Startled, David turned, the voice not registering, until he found himself practically nose-to-nose with Jessup Knox. His opponent's presence wasn't a surprise. His triumphant expression wasn't, either.
"Mighty fine party you and Sauers done cooked up here, Dave. Real festive. Romantic, even." Knox surveyed the hundreds of people laughing and talking in their seats, waving their fans at friends and neighbors spied in adjacent rows.
"Leastwise, it is, if you got no more respect for the sanctity of holy matrimony than you do a cattle auction at the feedlot."
"Sorry to disappoint you," David said, clenching his teeth, "but if you're spoiling for a fight, it won't be with me."
"Spoiling, huh?" Knox chuckled. "Funny choice of words, Dave, since that's exactly what I aim to do to this dog-and-pony show of yours."
"What's going on?" Luke demanded, rushing up beside David. Behind him were Chase Wingate, Jimmy Wayne McBride and Junior Duckworth.
For the benefit of the newspaperman in particular, David replied, "I was telling Mr. Knox that his opinion of the wedding was another of about ten thousand things we don't agree on."
"Wedding," Knox spat. "It's electioneering and you know it." He gestured at David's uniform. "You getting all duded up and calling this a wedding is about as ridiculous as your bride'll look wearing a white dress."
Jimmy Wayne took a step forward. "That's enough."
David motioned him back. He hadn't anticipated the slur against Hannah, either, but it wasn't every day that a man bent on hanging himself brought along his own rope.
"Not that being born on the wrong side of the blanket is the sin it used to be," Knox went on. "I've talked to some folks from Ms. Garvey's hometown in the past coupla weeks. They give her all kinds of credit for being a big-shot ad executive. What she must've done to get there, they ain't real proud of, but you know what they say, like mama, like daughter."
Pity leavened David's chuckleor what the other men would interpret as such. "Spew all you want, Knox. I won't take a swing at you, and I can't throw you out of a public park. Wouldn't if I could."
He shook his head. "There's any number of people who'd think poorly of me for it, because they believe you're a fine Christian man, not a gutless wonder that wants to be sheriff for all the wrong reasons."
Knox's complexion flushed a deep red, but his voice was oddly composed. "You're right, Dave, ol' buddy. This here is a public park, only it's me that's throwing you out."
He yanked a folded sheet of paper from his shirt pocket. "The mayor made me this copy of the city-use permits issued for the month of August. You bein' hazy about the law and all, I s'pose you didn't know that without one, you're violatin' city statutes and subject to arrest for unlawful assembly."
David nodded at Chase Wingate. "Did you get all that down?"
The editor, scribbling furiously in his notebook, muttered, "Almost."
Luke peered over Wingate's shoulder. "Why they don't teach shorthand in school anymore is a mystery to me." He tapped his suit-coat pocket. "But, anything you might have missed, I've got on tape."
Knox looked from him to Jimmy Wayne to David, who said, "The problem with dirty politics, ol'buddy, is that sooner or later, that mud splashes back all over you."
"And the mayor," Jimmy Wayne said, "who ought to know better than to copy city documents for his or anyone else's personal use."
With a dramatic flourish, Luke presented a notarized document he'd obtained in the event Knox acted precisely as he'd anticipated. "You're the one who's hazy about the law. As an officer of the court, it's my duty to inform you of codicil to that statute you and Mayor Wilkes are so fond of.
"To wit, Mr. Knox, when this land was deeded to the city, the donor retained a proprietary right to its usage, until his death, plus fifty years. The clause was designed to keep the city from selling the land to a developer, or for uses other than a public park."
Luke tapped the spidery signature at the bottom of page. "The donor couldn't have been happier to oblige Sheriff Hendrickson's and Ms. Garvey's request to hold their wedding here."
He pointed at the white mansion atop the adjacent hill. "Go ahead, Knox. Give him a wave, why don't you. It's a shame the heat and rheumatism discouraged his attendance, but he has a telescope set up on the second-floor veranda."
