by B. D. Gates
The still quiet from the audience gave way to a low murmur of suppressed laughter as the members whispered amongst themselves about speaking up, Jeannie giving any objectors time to answer the call before continuing.
"Do you..."
"Stop! Wait! Wait! Please!"
The audience laughed as a group thinking that someone had gone too far.
This was no joke.
Carole's eyes grew wide as she looked at Biggs. Biggs looked at her, wide-eyed as well. The three of us turned and looked towards the back. The audience, as if on cue, also turned and looked, a quiet murmur rustling through the crowd.
"Sharon, is there anything you need to tell me?" Carole asked in a low voice.
Sharon squinted into the distance, into the shaded area just past the seats. A young woman was making her way towards the ceremony, had come to a standstill as she reached the back row.
"Just...wait," she called.
"Carole, she's not here for me." Sharon turned to me. "Baxter, I think this is for you."
I looked again.
Penny pressed the button on her camera, her photographer's instincts automatically taking over as she stared at Tess Hayes through the viewfinder.
32
I stepped off the stage, started walking towards Tess. She made her way to me. We met halfway and I was smiling as I looked down, feeling as if my heart had stopped its beating at the sight of her. She was smiling too, but there were tears in her eyes.
"Bishop..."
"Hello, Tess."
She shook took a step closer. We were nearly touching.
"Hearts? Really?" she asked, whispering, as she reached up and straightened my bow tie.
"Yeah, not my idea."
"I wouldn't think so," she replied. She took my hand, wrapped it in hers, pressed it over her heart as she whispered, "Bishop, don't do this. Please. I'm...I'm coming back to Tenley, I'm coming home. I love you, I've missed you so, please don't do this."
"Do what?"
Tess stopped, puzzled and confused, then blinked, looking at me like I was deliberately being thick. "Get married."
"I'm not."
"What?"
"I'm not. Getting married."
"You're not?"
"Nope. Not me. Not today."
"Oh, good," she sighed, relieved, as she patted me, her hand now on my chest, over my heart. "Whew!" she added, relief flooding her face. "I thought I was going to be too late..."
And I watched as it all clicked into place.
"Then...who? Oh, no," she said, leaning around me, looking towards the stage and seeing Sharon and Carole standing there, watching us. Biggs gave a little wave. "Oh, no. No, no, no...Ginnie told me...Ginnie saw you...and Penny, you were talking about getting married and...oh, god, she got it all wrong."
Ginnie. The woman who had watched us in the men's shop, who had brought me vanilla milkshakes while I was recovering from my injuries when I first arrived in Tenley.
Fowler's wife.
I took her hand in mine. "Tess, it's really not a good time to talk about this," I whispered to her. "Why don't you come sit down and watch Biggs and Carole get hitched, then we can talk, okay?"
I turned and, still holding her hand, laced her arm through mine, and walked her up the aisle to the front row to a seat vacated by an onlooker who'd anticipated the need. She sat down, somewhat stunned at the truth of what she'd just done. I rejoined Sharon and Carole on the stage, nodded to Jeannie to continue.
Penny was on the periphery, instinctively shooting photos, as the scene she'd witnessed played on a loop in her head.
It was her dream, all of it, just like she'd dreamt it.
The rest of the ceremony went off without any more incidents, it was over with in a matter of about two minutes.
And then a big party broke out.
33
I left the stage and joined Tess as soon as the nuptials were completed and the couple was presented to the crowd. I told her to stay where she was, then I looked over the party, saw Penny as she headed into the house. I ran up on to the porch and into the kitchen.
"Penny!" I called as I walked on back to the bedroom. She stood at the bed, her back to me as she unloaded her camera, changed the film.
"Penny..."
"What is she doing here, Bax?" she asked in a small voice.
"She says she's coming back to Tenley."
"Back to you."
"Penny, I need to talk to her, to find out what's going on."
"Bax, you love her, you've always loved her."
"Penny, I love you."
"Not like you love her."
"That's not fair, Penny, you can't say that."
She turned and looked at me. "I can say that, Baxter, because it's true. You've been in love with her from the start. You still love her. I can tell. I know when you've missed her, just like I know that she's always been right there, in your head, every day since she left."
"Penny, please, just..."
"What. Just what, Baxter."
"Just...wait. Okay? Please?"
"Baxter, I knew this day was coming, I knew it...hell, a month ago. I knew she was coming, I just didn't know when."
"Penny." I went to her, took her in my arms, kissed her softly. "Please, just give me time to talk to her. Okay?"
I left Penny in the bedroom, went back out to the reception. I stood on the porch and looked over the crowd, scanning for Tess. Biggs saw me, waved, then pointed down towards the water. I nodded, and headed on down to the dock.
34
Tess was sitting on the end of the dock, cross-legged, looking out over the water. She didn't turn as I walked out and sat down next to her. I looked at her, noting the circles under her eyes, the weariness showing on her face.
"Bishop, I'm so sorry," she started. "I thought...I was afraid that I was too late."
"Tess, just what the hell were you thinking?"
