Flirting With Forever

by Molly Cannon

  They made the turn onto Main Street, heading around the square, and stopped while the band played and the twirlers twirled their batons. They were still on the side street with only a few people lining the way.

  “This is going to take awhile, isn’t it?” Theo shouted back to her.

  She took the opportunity to walk up to the front of the float. She squeezed Lizzie’s arm. “Just keep smiling and waving. Theo, you can start the ceremony once we make our first stop on Main Street. That’s where most of the people will be. Including Lizzie and Matthew’s folks, right?”

  Lizzie nodded. “I told them we had a surprise and told them where to sit.”

  Theo smiled. “Sounds good, then. Irene, you better sit down. It looks like we’re moving again.”

  Irene hurried to sit back down. She could see Romeo’s Pizza float around the first corner. Romeo was tossing dough in the air, thrilling the crowd as the pizza dough flew high before he caught it with one hand. The women from the Posey Pot were handing out flowers to the crowd. She was still hoping to get a glimpse of Nell’s Rise-N-Shine masterpiece. Nell had certainly done a good job of building suspense. And then the shroud came down as they moved onto Main Street.

  It turned the corner ahead of them and a big, shiny chrome diner came into sight. The sun came out from behind a cloud to bathe it in heavenly light. Irene had to admit it was breathtaking. It was an open-faced replica of the Rise-N-Shine. A broad counter stretched across the float while Bertie with her ever-present pencil stuck behind her ear, wearing her standard apron, served pie to customers sitting on the stools.

  Irene couldn’t deny that it was impressive. But she didn’t know if being shiny was what it took to win the trophy. She still thought a real honest-to-goodness wedding gave them a fighting chance. As far as she was concerned, the Penelope Bottoms trophy was still up for grabs. A young couple saying vows evoked feelings of young love that would inspire the sentimental in the crowd. And the cupcakes were another secret weapon. Wedding cake white cupcakes decorated with white icing and the words “I Do” written on the top of each one. Those should get her a few votes, too.

  But no matter what happened, she was thrilled to be helping Lizzie and Matthew get married, and with Theo’s help it was going to be great. They moved along the route until they came to their first stop on Main Street. Theo gave her a signal, and she helped her aunt down so they could hand out cupcakes. Theo smiled and turned on his microphone.

  “My friends, we are gathered here today to celebrate one of life’s greatest moments, to give recognition to the worth and beauty of committed marital love, and to add our best wishes to the words, which shall unite Matthew and Lizzie in marriage.”

  An audible gasp escaped from the people lining the street. Then a smattering of applause started when they realized what was happening. Lizzie and Matthew smiled and waved at their parents who all looked shocked. Lizzie’s mom started crying. “My baby girl.”

  Irene handed her a cupcake, hoping that would help.

  Matthew’s mother, not to be outdone, reached for two cupcakes. “Matthew looks so handsome.” Then she started bawling, too.

  “The commitment that the two of you are about to make is the most important commitment that two people can make. You are about to create something new, the marriage relationship, an entity that never ends. I would ask that you both remember to treat yourself and each other with dignity and respect; to remind yourself often of what brought you together today.”

  Irene’s heart caught in her throat, thinking how the time she’d spent the last few weeks with Theo had reminded her of all of those things. She looked up, and he caught her eye and smiled.

  “Matthew Michael Long will you have this woman to be your wedded wife?”

  The groom spoke clearly. “I will.”

  “Will you love and comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, keep yourself only unto her as long as you both shall live?”

  He looked at her, love shining from his face. “I will.”

  “Lizzie will you have this man to be your wedded husband?”

  The bride answered happily. “I will.”

  “Will you love and comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, keep yourself only unto him as long as you both shall live?”

  “I will.” Her smile lit up the already sunny day.

  Since it is your intention to enter into marriage, join your right hands, and repeat after me:

  “I, Matthew, take you, Lizzie, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, as long as we both shall live.”

  Matthew repeated the words and placed a ring on her finger.

