“But? But?”
“Fine.” Señor climbed into the truck bed, sat with his back to the cab, and braced the cake box with his feet. George walked around and got in behind the wheel.
“If we’re not back in an hour,” Señor said. “Call 911.”
Liz clutched her hands to her chest, watching as George backed the truck up and turned it around, driving slowly down the driveway and out onto the road. She watched until she could no longer see the truck.
With wide doors at the banquet hall accustomed to large deliveries, unloading the cake and getting it inside went without a hitch. George and Señor took the top and one side off the box, then slid the cake out gently and placed it on the serving table. Both men stepped back and heaved huge sighs of relief. “I think I just lost ten years off my life,” Señor said. He phoned Liz to let her know all was well. Then he and George helped themselves to an ice cold beer from one of the kitchen coolers.
~ * ~
Junior honked when passing T-Bone’s Place to let the old-timers know he was on his way to the barn to gallop Bo-T. Mim and her golf cart brought up one load and went back for another. Vicky pushed Jeannie up in her wheelchair. Lucy pushed Clint up in his. Señor and George had plans to build a small set of bleachers with back rails. In the meantime, they’d hauled up lawn chairs. Mim sat in the driver’s seat of the golf cart, her cane at her side. Vicky sat next to her.
“What a day!” Mim said.
“A perfect day for a wedding.”
Mim nodded. “I’m glad I’m still here to see it, to see this.”
Junior was riding Bo-T up the path to the training track. The colt was a little better behaved today but still full of himself, jigging and snorting. Matthew was on the path behind him, staying way back and carrying his sketch book.
“Don’t forget to get my biceps,” Junior said.
Matthew laughed. “I’ll try. That’s if I can see them. Can you go slow when you go by in front of me?”
Mim heard that and chuckled, then coughed. Vicky placed a hand on her shoulder. “You okay, Mim?”
The old woman nodded. “I’m fine. I just wish I had an idea of when. I’d like a warning somehow.”
“I know,” Vicky said, giving her a hug.
“And no theatrics I hope. I would hate that.”
Junior jogged Bo-T onto the training track and clicked to him.
“What a grand-looking horse,” Mim said.
Bo-T snorted and bucked.
“Don’t be dumping me in front of my bride now,” Junior said.
“I’ve seen you get dumped before,” Lucy said.
“Yeah, but it ain’t that often.” Bo-T broke into a trot and then a nice fluid canter. “Start drawing, Matthew!” Junior said, glancing back over his shoulder and flexing his arm muscles.
Everyone laughed.
“This is just too much fun,” Mim said.
“My heart feel so good,” Miguel said.
Clint smiled. “He looks like Secretariat!”
They all watched as Junior galloped down the backstretch of the training track, into the turn, and past them again. Junior smiled at his bride. “Am I looking good?”
She laughed. “Yes! You’re looking real good!”
Bo-T had his head down, neck bowed and pulling hard against the bit, and with each stride, did that Thoroughbred grunt thing with his nose and throat.
“I love that sound,” Jack said. “It’s like a racecar revving up.” He imitated it. “Baroom, baroom.”
They all nodded in agreement.
Junior pulled Bo-T up on the backstretch and turned him around and trotted through the turn and then walked down the track in front of them. The colt was breathing hard, but not overly. It was a good workout. “I’ll be back in a few minutes,” he said, walking Bo-T off the track and onto the path.
“Back?” Bill said, all wondering the same thing.
“I’m going to gallop B-Bo.”
They all smiled, settling in for the wait. One racetrack story led to another and then another. Lucy pressed her hand against her tummy. The baby was moving. She read in a book yesterday that babies in the womb are said to sense what is going on around them judging from their mother’s reactions and emotions. She smiled. “My baby’s happy. Here comes Daddy,” she said.
B-Bo looked a lot like Bo-T, having the same sire, but was slightly taller and not as wide. Being a gelding, he had a little more refined Thoroughbred racehorse look to him, and a lazy yet commanding way of going.
