I felt my stomach sink, and saw the look of disappointment and anger in Daniel’s eyes.
“Let’s go,” he said, a little over a whisper.
I squeezed his hand in response. I was hurt, but thought he should confront the woman who had given him the Bible.
“Let’s go,” he said again, louder, this time standing up mid sermon. I got up with him and walked out.
“That was fucked up,” he swore, as we walked to the car, hand in hand. “Sorry for my language but I’m at a loss as to what to say…you know, how dare they!”
I felt his anger deeply, but chose to remain calm. Racism was something I’d encountered from time to time, and to a point, I’d come to anticipate it. “Baby, people can and they will dare to speak out against us,” I told him, well aware of the many future moments when another such incident would occur.
He shook his head in response. “I can’t stand to think that someone would mean you harm simply because of the tone of your skin. I can’t bear the thought that I am not able to prevent something like this from ever occurring again.”
“Daniel, you’re such a protector,” I stated. “I love you for this, but there are some things you can’t protect me from.”
“I hear ya’,” he stated, clicking the car doors open then dashing to the passenger side to open the door for me.
“So, getting married here is out,” he announced.
“You could confront them…”
“No,” he said firmly, as he started the ignition up. “I’ve been going to that church for time, but not any longer. Getting married here is out.”
“The pastor at my church could marry us anywhere. How about we try that instead?” I suggested.
“Okay,” he replied solemnly. “I’m so sorry about all this,” he added.
“Daniel, don’t you dare apologize for someone else’s small mindedness.”
“Small mindedness? That’s putting it mildly,” he said.
“Let it go, baby,” I suggested. “The last thing you should do is let it get to you.”
He nodded in response, though clearly still angry. We drove in silence for a while before he asked, “Did Duayne go to church with you?”
“Yep,” I replied quickly. “All for show I’m sure,” I told him. I hadn’t been back to church since my relationship with Duayne had come to an end. I wasn’t keen on bumping into him there. Since then, Sundays had become a day of quiet reflection. I’d reflect on my week and try to discern God’s intention for the week ahead.
“I see,” he said somberly. Silence ensued again before he perked up. “You know, Craig’s a lay pastor, maybe he could help?”
I was a bit surprised. “Is there anything Craig doesn’t do?”
Daniel laughed nervously. “Come to think of it, probably not.”
“Well, let’s hope he doesn’t do crime.”
It took Daniel a moment to get the joke. “Aw, baby girl, you killed it,” he laughed away.
I smiled, happy to have taken his mind off the nasty incident earlier, even if just for a moment.
Plans for our wedding underway, I found the nerve to go back to my apartment. I’d given the landlord notice and planned to move out eventually. The furniture would remain. I would only take items of sentimental value with me, most of which could fit in my suitcase. Daniel jimmied the lock and we got in through the side door since I didn’t have keys - they’d been left behind the night Duayne had assaulted me.
I could tell by the way things had been left in the apartment, Duayne had been there after the fact. How long ago I didn’t know. I threw a few books that were in the kitchen, into the rucksack I’d brought along with me.
“Better Homes and Garden Cookbook?” Daniel stated, glancing at some of the books in the bag. “I see you’ve been holding out on me, sugarpie!”
I smiled in response. “Not holding out on you, baby. Everything in its time.” I imagined I could survive on only his love and all of him.
Suddenly, I felt my stomach dip. I saw the glass door shatter before I heard it. Everything else was a blur. In slow motion I saw Daniel fall to the ground, clutching his shoulder. He’d been shot. He reached for his gun and shot back. The assailant returned the shot. Forgetting the danger that I might be in, I ran towards Daniel. Stay back he motioned.
I waited, feeling helpless. He tossed his mobile phone to me, and I used it to call the Police. As I dialed, Daniel propped himself up against the wall, leaving behind a red stain. His face turned pale from shock. “Now’s as good a time as any to profess your undying love for me,” he said, half joking. He was shaking now, and I dashed to his side, despite his warning earlier. He’d been shot in the shoulder.
