Just Another Maniac Monday

by Jennie Marts

  “Health history? You haven’t been to a hospital since you had Zoey. You make your own cold medicine out of dandelions or something.”

  “That is not the point, Mother, and you know it. This is something I had a right to know.”

  Edna touched her daughter’s arm. “All right, Moon. Settle down. You’re right, I should have told you. Can you stop a minute and see it from my side? Johnny was gone. Frank stepped in and took his place, and the only way I knew to repay him was to let you believe he was your real father. He couldn’t take Johnny’s place in my heart, but he could be a father to you. I could give him that and let him be your dad. I wasn’t taking away something from you. I was giving something to him. Can you understand?”

  Moon nodded, and a single tear ran down her cheek. “Yes, I guess so. I wouldn’t ever want to hurt Dad. I mean Frank.”

  “Frank Allen is a good man and deserved the title of Dad to you,” John said to Moon. “You were raised by the man I loved as deeply as if he were my own brother. I could not have picked a better person to take care of the most important women in my life. I never want to take away from the relationship you had with Frank. I’d just like to be part of your life now. If that’s okay with you.”

  Zoey pushed back her chair and dumped Havoc into her mother’s lap. She leaned over John and gingerly hugged him. “Of course you can be part of our lives. You already are part of mine. I have plenty of room in my heart for two grandpas.”

  Edna’s heart filled with pride. Her granddaughter never ceased to astonish her. She had the most precious gift for kindness and acceptance of any situation.

  A lone tear trickled down Edna’s cheek as she looked at her daughter. “You know you did that, Moon. You gave her that loving spirit, that gentle heart that’s big enough to fill a museum. You taught her to be accepting and forgiving. I couldn’t be prouder of the both of you.”

  Moon waved a hand of dismissal at her mother. “Thanks, Mom, but I can’t take any of the credit. That girl was born that way. I was just blessed to have her as my daughter.” She turned to John, a warm smile on her face. “And I guess now I’m blessed to have a chance to have a father again. Another father. Not every girl gets two.”

  “I’m feeling pretty blessed myself right now,” John said, resting a hand on Zoey’s shoulder. “If the good Lord took me today, I would die a happy man.”

  Edna swatted at the side of the bed. “Heavens to Betsy! John Collins, do not even joke about that. You better not die on me today. We’ve got a wedding to go to.”

  Moon smiled at her mother. “Well, you’re already old, and he’s definitely something new, so I guess I’d better go borrow something blue.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Edna stood in the dressing room next to the hospital chapel. The Page Turners had pulled off a miracle and put together a wedding in four hours. Sunny had been in charge of securing the chapel and finding a chaplain. Maggie, the super shopper, was in charge of finding a dress. Cassie and Piper had the duties of food and flowers.

  Moon and Zoey had agreed to both stand up with her. They sat in the dressing room in a couple of brocade chairs that looked as if they easily could’ve been there since the seventies.

  Surprised at the little flutter of nerves in her belly, Edna checked her watch once more as they waited for the Page Turners to show up with the dress.

  The door burst open, and a flurry of activity blew in. Sunny, Cassie, Maggie, and Piper exploded into the small dressing room, their arms laden with shopping bags and boxes. Purple ribbons streamed from a cardboard box holding a gorgeous bouquet of flowers. Gold and purple ribbons wound through a selection of white roses, multicolored pansies, and shocking purple sprays of lavender.

  Edna gasped when she saw the bouquet. “Oh, Cassie, this is beautiful.”

  “I know how you love pansies, and purple is your favorite color,” Cassie said, her bright smile beaming with pleasure. “So I just told the flower shop to combine those two themes, and this is what they came up with.”

  “Well, they did a wonderful job,” Edna said. “I love it.”

  Following Cassie’s instruction, the book club unloaded the bags and boxes.

  Piper was handed a shopping bag full of ribbons and silk flowers and instructed to find Maggie’s sons Drew and Dylan and work on decorating the chapel. By the grin on her face, Piper seemed happy to be on a task with Drew, as they had been dating all summer.

  Zoey and Sunny were handed a makeup bag, a curling iron, and a bottle of nail polish and put on beauty detail.

