A dead-air moment followed. Christy didn’t know where to begin in her argument with her aunt. Her mother appeared mortally wounded, and her father was looking down into his coffee cup.
Todd leaned back and broke the tension by saying in his raspy whisper, “I’m confident the Bridegroom will show up wherever we hold the ceremony.”
Marti’s expression showed she didn’t appreciate his comment. “Of course you will show up, Todd. That’s not the point.”
“I didn’t mean me. I meant the Bridegroom. Jesus Christ. He’s with us here right now. He’ll show up wherever Christy and I are on the day that we promise our lives to each other. That’s all that really matters.”
Marti’s face grew red. “Todd, I have held my tongue for a very long time, but I can’t remain silent any longer.” She leaned across the table and with fire in her eyes said, “I love you like a son. You know that. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you or give you. But you have failed to show me the slightest courtesy in areas that matter the most to me. I’ve listened to you spiritualize for the last time.”
She rose to her feet and pressed white knuckles to the table. “This is not about your heavenly view of everything. This is the wedding day of my one and only niece. I am offering my time and my resources to help create an unforgettable day for the two of you. And how do you respond? By being rude, disrespectful, and inconsiderate. Well, that’s it!”
Todd stood. “You’re right.” His voice broke, and he reverted to a loud whisper. “I haven’t honored your considerable efforts. I’m sorry. Will you forgive me for being insensitive and not appreciating all you do for Christy and me?”
Marti didn’t seem to know how to respond. She stood rigidly and stared at Todd as if trying to determine if he was sincere or if this was another spiritual tactic to break down her defenses.
Todd waited. His expression was open and expectant.
Marti continued to stare at him; her jaw remained firm.
“Ho! Ho! Ho!” came a jovial voice as the door to the garage opened. “It’s Santa and his helper! Have we got a prime rib dinner for you! And wait until you see the cheesecake . . .” Bob stopped in his tracks and sized up the standoff at the kitchen table.
“What happened?” David asked, following Uncle Bob and carrying a large white cake box.
Marti tilted her head slightly and in a low voice said, “I suggest we start over. Let’s all take a deep breath and go on from here.”
“That won’t erase the offense.” Todd cleared his throat and tried to continue. “I hurt you, Marti. I was wrong. I apologize. Please forgive me.”
With a wave of her hand and a stilted laugh, Marti said, “Don’t worry about it, Todd. We’re all running on heightened emotions. I suggest we take a five-minute break and then reconvene with an agreement to all communicate with a renewed level of respect.”
Christy thought her aunt had turned into a robot and was spouting phrases she had heard before rather than saying what sprang from her heart. Maybe that was how issues were discussed when Marti was involved with the art colony.
“What did we miss?” David asked.
Mom shot him a look that said, “Don’t ask such questions, David!”
“Are we still on for a six-o’clock dinner?” Bob asked, unloading his bags of food on the counter. “Or should we adjust that?”
“Six-thirty would be better.” Marti moved over to the coffee maker and poured a fresh cup of coffee. “We’re just getting started.”
Uncle Bob caught Christy’s eye. He held her gaze with a silent, questioning look. Christy gave a little nod and mouthed the words, “It’s okay.”
Bob slowly nodded.
“Would it be all right if I made some tea?” Christy asked.
“Of course,” Bob said. “You know where it is. Help yourself. I bought some Christmas peppermint tea yesterday that you might like. How about you, Todd? A little something warm for your throat? Or would cold feel better? We have plenty of everything.”
“Tea.”
“I’ll get it.” Christy rubbed Todd’s back as she slid past him. “Is peppermint okay?”
He nodded.
Christy had just turned on the flame under the teakettle when Marti returned to the table and announced they were ready to continue.
“Go ahead and sit down,” Bob suggested to Christy. “I’ll bring your tea over to you.”
