by Alexie Aaron
“To give her credit, she didn’t try to bite the mailman when he delivered this,” Cid said, holding out a small package addressed to Mia.
Mia whistled when she took in the postmark and customs tag. “It’s from Paris. Who do we know that lives in France?”
“Open it up and see,” Ted urged.
Mia walked over to the porch and sat on the steps. She opened the outer wrapper and found a card addressed to her on the inside. Opening it she read:
We are sorry we won’t be able to make the wedding. But I saw this and knew that you probably didn’t have something blue yet.
Love, Amber Day
“Open it!” Ted demanded, puzzled why women didn’t just tear open boxes.
Mia opened the lid of the box, viewed the delicate tissue paper and smelled the scent of the room in which it was wrapped. She closed her eyes and saw an excited Amber wrinkling up the paper and setting it in the box. Mia opened her eyes and lifted out the paper. Inside was a very delicate, expensive, blue lace garter.
“What the hell is that?” Cid asked as he watched Mia lift the item up to examine the delicate folds of lace.
Ted smirked. “It’s a garter to hold up stockings.”
“Why is there only one of them then?” Cid argued.
“May I?” Mia asked
“Sure,” Ted indulged her, disappointed because he could recite, chapter and verse, all about when the tradition of throwing the garter came into being.
Mia explained and Cid nodded in understanding. “What did she mean by something blue?”
“Traditionally a bride carries with her down the aisle something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. This is blue in color and in nature,” Mia said, pleased with the gift. She took off her glove, touched it, and was relieved that the only visions that came up were of Amber and the unknown seamstress who had taken great care in making it. “It’s safe to wear,” she announced. “I have something old, my grandmother’s pearls. Something new is the dress. All I lack is something borrowed.”
“Ahem, I may have that,” Ted said. “One moment.”
Mia and Cid watched him dash into the house. Maggie followed him and yelped as her behind got smacked by the spring-closing storm door. They heard his feet pounding up the stairs across the second story landing and down again. He arrived at the door out of breath. Maggie declined another try at the door, choosing to sit and sulk in front of the butt smacker as she watched them from inside the house.
“Here.” He handed her something tied in a handkerchief. “Wait,” he said as he snatched it out of her reach. “You may want to put your glove back on. It’s from Daisy,” he explained. “She said it’s your something borrowed.”
Mia slid her glove back on. “When did you see Daisy?”
“Oh, when Murph and I invited her to the wedding,” he said offhandedly.
Mia’s face clouded for a moment. “You went to Cold Creek Hollow?”
“We were only there to talk to Daisy. Nothing happened,” he promised. “It’s her grandmother’s.”
Mia didn’t ask where it was kept before Daisy handed it to Ted, she knew the moment she touched it. Even through the gloves, Mia saw the distraught face of Daisy’s mother as she clasped the chain around the body of her daughter who died too young. “She was to wear it on her wedding day. It was traditional in the family,” Mia said, moving the wrapped bundle in her hand. She opened the handkerchief and pulled out the necklace. The sun caught the ruby and it sparkled. “It’s beautiful,” Mia said, spellbound by it. She eased off her glove and let the history of the wearers move through her mind. Each bride was so nervous but happy as they faced their groom.
“Daisy said that she could be with you this way,” Ted said, interrupting the vision.
“It’s like Murphy’s axe head in the way it tied him to a location,” Mia realized.
“You don’t have to wear it,” Ted said. “I know it brings memories with it. But I felt honor bound to present it to you.”
“I’ll wear it,” Mia said thoughtfully. “It’s Daisy’s way of continuing her family’s tradition. The joy of our day will be returned to her when it is given back. Plus, it will be nice to see her at the wedding.”
“Why is there only one garter?” Cid asked, still stuck on the something blue.
“Professor,” Mia said, giving Ted permission.
