“We were talking about the wedding,” I interjected, lying poorly.
Janette cocked her head. “Something you couldn’t say over the phone.”
“Ethan is on his way from the airport. I was going to see him, so I thought I’d ride by on the way.”
She rolled her eyes. “On the way. I’d say this is a bit out of the way to Ethan’s place.”
“Honey, that still doesn’t excuse you disobeying doctor’s orders. You go on home and I’ll follow and double back to Dolan’s and get your ice cream.”
“Don’t mess with my head, Terrance. I walked in on a heated discussion. You and my sister seem to have some things to say to each other. Please continue where you left off. You know the part about the marriage proposal.” Janette's eyes were wet with tears. “Why didn't you tell me you proposed to my sister?”
Terrance looked terrified. “I didn't think it was important,” he stuttered. He looked to me. I turned my head. He was going to have to work this out alone.
“I always thought the relationship between you and Niecy had been more friends than a real couple. I thought you were pals who hung out together.”
I crossed my arms in front of my chest, raised an eyebrow at my sister. “Pals that hung out?” My tone challenged her. It was time for the denial to stop.
Janette pursed her lips against the lie. “Okay, I knew you were a couple, but I didn’t know you were serious about her or that she had been serious about you. Not proposal serious.” She deliberately turned her back to me and faced Terrance.
Terrance shook his head. “What difference does it make now? That was a long time ago.”
“Not that long and don’t tell me it doesn’t matter because the two of you are here talking about it.” We were silent. She continued. “Now I understand why everyone has been looking at me strange and why my own sister has seemed so different this week. I guess I was somewhere with my head in the clouds, being excited about finally finding the man of my dreams and building a future that I didn’t consider how our relationship would look to everyone.”
The man of her dreams. Those words struck me. I cast a glance in Terrance’s direction. I’d never thought of him that way. Was that what my sister really felt when she looked at him? I supposed it was possible.
Suddenly, I was struck. I remembered why I was here. I was taking care of my sister, fulfilling my promise to my father. I dropped my arms and cleared my throat. “Don’t worry about everyone else. This is your life. The proposal is long behind us.”
“Right, and I didn't really mean it when I asked,” he added.
I rolled my neck on that comment. He quickly tried to clean it up. “I mean. I'd done something and it seemed like the right thing to do at the time.”
“You'd done something.” Frustrated, Janette tunneled her fingers through her bone straight tresses. “What had you done that made you feel like you needed to propose, because in my case you got me pregnant?”
Terrance swallowed hard. He'd said too much. “This stress isn't good for the baby.”
“A bad marriage won't be good for it either,” she snapped.
I interjected. “I said no. It's like you said before, I broke up with him, twice, so what does it matter about why?”
“I know I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer but I walked in on a discussion about your ex-engagement, so don’t tell me it doesn’t matter.”
“Daddy had just died and he thought it would be a comfort to me if he asked me. In fact, he asked me the next day.”
“You were gone all night the night the of daddy's funeral. I remember that. Were you with him?” She turned to Terrance. “Did you have sex with my sister?”
“Janette, baby—”
“It's a simple yes or no question, Terrance. Did you?”
He hung his head. “Yes.”
Janette whipped her body around to face me. “God, Niecy. Why didn’t you tell me that?”
I shrugged. “You didn’t tell me you were dating him and what would have been the point? You were already pregnant.”
“You should have told me, both of you.” Janette began to move backward out of the room. Tears were streaming down her face. She released a shuddering sob. “I can’t. I’m not going to be able to do this. The wedding is off.” She turned and left the room.
“Janette, wait!” Terrance followed her. I could hear his pleas and then the sound of her car ripping down the gravel road. I closed my eyes. I shouldn't have come here. I should have just let sleeping dogs lie.
Chapter 13
I was as nervous as a stripper in church. Janette hadn’t returned to the house. We’d already gone through the rehearsal for the ceremony with one of the hostesses standing in for Janette. That was easy to explain. She was on bed rest and the bride’s role in the wedding was relatively simple; to walk down the aisle on cue. I joked and said, “My sister has been watching videos of women walking down the aisle for weeks. Don’t worry, she knows exactly how to make her entrance.” A few people laughed and we finished the rehearsal without incident.
Now it was time for us to head down to the fellowship hall where the church’s women’s ministry was hosting the dinner. A bead of sweat trickled down my back. I looked at my watch. It was nearly eight o’clock. I couldn’t believe she wasn’t going to show up for all this.
I glanced at Terrance. He was standing near the window looking like he’d throw up at any moment. One of his groomsman joked, “Well T, if she’s not showing up for the rehearsal, she’s probably skipping the real thing.”
A few people laughed. I was tempted to take out my cell phone and pretend to have a conversation with Janette expressing regrets, but like Ethan had just told me, “This is Terrance’s problem. Let him sweat it out”.
I looked in Ethan’s eyes and he squeezed my hand. I was so glad he was back. I’d missed him like crazy and unless I was delusional, he seemed awfully glad to see me as well. “It’s not just Terrance’s problem. She’s my sister. She’s hurting.”
