Joy and Tiers

by Mary Crawford

  “Okay, I just wanted to make sure that you understand that the lifestyle you’re choosing isn’t for lightweights,” Madison cautions.

  “No, Sis, I think I got it. I practically pass out every time I hear his scanner go off and I have to practice newfangled meditation techniques to get through the nightly news these days. Trust me, I have a whole new understanding of the dangers of the world now that I’m dating a first responder.”

  “Great! Now I can tell you why I think Tyler’s the most awesomely perfect man ever for you. Speaking of that, what do Mom, Dad and Carlton think?”

  “Obviously, I figured I wouldn’t waste my breath bothering to tell Mom and Dad or seek their approval. So, I really don’t know. I’d like to say I don’t care, but I guess there is always going to be a piece of me that seeks out their approval. So, there’s a teeny tiny small part of me that’s sad that they won’t be involved in this. I guess there’s a larger portion that’s relieved that I will not have to mess with their criticism. Because, I know that nothing that I will ever do with Tyler, this marriage or anything in my career will ever make them happy.”

  “I’m sorry it has to be that way,” Madison acknowledges. “But, I’m afraid you’re right. Dad is way too stubborn to admit that he might have been wrong and until he does that, Mom is stuck in the middle. I don’t have any problems siding with you. I think they were wrong. I don’t care if they know that I think that they made a mistake. If that pisses them off, I’m sorry, but you’re my big sister and I’m going to be your maid of honor. If they don’t like it, that’s just too bad. What does Carlton say?”

  “I don’t know. Ty’s on the phone with him right now. They’ve been on the phone for a really long time. I’m not sure what that means. That could go either way.”

  “We should cut him some slack. He’s been having some trouble with Whitney. I think they could do okay if Mom and Dad would stay out of it. But, Mom and Dad are so worried about looking perfect, they don’t give people a chance to live life and figure out how to work out their differences—to just live and breathe. It’s stifling. I don’t blame them for splitting up.”

  “Oh no! Is it official now? I feel terrible asking them to be part of my wedding if they’re on the outs. There is nothing more awful than being around a happy couple if you’re not.”

  “No, I think it’s great. Maybe it will make Carlton reevaluate what’s important to him. If he has to look true happiness in the face, maybe he’ll realize what a farce he’s been living and pull his act together.”

  “Maybe, but it still seems mean—”

  “So, when are these big nuptials taking place and can we dress Carlton in pink, pretty please?”

  “Well, the timing is a little tricky because my best friend Tara got engaged first, so it would be rude to cut in line. I am pretty sure that Carlton is going to have an opinion on what he wears and his first choice is not going to be pink.”

  “Oh, that’s right. Tara is marrying that gorgeous pop star. Aidan O’Brien, isn’t she? Are you planning to make the wedding cake for that?”

  “Well, you know anything can happen with the Girlfriend Posse so who knows whether they’re even going to have a wedding cake,” I respond mysteriously.

  My sister snorts. “Oh, I see. You’ve already signed the confidentiality agreements and can’t say anything.”

  “You are just too nosy for your own good. But, you’re barking up the wrong tree. In this case, I really don’t know anything. We haven’t talked wedding cake at all, I swear.”

  Madison laughs. “Uh huh, you always talk wedding cake. So, you’ll pardon me if I don’t believe you. Send me a text when you’ve got a more plausible cover story in place and a solid date set and I’ll clear my schedule. Congratulations Sis. This one’s a keeper.”

  I’m still smiling when I hang up the phone. It’s funny to me that even though I’m totally telling the truth, no one believes me. Maybe that’s why Tara hasn’t said one word about the wedding to me. She already knows I’m terrible at keeping secrets. What I don’t know, I can’t accidentally spill.

  I hear the back door open, so I run to meet Ty. As I look him over, he doesn’t look any worse for the wear. I breathe a sigh of relief as I take in his relaxed demeanor. “You don’t look like you’re ready to skin my brother alive,” I observe.

  “It actually went really well, Gidget. He’s coming to walk you down the aisle as soon as you give him the word.”

