South River Incident (37 page)

“I don’t think so,” I
remember Sarah Blackhawk telling me. “We cook our own food. It’s a family
tradition.”

Of course, I was a bundle
of nerves and had a short fuse. Getting married proved to be a stressful event.
My patience was zero.

Mom kept running around
telling me and everybody else that it was all right that I was acting a little
crazy, because my hormones were out of whack. Being pregnant does that to a
woman.

Billy was dressed in a
black tuxedo with one of those string tie things he loves so much. He looked so
handsome I thought I was going to cry.

Cole and Billy’s three
brothers were by his side.

I made my mother proud by
wearing the wedding dress she wore when she married my father. After all these
years it was no longer white, but I didn’t care.

“White has never been my
best color,” I told Mom as she buttoned up the back of the dress. “I love the
dress and I’m sure Dad would be proud of me for wearing it. I wish he could
have been here.”

“I’m so proud of you, too,
honey.” She gave me a hug. “I know it’s a little old-fashioned...”

“No, Mom, it’s perfect,” I
said, admiring myself in the mirror. “Billy will like this. I love it.”

The dress was beautiful. It
made me look and feel beautiful. The high Victorian neck with puffy shoulders
and long, slender sleeves, the bodice fitted to the waist in a V-shape, and the
skirt a flowing mass, all of which was hand embroidered lace, was a sight to
behold. I looked like a princess. I felt like a queen.

Chief Standing Deer
performed the ceremony in full Cherokee Indian garb, including his headpiece of
feathers down to the floor. I thought it was cool, but during the reception, I
overheard Sarah telling my mom that she thought he should have worn a tux or a
regular suit.

“For heaven’s sake, Jesse
isn’t Cherokee. She probably thinks we’re mongrels. I’m not an expert, but I
think the Plains’ Indians might have been the ones who wore something like
that. However, I’m not so sure about all the rest. It turned into a television
gimmick and now all you see are Indians with feathered headdresses. The chief
just does it for show. The kids love it.”

“You’re kidding! I never
knew that,” Mom said. “Don’t they look so happy? I’m so glad that Jesse has
finally found herself someone to love.”

I was very happy. I loved
Billy with all my heart, and we were going to have a baby. Life couldn’t be any
better.

Strange as it seems to me,
Cole and Claire are seeing each other and talk about their plans for the future
once she divorces Carl. I don’t even want to think about that. The conversation
between Cole and Billy has not been brought up by Cole since, although Billy
and I still talk about it. I know that Cole’s not going to forget it. I can see
it in his eyes. One day he will cause trouble... I’m sure of it. His head is
not on straight anymore. I refused to let the thought of Cole and what he might
do or say, ruin my day. Someone else could worry about him for a while.

Our wedding was wonderful
and everything came off beautifully. Except there was that one little incident
which happened right in the middle of Billy saying “I do,” that really irked
me. He actually wore his cell phone to the wedding, and of course, it rang
during the ceremony. I showed him who was boss by reaching over, snatching it
from his belt and throwing it against the wall, shattering it into a million
pieces. Everybody in the room clapped. I dusted off my hands and turned to him
in earnest, and said, “Say ‘I do,’ Billy Blackhawk, before I change my mind.”

“I do!” he said with
enthusiasm. Bless his heart.

The celebration continued,
until the little ones with their sleepy eyes wanted to go home and await the
arrival of Santa. This was their night, too. By the stroke of
midnight
, Billy and I
were cuddled up on the sofa at home with our two dogs. Athena and Thor were
asleep on the bearskin rug in front of the fireplace. Thor’s tongue hung out,
and Athena had one of her legs wrapped around him. They were so peaceful. They
had a good home and were happy. The lights from the Christmas tree that Billy
had gone into the woods and cut down, sparkled in the night.

Christmas morning was
filled with good cheer and the exchanging of gifts. Celebrations continued
throughout the day and by the afternoon I was exhausted. I took a short nap and
when I awoke, Billy and I jumped into his truck (my Jeep has been parked in the
garage ever since I got it back from the repair shop... my days of driving it
are over... too much bad karma), dressed in our favorite attire of boots, jeans
and flannel shirts. With everything we needed packed in the back under the
camper shell he had finally gotten around to putting back on, we headed off to
our planned honeymoon. We were going to spend a week in the great
Smokey
Mountains
...
in a cabin.

At first I barked at the
idea of spending my honeymoon in the woods. “You must be joking,” I had told
Billy when he first suggested the idea.

“I promised you I’d take
you camping and teach you how to survive in the woods, and I never got around
to it. Unfortunately, camping would be a little hard considering the weather.
This is the next best thing.”

What could I say? I loved
him and this was something he really wanted to do. I had to go along with his
plan.

Athena and Thor were not
happy when we left them behind. Mom told us later that their sadness lasted for
about ten minutes. The minute they got inside the house, Benny and Carrie had
them rolling around and playing in the middle of the floor. Spice Cat also
helped to keep them occupied. It was as if they all had a new toy—and it moved!
It remained that way for the whole week.

“Oh, Jesse, I forgot to
tell you,” Billy informed me as we were riding up and down another one of the
many mountain ridges, hills, and valleys on our journey. “Last week I got a
call from a man named Brian Cherry. It seems his wife was pregnant and her
obstetrician really screwed up. She had toxemia and when she started having
problems, he told her to go to one of those emergency clinics. It turns out
that her doctor was hung over from partying way into the middle of the night
and didn’t want to deal with the problem. The end result was that she went to
the place he recommended and both she and the baby almost died. Fortunately,
the husband was smart enough to get her out of there in time and take her to
the hospital. Mr. Cherry wants me to investigate the doctor and the clinic. I
wouldn’t bring it up, but I thought that you might want to get involved in this
case. All you have to do is go to the doctor’s office, sit in the waiting room
and pump people for information. It’s entirely…”

“I get your drift,” I
mumbled in between my waves of nausea. “Are we there, yet? Billy, I’m sorry,
but I need to go to the bathroom again. Are you hungry? I’m hungry.  I don’t
think I can deal with this outdoor stuff. This place does have heat and indoor
plumbing, doesn’t it? I don’t know about this honeymoon plan of yours, Billy.”

“Oh, honey, you’re going to
be fine—trust me.”

I would like to extend
a personal thanks to my website
designer, Tim Tepper and to Kelley Cleaton—Graphic Designer. Thank you, Teresa
Durrer, for being a good friend. You never give up and you always keep me on my
toes. Much love to my biggest supporters—Tom, Wendy, and Tommy. I love you all
dearly! You make it worthwhile. As always, thanks, Mom... this one’s for you.

Look for my next book:

A Crying Shame

A Jesse Watson Mystery

Book #3

This book is
dedicated to the person for whom the character of

Jesse Watson’s
mother was created,
Minnie
Crumpler
...
my mom.