24
Always on My Mind
I’ve been lucky. Opportunities don’t often come along. So, when they do, you have to grab them.
Audrey Hepburn
The following morning Nadia headed back to Dallas before sunup. Eduardo arrived a short time later to pick up Alva. They’d planned a little day trip to Paris, Texas, just a couple of hours away. This left me on my own to travel back to Dallas. Before we parted ways, though, we decided to have one last meal—an early breakfast at McDonald’s. Pap-Paul couldn’t join us, what with his church obligations, but Queenie decided to come along and then catch up with him for the second service. Imagine my surprise when Crystal and Jasper met us there with Corrie at their side.
“Did you have a wonderful time at the slumber party?” Queenie asked the youngster.
She nodded and dove into a lengthy story about how much fun she’d had at Crystal and Jasper’s house.
“We had the time of our lives,” Crystal said. “Just what I needed to take my mind off things.” Her stomach growled and she rubbed it. “Guess I’d better get some food or my tummy will be grumbling all the way through service.”
“With that crazy rock-and-roll band, no one will hear it, anyway.” Alva rolled her eyes.
We got into the serving lines, and I couldn’t help but notice the looks of disdain between several of the customers. Great. The divisions continued, even under the golden arches?
I purchased a breakfast sandwich and took a seat at a table with my family. As I nibbled on my food, a little quarrel broke out at a nearby table between the girls’ softball coach and one of the mothers. Lovely. It didn’t take long for things to get heated.
“What a mess.” Queenie dabbed her lips with her napkin.
“Yes. Talk about the worst timing in the history of all weddings,” I said. “And it had to be mine.”
“I’m sorry, Katie.” My grandmother gave me a sympathetic look. “I really am. I hate this for you.”
“Me too.” No other words would come, so I took a big bite of my sandwich.
Crystal’s gaze traveled the room. “There’s got to be something we can do. How do we fix this?”
Queenie shook her head. “You know me, I’m a natural-born fixer. But this one’s going to take supernatural intervention. I truly believe the only thing that could possibly bring this many divided people back together again is some sort of heavenly ‘gotcha.’”
“Heavenly ‘gotcha’?” Eduardo looked perplexed. “What do you mean?”
“I’m not sure, but something memorable.”
“A natural disaster?” Alva suggested. “People always come together during a crisis.”
“Are you saying we should pray in a hurricane so that the people will be bonded? That’s just plain dumb.” Queenie rolled her eyes, then took a little nibble of her sandwich.
“Well, not a hurricane, maybe, but something.” Alva gave me an inquisitive look. “A tornado? Flash flood?”
“Sure. Like things aren’t terrible enough already a week before Katie’s wedding?” Queenie shook her head. “Sure. We’ll pray in a flood.”
She and Alva started to squabble. Eduardo put up his hand. “C’mon, you two. It isn’t going to make things any better if you end up on opposite sides of the aisle.”
My brother leaned back in his seat and gave me a tentative look. “It is true that people who oppose one another need something to unite them, and nothing unites like a crisis. That’s always the way of it, from my experience. Not saying we should pray in a flood, but I’ve got to wonder if we can come up with something for the people to rally around. You know?”
I had to give it to Jasper. He had a point. People did come together during a crisis. But try as I may, I couldn’t picture God wreaking havoc on the town just so that people would start talking again. Instead of praying for all of that, I would just pray for peace. For wisdom. For division to cease.
I made the drive back to Dallas with all of these things on my mind. The events of the weekend had worn me to a frazzle, and I felt like crying. Every time I thought about my hometown in such a state of chaos, I felt sick inside. And every time I remembered that my wedding was set to take place in that town in less than one week, I felt even more sick—heartsick, anyway.
With no one to witness my concerns, the tears flowed free. I thought about Bridget Pennington, how she’d stood up to her father and had the wedding of her dreams, how everything had come out fine in the end because she’d taken a stand for right. What would Bridget do in my situation? Dealing with a stubborn father was a sure sight easier than taking on a whole town, after all. Not that I wanted to stir up any more trouble. No, all I wanted at the moment was peace. Quiet. Sanctuary.