“You see it all started…”
Mia got up, leaving the men to the discussion of garters and the tossing of bouquets. She took the ruby and garter into the house, seeking out a quiet corner where she sat down and cried. She cried first for Daisy and the loss her mother felt when Daisy was taken from her by death. She cried happy tears, realizing how much Daisy must regard Mia, to be loaned this priceless gift. And finally, Mia cried at the beautiful nature of Ted and Murphy, to think about inviting Daisy to the wedding in the first place.
Maggie put her head on Mia’s lap, not understanding Mia’s tears. All this fuss over chasing a little white truck.
Chapter Thirty-five
The stalwart Kansans traveled across three states lines, sitting pretty in one of the two posh tour buses they had boarded in Wichita. The buses were supplied by a generous Glenda Dupree as her gift to the bride and groom. “Those morons can barely find their way out of the fields, let alone across two states,” she gruffly proclaimed, pushing away the appreciation of the young couple. “I’ll not have the wedding day of my favorite girl ruined by a missing guest.”
She herself was occupying the front seat behind the driver of bus number one. She was enjoying her position as tour guide. Frequently, she picked up the microphone and made morose and cutting comments about the state of the fields outside of her beloved adopted state of Kansas. At one point, she led an impromptu cheer after regaling the captive audience of last week’s Chiefs victory. The occupants twittered amongst themselves. A few comments about looking gift horses in the mouth came out and, perhaps, a couple of plans to wait to see which bus the Dupree woman got on before choosing their seats for the return journey were heard.
~
Millie looked over the room and nervously fingered a blank place card. “I think I have everyone. Why is this blank? Where does it go?”
Reg, observing his wife’s distress, walked across the room, skirting the rustic round tables, his cowboy boots clopping on the wood floor. Taking advantage of the sound, he decided to tap dance the rest of the way.
“What on earth are you doing? Do you want the waiters to think we’re rubes?” Millie admonished.
“We’re from Kansas,” he said, as if that was enough of an answer. “Honey, relax. This is a fun place. They serve steaks, yummy steaks. They play country, good country. They’ve no doubt seen it all.”
“Still we must represent…” Millie started to say.
“This is fabulous!” Ralph Mendelssohn said as he rushed into the room. “Millie, it’s perfect. Leave it to you to know the perfect venue for a casual rehearsal dinner.”
Millie was trying to work out whether this was a compliment or what, when Ralph reached her and gave her a bone-crushing hug. He saw her face and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Blank card,” she mumbled, handing him the place card.
“Oh my, let’s look at the seating chart,” he said, drawing her away from the center of the room. The guests were just behind Ralph. He insisted Bernard stall them, worried that something like this would happen.
Millie handed him the seating chart she’d worked on for two weeks.
His practiced eye spotted the problem right away. “Millie, where are you sitting?”
“I… I… Lord in heaven!” She paled.
“Where do you want to sit, dear?” Ralph said, putting a comforting hand on her arm.
“Next to Reg,” she blurted out.
Ralph looked at the seating chart and winced. “So who do we move?”
“Why can’t we just squeeze a chair and a plate in?” Reg suggested.
&n
bsp; Millie and Ralph looked over at him horrified.
“Sorry,” he apologized.
“Let’s move the judge to the table with Hallie’s family. Eric and Stevie will be a comfort to Elizabeth Ann’s stalling biological clock,” Ralph said wryly.
“We can’t put a judge at the kid’s table,” Millie asked, “Can we?”
“She’s a friend. I’ll explain it to her. But I don’t think she’ll have too much of a problem with it. She had a great time entertaining the flower girls while my assistant worked out a few glitches in the service at the rehearsal.”
“I don’t know what the problem is,” Reg said. “They only have to sit long enough to eat,” he reasoned. “I told her she didn’t need place cards.”
He received two baleful glares for his contribution. He decided to go back to the bar where at least the bartender seemed to understand him.
Bernard, who had been roped into playing crowd control by Ralph, waited until all the members of the wedding party had arrived before letting Ralph know by knocking shave and a haircut on the closed banquet room door.