  “Really? Just as simple as that? In case you haven’t noticed, Carlton isn’t really my biggest fan. What did you do to coerce him?”

  “Nothing. Once he knew how important it was to you for him to be there, he was totally on board. Of course, he’s a little nervous about how your dad is going to retaliate, but he’s willing to take that risk.”

  “I wonder why he’s suddenly willing to stick his neck out for me. Usually, he is the one picking on me.”

  “Maybe he’s finally fed up. Maybe he’s decided that it’s time he makes his own decisions for a change.” Ty suggests, shrugging. “I support his decision to be his own man. More power to him.”

  “Me too. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have great friends like ours,” I remark wistfully.

  “Not yet, but it doesn’t mean he couldn’t. Justice Gardner has lots of friends in many different states—”

  “You’re so funny. Dropping names left and right. Next thing you know, you’re going to be suggesting Aidan call his BFF Billy Joel to play at our wedding or something.”

  “Nah, as far as I know, Aidan hasn’t met Billy Joel yet. But, did he tell you that he met one of the members of Big and Rich when he covered their song on an award show last year? He said it was pretty cool. They thanked him for bringing awareness to their song. They were pretty cool about the cover. Speaking of your friends, are you ready to tell them? This should be the really fun part. Who do you want to start with and should we do it over the phone or video call?”

  “We should definitely do this over video and I think we should start with Tara and Aidan because that’ll hopefully settle some answers for us.”

  “The artistic lovebirds, it is.” Tyler says as he walks me over to the computer and pulls me down into his lap.

  As Aidan’s head pops up on the other side of the computer, I see a look of relief on his face, “Blimey! It took you guys long enough. It was not easy to keep this one from crawling through the computer screen to try to figure out what was going on. Can you confirm what she already knows so she can relax? She is like a cat standing on tinfoil right now.”

  Tara practically pushes Aidan out of the way as she addresses me. “It was totally romantic, right? But, totally not what you expected. About as far from typical as you could get, am I right?”

  I shake my head in silent shock. Her skills are so impressive. I don’t believe Tyler could have telegraphed his intent to ask me to marry him because I don’t think he decided to ask me until the actual moment it happened. I suspect if he had planned it in advance, he would have done a far more advanced, romantic over the top, epic never forget it in a million years type of event. As much as the superficial, clothes-horse fashionista side of me might have wished for an exotic marriage proposal with all the bells and whistles. The real, down-to-earth-hot-chocolate-sipping-Netflix-movie-watchin’-hair-in-a-ponytail side of me, really appreciates the sweet sentiment of the simple heartfelt proposal.

  “It was perfect,” I murmur. “He’s rather perfect for me. I know that I’ll never hear the end of it. You guys told me this was coming months and months ago.”

  Tara just sagely shrugs and sighs as she says, “The heart is ready when it’s ready. There isn’t much you can do to speed it up or slow it down.”

  I think about the simple wisdom of her words. I suppose she’s right. Tyler and I could have settled into a quick and easy relationship that both of us were comfortable with and kept it really superficial. But, because of the odd nature of our relationship, I was forced to look beyond the aff
able good guy persona Tyler puts up and find the haunted hero with the fragile heart underneath. I discovered as much as I have fun with gregarious Ty, I love the more vulnerable sides of him just as much. “Tara, why didn’t you tell me about him? Maybe I would have been a better friend,” I ask, somberly.

  Tara casts her eyes down and a look of sadness crosses her face as she says, “Some stories just aren’t mine to share and sometimes it’s the telling of the story brings the most healing. Still other times, my knowledge won’t change the outcome.”

  “I suppose you’re going to be as tightlipped as usual and not give me any clues about what you mean. I was never any good at solving riddles.”

  Tara raises an empirical eyebrow at me, “Well, considering you are beaming out more happiness rays than the sun, I would venture to guess things are going okay between you and Ty. So, I doubt you have much to worry about on the relationship front,” she observes dryly.