I swiped at my eyes with the back of my hand as I drove, and all the more as I realized the work awaiting me back home. I needed to start packing, and soon. Alva would be listing the house, and I’d be hauling all of my stuff—what little there was of it, anyway—over to Brady’s condo.
For some reason I just felt weighted down every time I thought about it. Then again, everything had me feeling heavy these days. I missed the good old days, the days of riding the Fourth of July float as Fairfield’s Peach Queen. The days of cheerleading at high school games. The days of sitting in church, listening to our pastor’s voice soothe my troubled soul.
That’s what I needed right now—soothing. I turned on the radio to a Christian station, hoping for some worship music. Instead, I got a talk show. Politics. People divided.
Lovely.
I decided to turn it off and pray. I prayed all the way from I-45 to my house. Er, Alva’s house. When I pulled my car into the driveway I noticed Brady’s truck. Strange. He hadn’t mentioned a thing about being here.
My sweet guy met me at my car door. He opened it and took one glance at my tearstained face, and a look of alarm came over him. “Are you okay?”
“Just . . . a rough weekend.”
“Didn’t you say the shower went okay?”
“Right, right. It was fine. Well, parts of it. Gifts are in the trunk, by the way. I hope you like toasters.”
“O-okay. So, what’s happening? The townspeople still brawling?”
“That would be an understatement. I just don’t know what to do.”
“For one thing, get out of the car and give me a kiss. Then let’s talk about how great our life is going to be after we’re married. In Dallas. Far from all the troubles back in Fairfield.”
“Good plan.” I tossed my keys into my purse, climbed out of the car, and stretched the stiffness out of my back as I stood. As Brady—my wonderful, precious Brady—pulled me into a cozy embrace, I felt my anxieties lift like feathers taking flight on a summer day.
“God always has a plan, Katie. Trust him. This is an interruption, but it’s going to end well.”
“I hope so. I think I’m just so exhausted that nothing is making much sense anymore. That doesn’t help.”
“True. You need to rest.”
“Yes, but when? How? I have so much to do. Do you realize I haven’t packed one box yet? Between my work schedule and wedding plans, I’m just . . .”
“Overtaxed.”
“Yeah. I guess that’s the right word. I’m weary. And feeling heavy, like I’m carrying around added weights. So many changes, so many decisions . . .”
“You’re not regretting anything, are you?”
“You mean, getting married? No way.” I flung my arms around his neck, and tears wriggled their way out of my eyes again. “That’s the only thing that makes sense right now. Everything else is wonky, but when I’m with you I can breathe again.”
“Well, that’s good.” He gave me several tender kisses, then gazed into my eyes with such compassion. “’Cause I’d hate to see you go without oxygen.”
I sighed. “It won’t be long before I’ll be Mrs. Brady James and we’ll be safely tucked away in our home, with all of the chaos behind us.”
“Yep. Our ne
w home. I can hardly believe we’ll be sharing the same space—the same bed—in a week.” He gave me a little wink. “I’m pretty excited about all of that.”
“Me too.” Still, a shiver ran down my spine as I thought of all the boxes yet to be packed.
“Let me get your suitcase, okay? I’ll carry it in for you.”
“Nah, I’ll get it out of the backseat. It’s the least of my worries. Thank goodness we don’t have to unload the gifts until we get to the condo. Don’t think I have it in me right now to drag all that stuff inside.”
“All those toasters, you mean?” He chuckled.
“Yeah. We’ll figure all that out later. Right now I just need to get my suitcase inside.”
After grabbing my bag from me, Brady led the way to the front door. I’d just started to reach for my key when something caught my eye.
“What is this?” I pointed to a large bow on the front door.
He shrugged. “Looks like a bow. Do you think Alva put it there?”
