A May-September Wedding

by Bill Sanderson

Erica hopped back and said, "I will. Bye, Grampa," as David led her out to the car.

  The receptionist said, "So she's the reason for all the trips to Richmond. How's Judy taking it?"

  Cal turned to the older woman. "Not particularly well. She and the kids are living at my place, but I expect she'll move home soon."

  Phyl said, "What a weekend. I hope we can get back to something resembling normal."

  Lydia said, from the middle seat, "No such thing, Mum. And anyway, Beast and I have to go to the Fury U-17 practice tonight instead of the U-16. They were talking like we might be good enough to make the U-17 team as alternates."

  Cal said, "Pretty impressive. They don't ask many fourteen year olds to play up two divisions."

  Felicity said, "I don't expect to play more than twenty minutes, even if we make the team, but I'm a better dribbler than most of the older girls and Monster here is just as tall as most of the sixteen year olds and she's a better jumper."

  Phyl said, "Don't get your hopes up too high. But it will be good experience that you can bring to Redeemer in the fall."

  Cal said, "And remember that the bigger girls tackle a lot harder, so keep your head up."

  Felicity rolled her eyes. "Dad, I know way more about soccer than you do."

  "I'm sure you do, but I know lots more about waiting in the hospital for the doctor to set broken bones than you do," said Cal in a very neutral tone.

  Felicity crossed her arms and pointedly looked out the window while Lydia giggled and Tim smirked.

  "David?" Judy's voice sounded uncertain.

  David leaned back onto the hotel room bed and put his cell phone to his ear. "Hi sweetheart. How are you?"

  "I miss you terribly."

  "I miss you, too."

  "I saw Erica at Elaine's. She seems like a sweet kid."

  "She is." David waited.

  "She's not mine, David."

  "I know that, Judy." He continued, uncertainty in his voice, "Do you think you could forgive me?"

  "I think I have to try, David, I miss you too much and I want to be in my own house. When are you back?"

  "Wednesday night. Um. Judy?"

  "Yes, love?"

  "Can you ask Dad to take the kids on Thursday? Or whatever day you can arrange for us to see a counsellor?"

  David could hear Judy sniffling. "Sure, but I want you to call me tomorrow night at home after the young ones are in bed and tell me the whole story from the start up until today. I got pieces of it from Cal, but I want to hear it from you. All of it."

  David felt a combined sense of shame, relief, longing and hope. "It's not a really pretty story."

  Judy's voice firmed up. "But I need to be able to trust you. And David?"

  "Yes, love."

  "You'll be sleeping in the spare room for a while."

  David replied, "That's fine. Um, Judy?"

  "Yes, David?"

  "I don't deserve you."

  David could see Judy's smile in his mind as she gently replied, "Maybe not, but you're mine."

  "See you Wednesday, Judy."

  "Good luck with your presentations. See you Wednesday."

  Cal helped Judy carry the suitcases and bags out to the car. "Don't worry if you've forgotten something, one of us will bring it over, or you can pick it up when you drop the kids off."

  Judy gave Cal an impulsive hug. "Thanks for everything. I'm sorry if we put you out."

  "It really wasn't a problem. Brenda knew for years that there was something wrong but she couldn't put her finger on it. I'm just glad I caught it before everything was beyond repair."

  "I hope the counselling works." Judy was biting her lip with the nerves.

  "As long as you two are committed to each other and to working honestly through things, the counselling will help. Eventually. Just don't expect a quick fix. Mark and Vivian went for months before they finally understood what the real problems were so they could fix them, but their marriage is a lot more solid now. And Brenda and I went through a couple of patches where we needed to get Father Paul to referee our fights."

  Judy didn't seem encouraged by Cal's words so he continued, "I think you and David can talk to each other better than Mark and Vivian did when they started with the counsellor. And with the biggest secret out in the open, I think David may be able to share a few more of the things that have been bothering him for years."

  The kids came down the steps with the last bags and lined up for a Grampa hug before climbing in the car. Cal took it as a measure of Jason's anxiety that he wanted a hug rather than a handshake. Cal gave Judy a last hug and said, "If you need anything, call me. And that's the singular as in you Judy, not you the Richardson family. Brenda made me promise to look after you, if you'll let me."

