agreed.
“I’m pretty sure we were somewhat within the speed limit but we had to see Patti get married.”
Brother Sims laughed out loud at the spectacle. “I’m sure we can this all straightened out afterwards. If not, I’m sure we can make bail for you. Now, let’s get these young people married.”
He performed the ceremony with tender humor and deep faith. It was a sweet, memorable joining of two people who loved each other completely. As the Church of Christ did not use musical instruments, all the singing was a cappella, which made for lovely, spirited to Sunday services. To everyone’s surprise, however, there was a soloist at the wedding. Nina sang “The Lord’s Prayer” in a contralto so clear and sweet it was like the singing of angels. If Adam had been facing the audience while she was singing he’d have exploded with laughter; everyone was turned toward Nina with the same look of total shock on their faces.
The only thing Adam was looking at, however, was Alicia, the woman he would love the rest of his life, the woman who knew him better than he knew himself, the woman who made him complete. When she appeared at the back of the church, Adam felt an inexplicable burning sensation in his eyes, something suspiciously like tears. She looked beautiful. Totally sweet, feminine, and almost innocent in the ivory blouse and matching lace skirt he’d bought for her on their first shopping spree. Her hair was soft and sleekly arranged off her face and there was an ivory rosebud tucked behind one ear with a spray of baby’s breath. She carried a bouquet of gardenias and white roses and she looked composed, but he could feel her trembling with emotion. She handed her bouquet to Roxy, and Adam took both her hands. His profound joy was obvious. He loved the sound of the vows that united them for eternity.
“Do you, Alicia Evangeline Guadalupe Fuentes, take Adam to be your lawful wedded hus
band?”
Alicia said, “I do,” in a clear, sure voice, even though Adam was mouthing “Guadalupe?” with raised eyebrows.
“Do you, Adam Brantley Cochran, take Alicia to be your lawful wedded wife?”
“Yes, I do,” Adam said fervently.
As Brother Sims drew the ceremony to a close with some poignantly memorable remarks, Adam and Alicia looked at each other with pure delight.
“I love you,” he whispered.
“I love you back,” she whispered with her heart in her eyes. “I’m going to make you happy for the rest of our lives, Adam.”
“You already do, baby.”
When Brother Sims pronounced them man and wife, he didn’t mind a bit that they took an unusually long time to seal their vows with a kiss, and, judging from the soft ahhhs from their assorted relatives, no one else minded, either.
“I now present to you Mr. and Mrs. Adam Brantley Cochran. What God has joined together, let no man put asunder.”
Adam and Alicia smiled at the loved ones gathered to celebrate with them and at each other, then walked down the aisle to start their life together.
Epilogue
The brilliant coral of the setting sun spread its radiance over the ocean as Adam and Alicia lounged on the lanai of their honeymoon retreat. Alicia was looking at the brilliant sunset with a very private smile on her face. Adam was enjoying the sight of his bride’s reverie but he felt compelled to discover the source of her joy. They were seated on a big double chaise and he reached for her, pulling her into his embrace and his asked her why she was smiling.
“Because I’m so very happy. I’m married to the most wonderful man in the world, I’m having the most marvelous honeymoon imaginable and we had the best wedding I’ve ever been to. Both of them,” she said happily.
Adam gave her a lingering kiss before. “Yeah, they were both very special. Your aunts really went all out for us,” he said.
Alicia could only agree as she remembered the lengths that Marguerite, Graciela and Gigi gone to so their formal wedding would be a beautiful celebration. They’d picked out her wedding dress and the bridesmaids dresses with Leah’s help and consent and the end result had frightened Alicia into hiccups. The wedding dress had huge poufy Gibson girl sleeves and a bustle, as well as a fourteen-foot train. The entire thing was constructed of Chantilly lace and satin and weighed about a ton. The bridesmaid’s dresses were also satin with huge puffed sleeves and rows of ruffles in a shade of iridescent orange that was in blindingly bad taste. Alicia was truly horrified by the spectacle, but her aunts were so anxious to make her wedding memorable she didn’t have the heart to protest. Or the resources to back her up, as Marielle, Leah and Roxy seemed to think there was nothing amiss about the dresses.