Ethan raised a hand to stroke my face. “Janette loves him. They’ll work it out.” He scooted his chair a little closer to me. “Have I told you how amazing you look?”
I blushed. “No, but it’s never too late for that.”
“You’re hair turned out great.” He released my hand, sat back and gave me a brazen once over from my head to my stilettos. “Everything looks great.”
I was about to be generous with a compliment of my own, when out of my peripheral vision, I saw Terrance bolt from the window like he was on fire. I looked out and saw Janette’s car.
“Thank God,” I whispered under my breath.
“Told you,” Ethan replied.
I stood and shot out of the room and into the main hallway behind Terrance.
“Baby, I’ve been so worried,” I heard him say. “Where have you been?”
Janette raised a hand to stop him from embracing her. “I’m here to tell my family and friends that the wedding is cancelled,” she said. “Telling them in person is the proper thing to do.”
“Honey, please,” Terrance pleaded. “Don’t do this. Let’s talk.”
“There's nothing you can say.” Janette was emphatic. Her puffy eyes told the story, she’d been crying for hours. My heart sank. I stepped forward.
“What about me?” I began.
Janette shook her head. “Niecy, this is between me and my fiancé, I’d prefer it stayed that way.”
“Well, I’m going to have to play the big sister card here.” I took her hand and pulled her into a nearby office. “I came all the way from New York to plan and execute your wedding. I’ve spent thousands of dollars.” I could tell Janette was going to interrupt me so I stopped her with my index finger. “I promised daddy on his dying bed that I would take care of you. That I'd make sure you were okay, so I think all of that entitles me to have my say.”
Janette put a hand on her hip and reluctantly rolled her eyes in my direction. “Daddy told you to take care o
f me?”
I nodded. “He did, but I haven’t had to. You've done a great job of doing it all by yourself.”
My sister let out a long breath. “What great job? I mess everything up. I never finished college. I work in hair salon as a receptionist and shampoo girl because I never finished my beauty school training. I’m six months pregnant by a man who doesn’t love me. You tell me how I’ve done a great job?”
“Don’t do that. Don’t decide that because you don’t have a fancy career you haven’t accomplished anything.” I took a few steps toward her. “Janette, people love you. You’re kind to everyone and you have so many friends. Sometimes the greatest success we can have in life is through relationships.”
“But the one that means the most to me has been a lie. How can I marry a man who proposed to you? He loved you first. He wanted you first.” She paused and this time her eye roll was intended to cut. “He had you first.”
“Janette, Terrance and I were intimate, but I initiated it. I was sad about daddy. I'd broken up with another guy in New York prior to coming home, so I was on the rebound. Terrance was there for me before and after the funeral. I was feeling lonely and rejected. Once it was over, he realized that it was my first time and I could tell he felt bad about that. The next night he came over and he asked me to marry him. He was talking about the Bible and how a man that takes a woman's virginity is like a thief and all that stuff he's had mixed up in his head.”
“He’s right about some of that,” Janette said.
I shrugged. “That’s debatable, but one thing we know for sure is that he's honorable. But no matter how honorable he was and how much I cared about him, I knew I had no intentions of staying in Garrison. I also knew Terrance would never leave. That meant we could never be together, virginity gone or not, so I said no to his proposal. You should have seen the relief on his face.”
“But, he did love you.”
“Maybe, in high school or college, but it doesn’t matter, because he doesn't love me today.”
“How do I know he's not marrying me for the same reason he asked you? Obligation. I don't want him marrying me because I'm pregnant. I love Terrance. I want him to feel the same way about me. How do I know?”
“That's easy,” Terrance said, entering the room.
I stepped aside and let him take my place in front of Janette. He took her hand. “You look into my eyes when I tell you and you know because you trust me.”
Janette pulled her hand from his and looked away. “I don't trust you. Not anymore.”
“You trusted me six hours ago. I haven’t changed.” He sat down and pulled her onto his lap. “You have to believe me when I tell you this. I fell in love with you six months ago. You smiled at me from across the room and I swear my heart burst open.”
Her gaze met his and her expression softened. “That night was so romantic.”
Terrance pulled her hand to his heart. “I really saw you for the first time.”
“And I saw you.” Janette’s voice cracked and her eyes wet with new tears. “It felt like something from a romance novel. Love at first sight.”
Terrence had this. I cleared my throat. “I'm going to give you two the room.” They were in each other’s arms crying and kissing and apologizing before I made it through the door.
I stepped out and bumped into Ethan.
“So, are they jumping the broom or what?”
“They are,” I replied. “I think this blow out, as stressful as it was, needed to happen. No one is going into the marriage wondering if it was the right thing to do.”
Ethan nodded. “It’s important to know someone loves you for who you are without a bunch of other stuff in the way.”
I didn’t say anything.
He took my hand and pulled it to his mouth. The heat of his lips and gaze caused me to melt. “It’s getting late. I need to get Janette and Terrance in there.” I gently pulled my hand from his grasp.