  “What about the dress?” Edna asked as Zoey pulled a brush through her silvery hair. “I’m dying to see my wedding dress.”

  Maggie picked up a tan dress bag. “Keep in mind, I had a limited time to shop, and there was no way I was going to find a traditional white flowing wedding dress in two hours.”

  “That’s okay. I’m not a very traditional kind of gal. Plus, it’s my second wedding, and Lord knows my virgin-ship set sail a long time ago, so white’s not the best choice anyway. ”

  “Yes, I know. I took all of that into consideration, plus the fact that you have a rather exuberant personality, when I was shopping for this dress.”

  “All right, enough of the fancy vocabulary words, just show me my dress.”

  Maggie unzipped the bag and pulled out the dress. The gasp of each woman in turn echoed through the room.

  The dress was tea-length with a full skirt, made fuller by the layers of tulle poofing from beneath it. The bodice was fitted and held up with one-inch gold sequined straps. A wide strip of glittery gold sequins encircled the waist.

  The entire dress was layered in different shades of gold, from matte finish to shiny. A half-jacket of transparent tulle was studded with shiny gold beads.

  Every part of the dress sparkled and shimmered like gold mermaid scales. It was a cross between Vegas showgirl and Disney princess and bordered on the absurd.

  Edna stood speechless. She blinked. Twice. Then a huge grin crossed her face. “It’s perfect! I love it!”

  Maggie laughed. “I knew you would.”

  “Let’s try it on. I’m not getting any younger.” Edna toed off her tennis shoes and shimmied out of her slacks and blouse.

  Maggie pulled the dress off the hanger and held it out for Edna to step into. She pulled the straps up over the older woman’s shoulders then helped her with the concealed zipper in the side of the dress.

  “Uh oh,” Moon said. She pointed at the bodice cups that sat flat and empty. “It looks like you’re missing a key ingredient in the bra department. Like the boobs to fill it.”

  Edna looked down at the hollow cups. “I see what you mean.” She glanced around the room at the array of shopping bags and tissue. “Surely we can find something around here to fill ’em up with.”

  Maggie pawed through the disarray and held up some pink paper tissue from one of the gift bags. “How about this?”

  Edna shrugged. “That’ll work as well as anything.” She took it from Maggie, wadded the thin layers of tissue into two balls, and stuffed them down the bodice of her dress. She puffed out her now much larger chest. “How’s this?”

  Moon rolled her eyes. “That might be a little too much, Mother.”

  “Nonsense,” Edna said, boosting up her crinkling new chest. “It gives me a little extra flair.”

  “Mom, you’re wearing a dress that looks like Liberace and Celine Dion’s closets had a baby. How much more flair do you need?”

  Edna huffed. “You can never have enough flair.”

  “I’m glad you said that,” Maggie said, holding out a shoe box. “Here are the shoes.”

  Edna lifted the box and peeled back the tissue inside. She pulled out a pair of sparkling gold strappy sandals. “Oh, Mags, these are wonderful.”

  Taking the tissue from the shoe box, she crumpled it and added it into her considerable bosom, then stuck her tongue out at her daughter. She plopped onto a chair. “Somebody help me get these on.�
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  Her daughter shook her head, muttering, “Oh, Mother,” for the gazillionth time in her life, then knelt before Edna and helped her slide the strappy sandals onto her feet.

  Moon pulled Edna to her feet just as a knock sounded on the door. Edna tottered over and opened the door.

  John sat in a wheelchair, Havoc riding shotgun on his lap and his casted leg jutting straight out. Mac stood behind him, his hands on the grips of the chair, obviously in charge of “driving.”

  John stared at Edna, his eyes wide. He wore his charcoal gray suit and a stunned expression. Then his face broke into an ear-splitting grin, and his happiness seemed to radiate off him in waves. “Oh, Eddy, you look magnificent. My dear, I can’t wait to make you my wife.”

  Edna curtsied then twirled in a circle, like a little girl showing off her party dress. “Don’t you love it?”

  He nodded, the grin permanently affixed to his face. “I do love it. And I love you. I have to ask, though: did the bosom come with the dress or did you have to pay extra for that?”

