Laura Ray (Ray Series) (20 page)

“Yes.”

“Is it okay with you if we don’t have it in a church or chapel?”

“Yes.”

She sat back and looked at him to gauge how far she could go with this. “Is it okay with you if we run away and forget to get married and just play twitter-patted?”

“No.”

She let out an exaggerated sigh and brushed her forehead. “Thank goodness, I thought you were stuck on ‘yes’.”

They both laughed.

“Seriously, I had in mind an outdoor wedding against a natural background of a flowering garden sending out its own fragrance. We could set out lawn chairs on the green grass. Along the side we could cater an abundant buffet placed on folding tables.”

Art watched her as she described the wedding she had in mind
using her hands to place one thing here and another thing there. She arranged it all in her mind’s eye. He loved her so much. Anything that put that sparkle in her eyes pretty much was okay with him. She had been so sad for so long.

He focused back when he heard her say, “I want it to be a comfortable,
informal, happy time with family. There will be Nora and Jeremy. I want to call Becky and see if they can come. I would like for Mary, Harold and Aaron to be there. I want to invite your employees, Donald, Samantha and their boys if they want to come. I want Dan and Betty, John’s sister, with their kids.”

She stopped. She looked at him to see if he was still listening. “Art, are you still with me?”

He had placed his elbows on the table and made a peak with his fingers and leaned his forehead against them. He raised his head and smiled, “I was playing husband,” he teased. “Actually, I love your ideas.”

“Do you have anyone you would like to add to the guest list?”

“I’ll think about it. Where would like to have this wedding party?”

“The place is negotiable if you know of some beautiful garden place.”

He shook his head, “Not off hand. It sounds like you want to have a summer wedding.”

“School will start soon. Danny already has started football practice
. When did you want to get married?” she asked.

He smiled mischievously, “Tomorrow.”

She got up from her chair and went to sit in his lap. She put her arms around his neck and whispered in his ear, “I know what you want.”

He pulled her tight and nuzzled her neck, “How did you guess?”

“I think it was a while ago when your eyes began to glaze over.” She kissed his ear.

He stood up and straightened his clothes.

Laura went to Danny’s room and asked, “Would you like to do your homework with Aaron?”

He hopped up off his bed and said, “Sure, Mom.”

He collected his books and went to the front door and asked, “How long do you figure you and Uncle Art need?” He giggled as he shut the door and ran down the steps.

“Oh, My God,” Laura put her hands on her embarrassed face.

“Laura, he’s fourteen. He doesn’t miss much at that age.”

“I know. I’m still embarrassed,” she turned to Art, who seemed enjoy her discomfort.

“I for one am going to take advantage of the opportunity.” He scooped her up in his arms and carried her to her bed. As he gently placed her on her back, he added, “Have you reconsidered my idea of getting married tomorrow?”

The next day at work, Laura ran their conversation over again in her mind about their wedding. She was glad that Art didn’t want a big formal
wedding. She never finished discussing the location, or the time. As she mulled all this around in her mind, it occurred to her that she never had called Nora.

That night she wanted to call Nora but she knew that she would be lucky to get her. Nora went to college during the day and worked four hours at the hospital each night of the week.

Instead she called Mary, “Could I come over tomorrow afternoon at four when I get off work? I need some hen hashing to get me through some issues. Could you help?”

“I will be here with my thinking cap on. Of course, you can come over.” Mary responded.

“Is it okay with you if I invite Samantha?” Laura asked.

“Sure, bring
as many as you want,” Mary agreed.

“No, if the three of us can’t get it figured out, nobody can. Thanks, Mary. I’ll see you then.”

Next Laura called Samantha, “Hi, I need some woman to woman talk. Do you think you could be free tomorrow afternoon at four? I will be at Mary’s house.”

“You know it girl. This sounds right down my alley. I wouldn’t miss it?”

She held up her
bare left hand. It looked like they would have to miss work just to buy an engagement ring.

Becky answered the phone on the first ring, “Hello?”

“Hi, Becky, it me, Laura.”

“Oh, my goodness. It is so good to hear from you. I was just tellin’ the family last night at suppertime how I wish you lived nearer so we could visit and all more often. How are you,
anyway?”

“Good, Becky, you?”

“We’re just fine. Kids’re fixin’ to go back to school. Seems these summer vacations go so fast, before you hardly turn around, it’s time for school to start again. We had a really good garden this year. The girls helped me can lots of green beans. We had potatoes comin’ out our ears so to speak. We put several gunny sacks of them in the barn to dry. Laura’s got her a job workin’ at the Wal-Mart after school this year. You know how these young’uns want their own spendin’ money. But it’s good for her, too.”

“I wanted to tell you how much Danny and I enjoyed being home to visit with everybody.
Danny has already started football practice this year.”

“Eli wants to start college this year. No farther than it is to Joplin, I think Ward’s goin’ to help him find him a used car to drive and he can stay at home and drive back and forth. I’m glad
my kids are spaced two years apart. That gives us a breather before Laura graduates and has to decide something?”

“How’s Daddy?”

“He’s doin’ good. When I went grocery shoppin’ last Friday, I took him with me. He needs to get out some. Him and ol’ Ed Thomas, you might remember him, sat on a bench in front of the store. Every time I peeked out at him, both of them was talkin’ ninty to nothin’, wavin’ their hands and really goin’ at it. When I went to get him they stood and shook hands like they was best friends. Now what I remember they never liked each other when we was kids. Now that’s funny but here is the best part. Ol’ Ed’s as deaf as a door nail. Daddy told me on the way home how much he really enjoyed talkin’ to that ol’ man.”