“Man this hurts,” he said, shifting to change from his seated position. Kneeling beside him, I beckoned him to lay down in my arms.
“I’m so sorry Daniel, I shouldn’t have let you get involved from the beginning. You should have just left me where I was and walked away, you should’ve…”
“If I had to do it all over, I would do it all again, babe. No doubt,” he said. “Now, don’t you give up on me just yet, we’ve still got a lifetime of lovin’ to get through,” he stated, shaking as he spoke. I leaned in to embrace him and inadvertently made the pain worse. He moaned, then laughed in response, fitfully.
“Sorry Daniel, I didn’t mean to…”
“Now’s the moment you profess your eternal love for me, yes?” he joked.
I smiled in between tears. “Daniel you know I love you,” I told him, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow.
“I’ve felt it, and I know that now,” he said, trembling. The paramedics seemed to be taking their time in arriving. The thought crossed my mind to drive him to the General Hospital, but I worried that Duayne was still lingering in the area. In the meanwhile, Daniel fought to keep his eyes open as I talked to him. I stemmed the blood flow with my cardigan, and this seemed to help somewhat. The bullet’s probably still lodged in him, I thought.
“Baby, stay with me,” I begged as he drifted in and out of consciousness.
The Police and the paramedics came at the same time. I rode with Daniel to the General, separating only from him when he went through surgery to remove the bullet from his shoulder.
I called Jolène once he was stabilized. She burst into tears on the phone, grateful that he was okay, and grateful that I was with him. She immediately left home to join us at the hospital.
When the effects of the sedative given during surgery wore off and he’d come to, Daniel smiled and stated, “I say we get married sooner rather than later.”
“Daniel…”
“Teme. You. Me.”
“Daniel, you know how I feel. What’s important right now is you recovering,” I reminded him.
“Sugarpie, come on now, I’m sure we can do both?” he urged.
I sighed in response.
He interrupted me mid thought. Placing my hand in his, he stated, “Temwani, I will always love you. It’s inevitable that love will change, but I truly believe my love for you will get deeper in time, and will stand the test of time. So will you go on this journey with me? Will you let me love you for the rest of our lives, and can the rest of our lives start today, or at least 72 hours from now?”
“Daniel, let’s talk after you get some sleep.”
“No sleep for me now. Sleep can wait. One thing I know for sure is if today were my last day on this here earth, I would have wanted to spend it with you, as your husband. Let’s get married sooner rather than later,” he insisted.
“Okay,” I replied, slightly overwhelmed by Daniel’s swift planning.
“So, we go to Geneva, I ask your Dad for your hand, then we take it from there,” he said. He abruptly sat up in bed, hurting himself in the process, and wincing slightly from the pain. A moment later he was back to his plans. “Let’s do it. Book the flights. Apply for our marriage licence. 72 hours. Fly back, get married. Let’s do this while we can.”
“It’s no
t that simple, Daniel,” I replied. “You may not be cleared to fly, having being injured and all, plus the police haven’t caught whoever it was that did this to you.”
“I’d put all bets on it being Duayne,” he said abruptly.
“If that’s the case, he’s still at large,” I warned.
“All the more reason for us to split. Go to Geneva for a while. See your folks, catch up with old friends…”
Jolène burst into the room and dashed to Daniel’s side.
“I’m okay, Ma’,” he said. “You’re just the person I need here to convince this here lady of mine to quit town for a bit.”
“Quit town?” she asked, alarmed. “Why would you want to do that!”
“To get married,” he stated. “I was thinkin’ we could go to Switzerland for a bit, meet her folks, I’d ask her Dad for her hand in marriage, then we’d elope?”
“No. You’re havin’ a proper wedding, right here in Texas,” she insisted.
“Mom. With all due respect, it’ll be our weddin’ and we can have it anywhere we darn please, yes?”
“I’ve been waitin’ for this for a long time now…” she argued.