I laughed and slipped the key into the lock. “Knowing Alva, yes. She probably got it on one of her wedding gifts and thought it was pretty. No doubt she thought it looked like a wreath or something.”
“Yeah. Something like that. Or . . .” A suspicious look came over him.
“Or, what?” I asked.
“Or, maybe it’s a little pre-wedding gift from someone who adores you.”
“A gift?” My thoughts whirled.
“Yes.” He shifted my suitcase from one hand to the other. “I hope you’re okay with getting this one a little early. It only makes sense to do this now. You’ll understand what I mean when you see what it is.”
“Are you trying to confuse me on purpose?” I laughed.
“Yes. Just open the door.”
And so I did. The minute I stepped into the living room, I knew something was very, very wrong. Either we’d been robbed, or—
I shot a glance his way, too overcome to speak as I took it all in.
25
You’ll Get Through This
Happiest girls are the prettiest.
Audrey Hepburn
Brady?” I gasped when I saw his gorgeous living room furniture in the very spot where Aunt Alva’s Herculon sofa had once sat. “What is this? What’s happened?”
“Just take a little stroll with me, okay?” He put the suitcase on the floor and reached for my hand. I set my purse and keys down and then latched my fingers through his and followed him across the living room.
“I’m so confused.” In fact, I thought perhaps I’d wandered into some sort of alternate reality. Maybe I was dreaming all of this.
Brady’s grin lit the room. “You told me once—no, you told me about ten different times—how much you love this house.”
“I do. I’ve always loved it because it reminds me of Fairfield. Not Fairfield as I witnessed it this weekend, of course, but the Fairfield I grew up in—the one where people spoke to each other at the grocery store and brought meals to people when they were sick and cheered on each other’s kids at baseball games. That Fairfield.”
“Right. This home represents that for you.”
“It does.” The tears came again, though I wasn’t sure why. It didn’t make any sense to cry over a dumb house.
“I know you and Alva have different tastes in furniture, though. I’ve heard you say a dozen times how itchy her sofa was.”
“Yeah. I definitely would’ve picked something more like . . .” I pointed to his living room set. “Well, more like this.”
“Good. Glad you like it, because now you can have your cake and eat it too. Welcome to our new home, Katie.”
“W-what?” For a moment I couldn’t catch my breath. “Our . . . what?” Tears sprang to my eyes once again, only this time they were happy tears.
“I bought Alva’s house for you,” he said. “For us.”
“Oh, Brady!” I threw my arms around his neck and gave him a kiss laced with passion and fire. “Are you serious?” I asked when I came up for air. “What about your condo? When did you do this? How did you do this? Is it really ours?”
“Whoa, slow down, slow down! I might be fast on the court, but my thoughts don’t move as quickly as my feet.” He gazed at me with such love in his eyes that I wanted to marry him right then and there.
“Okay, but tell me everything.” My gaze shifted around the room, and I saw it, as if for the first time, as ours. His. Mine. Ours. Together.
“I’ve been talking to Alva and Eduardo ever since they got engaged. I knew that Alva would be moving into his house. I mean, who wouldn’t—it’s a bona fide mansion. At first it never even crossed my mind to buy hers, but I kept thinking of how you talked to me that one morning about the Formica table and how much it affected you. I didn’t even know what Formica was, to be honest. But I knew one thing: I had to get you this house. I knew it meant something special to you.”
“Brady, that’s the sweetest thing ever. But what about your condo?”
“Stan’s been looking for a new place ever since he proposed. Beau’s still at his place, so it just made perfect sense. I sold him my place and Alva sold me hers.” He paused. “Though, technically we haven’t closed yet. I’ll need your signatures on everything since it’s going to be in both of our names.”
“Wow! Just . . . wow! How can I ever thank you? Best gift ever!”