  Lizzie did the same.

  “Matthew and Lizzie, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Congratulations, you may kiss your bride.”

  Matthew grabbed Lizzie and kissed her with a passion that had the crowd cheering.

  Theo smiled and said, “May I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Long.”

  The couple smiled like their faces might break and waved some more. Lizzie’s mother ran up to the side. “Oh, sweetie, why didn’t you let us know? I would have worn a dress and had my hair done.”

  “You look great, Mama. I love you.”

  Her father came up and took her by the arm. “Come on, Mama. We’ll talk to her after the parade. We’re happy for you, honey.”

  “I love you, both,” Lizzie yelled as the float started moving again.

  Aunt Jo said she wanted to keep handing out cupcakes, so Irene got back on the float. The bride and groom looked like they might float away with happiness, so Irene considered it a huge success. Theo looked happy, too. She used the rail to join them at the front. Theo was congratulating the couple. “And next stop will be shorter, since you are already married.”

  It seemed the word had spread because the applause along the route grew and grew. Folks shouted congratulations and good wishes as they passed. Irene took the time to speak to Theo.

  “Good job, Elvis. You were wonderful.” She did a little jig.

  Theo smiled, clearly pleased with the situation. “So, what do you think? Are we going to bring home the Penelope Bottoms trophy?”

  She beamed. “You know, we just might.”

  He laughed. “I can’t believe I married them.”

  “Only seven more times to go. I better get back so I can hand out more cupcakes.”

  Irene was feeling good about everything. The crowds were enthusiastic. Flags were waving all around, and she was looking forward to the picnic lunch she planned to share with Theo once this was done.

  They stopped two more times.

  Theo did his part. “I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

  And the newlyweds kissed to the delight of the folks of Everson, who hooted and hollered their appreciation. They started moving again to do it all over again.

  Her aunt said they were running low on cupcakes, but Irene was prepared. She’d just pulled a tray of cupcakes out from under the big wooden wedding cake when the float lurched sideways before slamming into something solid. Irene was thrown down, and cupcakes went flying everywhere. People were yelling and running around.

  “What in the world?” Irene could see that Lizzie had fallen down. Matthew was helping her to her feet.

  “We’re fine,” he said. “But I think we’re going to go find our families now.”

  “Thanks for everything, Mrs. Cornwell.” Lizzie gave her a hug before they hopped off the float.

  Irene looked around. “Is everyone else okay? Where’s Theo?” She tried not to panic as she slid off the side of the float and found her aunt safe and sound on the street.

  “Are you okay, Irene?”

  “I’m fine, Aunt Jo, but I don’t see Theo.” The alarm she felt was racing through her veins.

  “Here I am. I tumbled of
f the front but caught myself on the front rail, so I’m okay. I went to check on Oliver.”

  “Oh, thank goodness, Theo. Are you sure you’re okay?” She rushed to hug him, not caring who saw.

  He hugged her back, rubbing his hand up and down her back. “I may have a couple of bruises, but nothing serious. Oliver is pretty shook up, though. He ran into the back of the Rise-N-Shine float.”

  “Oh no.” Irene rushed up to the truck. The driver’s door was open, and Oliver sat with his head down. “Oliver, are you hurt? What happened?”

  “The gol-durned mirrors on that float blinded me when we turned the corner. I couldn’t see that they’d stopped and slammed right into them.”

  “But you’re not hurt?”

  “Of course not, missy. We weren’t going more than three miles an hour when I hit them. We should check on them, though.”

  “You’re right. You sit still. Theo and I will check and be right back.”

  “Miss Irene?” Oliver said before she could leave. “I’m awfully sorry.”

  “That’s okay, Oliver.” She patted his arm and ran up to the Rise-N-Shine float. It was chaos. People wandered around, arguing about what had happened. The first collision had set off a chain reaction, however, and the Rise-N-Shine had run into the back of the Posey Pot float. Flowers were scattered everywhere.

