Breaking All The Rules (Book 1 - Second Chances Series) (17 page)

“What about me?” I began.

Janette shook her head. “Niecy, this is between me and my fiancé, I’d prefer it stayed that way.”

“Well, I’m going to have to play the big sister card here.” I took her hand and pulled her into a nearby office. “I came all the way from New York to plan and execute your wedding. I’ve spent thousands of dollars.” I could tell Janette was going to interrupt me so I stopped her with my index finger. “I promised daddy on his dying bed that I would take care of you. That I'd make sure you were okay, so I think all of that entitles me to have my say.”

Janette put a hand on her hip and reluctantly rolled her eyes in my direction. “Daddy told you to take care of me?”

I nodded. “He did, but I haven’t had to. You've done a great job of doing it all by yourself.”

My sister let out a long breath. “What great job? I mess everything up. I never finished college. I work in hair salon as a receptionist and shampoo girl because I never finished my beauty school training. I’m six months pregnant by a man who doesn’t love me. You tell me how I’ve done a great job?”

“Don’t do that. Don’t decide that because you don’t have a fancy career you haven’t accomplished anything.” I took a few steps toward her. “Janette, people love you. You’re kind to everyone and you have so many friends. Sometimes the greatest success we can have in life is through relationships.”

“But the one that means the most to me has been a lie. How can I marry a man who proposed to you? He loved you first. He wanted you first.” She paused and this time her eye roll was intended to cut. “He had you first.”

“Janette, Terrance and I were intimate, but I initiated it. I was sad about daddy. I'd broken up with another guy in New York prior to coming home, so I was on the rebound. Terrance was there for me before and after the funeral. I was feeling lonely and rejected. Once it was over, he realized that it was my first time and I could tell he felt bad about that. The next night he came over and he asked me to marry him. He was talking about the Bible and how a man that takes a woman's virginity is like a thief and all that stuff he's had mixed up in his head.”

“He’s right about some of that,” Janette said.

I shrugged. “That’s debatable, but one thing we know for sure is that he's honorable. But no matter how honorable he was and how much I cared about him, I knew I had no intentions of staying in Garrison. I also knew Terrance would never leave. That meant we could never be together, virginity gone or not, so I said no to his proposal. You should have seen the relief on his face.”

“But, he did love you.”

“Maybe, in high school or college, but it doesn’t matter, because he doesn't love me today.”

“How do I know he's not marrying me for the same reason he asked you? Obligation. I don't want him marrying me because I'm pregnant. I love Terrance. I want him to feel the same way about me. How do I know?”

“That's easy,” Terrance said, entering the room.

I stepped aside and let him take my place in front of Janette. He took her hand. “You look into my eyes when I tell you and you know because you trust me.”

Janette pulled her hand from his and looked away. “I don't trust you. Not anymore.”

“You trusted me six hours ago. I haven’t changed.” He sat down and pulled her onto his lap. “You have to believe me when I tell you this. I fell in love with you six months ago. You smiled at me from across the room and I swear my heart burst open.”

Her gaze met his and her expression softened. “That night was so romantic.”

Terrance pulled her hand to his heart. “I really saw you for the first time.”

“And I saw you.” Janette’s voice cracked and her eyes wet with new tears. “It felt like something from a romance novel. Love at first sight.”

Terrence had this. I cleared my throat. “I'm going to give you two the room.” They were in each other’s arms crying and kissing and apologizing before I made it through the door. 

I stepped out and bumped into Ethan. 

“So, are they jumping the broom or what?”

“They are,” I replied. “I think this blow out, as stressful as it was, needed to happen. No one is going into the marriage wondering if it was the right thing to do.”

Ethan nodded. “It’s important to know someone loves you for who you are without a bunch of other stuff in the way.”

I didn’t say anything.

He took my hand and pulled it to his mouth. The heat of his lips and gaze caused me to melt. “It’s getting late. I need to get Janette and Terrance in there.” I gently pulled my hand from his grasp.

Ethan nodded. “I’ll let you do your job.” He turned and walked into the fellowship hall. I let my body go limp against the wall. How in the world had I come home, angry with one Wright and fallen so hard for another?

The wedding of Terrance Wright to Janette Malcolm would be the talk of the town in Garrison, Georgia, for a long time. Janette was a beautiful bride. Her deep cocoa skin glowed like shimmery chestnuts against the backdrop of her white dress. A last minute change during styling, she’d opted to wear her hair down rather than up as planned. It cascaded around her face in a pool of spiral curls. Her headpiece, a tiara fashioned from crystal and three layers of an exquisitely, shimmery, voile sat on the crown of her head and hung down her back. The dress itself was stunning and although Janette walked proudly down the aisle, it did a good job of concealing her pregnancy so she didn’t look like a Weeble Wobble who should have been rolled. The dress swept the floor. No one knew that underneath she wore modest two-inch heels I’d suggested for comfort. The final touch was the bouquet, a festive assortment of white flowers tied with a sprig of fuchsia heather. She looked perfect.

Terrance was equally as handsome in his black and gray tuxedo with fuchsia accessories. I’d never seen him look more handsome or happy. They made a fine couple. I was truly happy that they’d found each other.

Reverent Wright did a traditional Christian ceremony. My eyes had been misty throughout the entire thing, but when he did the pronouncement, I was overcome with emotion.

“Because Terrance and Janette have desired each other in marriage, and have witnessed this before God and our gathering, affirming their acceptance of the responsibilities of such a union, and have pledged their love and faith to each other, sealing their vows in the giving and receiving of rings, I do proclaim that they are husband and wife in the sight of God and man. Let all people here and everywhere recognize and respect this holy union, now and forever. Amen.”