  Edna laughed and boosted up her bodice, giving it a tiny shimmy. “They were free. What do you think? Too much?”

  “Nah. Just right.” The love he had for Edna shone from his eyes and in the adoring look on his face.

  Zoey stood to Edna’s side, her hands on her hips. “John, I mean Grandpa, you’re not supposed to see the bride before the ceremony.”

  Edna waved a hand at her granddaughter. “Oh, poo. I’ve been with him all day.”

  “I only stopped in because I have a small dilemma,” John said. “I was talking to Mac and realized I don’t have a ring.”

  “I can help with that.” Moon stepped forward and held up her hands. A variety of rings encircled her fingers. She had silver bands of several widths, some plain silver and some adorned with stones and symbols. She wiggled her fingers. “Take your pick.”

  Edna peered at the choices on her daughter’s fingers and pointed to the one on her pinkie. It was a shiny silver ring with tiny stars and crescent moons encircling the band. “It’s perfect. That is the exact right ring for Johnny and me. It signifies we’ve come full circle, and it’s surrounded by our family—our Moonbeam and our Shining Star.”

  Moon nodded at her mother, tears filling her eyes. A sweet smile crossed her face as she pulled the ring from her pinkie and placed it in her mother’s hand. “You’re right. It is perfect. I love you, Mom.”

  She wrapped her arms around her mother’s small shoulders and hugged her tight, the tissue paper making a crackling sound between them.

  “I want in on that hug.” Zoey opened her arms and embraced her mother and grandmother. She laughed then stepped back and wiped the stray tears from her cheeks. “Now I’m going to have to redo my mascara.”

  Mac handed her a folded white handkerchief. “Here, use this.”

  Zoey smiled at him. “I’m surprised you’re still here. Are you worried about John’s safety?”

  Mac shook his head. “I’m a little surprised I’m still here too. We haven’t found Donna Halloran, or her son, so I am concerned about his safety. But I guess I’m also the best man. Or the best man he could find on short notice.”

  “You helped save my life,” John said. “That makes you the best man I know in my book.”

  “As best man, I need to get you out of here so your bride can finish getting ready.” Mac pulled the wheelchair back, maneuvering a three-point turn in the hallway without knocking John’s leg into the wall. He held out his hand to Edna. “Do you want me to hold the ring?”

  Cassie gasped. “We don’t have a flower girl or a ring bearer.” She looked around the crowded dressing room as if one might have suddenly appeared. “We don’t have any little kids to fill those roles.”

  Zoey grinned and reached for Havoc. She held the little dog up. “Havoc can be the ring bearer. I’ll hook the ring to his collar, and he can prance it up the aisle to you. It will be adorable.”

  Moon shook her head. “This could only be happening at my mother’s wedding. The bride’s wearing a dress befitting either the red carpet or a piano-singing lounge act, and she’ll be followed by a canine ring bearer. I hope someone hired a juggler and an Elvis impersonator for the reception.”

  Edna’s eyes lit up, and she looked at Sunny. “Did you get Elvis for the reception?”

  Sunny burst into laughter. She and Cassie had planned an impromptu barbecue in Sunny’s backyard for the reception. “No, but I’ve still got a few hours. I’ll see what I can do.”

  “I can’t wait.” John waved at Edna. “See you at the altar.”

  She blew him a kiss. “I’ll be there, with bells on. Actually, with shiny gold sandals on.” She stepped to the side so Zoey could shut the door, and the heel of one of the gold shoes sank into the heater vent on the floor of the dressing room.

  She raised her foot, and the vent came out of the floor still hooked to her shoe. “Houston, we’ve got a problem.”

  “Oh no.” Sunny bent down and tried to wiggle Edna’s foot. She unhooked the strap and helped Edna step out of the shoe. Wiggling the shoe, she tried to get the little spike heel free of the vent.

  “Here, let me try.” Maggie took the vent from Sunny and twisted the shoe. A small snap sounded, and the heel broke off in Maggie’s hand. “Oops.”

  Edna shrugged. “That’s okay. They were hurting my feet already anyway. I’ve got bad arches, and that strap was cutting into my bunion.” She reached for her tennis shoes. “Besides, my sneakers will be more comfortable.”