Previously, Mia’s father had mistakenly taken a wrong turn, unnoticed by Amanda who was correcting a copy of a blog she was writing on the etiquette of grad students when dealing with consultants. Anticipating this, Ted had attached a GPS tracker to each of the bridal party’s vehicles.
Mike found the couple’s car parked at the Taco Bell. Amanda had gotten out of the jeep and was asking the lot and lobby person how to get to their restaurant in Spanish. The teenager tried to explain that he didn’t understand Spanish and was going to get his manager, when Mike pulled up and rescued him.
“We’re ready,” Ralph hissed through the door at his partner.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, that includes you master Eric, so pay attention,” Bernard said sternly, catching the young boy with one hand in the peanut barrel and the other pulling open the back of his brother’s shirt. “Dinner is served,” he announced and opened the door.
The participants and their escorts filed swiftly past him, Mia and Theodore taking up the rear. Mia stopped and kissed him on the cheek.
“What’s that for?” he asked.
“Because you’re the best hall monitor in the world!” she replied.
“Get in there, you scamp. I’m telling you, Theodore, you only have sixteen hours to get out of this situation you’re going to be stuck with the rest of your life,” he warned good-naturedly.
“I find that I’m smitten, sir. She has cast a spell on me, and I’m doomed.”
Bernard patted him on the back as they walked through the door.
Mia and Ted visited each table and handed out gifts for the bridal party. Gwen Kowalski was quite excited to receive hers. Gwen’s grandmother, Martha, put a hand on Mia’s arm, drawing her near. “Thank you for including Gwen. She’s been having trouble fitting in since the incident.”
Mia squatted down and took Gwen’s hand. “I know it’s hard to lose one invisible friend, but three at one go, well, that’ll put a hole in your social calendar.”
“I don’t miss the three B’s, but the kids in pre-K don’t understand.”
“Don’t understand what, Gwen?”
“She talks to the crows,” Martha said barely above a whisper.
“Has Angelo been visiting you?” Mia asked carefully.
“No, but his other friends have.”
“Do they talk back to you?”
“No, but I know they listen to me.”
“Ah, not all crows are Angelo’s type of crows,” Mia explained. “He may be at the wedding. I invited him. I’ll have him, or my new friend Judy, explain it to you.”
“Okay, that would be nice. I like Tammy and Zoe. They are nice girls. I wish I had red curls.”
“It does make it difficult to choose a tiara though,” Mia said thoughtfully. “I met two girls just a couple weeks ago that had dozens of tiaras.”
“Really!”
“Oh, yes, they had enough to share with all their teddy bears,” Mia told her.
“Did I hear my name?” Ted asked, approaching the table.
Gwen looked up at the tall man and squeaked, “No, sir.”
Ted pulled up a chair, leaned in and questioned, “Didn’t Mia just say teddy bear?”
“Yes.”
“But that’s my name, Teddy Bear,” he insisted.
“A teddy bear has brown eyes and is stuffed.”
“I have brown eyes, and I ate too much steak,” Ted said, leaning back and rubbing his stomach.
“You’re too skinny to be a teddy bear, and you’re not a bear!” Gwen told him.
“Who are you calling skinny?” Ted said, in mock defensiveness.
Gwen burst into giggles, which attracted Tammy and Zoe from their table. Tammy assisted her sister off her chair, and they ran over. “Is Uncle Ted bothering you?” Zoe asked.
“He says he’s a teddy bear!”
“Oh, that’s what Minnie Mouse calls him,” Tammy said in a very grown up voice, pointing at Mia.
“She’s not Minnie Mouse,” Gwen argued.
“Isn’t she tiny as a mouse and wears gloves?” Ted asked.
Gwen put her hand on her forehead and announced, “You guys give me a headache.”
“Did you open up your box yet?” Zoe asked.
“No.”
“Do it.”
“Okay,” Gwen said and undid the ribbon, handing it to her grandmother to keep. She lifted the lid of the box and gushed, “It’s amazing!”
“What is it?” Martha asked, watching Gwen take it carefully out of the box.