Mim watched the horse closely as Junior walked him onto the training track. “Why don’t you just walk him for a bit. That back leg’s still a little stiff.”
“Yes, Mom, I mean Mim,” Junior said, grinning. There wasn’t anyone there including him that would even think of disagreeing with Mim about anything - let alone horses. If Ben were here, he probably would have agreed with her too. Both practiced the same old-school way of training.
Matthew turned the page in his sketch book and started a new drawing. The angle of the sun being behind them now made it somewhat easier for him to see the horse. He moved over by Mim and sat down on the grass and looked between the bottom rail and the ground; at times the way he was seeing but a thin line between the two barriers.
Mim glanced at his sketch and smiled. “Do you have any idea how lucky you are?”
Matthew nodded. “Yes, I do,” he said, drawing feverishly. “I’m learning that more and more every day.”
“Right there,” she said, pointing to the horse’s chest. “Capture his heart. The rest you can fill in later.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Transportation to the wedding banquet for the old-timers also turned into a family affair. Wendy had lined up a double-wheelchair transport vehicle for Jeannie and Clint. Two more rode with Glenda and George in Glenda’s car. Two went with Tom and Wendy in Wendy’s car. Two went with Vicky in her car. Bill rode with Dawn and Randy and the children. Dusty and Ben went together in Dusty’s truck. Junior and Lucy came in his pickup truck. Gordon and Matthew came in their new car.
The plan was to arrive early so the old-timers could get themselves situated. They’d been given the option of mixing in with the other horsemen, but chose to sit together at their own table. “They’re more comfortable that way,” Vicky said. “I will be too.” Carol opted to join them.
The banquet personnel had arranged the round tables to seat eight and nine people, depending on whether or not the table was on the aisle, so that worked out well. Dawn, Randy, the children and Liz, Señor and Glenda and George sat at the table next to the old-timers. Wendy and Tom, Ben, Dusty, Matthew, Gordon, and Richard and his wife Heather were to be seated at the table on their other side. Pastor Mitchell and his wife were going to sit with Junior and Lucy after the wedding ceremony along with Lucy’s best friend Judy, her boyfriend Max, and Joe Feigler and his wife June. The HBPA officers’ table was across the aisle.
Junior and Lucy, who had been standing just inside the door, ended up serving as the greeting committee. The mood was loud and festive. Pastor Mitchell stood outside the door, waving people in, shaking hands with the men and giving gentle welcome hugs to the women.
He glanced ahead and saw Lucy’s mother Loretta. “Oh, please…” he muttered to himself as she walked toward him. Right behind her was Lucy’s father Tony. He hadn’t told Lucy that her mother planned to be here. Hadn’t told her for fear Tony would forbid it and Lucy would be even more disappointed. He hadn’t told her there was a possibility her father might show, and if he did, if he’d want to be involved with walking her down the aisle. He wanted to spare her that also, in case….
Loretta must have been reading his mind or the expression on his face, because as soon as they drew close she said, “We’re here to walk our daughter down the aisle.” Pastor Mitchell looked from her to Tony. The man nodded.
“All right, let’s go get ready,” Pastor Mitchell said.
Lucy looked up from greeting Jenny Grimm and saw
her mother and father standing next to Pastor Mitchell. She instinctively reached for Junior’s hand and gripped it tightly. Junior followed the direction of her eyes and had Pastor Mitchell not been smiling….
“You look beautiful, Lucy,” her mother said.
Lucy bit at her trembling bottom lip.
Tony shook Junior’s hand. “Shouldn’t you be up front somewhere waiting for us to give her away to you?”
Junior nodded, taking his hand and placing it on Lucy’s. “I’ll be waiting for you. Okay?”
Lucy nodded with big tears running down her face.
Junior glanced back from the doors leading into the banquet room.
“I’m sorry, Daddy,” Lucy said.
“Me too,” he said, hugging her. “I’m so sorry.”
Loretta wiped her eyes again and again.