She took her time answering, but her thoughts were still jumbled. "I...I don't know. I wasn't thinking. I called Ginnie to tell her I was coming home and she told me what she thought was going on, and...I...I was so afraid that I would lose you, forever, if that happened, so I couldn't let it happen without telling you...that I'm coming back, that I've made a terrible mistake. That...that I love you, Bishop, that I want you, I want to be with you."
Those words made my heart skip a beat, made it hard for me to breathe.
"Tess, you thought you were stopping my wedding."
"Yes."
"You'd do that?"
"Well, I guess I...I did do that."
I nodded. Yeah, she'd done exactly that.
"I don't know what to say to that, Tess. I would never think that you, of all people, would go so far, would try to destroy my relationship with Penny like that."
"Bishop, I wasn't trying to destroy your relationship with Penny. I was trying to save ours."
I was stunned by her reasoning. "Tess, what are you talking about? You've been gone. For a year. I haven't heard from
you, not one word. We don't have a relationship."
She was quiet but fervent. "Bishop, I've thought of you every day. Every day. You're in my dreams. You never went away, no matter where I was, what I was doing. No matter what, Bishop, you've been there with me. And I know that you were thinking of me. It wasn't all the time, but I could feel you wrap around me, I could feel the warmth of you holding me. I hoped, prayed, that you could feel me, too."
I dropped my head, closed my eyes, squeezed them shut. I couldn't lie, not just to her, but, more than anyone, to myself. Tess had been in my thoughts, the same as I'd been in hers. It had distressed me, that I was cheating on Penny whenever Tess was in my mind, and I had done my best to bury those feelings, but Penny had known.
She'd known all along. "...she's always been right there, in your head, every day since she left."
"Bishop, let me ask you this. If that had been you and Penny, would you be married now?"
She was asking what I woul
d have done.
And I couldn't answer that.
"Tess, it's been a year. You left. I'm with Penny, been with Penny. You can't walk back in and expect me to...just...leave her. I can't hurt her. I can't. She loves me, she's loved me all along. And you know that! You called her that morning you left, you knew she'd come, you sent her to be with me, so that I wouldn't be alone with the...the pain of it, of your leaving."
I was shaking my head. "You pushed her right into the middle of this! And she's done so much for me, been through so much because of me. She's dealt with it, Tess, she's dealt with all of it, with me missing you, and she accepted it as a part of me, a part of loving me.
"She should have run away, it would have been better for her if she had. She didn't, though. She stayed, and I love her for that, because she didn't have to. I can't...I can't hurt her. She doesn't deserve that."
Tess sighed. "I remember everything I said, everything I did. I was wrong to leave you but I want to come home. To you. If you'll have me."
We were both quiet as we considered our words.
"Bishop, are you happy?"
I didn't know how to answer that.
If I'd been asked that question yesterday, or the day before that, or a week before that, I know what my answer would have been. Today, though.
Today...
"I made a mistake," she said softly, "and I'm so sorry. I know you, I know you don't want to hurt Penny, and I love you for that, because you don't want to cause anyone any pain, but I also know," she paused, took a deep breath. "I know that when you're lying there in the dark, Bishop, I'm the one you want."
The truth of her words cut to the bone.
And that made me a little angry.
At her for saying it, at myself for knowing that it's true.
"Tess, I can't deal with this right now. I can't. I'm supposed to be up there celebrating a wedding. So, do whatever you need to do, okay?"
I stood up, walked up to the reception, and left Tess sitting on the dock.
35
I found Penny standing at the sink in the kitchen, alone, drinking a rum-and-coke, her work done after handing out disposable cameras to the guests. She looked at me, looked away when I met her eyes.
This time, my heart broke for her. I circled the bar, walked up behind her, put my arms around her waist. I gently pulled her up against me. She was stiff, she had closed herself off from me.
"Penny..."
"What, Baxter."
I leaned down, close to her ear, whispered. "I'm so sorry for everything I've put you through, Penny. I never meant to hurt you."
I felt her relax, lean back against me, her soft sobs silent as she crossed her arms over mine. I tightened my hold, doing my best to physically envelope her with my love. We stood there quietly, watching the crowd through the window over the sink.
36
Penny and I joined the party, now in full swing, a little while later, eating, drinking, celebrating love, with Biggs and Carole at the center of it.
Tess had left, I don't know when, I just know that she wasn't there when we went outside. Penny and I were seated down by the fire pit, Biggs and Carole sitting together, enamored with the over-sized Adirondack chair of Penny's while we sat in the plastic outdoor rockers next to them.
"We've got to get one of these," said Carole, referring to the chair as she sat cross-ways in it, her legs over Bigg's lap, the same way Penny and I sat in it. "Where'd you get it, Penny?"
"My dad made it for me," Penny replied. "If you're serious, I'll have him make one for you. It'll be our wedding present to you," she added, as she looked at me.
I smiled, nodded at that, happy to hear the "our" in her response. Biggs looked at me somewhat quizzically, and I knew what she was wondering about. If we couldn't talk tonight, I knew that I'd be spilling my guts to her in surgery on Monday, and I think she thought the same thing. We both put that pending conversation in our agendas.