  “No, you’re right about that. I know you all already ‘know’, but I thought I should officially tell you that Tyler and I have gotten engaged. Well, I guess we technically have followed in Jeff and Kiera’s footsteps and done the ‘sort of’ engagement thing.”

  Tara’s eyes widen in surprise as she comments, “I’m amazed Ty was caught flat-footed. The way he talked to Aidan, I thought he would have been prepared for this moment months ago.”

  “What do you mean, prepared? Prepared for what?” I ask incredulously. “If you go back too many months, Tyler and I were barely speaking.”

  “I guess I just don’t look at your conflict the same way. You two may not have been talking in the traditional sense of the word. But, you two were speaking volumes to each other. For two people spent a great deal of time professing enormous dislike for each other, you two got along like two peas in a pod.”

  “Tara! Are you blind? We fought all the time. We couldn’t even agree if the sky was blue or whether we should drink Coke or Pepsi. The man is insufferably bossy and competitive. Forget personal space boundaries; He simply doesn’t have any. From the moment we met, he was always pushing me and goading me,” my speech trails off as I run out of steam and throw my hands up in disgust.

  Tara nods sympathetically as she observes, “Oh, I won’t disagree. Tyler is one hundred percent overwhelming especially when his attention is focused on you, but isn’t that the beauty of it? His attention and adoration is totally focused on you. I’ve never seen him do or say anything that isn’t completely supportive of you. Even the quirky pet name he chose for you is based on the fact that he thinks that you’re classy and cute. So, I’ve come to the conclusion that Tyler’s been in love with you for much longer than either of you are probably willing to admit. That’s the reason that I’m surprised that he wasn’t carrying around an engagement ring with him.”

  “So, it’s not like it was with Kiera and Jeff? You didn’t have an instant vision of us together for life?” I ask with trepidation, not exactly sure that I want to know her answer.

  “Heather, you know I don’t ever answer questions about my visions unless it’s a matter of life and death. It just messes with fate. Besides, you and Ty have been doing just fine on your own,” Tara says with a small sigh.

  When I see the expression on Tara’s face, I feel instantly guilty. I’ve been friends with her long enough to know that her special insight can be a mixed blessing at best and a terrible burden at worst. “Well, this is a tad awkward. Now, I don’t know if you don’t want to tell me because it’s bad news or if it’s just your standard I-have-spooky-powers-policy. The only reason I ask is because Tyler is so scared about the future. It almost seems like he feels like he has one foot in the grave already.”

  Tara smirks. “I’ve never denied that I’m spooky and I’ve never truly thanked you enough for being my friend in spite of that. Would it make you feel any better if I told you that it’s pretty much my blanket disclaimer? As far as Ty goes, if you could see what goes on in that man’s head and understand the stresses that he faces in either line of work, I think you would better understand his fatalistic attitude.”

  “That’s just it Tara, I can’t understand what he doesn’t tell me,” I lament with frustration.

  “I think that there are a couple of factors at work here. First, he’s bound by a sense of confidentiality. Secondly, he isn’t really the artistic sensitive type like Aidan. He’s going to be more reticent to share. He’s used to being the strong silent type that doesn’t need anyone. Relying on someone else for emotional support is a brand-new experience for him. If I were to guess, you are probably the first woman that he’s ever fully trusted. It’s going to take a while for him to develop a new communication style with you, so you need to be patient. You may need to listen to the things he doesn’t say as much as the things he does.”

  “Well, hello ‘Dear Abby’—how did you get so smart about relationships? I thought you were the shy one,” I tease.

  Tara giggles. “There’s something to be said about the love of a good man to give you added perspective about life.”

  “Tyler, I don’t know why you think any of us would be shocked by this. We all saw the writing on the wall months ago. You two have been throwing off more sparks than a firework factory since the moment you met. Congratulations. Buddy, I have to ask though, where is her ring?” Jeff asks as he crosses his arms.

  “It’s funny you should ask that…the engagement sort of snuck up on me. I meant to be better prepared,” I start to explain.