Tom walked up next to them, assessed the situation in a glance and relaxed. He shook Tony’s hand and kissed Loretta on the cheek. Judy, the maid of honor and her boyfriend Max continued greeting the guests who streamed steadily inside and into the banquet room to take their seats.
Pastor Mitchell ushered them into the corner. “Okay, in just a few minutes, Tom and I will go up front with Junior. The band will start playing the bridal march and you three will walk down the aisle.” He positioned them, Tony on Lucy’s right, Loretta on Lucy’s left.
“Do you have the rings?”
Tom patted his shirt pocket and nodded.
“Okay. I think we’re all set.”
Wendy hurried through the door, looked around and rushed over with Lucy’s bouquet. “Can you believe it wasn’t ready?” She handed Judy hers, the same but for the ribbon.
Lucy smiled. “It’s beautiful. Thank you.” The old-timers had given Wendy a blue ribbon that matched the one in Lucy’s hair to be put into the floral arrangement of daisies; Lucy’s favorite flower.
“Is Richard here?”
Tom nodded. “Yes.”
Wendy gave Lucy a kiss on the cheek and Tom walked with her inside to take his place next to Junior.
“Are we ready now?” Pastor Mitchell asked, of the bride and her parents.
“Yes,” Lucy said, smiling. Just then, in the back door walked Rupert.
Pastor Mitchell turned. “Oh dear God,” he said softly.
Rupert looked at all four of them, nodded, offered something that had the semblance of a smile and walked into the banquet room.
“Okay.” Pastor Mitchell took a deep breath. “Let’s get this underway. Remember, when you hear the music….”
Tony nodded.
Pastor Mitchell walked down the aisle to where Junior and Tom stood waiting. “Your father’s here,” he said to Junior.
Junior glanced around the room, he and his father’s eyes met, and the band struck up the introit to the wedding march. One of the banquet employees opened the doors. Judy walked down the aisle, a hesitation in her step to match the music. At the head of the aisle she turned and smiled at her best friend.
As the bridal march began, Lucy stood perfectly still between her mother and father. When Pastor Mitchell nodded, the three of them started down the aisle. Lucy had tears in her eyes. So did Junior. He watched her every step of the way and smiled when she stood facing him.
“Dearly beloved,” Pastor Mitchell said. “We are gathered here today to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony.” He looked at Lucy and Junior. He looked at Lucy’s mother and father. He looked around the room. “The Lord is smiling upon you all,” he declared and paused. “Who gives this woman today in marriage?”
“We do,” Tony Guciano said, “Her proud mother and father.”
They both gave Lucy a tearful hug and turned. Pastor Mitchell’s wife motioned for them to sit next to her at the first table. Logistics could be remedied after the ceremony.
Pastor Mitchell smiled. “Love is the reason we are here. In marriage we not only say, “I love you today. We say I promise to love you all of our days.”
Tom looked at Wendy. Randy put his arm around Dawn. Ben thought of Meg the day they took their vows. Just about everyone in the room entertained a promise, past, present, or future, a sweet memory. Some bittersweet; some sad.
“You are among family. A bigger family than most, but make no mistake, we are all family.” A succession of amen’s could be heard throughout the room. “Lucy and Junior, in the days ahead of you, there will be good times and there will be stormy times, times of conflict and times of joy. As you go through life together, I want you to remember this advice. Never go to bed in anger. Learn to compromise. Know that it is better to bend than to break. Believe the best of one another instead of the worst. Confide in each other. Ask for help. And Junior, ask for directions.”
Junior laughed along with everyone.
“Remember true friendship is the basis for any lasting relationship. Give one another the same respect and kindness you bestow on your friends. Be courteous. Be loving.” Pastor Mitchell paused. “Now if you will face one another and join hands.”
Lucy looked up at Junior with tears sliding down her cheeks, trying desperately to swallow and gain composure. Junior smiled at her in support and when that didn’t work, he did something that probably had never been done in the history of weddings, let alone one Pastor Mitchell presided over, Junior pulled her close and gave her a hug. “It’s all right,” he whispered. “It’s all right.”