With fresh determination, Marti went back to her agenda, skipping the first point until later. “Let’s go on to the third point. The cake. If you will look at the third and fourth pages on your handout, you will see some color copies that are examples of Cakes by Emilie. Her bakery is in great demand because she interviews the couples, finds out what is meaningful to them, and then designs a cake specifically for them. No two cakes are ever alike.”
“Are those skateboards on the border of that yellow cake?” Christy’s mom asked.
“Cool!” David looked over Christy’s shoulder. “How did they make the little black wheels? Is that a birthday cake?”
“No, these are all wedding cakes. The groom was an architect. He met his bride when he was designing a skate park for the city of Solana Beach. I asked about that one because I thought it was unusual, too.”
Christy wanted to protest the use of skateboards as an appropriate decoration on a wedding cake so Todd wouldn’t get any ideas about using surfboards on theirs. But she knew it would be better not to challenge her aunt. At least not yet.
Marti seemed to have calmed down. David went into the den to watch TV, and Bob brought Christy and Todd their tea and then quietly worked in the kitchen while Marti worked her way down the list. She went on with her presentation for fifteen uninterrupted minutes. No one else said a word. No one agreed or disagreed or challenged her on any of her seven points. When she returned to the first two points, she presented her opinions with an enthusiastic tone.
“As I mentioned earlier, I went ahead and reserved the country club for June. Point number two is the wedding coordinator I’ve been working with to gather all this information. Her name is Elise, and I made an appointment for us to meet with her on Saturday afternoon at two o’clock. Now for discussion. Who has questions?”
No one moved or spoke up.
Christy had so many conflicting feelings she didn’t dare try to say anything. Todd was the brave one again. For a man with so little voice left, he was sure set on having his say. “Thank you, Marti. You worked hard on all this. I appreciate it. This will help Christy and me as we make our decisions and put everything together.”
Christy thought his choice of words was great. “Put everything together” could mean they would take all Aunt Marti’s ideas, some of her ideas, or none of her ideas. The part Marti heard was the thank-you. That seemed more important than anything else.
“You’re welcome. This is only the beginning, you know. We have much more planning to do. That’s where Elise will help us out on Saturday.”
Christy determined right then and there that she and Todd would find time in the next day and a half to talk through all their wedding plans. They would decide on their own, just the two of them, when, where, and how they would get married. If they had to stay up all night for the next two nights, they would form their own plan. If they had to go somewhere else to talk, they wouldn’t come back until they had their own completed list. Even if Todd lost his voice completely and could only communicate by sign language, they would figure out everything before two o’clock on Saturday. And the decisions would be all theirs because, after all, this was their wedding.
7 “Wait a minute,” Katie said, stopping in the middle of the produce section at the grocery store. “Todd and you went ahead and met with the wedding coordinator on Saturday even though you guys don’t want to get married at the yacht club?”
It was the Monday after Christmas, and Katie and Christy had returned to Rancho Corona to prepare for the Mexico outreach trip with Todd’s youth group. Christy and Katie hadn’t seen eac
h other since the night they went caroling but had agreed earlier on the phone to meet in front of the grocery store down the hill from their college campus.
They stood in the parking lot talking for nearly ten minutes before Christy suggested they shop while they talked. Entering the grocery store with Katie pushing the cart, Christy continued to summarize her Christmas weekend at Bob and Marti’s in a more positive tone than she felt.
“Yes, we met with the wedding coordinator,” Christy said. “She’s not from the club. She’s independent. I liked her. She had a lot of good ideas for us.”
“So when did you tell your aunt that you don’t want to have the ceremony at the yacht club?”
“We haven’t told her yet, but we will,” Christy said. “Todd and I spent hours discussing everything even though his voice was barely above a whisper.”
“And after all your discussing you didn’t come up with a wedding date?”
“We have a possible date.” Christy checked her shopping list and put a bag of red apples into the cart.
“As your best friend and possible maid of honor, may I ask what your possible wedding date is? Or are you keeping it a secret from everyone?”