  Jeff practically falls off of his chair, he’s laughing so hard. When he finishes, he says, “Let me get this straight— you’ve been in love with her practically since you laid eyes on her, and you’re the guy who plans military missions and undercover operations for a living—but you forgot to plan for your own engagement? That’s just too funny. She’s not pregnant is she?”

  “No! Remember how insulted you were when people assumed that about you and Kiera? Well, ditto.”

  Jeff looks slightly chagrined, but still snickers, “Sorry. I shouldn’t assume anything. But, I’m still trying to figure out how this went down, especially after you flicked me so much crap about Kiera. I would’ve expected you to propose with a horse-drawn carriage and a whole 18 piece orchestra.”

  I rake my hand through my hair. “I hear you. That’s the kind of proposal that she deserves. In fact, I think that’s what she was expecting, but we were having this intense conversation and it just seemed right to improvise. So, that’s what I did. Never in a million years did I expect to do this ass-backwards. Thank God she seemed okay with it.”

  Just then Heather walks back in to the room followed by Kiera, Tara and Mindy. It’s clear from the expressions on their faces that they’ve been sharing secrets. Mindy hops up on a bar stool and pops a blueberry in her mouth. “Uncle Ty, are you getting married at the same time as Uncle Aidan?”

  I concentrate on not dropping the pancake I’m flipping as I answer, “No, they got engaged first, so it’s their turn.”

  “Aunt Heather caught the wedding bouquet at Mom’s and Dad’s wedding, remember, same as Uncle Aidan. It was a tie. So everybody has to get married at the same time,” she argues.

  I chuckle at her logic. “I’m not sure that the superstition is quite that precise Mindy Mouse. I think it’s enough that I plan to marry her. We’ll let Tara and Aidan have their own special day, okay?”

  Mindy frowns and looks back and forth between Heather and I with a serious expression on her face. “You should really listen to me. I don’t really think that’s the plan.”

  I flip the pancake out onto a plate and put it in front of her. “Mindy, I promise I won’t change my mind. I love Heather. She’s next. Look on the bright side, this means you’ll get to be in three weddings instead of two.”

  Mindy just rolls her eyes at me, “Maybe someday I’ll be old enough that people will pay attention to me.”

  Just then my pager beeps shrilly, disturbing the impromptu early-morning engagement celebration.
I’m on back up today call. Crap. Blueberry pancakes are my favorite too.

  I kiss Heather quickly as I run out the door, “I love you, Gidget. I’ll see you whenever this wraps up. Will you make me some pancakes when I get home?”

  Heather jogs beside me as I hop in the department SUV. I roll down the window. She passionately kisses me one last time and whispers, “I’ll cook you whatever you want to eat, just be safe Cowboy. I love you too. Go rid the world of crime and all that jazz.”

  I check the computer in the console. Unfortunately, I recognize the description of the vehicle all too well. I’ve been on far too many DUIs and domestic violence calls involving this guy. It’s like a revolving door. I flip on my lights and head out toward his predictable hangouts. On the way there, I see his car weaving in and out of traffic. Shit. Here we go again. I radio in my location and pull a sharp U-turn.

  As I walk-up beside the car, I see a head of dark curls. My adrenaline kicks up another notch. This call just escalated to deadly serious. You’ve got to be kidding me. I’ve met this kiddo before. I think his name is Nathaniel and I don’t think he’s quite two yet. He’s sitting so low in the car, I know that he can’t even be sitting in a booster seat let alone a proper car seat for a child his age.

  As soon as Allan Divers sees that it’s me, I see him utter a string of profanities and try to shift his car back into gear. I throw open his car door and grab his keys from his ignition. Suddenly, he starts grappling with me. My first responsibility is to protect my weapon. I’m able to toss his keys under the car as I drag us both out of the vehicle. I order him to let go and put his arms in the air. It’s no surprise that he’s not responding to commands because the guy smells like a brewery. His son is screaming in abject terror from the car but that doesn’t seem to faze Allan at all. I duck as a meaty fist comes flying toward my face.