  “I saw the whole thing.” Arnie Duncan ran up to Irene and Theo, pointing to the Posey Pot float. “After you hit the Rise-N-Shine, they banged into the Posey Pot, and then they banged into Romeo’s just as he’d tossed his pizza dough into the air. It landed on one of the horses, spooking it. I think that horse is still running.”

  “This is a disaster,” Irene declared.

  People and horses milled around aimlessly. Irene could see the rest of the parade had stopped, too. Word must have gotten to them, and she saw the mayor running across the square toward the mayhem.

  The sound of a siren filled the air and Irene’s heart sank as she realized someone had been hurt. Speculation flew all around her.

  Theo was wandering from float to float, checking on folks. Irene hurried over to where he stood with his hands on his hips.

  “Hey, Theo. I just heard someone say Dinah Jones got knocked over and was on her way to the hospital. Do you know if she’s okay?”

  He nodded. “That’s partly right. Her water broke, and she went into labor. That’s why Linc took her to the hospital.”

  The news about Dinah was an exciting, bright spot in the catastrophe that was the Everson parade. “Oh my. That’s wonderful. Linc must be beside himself.”

  “Jake and Marla Jean and her parents went with them.”

  Irene looked around at the street full of piled-up floats. “Oh, Theo, I broke the parade.” She looked distraught, and he threw a comforting arm around her shoulder. She welcomed his act of comfort.

  He nudged her under the chin. “I wouldn’t be so quick to take the blame. I’d say Nell broke it by blinding Oliver with her big, shiny toy.”

  “Poor Oliver. He feels terrible. At the very least this probably disqualifies me for the trophy.” They started walking back toward the other floats. “I need to talk to the sheriff. I don’t want Oliver to get in trouble.”

  “If Officer Melber sees us, there could be trouble. We aren’t on his favorite-person list.”

  “He’s probably going to try to give that poor horse a ticket, knowing him.” She laughed in spite of the situation.

  Sheriff Watson spotted them and waved them over. “Irene, it’s going to take awhile to sort all of this out, but from what I can tell Oliver hit the Rise-N-Shine float. And everything else was a chain reaction.”

  “That’s about right, but I want to take responsibility for any damages. Oliver is my employee, so if he faces any fines, I’ll handle that, too.” Irene wanted to fix things. Money probably wasn’t the only answer this time, but it was always good for soothing ruffled feathers.

  “That’s all I need for now, but I’ll talk to you again in a bit. It might take awhile to sort everything out.” With a nod, Sheriff Watson walked over to Romeo to get his version of events.

  “Can I have your attention, everyone.” They all turned as Mayor Ross Wolfson climbed the steps to the gazebo, speaking into a microphone set up for later festivities. “As of now, the parade is officially canceled.”

  There were a few scattered boos from the crowd.

  “But the picnic, games, and fireworks will go on as scheduled. We apologize for the problems this morning. See you all this afternoon.”

  Nell came running up with Charlie on her heels. “Irene Cornwell, if it’s the last thing I do, you will pay for this.”

  Charlie tried to settle her down. “Nell, Irene didn’t do anything.”

  “What do you mean? She ran into us.” Nell shook Charlie’s arm off and tried to get in Irene’s face.

  Theo stepped between the two women. “Nell, she wasn’t driving, so just back off.”

  Bertie came up to the group, taking her daughter by her arm. “Come on, Nell. This isn’t helping anything.”

  Irene felt terrible. “Is everyone okay, Bertie?”

  “Everyone is fine. Whooee. This is a parade we won’t forget for a good, long while.” Bertie seemed to think the entire thing was funny.

  Nell grabbed her neck and let out a moan. “Well, I’m not sure I’m all right. I think I have whiplash. I should sue you for everything you’re worth.”

  Bertie put her hands on her hips. “Girl, you hush your mouth. I didn’t raise you to be so nasty.”

  The girl huffed at her mother. “Oh, sure, take her side. After all the work I did.” She looked like she might cry, and Irene felt a flash of sympathy for her.