“It’s not a secret, Katie. The date is May twenty-second. But you’re the only one who knows it so don’t say anything until we can confirm it. And you are more than my possible maid of honor. You are my maid of honor. Or I should say, I’d like you to be, if you want to.”
“Of course. I’m honored. Honored to be your maid of honor. But now I have to ask, how did you come up with May twenty-second as your date? I thought Todd wanted to get married sooner.”
“Todd and I went over every possible weekend between now and next Christmas. Believe me, the only date that worked was May twenty-second. We wanted to have at least a week for our honeymoon, and that was the only time we could fit it in. It’s nine days after I graduate and nine days before Todd starts to work full time at the church for the summer.”
“Okay, that makes sense,” Katie said. “But I still don’t get it. Why didn’t you announce you had decided on a date?”
“Because we don’t know if we can have the meadow yet. We have to wait until the Rancho Corona administration people return to their offices next week.”
“Wait a minute. I am so lost. What meadow?” Katie had stopped pushing the cart and looked as if she wasn’t going to move until Christy explained every detail.
“The meadow at school. By the chapel. That’s where we want to hold the ceremony and the reception.”
“You’re kidding.”
“No, that’s where we want to get married.”
Katie tilted her head and scrutinized Christy. “How do your parents feel about that? I would think they would want you to have the ceremony at their church in Escondido.”
“They do.”
“But you don’t.”
“We want to get married in the meadow.” Christy pulled the cart over toward the bread and tossed in five of the least-expensive loaves.
“Could you change one of those whole wheat loaves to white?” Katie asked. “Rick likes white bread. His mom made these incredible leftover turkey sandwiches on white bread the day after Christmas. Have you ever had a turkey sandwich with stuffing and cranberry sauce?”
Now Christy was the one tilting her head and scrutinizing Katie. “No, it sounds good.”
“It’s my new favorite. But it has to be on white bread. The stuffing makes it all stick together.” Katie pushed the cart toward the peanut butter and jelly. “Didn’t you have peanut butter on the list? I think the cheapest jelly is this big bucket of grape.”
Christy told Katie to pick up three jars of peanut butter and then said, “So tell me all about your Christmas. How did everything go with Rick?”
“Great. Wonderful.” Katie put the peanut butter in the cart. “But you didn’t finish telling me about you and Todd. Is he going to be well enough to go to Mexico?”
“Yes, he’s fine now. His voice is almost back to normal. There’s not much else to tell about our plans. We didn’t get to the jewelers so we don’t have a ring yet. And I already told you we have to check on reserving the meadow before we can set our date.”
“And break the shocking news to your aunt and everyone else.”
“Exactly,” Christy said. “Oh, and my uncle offered us the use of his condo on Maui for our honeymoon.”
Katie grinned. “Well, at least you have one important detail taken care of.”
Christy motioned for Katie to push the grocery cart down the canned-food aisle. She studied the prices on the tomato sauce cans.
“You know,” Katie said, “if you get married in the meadow, you can release butterflies instead of the usual.”
Christy laughed at her friend’s suggestion. “Don’t you dare suggest that one to my aunt! She already has a long list of creative ideas for our cake and my veil and the bouquet.”
“I’m serious,” Katie said. “I saw it on TV. The bride ordered these butterflies that came in individual boxes. They looked like Chinese takeout boxes. As soon as the couple said ‘I do,’ the guests opened the boxes. I thought it was a great idea.”
“Well, we’re not going to say ‘I do.’”
“You’re not?”
“We talked about our vows last night. Todd and I decided we’re going to say ‘I promise,’ because that makes it clearer that we’re making a vow to love, honor, and cherish and all the rest of it.”
“I’m sure the butterflies would flap their little wings on cue whether you said ‘I do’ or ‘I promise,’” Katie said sarcastically. “Or if you want to hold the butterflies until the end, you can launch butterflies at the same time you heave your bouquet.”