Everyone in the sanctuary stood. A tear fell with the revelation I was one of the people who had to respect this union, now and forever. This marriage was not about two people’s past. It was about the future of two people that I loved who loved each other.

I looked up and whispered, “I hear you God. Loud and clear.”

Reverend Wright said a closing prayer and they kissed. “It is now my privilege to introduce to you for the first time, my son and daughter-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Terrence Braxton Wright.”

***

The reception line was finished and the D.J. hadn’t arrived. I stepped out of the room while the photographer took shots of the groomsmen and called him.  His car had broken down. His brother-in-law had just arrived and they were piling into his car and on the way to the hall. Unfortunately, they were still twenty minutes away. I encouraged him to drive safely and returned to the reception. 

What was I going to do? I had a CD with music on it as a back up, but the equipment wasn’t working. I’d tested it last night and it was fine. Today, it was like it’d been struck by lightening and died.

Ms. Marie, the wedding coordinator approached me. “The music?” she asked.

“Twenty minutes away.”

“But it’s time for the first dance.”

I gave her a look. Like I didn’t know that. “We’ll have to change the order of the events. We can have them cut the cake first.” I stopped mid-sentence, because I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. A small child, no more than five was being pulled away from a piano by a woman who looked like an exhausted mother. I scanned the room, zoomed in on Ethan as he laughed with the groomsmen and excused myself.

I interrupted Ethan’s conversation with a polite, “I need to borrow you for a second.”

He followed me. “What’s up?”

“The piano. Have you ever played in front of anyone other than your music teacher or some woman you were trying to impress?”

“A few times. Mostly impromptu church stuff,” he replied. “Why?”

“My D.J.’s running late. I’d really like to keep the schedule we have because it flows right, but I need Terrance and Janette to have their first dance.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You want me to play in front of all these people?”

“Would you?” I asked.

He looked at the guest, glanced at the piano and then back at me.

I mouthed the word,
please
.

His eyes stayed on my lips a little longer than they should have. He cleared his throat and met my eyes. “Sure. I’m going to have to play at the funeral in few days, so why not. This’ll be good practice for me.”

“Great!” I clapped my hands and hugged him. “You’re the best.”

“You don’t know the half of it.” He smiled. “What’s their song?”

“The Closer I Get to You.”

“Hmm, that’s two people, one being a woman, so I can’t pull that off, but I do know some Luther.”

“At this point anything will do.”

He walked over to the piano, played with his phone for a few seconds and within minutes he made the piano hum. Ethan was such a ham that he took over Ms. Marie’s job of announcing the couple. He shared a childhood story about him and Terrance, which caused laughter to fill the hall. Then he shared a story about some humorous incident at church with Janette, after which he led into the music from “So Amazing” by Luther Vandross. He was no Luther, but dang, the brother could blow. When he wasn’t checking his phone for what I presumed had to be the music, he was looking at me. A few people followed his eyes to me and I couldn’t help but blush, which I could tell he loved. I turned away for a few moments. This man was so bold it was downright ratchet. I wasn’t used to someone with such a strong personality and I wondered if dating men who were more subdued was another way my control issues manifested. Ethan made me feel like I was on some type of rollercoaster ride, like that feeling I used to get when my stomach dropped in a car or on a plane. I texted Gayle.

Me:
He’s playing and singing So Amazing by Luther.

Gayle:
Amazing.

Me:
He makes me feel like I don’t have control. I don’t like it.

Gayle:
I understand, but you’ll never know love until you let go and surrender to it. Stop being afraid and give that beggin’ man a chance before I kill you!

I giggled inwardly. That was not the response that would help me maintain my resolve and I realized that’s why I texted Gayle. She was the friend who would encourage me to step out of my comfort zone. I turned back around and instead of finding Ethan’s eyes I focused on Janette and Terrance. They were clearly touched by Ethan’s playing. My sister’s eyes were brimming with unshed tears. She and her new husband glided across the floor instep to Ethan’s singing and the guests were just as moved by their dancing as they were by Ethan’s playing. Reverend and Mother Wright never picked their jaws up off the floor the entire time he played. He apparently hadn’t shared his new found talent with them either.

Just as he finished, the D.J. entered the room and set up to take over. The audience gave Janette, Terrance and Ethan a standing ovation. “The Closer I Get to You” piped through the speakers and the floor filled with couples.

The reception was almost over. The guests were eating cake, gathering favors and taking their last opportunity to chat with the wedding party.

I was making my rounds giving the tip envelopes to the people who served us and the vendors who hadn’t yet received theirs. I’d just come in from talking to the limo driver when I heard Ethan’s laugh come from a room away from the general crowd. I intended to join him, but before I could step in I heard Terrance speak.

“I didn’t mean to be so hard on you. I just had to see where you were coming from. Deniece is a special woman.”

“You’re lucky I let you get away with the black eye.”

Terrance chuckled. “I owed you that from that basketball game last year. You know you threw that elbow on purpose.”

They both laughed. I smiled. It was nice to hear them laughing together.

“Anyway, you know Deniece was my first love. I’m always going to care about her.”

“I hear you, but I have to admit I was kind of concerned about where your head was.” I heard Ethan say.

“I didn’t want her hurt. I didn’t want you to use her and discard her when she was vulnerable.”

“Like you did five years ago?”

“I admit, I should have handled some things better,” Terrance replied. “But it doesn’t matter now, because you are the right Wright for her.”