These Sheltering Walls: A Cane River Romance
Page 37
“I’m just… so… happy.” Henry’s voice came out in a squeak.
“Well, be happy without any tears, okay?” Patsy dabbed at the corners of her eyes. “You look gorgeous. Almost as nice as the groom.”
Henry stopped crying long enough to choke out a laugh. Patsy had been telling her for months that Gideon was too good-looking for a tuxedo and if they didn’t want him to overshadow the rest of the wedding party, Henry would have to make him dress down.
Alice opened the door on the other side of the room. “Time to go, ladies! The crowd is getting restless and by the crowd, you know I mean that crowd we have in the front. So, let’s head around the back and come up the front steps. I’ll give Mrs. Bernard a wave and she’ll start the wedding march.”
“Thank you for all your help.” Giving Alice a quick hug, Henry squeezed through the doorway. “With your tummy and my dress, we might just be stuck here forever.”
“Well, my tummy is on a deadline so, probably not forever.” Alice squeezed her back.
The sunlight was bright for a December day but the air was crisp and cool. The path around Isle Brevelle seemed to go on forever, but within seconds she was standing at the top of the steps.
“Ready, Henry?” Without the old straw hat or navy raincoat, Bix almost looked like a different man. Her offered his arm and Henry took it, feeling her throat close up with emotion. Kimberly had thought Frank Pascal should walk her down the aisle, and her mamere had been upset that Henry had chosen some “old nobody”, but Henry would not be dissuaded. Bix had helped bring Henry and Gideon together in his own crazy way, and she would forever be grateful to him.
“My two favorite historians gettin’ married,” he said. “I just wish I hadn’t sold my Caddy. You two woulda looked mighty fine drivin’ away in it.”
“I agree,” Henry said, imagining the spectacle of a wedding party trundling through town in a bright green Cadillac, probably with cans on long streamers rattling behind.
The music changed to the somber tones of the march and Henry took a deep breath. She would have been perfectly happy with a private ceremony, just her and Gideon. And Patsy and Denny as witnesses, of course. And Father Tom officiating. But there had been a small problem with that plan.
As she walked up the aisle, she couldn’t take her eyes from Gideon, standing so tall and handsome at the front of the room. He smiled at her and then rolled his eyes a little to the right. She followed his cue and saw Kimberly weeping, but still as beautiful as ever. Henry started to smile, remembering how they’d joked that Henry was a messy crier.
But even with that warning, she still felt her eyes burn as she saw Gideon’s parents beaming with love and pride in the front row. Bernice sat behind them, and Blue next to her. Familiar faces turned in her direction and she could hardly see them all through the blur of tears.
Father Tom stood at the front, Father Marcel on one side looking faintly irritated. Father Toussaint stood on the other, tall and straight. And next to him was Father Luke, Father Pierre, Father Gabriel, and Father Andre. Father Sal was in the front row, his head bowed in what may have been prayer but was probably an early nap.
As Bix took her hand and placed it in Gideon’s, he whispered, “And don’t forget you can always ask advice from Ruby and me. We’re old hands at this. We’ve been through it all. Why, just yesterday, we―”
“Thank you,” Henry said and gave him a big hug. “For everything.”
He made his way to the pew, wiping his eyes. Ruby patted his arm and readjusted her hat.
As they turned toward the altar, Gideon leaned over and whispered, “Ready?”
“Ready,” Henry answered and realized she meant it.
As Father Tom asked the congregation to stand, Henry found the lines of a poem running through her mind. Gideon had read it to her once as they stood in the aisle of By the Book. But what to me are north and south...
Henry turned to Gideon and smiled. They weren’t wanderers anymore. They had found a home, and it had been in the most unlikely place: each other.
Dear Reader,
I hope you enjoyed Henry and Gideon’s story. The idea for this book came one night in late October when I saw a young man sitting alone on a bench in the middle of the night. At first I thought he looked suspicious, and then I wondered, as writers usually do, if there could be another reason for him to be out there. What if he knew he looked like a criminal, but was keeping someone safe? And so arrived the idea of Gideon, a man who was trying to rebuild his life after committing a crime.
The Cane River Creole National Historical Park is only a few miles from Natchitoches, Louisiana. The history preserved in the outbuildings and the plantation houses is worth a day visit or two. I tried to make Henry’s daily life as accurate as possible, but I did take a few liberties, since the real site doesn’t run large tours and exists mostly as a self-guided park.
Angola Prison, where Gideon was an inmate, does have an agreement with small private universities, like New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, to provide college scholarships to a few prisoners. Since a law was passed barring prisoners from qualifying from Pell Grants, these programs are one of the few avenues for a prisoner to get a higher degree.
Thank you for spending time with Gideon and Henry. I hope you enjoyed their story as much as I enjoyed writing it! The next book in this series is called “Only Through Love” and will release July 30th.
Blessings,
Mary Jane