“Temwani’s been waitin’ for this for a long time now too, Ma’. I’ve been waitin’ for this for a long time.”
I looked at the two of them fighting over logistical details. I was happy to do whatever, so long as my family and closest friends could be in attendance. “How about we do both?” I proposed. “A registry wedding in Switzerland, and one here in Texas?”
Daniel stared back at his mom for a moment then at me. “I can dig that.”
“Whatever makes you happy,” Jolène stated. “I’ll be there.”
“Good,” I replied, happy the power paradigm had shifted back to Daniel and I.
“Craig’s a hard man to pin down,” Daniel advised. “He was in London for a bit last week, but should be back now. Maybe we can try reaching him again today?”
“I’ll get in touch with him,” I offered. I’d sent Johnny a message earlier about needing to hold fort at the office while Daniel was indisposed and Craig missing in action. Johnny was all too happy to oblige. “I gave him one of the spare keys,” I mentioned.
Daniel stiffened slightly, then replied, “I trust in the fact that you trust him.”
Jolène interrupted, “I sure hope he’s not out there to use and abuse.”
I rolled my eyes in response. “I’m pretty sure he’s not,” I replied hotly.
She opened her mouth to protest but Daniel put an end to it. “Make nice, will you?” he requested.
“Okay,” she replied, taken aback at her son’s resistance to her suggestions.
A bubbly young, brunette haired nurse popped in, and in good time. “Can I do a few checks on you now?” she asked of Daniel.
“Sure,” he replied, straightening up slightly in bed.
“I see the ladies of your life are here, keeping you company,” she said cheerfully, glancing quickly at the chart on the wall, before grabbing the folder at the end of his bed and making some quick notes before starting her observations.
“On a scale of 1-10, can you rate your pain level? 10 being very painful, 1 being not painful at all?”
“A 6,” he replied. “Still a bit of pain in my shoulder. My chest hurts a bit too – it’s been a bit hard to breathe.”
“Okay,” she replied. “I’ll give you a top up on your pain meds.” Her accent was decidedly and unreservedly English. “Your chest pain…you’re asthmatic?”
“Yep,” Daniel mentioned, surprising me. I hadn’t seen any inhalers around the house at all. “I haven’t had the need to take my meds for some time now…”
“You know you need to,” she replied. “I’ll get the doctor to write you up a new script for your preventer.”
Daniel nodded in reply, and my heart heaved, feeling for him and having a sense of his mortality. I couldn’t bear the thought of losing him.
“Blood pressure good, temperature okay. Doctor will be in shortly for a further evaluation,” she promised.
“How soon can I leave?” Daniel asked anxiously.
“The doctor can have a chat to you about that,” she replied evasively. “We do have to monitor you for a while longer.” I could tell Daniel would rather be elsewhere. Lying in bed wasn’t anything he’d be happy doing, even if it was for the purpose of him resting and recovering. Noting his disappointment, the nurse added, “Your wife’s welcome to stay overnight here with you. You’re also free to walk around when you wish.”
Wife. He didn’t correct her, and instead smiled at me intently. His mom, feeling left out, stated, “And I won’t be going anywhere either.”
The nurse smiled slyly, and winked at me inconspicuously. “Be sure to let the doctor know you’ll be well taken care of at home, and he might consider an early discharge,” she suggested, motioning her head towards me, to Jolène’s dismay. She mothered Daniel too much, and I’m sure she would have wanted him at her’s instead. All the same, despite her attitude being over the top at times, we both loved her for it. He needed her in his corner.
Johnny came by the hospital to check in on Daniel. Though he hadn’t known either of us very long, he was turning out to be a good friend to us both.
“Hey buddy,” he said, pulling up a stool and edging closer to Daniel’s hospital bed. “Hi Teme,” he said, nodding his head to me in acknowledgement.