Ethan nodded. “I’ll let you do your job.” He turned and walked into the fellowship hall. I let my body go limp against the wall. How in the world had I come home, angry with one Wright and fallen so hard for another?
Chapter 14
The wedding of Terrance Wright to Janette Malcolm would be the talk of the town in Garrison, Georgia, for a long time. Janette was a beautiful bride. Her deep cocoa skin glowed like shimmery chestnuts against the backdrop of her white dress. A last minute change during styling, she’d opted to wear her hair down rather than up as planned. It cascaded around her face in a pool of spiral curls. Her headpiece, a tiara fashioned from crystal and three layers of an exquisitely, shimmery, voile sat on the crown of her head and hung down her back. The dress itself was stunning and although Janette walked proudly down the aisle, it did a good job of concealing her pregnancy so she didn’t look like a Weeble Wobble who should have been rolled. The dress swept the floor. No one knew that underneath she wore modest two-inch heels I’d suggested for comfort. The final touch was the bouquet, a festive assortment of white flowers tied with a sprig of fuchsia heather. She looked perfect.
Terrance was equally as handsome in his black and gray tuxedo with fuchsia accessories. I’d never seen him look more handsome or happy. They made a fine couple. I was truly happy that they’d found each other.
Reverent Wright did a traditional Christian ceremony. My eyes had been misty throughout the entire thing, but when he did the pronouncement, I was overcome with emotion.
“Because Terrance and Janette have desired each other in marriage, and have witnessed this before God and our gathering, affirming their acceptance of the responsibilities of such a union, and have pledged their love and faith to each other, sealing their vows in the giving and receiving of rings, I do proclaim that they are husband and wife in the sight of God and man. Let all people here and everywhere recognize and respect this holy union, now and forever. Amen.”
Everyone in the sanctuary stood. A tear fell with the revelation I was one of the people who had to respect this union, now and forever. This marriage was not about two people’s past. It was about the future of two people that I loved who loved each other.
I looked up and whispered, “I hear you God. Loud and clear.”
Reverend Wright said a closing prayer and they kissed. “It is now my privilege to introduce to you for the first time, my son and daughter-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Terrence Braxton Wright.”
***
The reception line was finished and the D.J. hadn’t arrived. I stepped out of the room while the photographer took shots of the groomsmen and called him. His car had broken down. His brother-in-law had just arrived and they were piling into his car and on the way to the hall. Unfortunately, they were still twenty minutes away. I encouraged him to drive safely and returned to the reception.
What was I going to do? I had a CD with music on it as a back up, but the equipment wasn’t working. I’d tested it last night and it was fine. Today, it was like it’d been struck by lightening and died.
Ms. Marie, the wedding coordinator approached me. “The music?” she asked.
“Twenty minutes away.”
“But it’s time for the first dance.”
I gave her a look. Like I didn’t know that. “We’ll have to change the order of the events. We can have them cut the cake first.” I stopped mid-sentence, because I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. A small child, no more than five was being pulled away from a piano by a woman who looked like an exhausted mother. I scanned the room, zoomed in on Ethan as he laughed with the groomsmen and excused myself.
I interrupted Ethan’s conversation with a polite, “I need to borrow you for a second.”
He followed me. “What’s up?”
“The piano. Have you ever played in front of anyone other than your music teacher or some woman you were trying to impress?”
“A few times. Mostly impromptu church stuff,” he replied. “Why?”
“My D.J.’s running late. I’d really like to keep the schedule
we have because it flows right, but I need Terrance and Janette to have their first dance.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You want me to play in front of all these people?”
“Would you?” I asked.
He looked at the guest, glanced at the piano and then back at me.
I mouthed the word, please.
His eyes stayed on my lips a little longer than they should have. He cleared his throat and met my eyes. “Sure. I’m going to have to play at the funeral in few days, so why not. This’ll be good practice for me.”
“Great!” I clapped my hands and hugged him. “You’re the best.”
“You don’t know the half of it.” He smiled. “What’s their song?”
“The Closer I Get to You.”
“Hmm, that’s two people, one being a woman, so I can’t pull that off, but I do know some Luther.”
“At this point anything will do.”
He walked over to the piano, played with his phone for a few seconds and within minutes he made the piano hum. Ethan was such a ham that he took over Ms. Marie’s job of announcing the couple. He shared a childhood story about him and Terrance, which caused laughter to fill the hall. Then he shared a story about some humorous incident at church with Janette, after which he led into the music from “So Amazing” by Luther Vandross. He was no Luther, but dang, the brother could blow. When he wasn’t checking his phone for what I presumed had to be the music, he was looking at me. A few people followed his eyes to me and I couldn’t help but blush, which I could tell he loved. I turned away for a few moments. This man was so bold it was downright ratchet. I wasn’t used to someone with such a strong personality and I wondered if dating men who were more subdued was another way my control issues manifested. Ethan made me feel like I was on some type of rollercoaster ride, like that feeling I used to get when my stomach dropped in a car or on a plane. I texted Gayle.
Breaking All The Rules (Book 1 - Second Chances Series) Page 13