Jeannie joined us, having danced with nearly every ballplayer or former student there, separately or in a group.
"Damn! Carole, you should have told me how much fun girls are, especially at a party!"
"Well, I would have thought you'd figured it out, considering how much time I spent out with them in college," Carole replied.
"What?" asked Biggs, smiling. "Were you a party-girl, Carole?"
"Apparently, the worst," replied Jeannie. "Or, maybe the best, considering that she was hardly ever in our dorm room. Came in long enough to shower, change, and go back out."
"That's not true," defended Carole. "At least, not during mid-terms and finals."
"Oh, yeah, well, that's because you had to actually read the assignments, play catch-up," laughed Jeannie. "I hated you for that, you know. She didn't even have to go to class, she'd just cram like a maniac before the tests, pass them with flying colors. Me? I had to keep up with it every day, or I'd have been lost."
"Well, I had no idea," declared Biggs. "I'm married to a party-girl."
"Yes, yes, you are," laughed Carole. "You lucky dog," she added, as she kissed her.
We all laughed at that.
"Hey, Jeannie, come on, you promised me a dance," called Remy, a dark-haired beauty, very suave, and one of the ballers from the years Sharon had played for the local teams.
"Well, at least this one's closer to my age," remarked Jeannie, as she got up from her seat. "Maybe she'll have pity on me," she joked as she started up toward the woman. Biggs waited until she was out of earshot, then chuckled.
"What's so funny?" Carole asked.
"That's Remy," Biggs replied.
"Yeah. So?"
"If Jeannie's not careful, Remy will have her naked in her back seat before she knows what hit her," laughed Biggs. "And, the fact is, Jeannie won't care."
Now that really made us laugh.
37
Tess was sitting at the Fowlers' kitchen table, her head in her hands as she watched Ginnie frying up the chicken for an early supper. She would groan aloud when she remembered how she'd stopped the wedding.
Ginnie was also feeling a bit distraught as well, since it was her bad info that had started the whole mess for Tess, but she would occasionally snicker to herself.
"Stop, Ginnie."
"I can't help it, Tess, I can only imagine the looks on Dr. Biggs' and Carole's faces."
"Well, the look on Bishop's face was--I don't even know how to describe it. Shocked? Amazed? Oh, gawd, I have never been so embarrassed." She dropped her head down onto the table.
"That's life, sweetie. It won't be the last time you do something upsetting, I would think."
"No, you're right, probably not, but I think it will always be the 'Number One Moment.' I'd hate to think what it would take to top it."
"Well, look, I'm sorry that I was confused, I really thought that Bishop and Penny were getting married."
Detective Fowler walked through the back door as his wife said Penny's name.
"Penny? Oh, yeah. Hey, Tess, were you talking about Penny?"
"No," she replied. "Well, yes and no, I guess. Why?"
Fowler was washing his hands at the sink, his back to Tess. "I think she'll fit in pretty well, once she gets the new department up and running."
"Wait, what? New department? What are you talking about?" Tess asked, confused.
Fowler turned around and looked at Tess as he dried his hands. "You're talking about Penny Harris, right? Didn't Cap tell you? He hired her to start an audio/video department to outfit the patrol with body mics and cameras, and then he's gonna have her with us, shooting audio and video when we go on-scene."
Tess was looking at Fowler with her mouth hanging open. She clamped it shut, clenched her jaw before she spoke. "Penny's going to be working with us?"
"Yeah," Fowler said, smiling, thinking that he'd finally managed to be a step ahead of Tess for a change. "She starts this week."
"Oh, fuck," thought Tess, but she smiled sweetly back at Fowler.
Ginnie
burst out laughing.
38
The party started breaking up about eleven-thirty that night. The DJ started breaking down her equipment, and the caterer, having run out of food at about nine o'clock, had already packed up and gone. A small group of us sat around the fire pit, the fire had been lit at nightfall, and it was crackling and warm.
"Wow," I said out loud.
"Yeah," Penny agreed. "That was some party." She was reclined against me, my arms around her, as we sat together in one of the rockers. "Y'all should get married more often," she remarked to Biggs and Carole.
"Once is enough," replied Biggs. "That should hold you," she said to Carole, hugging her close, still in the Adirondack chair. They'd gotten up to dance on occasion, refill their drinks, but they had claimed the chair as theirs for the whole party.
"We could always renew our vows," commented Carole.
That led to the Pride members chiming in.
"Like re-signing with a team," said Tracey.
"Team Daley-Biggs," Jacks had offered.
"Perfect!" declared Biggs, as we all laughed.
"Has anyone seen Jeannie?" asked Carole.
"Has anyone seen Remy?" countered Biggs. That was followed by dirty laughs from the group. None of us had seen either one in quite some time, as we recalled.
"Sharon, you were kidding, weren't you?" asked Carole.
Sharon didn't answer that.
"Oh, god, really?"
Sharon just grinned, shrugged her shoulders. "Jeannie's an adult."
"Well, yes, she is," said Carole. "You're right."