"Gotcha, asshole," Duckworth sneered, who had never, to anyone's knowledge, uttered a crude remark in his life. Much less with so much undisguised glee.
Jimmy Wayne laughed and nudged Chase Wingate. "If you aren't gonna take a picture, give me the camera. Big as Elvis's mouth is hanging open, the sheriff could stick his boot in there without scraping the sides."
* * *
Polly and Lana, then Jeremy walked down the runner to the accompaniment of the bluegrass band's rendition of the wedding march. What might have been hokey, even irreverent to some ears, was a respectful, beautiful homage to Mendelssohn's famed composition.
A brief pause cued Luke and Claudina to pull open the gazebo's filmy drapes. Hannah grinned at Delbert, took a breath, then stepped out.
The cream-colored rose pinned to the lapel of his blue swallow-tailed tux had been lifted from her bouquet when Claudina realized she'd forgotten to order his boutonniere.
Delbert sawed a finger under his nose. "I couldn't be prouder if you were my own, ladybug."
"Don't you dare make me cry, you old fart," Hannah said, sniffling. "Because I am yours, and you're mine, in every way that counts."
She tucked her hand under his arm as a single violin recommenced playing. For a moment, she couldn't move, couldn't imagine a lone instrument sounding sweeter, purer, than a symphony orchestra's entire string section.
Gliding along the aisle felt more like a movie dream sequence than reality. Hannah was only vaguely aware of the smiling faces, whispered compliments and best wishes directed her way. But once her eyes, filmy with tears, found David's, she never looked away.
Not as Delbert helped her up the steps to the platform. Not when he rose on tiptoes to kiss her cheek through her veil. Grinning at David, she was so overwhelmed with joy, she couldn't hear, couldn't think, couldn't respond at all, when he said, "I love you, darlin'. More than I'll ever be able to tell you, or show you in just one lifetime."
Then Junior recited, "We are gathered together today to celebrate the joining of this man and this woman "
To David, Hannah mouthed the one word she thought she'd ceased to believe in. That had until now been little else than a hopeful empty promise and an easy rhyme for songwriters and poets.
Forever.
HENDRICKSON WINS PRIMARY ELECTION BY A LANDSLIDE
by Chase Wingate
Few in Kinderhook County seemed surprised at David M. Hendrickson's defeat of Republican opponent, Jessup Knox, than the sheriff-elect himself.
Hendrickson's three-to-one margin of victory is the largest since Homer John McMillan prevailed over Webster Ploutt in 1895. Ploutt was subsequently hanged for gunning down his political nemesis in broad daylight, as McMillan was being sworn into office on the east portico of the newly completed Kinderhook County courthouse.
Hannah Garvey Hendrickson, the sheriff's bride of nine days and owner of The Garvey Group, the county's newest and only advertising agency, said she had "no doubt whatsoever" that voters would overwhelmingly approve of "the job my husband and the entire sheriff's department has done to protect and serve them to the absolute best of their ability."
Sheriff Hendrickson expressed gratitude to his tireless election campaign staff, led by manager Lucas Sauers. "I'm honored and humbled by the trust the citizens of this county have placed in me," Hendrickson said. "It's a privilege I don't take lightly and will never take for granted."
Repeated requests for a response from Mr. Knox, of Fort Knox Security, were declined. Sources close to that campaign have confirmed his intention to run against Hendrickson in the next election, as well as Knox's expectation that the outcome will be reversed by an even wider margin.
The perennial Democratic candidate for sheriff, Jefferson Davis Oglethorpe, received a total of two primary votes. Mr. Oglethorpe noted that figure is twice the number received in several previous elections, then extended his heartiest congratulations to Sheriff-elect and Mrs. Hendrickson.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-0076-4
HALFWAY TO HALF WAY
Copyright Š 2007 by Suzann Ledbetter.
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