  Judy gave Cal another squeeze and said, "If I need anything, you'll be the first person I call. Mother has been as supportive as she could be from Kingston, but she hates conflict of any kind. Thanks for all your patience over the past few weeks but I want to go home now."

  Cal stepped back and said, "See you soon."

  Cal, Phyl and Tim were sitting in the stands among the sparse crowd in Scarborough. The Fury had dominated the first half, outscoring their opponents 4-1. Felicity and Lydia, the youngest players on either side, were sitting on the end of the bench chatting excitedly but tracking the play while the assistant coach was giving them pointers on the field placements and the tendencies of some of the opponents.

  Finally, with twenty-eight minutes left in the game and Ottawa up 6-2, the coach put up the substitution board and Lydia took her place at centre attacking midfield. The sub board went up again and Felicity trotted out to left striker.

  A minute later the right midfielder sent a pass over the defenders onto Felicity's boot but the line judge put up the flag for the offside. Cal thought she was in the clear but he wasn't the man with the flag in his hand.

  Scarborough pressed and Ottawa collapsed back in front of the net. A strike was attempted that just sailed over the net.

  Play went back and forth for another twelve minutes when Lydia made a good tackle of the opposing midfielder and pushed the ball to her right wing. Felicity received a perfect pass and bent the ball in to the goal, only to have the keeper push it just over the crossbar for a corner.

  Phyl and Cal clasped hands as they set up the corner kick. Felicity positioned the ball in the quarter circle and waited for everyone to get into position. She smiled as she saw Lydia let the defender think that she was covered and took a deep breath before sending the ball in a perfect arc toward the goal.

  Lydia, who had scored almost sixty goals off Felicity's uncannily accurate corner kicks raced in to jump right where they had practised. She got just above the defender and headed the ball down and back toward Felicity. The keeper guessed wrong and the ball bounced on the goal line and into the net.

  Cal and Phyl jumped and shouted like mad fools to celebrate the goal. Felicity and Lydia did a quick high five and trotted back to the centre dot with ear to ear grins. The coach looked up at Cal and Phyl with a quick thumbs up gesture and turned his attention back to the game at the ref's whistle.

  To Scarborough's credit they continued to press and scored two more goals but an errant pass in injury time was intercepted by Lydia who made another great pass to a streaking Felicity. When two larger defenders bore down on her, Felicity took a quick peek to see if the other striker was in position to take a pass. Not seeing a teammate close, Felicity made a sudden leftward dribble past one defender and bent a strike around the second defender that the keeper misplayed. The ball bounced off the inside of the far upright and in for a goal.

  The referee checked her watch and blew the whistle for full time, making the final score 8-4. Cal hugged Phyl as part of the victory celebration but made the mistake of looking into her eyes as his arms went around her.

  Phyl stared into his eyes and the world got smaller. She issued an invitation with her eyes as her arms wound around his neck.

&nb
sp; Cal muttered, "I'm sorry, Phyl. I can't."

  When Phyl realized where they were, and that they were attracting some attention, she said, "Fine, but for the record, I don't agree with your decision." She gave him a lingering peck on the cheek, then turned to gather their cooler while Cal packed the bag with the cushions and hats.

  She turned back to him and ran a finger down his spine to get his attention. "And I don't think you're too old. I think you're perfect."

  Cal thought about that for a good long time.

  Chapter Sixteen – August

  "I'm surprised you wanted to come back to family camp after last year's couples retreat theme." Phyl commented as they unloaded the van.

  Cal grinned. "Tim and the girls would have whined all week. I wasn't prepared to put up with that. And it wasn't that bad last year."

  Phyl snorted. She looked around for the kids. "Where have they gone?"

  Cal looked and saw Lydia's head bobbing as she headed for the gym. "I think they're off to see if there's a pickup basketball game they can get in on." He pointed. "At least I think all of them are there. I can only see the top of Lydia's head. I keep forgetting they're teenagers now and us parents are chopped liver." Lydia's jaunty ponytail disappeared as they watched.