He placed a tender kiss on my cheek, his lips soft against my skin. “Thank you. But I think Alva’s the one who gave you the sweetest gift ever. Follow me and you’ll see what I mean.” He led the way through the dining room, where I saw his gorgeous cherry dining set, and into the kitchen. The minute I clapped eyes on Alva’s old Formica table, I wanted to burst into tears. I couldn’t help myself. I sprinted to the table, ran my fingers across it, and started crying. No, weeping. Crying didn’t seem to do it justice.
Brady slipped his arm around my waist. “Gee, if I’d known you had this kind of attachment to Formica, I would’ve planned this ages ago.”
I spoke over the lump in my throat. “How could we have known even a few months ago that all of this would happen?”
“That you would fall in love with a table?”
“No, that we would meet and fall head over heels in love with each other. That Aunt Alva would turn out to be one of my best friends. That she and Queenie would reconcile after nearly a zillion years of not speaking. That I would end up working for your mom. That the very house that made me feel most at home in Dallas would end up being my house. Our house!”
The tears started again and he let me cry it out.
“Before you get too worked up,” he said after I finally calmed down, “you might want to know that I’ve moved my king-size bed into the master bedroom. It was a tight squeeze, but I made it work. We can keep your current bedroom suite in the room where you’ve been staying, for when people come to visit.”
“Of course.”
“I’ll be staying with Stan between now and Saturday, so no worries.” He gave me a playful wink. “In case you were reading too much into what I just said.”
“I know you better than that.” I jabbed him with my elbow. “But does Stan have an extra bed?”
“Yes. We’ve got it all figured out, Katie, down to a tee. So follow me, please.” He walked me into the master bedroom, and I gasped when I saw the bed in the center of the room with the large dresser off to the side. He’d done it. The room looked perfect.
“Wow.” I pinched my eyes shut and tried to imagine what it would be like just a short time from now when we shared this room, shared this bed. I could almost see myself rolling over to catch a glimpse of Brady’s wonderful face in the early morning sunlight drifting through the openings between the drapes. I pictured the two of us lying in that bed with a tiny bassinet beside it, baby cooing with delight. I imagined our little family all curled up together on a rainy night, weathering the storm together. Oh, I could see it all now, and what I saw made my heart sing. Who cared if the people
in Fairfield were divided? Brady and I would create one beautiful, unified, happy family.
“Welcome home, Katie.”
Had Brady spoken those words aloud again, or was I hearing them in the deepest recesses of my heart? They resounded around the room and made me want to sing.
Home.
I pondered that word, let it sink into my spirit. Deep. All my life I’d heard the expression “Home is where the heart is.” Now I got to witness that, not as a child in a home with her parents—or even her aunt—but as a wife, and hopefully a mother. One day. My heart was rooted here, not just because I liked the walls, the floors, the rooms, but because I had made memories here, and would continue to do so with the person I loved more than anyone else.
A flood of emotions captivated me.
“Oh, I love it! I love, love, love it. And I love you too!” I threw myself into his arms and gave him a kiss he wouldn’t soon forget.
“I’ll take that as a sign you’re okay with all of this?” he asked.
“Okay? I’m in heaven!”
“Good. But we’re not done yet, you know. Look around you. Lots of empty spaces needing filled. Boring, undecorated walls. Remember, the artwork at my place was mostly basketball stuff.”
“That’s okay. We’ll line the hallway with it.”
He laughed. “I’ve got a remedy for my stuff, if you want to take a look at the third bedroom.”
“Sure.” I followed behind him to the room where he had recuperated after his knee surgery. He swung the door wide, and I gasped when not one but two desks came into view.
“Welcome to our office. His and hers.” He pointed to the basketball memorabilia that framed one half of the room. “Hope you can handle it. You’re going to be seeing a lot more of it.”
“I am, for sure? You negotiated your new contract?” When he nodded I flew into his arms again. “Oh, Brady, that’s great. Congratulations.”
“I’ll be back on the court as soon as we get back from our honeymoon. You’re officially going to be a pro basketball player’s wife. Might not be the easiest gig of your life.”