“Hi Johnny. Thanks for earlier,” I said in reply. I couldn’t get in touch with Jude or Shania at the time, so I’d called him in my distress over Daniel getting shot. He’d come over straight away, and waited at my place while the police did a thorough search of the premises, cordoned off sections, and compiled evidence.
“Don’t mention it,” he replied. Turning to Daniel, he said, “You look like you’re ready to take on the world,” he joked, nudging him playfully in the ribs.
Daniel laughed in response. “I wish.”
“Anything I can get you, mate?” Johnny asked.
“Some Texan style barbeque ribs, some kolashes, and an ice cold beer…”
“No beer while you’re on your pain meds,” I interjected, in protest.
“I’ll see what I can do,” Johnny said, adding “Okay, without the beer,” when he felt my gaze stare him down.
My phone buzzed in my handbag, and I checked it immediately. An email confirmation had just come through re the background check we’d run on Johnny. Daniel wasn’t aware that I’d briefly spoken with Johnny about his past. The background check was complete, and by the looks of it, it said nothing different from what he’d already told me.
“Anything I need to be aware of?” Daniel asked. He was too perceptive.
Johnny and I locked eyes for a moment before I offered, “The background check we ran on Johnny’s come through.”
Daniel shot me a strange look, wondering why I was mentioning it in front of Johnny.
“Johnny’s told me a bit about his past,” I explained. “I didn’t think him knowing we were doing a check on him would be an issue.”
“Okay,” Daniel replied. “So, results are in? Do tell.”
Johnny took a deep breath before stating, “So, a year ago I went off the deep end, got caught with some Coke and some Molly or MDMA, at work. A couple of the guys in the firm I worked for were doing with, but I took the fall.”
Daniel sighed deeply. “And?”
“They pinned me for supplying and using. I pleaded guilty, and cleaned up my act. At least I tried to. It’s been a while since I last used.”
“I see,” Daniel replied, running his thumb over his chin which was lightly peppered with stubble.
“I don’t see this as an issue – that and him working for you,” I stated. “His work history is impeccable otherwise…”
“You don’t have to explain,” Daniel stated. “If you’re alright with it, I’m alright with him working for the firm.”
“Great,” I replied.
“Thanks,”
Johnny said, slightly taken aback. “Though, I understand if you don’t want to go any further with this. I understand your reputation is at stake, and you may not want to be associated with me…”
“Nonsense,” Daniel replied, reaching for the TV remote. Ads were on, and it all suddenly seemed very loud. He turned down the volume. “I believe in redemption and starting over. I’m not going to stand in the way of that when it comes to you or anyone else for that matter.”
A flash of emotion swept across Johnny’s face, and his eyes briefly watered. He caught my gaze and averted eye contact immediately.
“Thanks for that. I’m forever in your debt,” he said.
“I’ll hold you to that,” Daniel said in response, before adding, “Where’s that ice cold beer you promised me…”
I raised a brow and kissed my teeth in response.
“Only kidding baby, only kidding,” Daniel said. “An ice cold soda – a Dr. Pepper to be precise, would be real nice right about now.”
Johnny stood up immediately. “I’ll see what I can do mate,” he vowed.
From the way Johnny jumped to fulfil Daniel’s requests, I could tell from the start that the two of them together would be trouble.
6
KNOTS AND CROSSES
In the end, we took the 72 hour license option and made it official by tying the knot in a small low key ceremony. Just the two of us. Johnny was our witness.
The only word I could use to describe Daniel that morning as he stood before me at the altar was beautiful. His tanned skin shone a light bronze, his hair was trimmed with a few wayward curls loose. He had tears in his eyes when I stood before him, dressed in a white lace gown. “You’re absolutely breathtaking,” he said. “I can’t believe you’ll be all mine, forever.”
“You’re beautiful and our love is beautiful,” I told him. “I can’t wait for you to be mine as well. I can’t wait to be Mrs. Brennan.”
The Minister said a blessing over us both. “Take these rings as a symbol of your undying and eternal love for each other. May your love never wane, may it always trust, may it always hope, and may it always believe.”
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