“It’s a tiara!” announced Zoe.
“And it’s made of gears! Watch what it does,” Tammy said, taking the tiara from Gwen. “Make sure it’s not on your head when you do this,” she warned as she wound a key and lifted a lever.
The gear-covered crown started to move. Within minutes it had turned into a doll.
Gwen clapped her hands together in delight.
Tammy handed her the doll. “Come and see ours. Mommy has them. She is keeping them safe from Eric and Stevie.”
“Can I, Grandma?”
“Certainly. But no farther,” she cautioned.
The three watched Gwen skip off with the two other girls. “I can’t help feeling fearful when she is out of my sight,” Martha confessed. “The Darker than Darks took away our comfort zone and replaced it with nightmares.”
Ted and Mia looked at Martha with sympathy.
“I’d like to tell you that the fear will go away. I hope it does. But it is totally understandable to feel like you do,” Mia said.
“It’s true. If it weren’t for getting some good counsel from Father Santos and Father Alessandro, I’d be a wreck each time Mia puts herself in danger. They are going to be at the wedding tomorrow. Remind me to introduce them to Martha,” Ted asked Mia.
“I will. And, Martha, make sure you mention the crows to them,” Mia insisted. “They may just be crows, or they may be watching over Gwen. Either way, the good fathers should be made aware of this.”
“I will. Now if you’ll excuse me, Gwen is waving me over.”
Ted put a hand out to Mia. “What crows?”
“I’ll tell you later. Right now, I see Eric has discovered one of the rustic chandeliers’ chains. Like Tarzan Tom, he is no doubt sizing it up for a good swing.”
Tom was unaware of his name being mentioned. He was intently listening to Raedell talk. It didn’t matter the subject, Raedell had an opinion. And that was just fine with Tom. He was knocked out of his boots when she entered the Hunt Club. Her hair reminded him of the setting sun. When he heard her nickname Rae, he marveled how appropriate it was. He offered Mike a hundred dollars to trade places with him, so he would be matched up with her. Mike, who had tangled with Rae unsuccessfully before, told the young deputy to put away his money. He was just fine escorting Audrey.
Burt, who Ralph hired to film the event, kept a focused eye on Mike whenever he w
as with Audrey.
Ralph had been very careful to include the PEEPs team. Bernard, who Ralph thought should walk Mia down the aisle, declined the position, not wanting to get in the way of Mia and her father’s fragile relationship. Amanda didn’t seem to care that Ralph was taking care of everything. She, true to her nature, enjoyed being waited on without responsibility.
Reg stood once again at the bar and surveyed the roomful of sated, happy people. He was proud of his son and enjoyed the people he and Mia had chosen to be part of the wedding party. His daughter and granddaughters talked all the way from Wichita about the unusual costumes they were asked to wear. He thought all the gears, switches and things somehow fitted the son who spent every moment, when he wasn’t with Mia, inventing things. His wife was worried that her aunt Mildred wouldn’t understand the mechanized Victorian dress. He assured her that Mildred was from the Victorian era and probably still had a few corsets in her underwear drawer.
“Okay, kiss your bride goodbye,” Ralph instructed Ted. “Mia’s off limits until after your wedding.”
Ted took Mia in his arms and gave her such a long kiss that her knees went weak and she could barely stand.
“That’ll hold you,” he said letting her go.
Mia smiled and let Ralph lead her away towards the limo that would take them to the hotel suite he reserved near the venue.
Ted watched as the car pulled away. His father approached and put an arm around his shoulders. “Your mother and I are so pleased with the woman you’ve chosen to wed.”
“Thanks, Dad, I kind of like her too.”
“Are you nervous about tomorrow?”
“A little. I don’t want to dwell on it though. How about we go into the bar of this fine establishment and rile the locals with some Kansas City Chief bragging.”
“I’m game if you are,” Reg said, patting his back pocket, making sure he had his wallet.
“Don’t worry, Dad, it’s on me,” Ted said, miming his father with likewise pats.