  "They certainly are growing fast. I'm sure we'll see them at supper." Phyl's hand met with Cal's as they both reach for the same duffel. They paused and looked up into each others' eyes. Neither moved their hand and Phyl had the sense that Cal was about to kiss her. Then Cal shook his head and gently moved his hand to another handle, deliberately letting the moment pass.

  Phyl let her breathing calm down before she lifted Lydia's duffel from the car. A strong sense of disappointment washed over her. She wanted to scream at him that she didn't care how old he was. She was old enough to make up her mind and she wanted him. And he wanted her too, even if he was too stubborn to admit it.

  Tim returned to help them get settled in the two halves of the cabin. The boys shared one side and the girls had the other just like last year. But this year they were not in mourning and Phyl had her sights set on getting Cal to acknowledge that they were really a couple. She glanced at the two large suitcases she brought and got a predatory look on her face.

  The welcome supper was the usual boisterous affair. The girls abandoned them to join with a group of other teenage girls at a table near the gang of teenage boys. Despite all of the notices reminding the young people that this was a Christian camp and chastity when single was expected neither group could resist flirting.

  Cal's first surprise was the following morning. Phyl was not in the water when he got to the beach. In fact, she wasn't there at all. Strange. He set down his towel and took position to act as lifeguard to the small horde of kids after seeing his girls sitting on the edge of the dock gossiping.

  He almost missed Phyl's grand entrance. Seeing a couple of the teenage boys' eyes widen in the direction that he'd last seen Felicity, he turned around wondering what she was up to. He had to concentrate to not let his jaw drop.

  Phyl approached with a towel artfully draped over one arm, which was almost normal, but the rest was not. Her hair was up in careful braid that showed off the lines of the neck that he fantasized about nuzzling. But it was the jewel green swimsuit that was causing his insides to tumble. It was the skimpiest one-piece he'd ever seen her wear. The sides were cut out to show off her toned flanks and smooth skin and the bottom part was right at the edge of acceptability for the camp. The colour reminded him of fine emeralds and showed off her lightly tanned skin and ash blonde hair perfectly.

  Phyl saw the interest that Cal was desperately trying to hide. "Good morning, Cal. Sorry I'm a bit late."

  Cal tried to make his tongue work. Phyl looked smug. She made a show of placing her towel next to his and lightly held onto his shoulder as she took off her sandals. Strutting out to mid-thigh depth she dove in to the water, directly away from him, emphasizing that she was very definitely a woman to all onlookers but especially to Cal.

  Cal blinked a few times to clear his head. Surely she didn't wear that for me, did she? His knees suddenly weak, he sat down on his towel, watching as the blonde braided bun moved steadily toward the end of the dock.

  Felicity poked Lydia. "Did you see your Mum?"

  Lydia grumped. "She wouldn't let me have any nice swimsuits." Then she said, "Did you see your Dad's reaction?"

  "It was the same as all of the other guys. They couldn't take their eyes off of her." Felicity sighed. "Do you think that boys will ever look at us like that?"

  Lydia frowned. "I don't think I want that. But I think Mum is trying to get your Dad to notice her."

  "Dad noticed, all right. He's been noticing for months. But is he going to do anything about it this time?" Felicity asked.

  Lydia crossed her fingers. "Oh, I hope so. They are, like, so in love with each other."

  "I know, it would be funny if Dad wasn't so stubborn."

  "He doesn't have a chance now. Mum's decided she's going after him. Your Dad won't know what hit him."

  Phyl emerged from the water and did a slow stretch to display her bosom while squeezing the water out of her hair in a classic B-movie pose. Every male eye was riveted but she was looking straight at Cal as she walked to where he was sitting, making everyone absolutely certain that she was only interested in him.

  By the time she reached him, Cal was calm enough to ask, "Good swim?"

  Phyl lay down on her beach towel. "It's the best part of the days here. The loons on the lake, the kids splashing happily, and a good looking man to talk to."

  Cal swallowed. "So what do you want to talk about?"

  Phyl smiled impishly, "Oh, nothing in particular. I'm just enjoying the view." She rolled over on one elbow and made a show of admiring him.