Reminding herself over and over that she and Adam were already man and wife and this was just a formality to assuage her aunts, Alicia went along with the program, albeit with a heavy heart. When the moment came for her to don her dress in the room of St. Cecelia, the church she’d attended since she was a child, she almost went into shock when the aunts stepped forward with a sleek, simple and utterly lovely dress devoid of ruffles, lace, giant sleeves or anything else objectionable.
It was an elegant, bias cut confection, sleeveless with a deep back that had crossed straps. It was a softly blushed shade of white called candlelight and there was an exquisitely sheer veil held with gardenias to grace Alicia’s beautiful and very relieved face.
Gigi crowed, “We got you, mija! Those other costumes, they were to pay you back for thinking you could elope. Surprise!”
Alicia collapsed in laughter as she beheld the real bridesmaid’s dresses, which were simple and elegant in a sophisticated champagne color. Her attendants carried fantastic bouquets in buttery shades of yellow and gold that complemented Alicia’s cluster of gardenias and white and yellow roses. Everything about the wedding was perfect; it was a wedding out of a fairy tale.
She smiled up at Adam and asked him what his favorite part of the wedding was.
“Besides the pleasure of seeing how lovely you looked?” He kissed her softly before replying. “Everything was wonderful, baby, I loved our wedding. But I have to say; the reception was my favorite part. I never had so much fun in my life, Allie.”
Marielle had arranged to have their reception at Comerica Park and it was the perfect venue for the event. There was lots of music, thanks both to Bump Williams and his band and the outstanding DJ who alternated to provide a tune-filled background. There was an abundance of food; both Cuban and southern cooking graced the tables. There were amusements for the children and dancing for the adults and the atmosphere was pure love and happiness.
Alicia had to agree with Adam, although for a different reason. She was thrilled that Adam had made his peace with his father and had accepted John fully as a brother. John was, in fact, one of Adam’s groomsmen. But Adam had come to an understanding with his father the night of his first wedding to Alicia. She reminded him of that fact.
“Adam, I think it’s so wonderful that you and your dad have come to an understanding. It’s really none of my business, but it makes me very happy that the two of you are closer than ever. I just think it’s important for you to have reconnected with him.”
Adam corrected her. “It is your business. Anything that affects me is your business. You’re my wife, Allie, not some disinterested bystander. But you’re right, I’m also very happy that Pop and I were able to work it out.”
After the elopement in Idlewild, Adam and his father had gone over to the site where the vacation house was being constructed and walked around. Adam showed his father the plans for the house and the guest cottages and they talked about the project for a few minutes. Finally Adam had dropped all pretenses and looked his father in the eye.
“Pop, I can’t judge you. I’m not the one to say anything about your life and how you lived it. The fact is, you gave me life and I have no cause to regret a single day of it. I was pretty harsh on you and I regret that. No matter what you did or why, one thing is never going to change. You’ll always be my father. And you’ve always been a good one, Pop, the best.”
Big Benny was crying openly, not bothering to disguise the tears that were rolling down his face. “Adam, you had every right to say what you said. I was wrong to cheat on your mother. I was wrong to keep John a secret all these years. I was wrong on so many counts ...” His words stopped as Adam help up his hand.
“No more regrets, Pop. What’s done is done. It’s a new day now and we’ve all had a new start. Let’s go back to the party and enjoy this new beginning, okay?”
Now it was Alicia’s turn to ask Adam why he was smiling. “Because this has been the best year of my entire life bar none. I started the year horny and hateful because I was so in love with you I couldn’t stand it, I find out I have a whole bunch more family including a new brother, I gave away part of a vital organ and most importantly, I was lucky enough to win your heart and take you for my bride. I couldn’t be any happier than I am right now, Allie. ”
“I feel the same way, Adam, although I’m willing to try on the happiness thing. Let’s go inside and see what we can do to be even happier,” she said seductively.
By way of an answer Adam picked her up and carried her into their airy, candlelit bedroom. “You’ve got yourself a deal, baby.”
Table of Contents
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Sev
enteen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Epilogue
Something to Talk About Page 30