“That’s
hilarious. It sounds like Daddy’s moving on and not so sad about Mama anymore. Becky, I have something I want to tell you.” Laura began.

“What is it? You have my curiosity up now,” Becky interrupted.

“I’m getting married,” Laura stated.

“
What? Gettin’ married? Just wait ‘til I tell the family. Okay, tell me all about him.”

By the time she finished with the phone call, she felt worn out.
She went into her bedroom, wrapped herself in a blanket, and fell asleep.

Danny came in a little later
and saw her in bed so he fixed himself a sandwich and went into his room to study.

Chapter Twenty
One

Laura drove straight to Mary’s house after work. Mary and Samantha were preparing ham and turkey sandwiches cut in fo
urths. Fruit placed geometrically on the plate looked very enticing. Cupcakes and cookies filled another plate. Three glasses of iced tea waited for the taking.

She stopped at the kitchen door and said in astonishment, “This looks like a party.”

“Samantha and I are expecting some juicy information today. We intend to have a good time. Isn’t that right, Samantha?”

“That is exactly right, young lady. You have kept us in the dark too long,” Samantha bantered.

Laura’s stomach rumbled, “I’m ready to eat.” She rushed toward the food.

“Huh-ho, this girl’s getting a lot of activity. Do you think we should make another plate of sandwiches?” Samantha laughed.

“I’ll keep an eye on things. We may have to go to the store and buy more lunch meat and bread,” Mary added teasing.

Suddenly Laura sat up straight with the memory of what Danny said last night when he left to go to Mary’s house. “Did Danny say anything to you about why he came over last night?” Laura asked.

Mary snickered. “He said that you asked him to come over to study with Aaron because you and Uncle Art had things to do.”

“In retrospect, that’s sort of what happened.” She explained what he said when he went out the
door that embarrassed her so much.

“Art’s right. At
fourteen, they don’t miss much, especially boys and sex. Their hormones are popping,” Samantha said, taking a bite of her sandwich.

“You should know,” Mary grinned eyes twinkling.

“You bet cha’. I still have four teenage boys running in and out of my house,” she stated as she shook her head. “I could really tell you some stories, but right now I’m interested in Laura’s.”

Both of the women turned to Laura. “Out with it,” Mary motioned with her hand.

Laura took a deep breath and started, “Art is leaving everything up to me.”

“Typical man,” Samantha said with a nod. “Go ahead.”

“I did get him to refuse to run off twitter-patted and not get married.” She laughed and went on, “We want a small outdoors wedding set against a background of natural live flowers like an existing garden somewhere. I want tables of buffet food for the guests to eat their fill like at a family gathering. Lots of lawn chairs for people to gather and visit.”

“You want to get married at a family gathering,” Samantha smiled in understanding. “I think that’s a wonderful idea. I’ve never seen it done, but, yeah. I like it.”

“We need someone who will marry us, a caterer, family and friends and a pretty place to have it.” Laura smiled, “What do you think?”

“When do you plan to get married?” Mary asked. “That will direct you on where to have it and what kind of flowers you could expect.”

Laura shrugged. “Every time I ask Art, he says tomorrow.”

All three women laughed.

Samantha rested her chin on her hand, “I get the feeling you are thinking about a public place instead of at a home. You know that you are welcome to have this at my home.”

“Yes, and I appreciate the offer. Remember that little flower garden that Nora and I built in our back yard? Do you remember the one where Jeremy placed the bench in it?” Laura asked Samantha.

“I don’t think I ever saw it but yes, I remember him placing a concrete bench in your back flower garden.”

“I think that is what made me think of this idea,” she said holding out her hand. “It was a lovely place when Nora was home to care for it.”

“It could work,” Samantha nodded. “It would take a bit of money to fix it up for this late in the year.”

“I have an idea,” Mary said enthusiastically. “Art always said that he wanted to buy a new house but he wanted a wife to pick it out
. Remember that?”

Laura nodded.

“Well, do you expect Art to live in Nora’s tiny bedroom with you?”

“I hadn’t thought about that yet.”

“What about the three of us finding that perfect house for his approval before you show it to him? We will keep in mind that we want a perfect backyard for the wedding. Should we plant perennials, they will be there for you next spring. Not a penny will be wasted.” Samantha said excitedly, “I am getting so excited. This is so much fun.”

“Tell Art that you need to spend Saturday with the girls to get ready for the wedding
,” Mary touched Laura’s arm. “He won’t suspect a thing.”

Mary sat back and laughed, “I’ll get Harold to find out from him how much he wants to spend, so we’ll know the price range. If one of us asks him he might get suspicious.”

“We have two days to research every available house in town.” Samantha nodded, “You do want it in town don’t you?”

“Yes, I prefer for Danny be able to walk back and forth to school so he can get to ball practice. I also like living near Mary so I run him off to her house once in a while,” Laura winked.

“Newlyweds,” Mary sighed. “Yes, I remember how glorious it was.”

Samantha raised her finger and cautioned, “Don’t forget the condoms, unless you want a mid-life baby, that is.”

Laura sat up straight with her eyes as round as saucers.

“You hadn’t even thought of that yet,” Samantha softly recognized.

Laura stood up, “Well, on that note, we’ll meet Saturday morning to find that perfect house. Thanks so much.”

“What are friends for?” Mary gave Laura a hug. “I’m glad you included us in your most recent dilemma. It keeps life fun.”

Since Samantha’s comment about a mid-life baby, nerves had not stopped jumping around in Laura’s stomach. She pulled a chicken out of the refrigerator to cut up and fry. She peeled potatoes and stepped back to look at them as if they were foreign objects. She shook her head to get it to function again. Yes, scalloped potatoes should taste good. She prepared them for the oven.