  Cal nodded and made a point of watching the kids. Phyl tested his resolve by stretching cat-like as she settled down a bit closer to him while watching him clench his hands. Taking pity on him, she asked, "Have you seen the program for the week?"

  "They're calling it 'Trusting God, Trusting Each Other.' It's another couples kind of theme." Cal sounded resigned.

  "That sounds like it could be fun." She rolled over to invade his space. Her head propped up on one hand, she said, "We might not be called a couple, but we do make a good team And I do trust you."

  Cal leaned back so he could look Phyl in the eye. "I suppose we do make a good team, Mrs. S."

  She smiled smugly as she rolled over onto her stomach as close as she felt he could handle.

  The girls had been sitting at the dock watching Phyl with amazement. Lydia spoke first. "I don't believe it. Mum's acting like Tabitha's mum did toward your Dad. Does she have to be that obvious?"

  "Well, Dad's been pretty obtuse up to now. He thinks he's way too old for your mum, but he isn't at all interested in anyone else. He thought Tabby's mom was, what was the phrase he used,... ah, 'overly familiar'. But he's not running away from Mum, is he?"

  Lydia couldn't look away from the scene in front of her. "No. He's not." Lydia gasped and put her hands over her eyes. "Don't tell me I'm seeing that."

  Felicity looked up at her father gently caressing sunscreen into Phyl's exposed skin. "He's just putting sunscreen on her."

  "Yes, but he doesn't have to rub it in until it disappears. Or look like he's enjoying it that much." Lydia peeked again and caught her mother's satisfied and smug look. "I told you. He doesn't know what hit him."

  Tim came by and tried to splash water at his sister. "What's up, Lid?"

  She just pointed at their mother who looked like she was purring as Cal was massaging sunscreen into her shoulders.

  Tim shrugged. "No biggie. Everyone knows they help each other out."

  Felicity and Lydia looked at each other in alarm. "You don't think..." Felicity said in a shocked tone.

  Lydia said, firmly, "No way. Your Dad is too good a Christian to behave like that."

  Felicity relaxed. "Well, so is
your mum."

  Tim asked, puzzled, "What'd I say?"

  Phyl spoke so that only Cal could hear. "I think we're scandalizing our daughters, Mr. Richardson."

  Cal looked up to see the girls look quickly elsewhere. "I thought you said we were a good team. I just want to make sure that my partner doesn't suffer from the sun."

  Phyl purred. "Thank you, partner."

  Cal said. "My pleasure."

  The rest of the week went by in a haze for Cal. Phyl seemed to have a new outfit or swimsuit for each time she changed and got more beautiful each time. The turquoise halter dress she wore to supper on Wednesday with the matching low heeled sandals stopped all the adult conversation in the dining room as she made her entrance just before the grace was said. Cal was suitably gobsmacked and smiled like a fool all evening that such a beautiful woman would take this much trouble to dress for him.

  The Thursday morning trust exercise tested Cal's restraint to the absolute limit. They had to do a high ropes and obstacle course in pairs and for the better part of an hour they were in some sort of physical contact. Several times during the course Phyl plastered herself against Cal and hugged him a little too long. He had to steel himself not to kiss her, especially since the other couples were kissing occasionally.

  Friday evening was the talent show. Phyl surprised Cal by stepping up to the piano and leading the room in two old hymns, Great is Thy Faithfulness and Come Thou Long Expected Jesus, in a lush mezzo-soprano voice. Cal had the room in stitches telling some old vaudeville jokes full of double entendres in a broad Scottish accent.

  Sitting at the same small cocktail table drinking their decaf coffee and eating the special treats the teenagers had prepared was very comfortable. It brought back memories of previous talent shows with the four of them around a larger table, but by the end of the evening the only thing Cal could picture was Phyl.

  Cal studied Phyl as she was singing along with another performer. In the candlelight her sun-bleached blonde hair was sparkling and he caught himself admiring the fine wrinkles around the corners of her mouth and eyes – wrinkles that told of a woman who knew how to laugh and smile. How to love.