  “Oh, Edna, you can’t wear tennis shoes with your wedding dress,” Cassie said.

  “I’m in my eighties,” Edna said. “I can do pretty much whatever I want.”

  Moon shook her head at Cassie. “Don’t worry about it. With that dress, and her tissue-filled bosom, no one’s even going to notice her shoes.”

  “Good point.”

  Edna plopped down in one of the chairs and slipped her tennis shoes on. “Let’s get this show on the road. I’ve got a wedding to get to.”

  Thirty minutes later, Edna stood at the door of the chapel, a bouquet of flowers in her hand and a belly full of butterflies. Who would have thought she would be tying the knot as she was getting ready to kick the bucket?

  It didn’t matter if she had ten more years with Johnny, or ten more hours. She wanted to spend every minute she had with him. Talking with him. Laughing with him. And kissing him. Especially kissing him. She might be old, but she wasn’t dead yet.

  Her daughter and granddaughter stood before her, both wearing gorgeous deep purple dresses that Maggie had found for them that afternoon.

  Sunny had pulled Zoey’s hair into a gorgeous up-do, tendrils of her blonde hair loose and curling along her neck. She’d left one side of her bangs lower to cover the purple knot visible on Zoey’s forehead and joked that at least it matched the color of the dress.

  Cassie had rebraided Moon’s hair into a complicated twist and tucked tiny sprigs of purple baby’s breath into the braid. Maggie had purchased some cute black sandals for them, and they both looked gorgeous.

  They each held a simple bouquet of white and purple roses, the stems tied together with crisscrossing gold ribbon. Zoey had used some extra gold and purple ribbon to tie a bow to Havoc’s collar, the silver ring hanging from the bottom of the bow. She held the little dog, its body visibly shaking in her arms. Who knew if the dog was just excited or if it had to pee?

  Edna poked her head around the door to see who was in attendance for her big day.

  The list of invited guests was small. The Page Turners, of course. And their families.

  Maggie had invited her new boyfriend Jeremy and her sons Drew and Dylan. The boys had come with Maggie to help with the preparations, leaving Jeremy in charge of bringing Mabel, his grandmother.

  Mabel, who was one of Edna’s closest friends, had invited a man friend, and she needed Jeremy to pick him up from the nursing home on their way over. Their group now took up the first
two rows of the tiny chapel.

  Mabel’s spunk was similar to Edna’s, and she wore a large pink hat with a brightly colored floral print dress. Her date, a man named Lon, looked rather plain sitting next to her, wearing a brown suit with the remaining strands of his hair combed across the top of his head.

  Jeremy looked dashing and handsome, his expensive dark suit and starched white shirt in contrast to Lon’s slightly wrinkled and disheveled outfit. Both of Maggie’s sons wore khakis and button-down dress shirts.

  Like the older men, their looks also conflicted. Drew looked comfortable and confident, leaning back against the pew. His younger brother Dylan, who to Maggie’s dismay must have grown an inch overnight, appeared quite uncomfortable as he pulled at his too-tight collar and shifted in the snug pants that now weren’t quite long enough.

  Jake wore a dress shirt and khakis as well, but as noticed by all the women he walked by in the hospital, his clothes fit perfectly. The green of his shirt brought out the emerald color of his eyes, and the cut of the fabric outlined his muscular physique. He gave off an air of confidence and contentment, his arm casually resting along the top of the bench.

  He had arrived earlier with Sunny, who now sat next to him, nestled against his outstretched arm. The light pink summer dress she chose looked great with her blonde hair, and her face shone with a happy smile and excitement for her friend.

  Edna’s neighbor and Jake’s grandfather Walter had arrived a few minutes earlier with his new bride Helen. They slid into the pew behind Jake and Sunny, and the four of them were the only guests sitting on the groom’s side of the church.

  Piper had ridden over with Cassie, and the two of them sat behind Maggie’s group on the bride’s side.

  Cassie, surprisingly, was on her own, claiming some poor excuse for Matt having to work and the kids being too busy. Edna couldn’t blame a couple of teenagers for not wanting to attend an old lady’s wedding, but Matt’s absence struck an odd chord with her. She’d have to ask Cassie about that later.