  Bertie dragged her off. “I told you not to use mirrored stuff. You better hope we’re the ones that don’t get sued, young lady.”

  Before they got too far, Sheriff Watson was waving them over. “Nell, I need to ask you a few questions.”

  Irene needed to get back to her float and talk to Oliver. Theo stopped her. “Listen, I need to run over to the hospital and see how things are going with Dinah. I’ll see you at the picnic, okay?”

  “Sure. Give everyone my regards.” Irene gave him a quick hug. “I can’t wait to see that baby.”

  Once Theo left, Charlie fell into step beside her. “Are you okay, Irene?”

  “I’m fine, Charlie. Where were you when everything went to hell in a handbasket?”

  “I was one of the customers at the diner’s counter. I do believe I’ve finally seen Nell’s true nature. Why didn’t you warn me?” Charlie looked shocked.

  Irene wrinkled her nose. “Well, you seemed to like her, so I didn’t want to say anything. Theo found out about Nell after he first got to town.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “She accused me of being a black widow.”

  “As in killing your husbands?” He laughed.

  Irene nodded. “Afraid so.”

  “That’s dumb, but I can’t say I’m surprised.” He was quiet for a minute. “I have a confession to make.”

  She stopped to look at him. “What kind of confession, Charlie?”

  “Now that I think about it, the black widow thing doesn’t surprise me. Nell actually contacted me before I came to town. She said you were misusing my father’s money and playing fast and loose with an old boyfriend. I came to town to try to take you down.” He looked like he was feeling guilty.

  Irene’s blood began to boil as she listened to his admission. But then she took a deep breath, giving him some credit for coming clean. “Well, well, I was suspicious when you showed up like a bolt out of the blue.”

  “The point is, it didn’t work like she thought it would. I came to town expecting to find a frivolous woman spending my father’s hard-earned money on clothes and cars and fancy shoes.”

  “I have a few of those things, Charlie. I’m not a nun, you know.”

  “You know what I mean. But I’ve studied the foundat
ion, and you do more good work than my father could have hoped to expect.”

  “Thank you. That means a lot to me.”

  “So, I wanted to let you know I’ll be going back to Dallas soon. I won’t be underfoot anymore.”

  “Why don’t we talk about that?” Irene was glad he’d come clean.

  He looked surprised. “Really? What did you have in mind?”

  “Did you really lose your last job?”

  He shrugged. “I quit. I really did want to find something more meaningful.”

  “If you stay in Everson, your work with the foundation can be as meaningful as you want it to be. I know your father would be happy about that.”

  Charlie looked a little choked up, and Irene allowed him a moment to collect himself. “Don’t give me an answer now. But think about it. I could use another voice to help me keep those Dallas lawyers in line.”

  He smiled and grabbed her hand. “I’ll give it some thought.”

  “And one more thing. You’ll have to move out of the house. Having a grown stepson in the house cramps my style.”

  He laughed. “Mine, too, Mom.”

  “It’s a girl.” Linc handed Theo a cigar the minute he walked through the waiting room door.

  “Congratulations, Linc. Does she have a name yet?”

  Linc shook his head. “No, Dinah was sure she was a boy. So we are still discussing things.”

  “What was the boy’s name?” Theo asked.

  “Lincoln Junior,” Lincoln said like it was obvious.

  “I think Junior is a cute name for a girl,” Jake volunteered from the couch.

  Lincoln grinned like he owned the world. “I’ll tell Dinah you said so. Now I’m going to go see if the grandmas will let me hold my daughter.”

  “Go put your foot down, Dad.” Jake got up and goaded his best friend on.

  Linc’s grin was goofy. “Wait a couple of minutes, then come on back. Dinah will want to say hello.”

  Jake and Theo sat down in the waiting room. Marla Jean was back with Dinah and the baby.

  “That’s going to be one spoiled baby.” Jake stretched his long legs out in front of him and tipped his cowboy hat up with his thumb.

  Theo nodded. “Yep. She’s a lucky kid.”