Katie’s expression created an image in Christy’s mind of “launched” butterflies and “heaved” flowers all tumbling through the air in the meadow.
“Now tell me, Katie.” Christy faced her friend. “Would I be making an accurate guess if I said I should plan to heave my bouquet in your direction?”
“You can heave it anywhere you want,” Katie said. “‘The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me.’”
Christy raised her eyebrows, trying to interpret Katie’s response.
“That’s my new verse. Rick and I found it this weekend. It’s in Psalm 138. Verse 8. Took us only two seconds to memorize it. ‘The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me.’ That’s it. Isn’t that incredible? I’ve decided to make that my life verse. How many cans of spaghetti sauce did you want?”
Christy checked her list. “Six of those large ones on the lower shelf. Get the brand on the right; it’s four cents less.”
“Do you want these jumbo-sized packages of spaghetti noodles?”
“Yes, three of those, and why don’t you grab one more can of sauce just to be sure we have enough.”
“That’s right,” Katie said. “Doug is coming. He eats more than anyone I know. Tracy is still planning to come, isn’t she?”
“The last I heard she was.”
“I hope she’s not having a lot of morning sickness,” Katie said. “That wouldn’t be much fun in Mexico.”
“Maybe she won’t be able to come after all,” Christy said. “I’ll give her a call tonight. Do you have any gum or mints with you? My throat is really dry.”
“No. Do you want me to get some gum at the checkout for you?”
“No, I’ll buy some cough drops when we go down that aisle. It would be good to have some with us in Mexico. I already put together a first-aid kit, but I didn’t add any cough drops.”
“I wish Sierra and the rest of her gang would have come back early from Christmas break so they could join us,” Katie said.
“We might make another trip in the spring. From what Todd said, this orphanage needs a lot of work.”
“Rick might have to leave early. Did I tell you that? He’s having a hard time with the work schedule for the end of the week. I might come back with him, unless you still need my help w
ith the food and everything.”
“It’s only for four days,” Christy said. “I mean, if you have to leave early, that’s okay. But it’s not a very long trip.”
“I know. And he might be able to work it out so he can stay the whole time. The problem with being the manager of The Dove’s Nest is that he’s the one who’s ultimately responsible, you know? They really need more help on weekdays.”
“Are you still planning to work there?” Christy asked.
“Yes. I start right after New Year’s. I might as well have started last week because I was in every day Rick was there. I’ve already pretty much learned everything I need to know to start taking orders. I have a feeling I’m really going to like working there.”
Christy bit her lip. She had almost said, “Oh, and I wonder why?” But she didn’t want to jeopardize her communication with Katie. Especially after the tangle they had had more than a week ago in their dorm room.
The rest of their shopping went smoothly. Unfortunately, Katie didn’t open up much about her budding relationship with Rick.
After they unloaded all the groceries at the church kitchen, picked up a pizza, and returned to their dorm room, Christy was hopeful Katie would open up more. However, a minor distraction consumed their attention.
Katie unlocked their dorm room door with the pizza box in her hand and immediately froze in place.
Christy didn’t have to ask what made Katie stop and stare. Christy already knew. Todd had come with her to the dorm room earlier that morning and had carried in the object Katie now was gaping at.
“It’s my Christmas present from Todd,” Christy said in a low voice. “He made it.”
“Ohhh! Is that Naranja?” Katie slowly stepped into the room, sounding as if she were recognizing a long-lost friend.
“Yes, the backrest is Todd’s old surfboard, Naranja. And that’s the backseat from Gus the bus. Todd sort of welded them together and now . . . it’s . . . a couch, I guess.”
“What do you mean it’s a couch, you guess?” Katie sat down and looked up at Christy with an expression of delight. “This is the most amazing, authentic, memory-filled objet d’art I’ve ever seen. I could just cry! And you know what? It’s actually sort of comfy, too.”