Tom looked on with tears in his eyes, seeing Junior growing up in a flash.
“It’s all right.”
Lucy nodded, sniffled, and picked her head up.
Pastor Mitchell smiled. The moment called for brevity if the ceremony was going to continue, as there were a lot of tears in the room. “If I might quote a scripture from the Bible that seems rather fitting at this moment,” he said.
Everyone either chuckled or laughed as Pastor Mitchell turned the pages in his Bible, one, two, three, four…. “Ah yes. Luke 19:41. ‘And when he came into view of the city, as he approached it he broke into loud weeping, exclaiming: Oh that at this time you knew, yes, even you, on what your peace depends.’”
He looked at the bride and groom. “Douglas Rupert Junior, do you take Lucy to be your wedded wife? Do you promise to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, forsaking all others and to be faithful only to her, so long as you both shall live?”
“I do.”
“Lucy, do you take Junior to be your wedded husband? Do you promise to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, forsaking all others and to be faithful only to him, so long as you both shall live?”
“I do.”
“May I have the rings please?”
Tom took them out of his pocket and handed them to the minister.
“This ring, an unbroken, never-ending circle, is a symbol of committed unending love. Junior, as you place this ring on Lucy’s finger, repeat these words after me. “With this ring, I thee wed. “
“With this ring, I thee wed.”
“As this ring has no end, neither will my love for you.”
“As this ring has no end, neither will my love for you.” Junior’s voice cracked.
“Lucy,” Pastor Mitchell said. “Repeat after me. With this ring, I thee wed.”
“With this ring, I thee wed.”
“As this ring has no end, neither will my love for you.”
Lucy looked up at Junior with abundant love in her eyes. “As this ring has no end, neither will my love for you.”
Pastor Mitchell smiled. “There is an Apache blessing I would like to share with you both today, and the little one. ‘Now you shall feel no rain, for each of you will be shelter for one another. Now you will feel no cold, for each of you will be warmth for one another. Now there will be no loneliness, for each of you will be companion to one another.’”
Pastor Mitchell put his book down and paused, looking at
the bride and groom. “Junior and Lucy, I have known you both since you were little children. I have watched you grow into adulthood. Today, in front of family and friends, you have committed yourself to each other in marriage by the exchanging of vows and by the giving of rings. With the authority invested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. What God has joined together let no man put asunder. You may now seal your vows with a kiss.”
Junior leaned down and gave Lucy a sweet tender kiss and Pastor Mitchell had them turn and face the guests. “Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Rupert Jr.”
All of the guests that could, stood, and clapped accompanying whistles and hoots of celebration.
“And now, from what I understand,” Pastor Mitchell said, “Tom would like to say something.”
Tom looked at him. His expression priceless, as a speech was not in the script. Everyone laughed; even Junior and Lucy.
“Well,” Tom said. “Since we all know I’ve never been at a loss for words before, let me think.” Everyone laughed again. “Junior, Lucy…I wish you happiness. I wish you good health. “
Gordon and Matthew looked on proudly from a table in the middle of the room.
“My wish is that you walk in the path of the Lord. And I want you to know that I will be there for you both, whenever you need me.”
“Amen,” Pastor Mitchell said. “Lucy and Junior will be milling around after we have our dinner, which I understand is ready to be served. And the cutting of the wedding cake will follow.”
Irene stood up and faced the guests. “Let’s eat!”
~ * ~
The menu for the banquet was down-home roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, peas, and carrots, fried chicken, broccoli casserole, and a tossed salad - and lots of everything. A terrene of extra gravy was placed on each table along with rolls and butter. There was coffee, soft drinks, milk, beer and wine to drink.
The band played an assortment of songs during dinner, heightening the festivities, and then the noise lessened and a wave of silence followed Bill Squire as he stepped up to the microphone at the front of the room. Time for some HBPA business.
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