A Change in Altitude (24 page)

“Welcome to the neighborhood,” Josh said. “It'll be nice seeing more of you.”

She turned to him. “I'm glad we're going to be neighbors. You've been a good friend to me. My first real friend in Eureka.”

He studied her, his face so open; here was a man who didn't hide his feelings. “Why do I sense a big ‘but' coming?”

“I like you, Josh,” she said. “It would be very easy for me to like you too much—to depend on you. But I've spent my whole life depending on men—my father, then my husband . . . even Jameso. I need a chance to learn to depend on myself.”

He let his disappointment show, but he didn't turn it to anger. “It's not what I wanted to hear, but I appreciate you being honest with me. I hope you'll still let me be your friend.”

“Of course.” She offered her hand. After a moment's hesitation, he took it, and clasped it briefly before releasing it again.

“Congratulations on your new apartment,” he said.

Congratulations on your new life,
she told herself.

S
haron had just pulled into the driveway when Alina and Lucas turned onto the street, pedaling hard on their bicycles. She stepped out of the car to meet them and Alina waved. “Mom! We need your help.”

She skidded to a halt in front of the house, struggling to right the cardboard box she'd balanced between the handlebars. The box and one like it that Lucas carried were filled with lilac blossoms.

“Where did you get the flowers?” Sharon asked. “Are these for the wedding?”

“They're for a wedding, but not Maggie and Uncle Jameso's,” Alina said.

“Then whose wedding?” Sharon brushed her hands across the deep purple blossoms that filled the air with their sweet perfume.

“It's a secret,” Alina said. “And the wedding is kind of a surprise.”

“A surprise for the bride and groom—or for someone else?”

“For the bride.” Lucas wheeled his bike alongside Alina's. “It's for my mom.”

Sharon studied the two young people, their faces flushed from the bike ride, expressions so earnest. “Lucas, it's sweet of you to want to surprise your mother,” she said. “But the bride usually decides on the details for her own wedding.”

“We're helping D. J.,” Alina said. “Mom, please.”

“Mom wants to get married,” Lucas said. “She keeps saying she doesn't have time to arrange a wedding, so D. J. and I decided to arrange one for her.”

Who could argue with the sweetness of that? “What do you need me to do?” she asked.

“We need to get these flowers over to their house and decorate,” Alina said. “We've got some candles and stuff, too. Danielle is making a cake and someone needs to pick that up.”

“Someone meaning me,” Sharon said.

“Could you, Mom? Please?” Alina leaned forward, hands clasped, and Sharon remembered her as a nine-year-old, begging to be allowed to stay up past her bedtime to read one more chapter of
Harry Potter.

“All right. Why don't you put the flowers in the car and I'll drive you over to the house; then I'll pick up the cake.”

“Great. We have to hurry to get everything done before Olivia finishes up at the B and B. She's in charge of decorations for Uncle Jameso's wedding.”

“I take it Janelle and Danielle are in on the secret,” Sharon said.

“We had to tell them,” Alina said as she shoved her box of flowers into the back of the car. “They're making all the food for Uncle Jameso's wedding, but they said it wouldn't be any trouble to put together a cake for us. They're just really nice ladies.”

“Yes, they are.” Sharon helped Lucas fit his box of flowers alongside Alina's. “I hope your mother likes lilacs,” she said.

“They're her favorite.” Lucas piled into the back seat beside Alina. “And purple is her favorite color.”

“Then the flowers should be perfect. But where did you get so many?”

She glanced in the rearview mirror just in time to catch the looks the teens exchanged. “They were on public property,” Alina said. “And we just took the blooms. The bushes will make more next year.”

Sharon could think of only one place in town with such a profusion of purple lilacs. “Did you take those from the library?” she asked. Cassie would stroke out. Those flowers were her grandmother's legacy, and as such she considered them her personal property.

“They just dry up and fall off the bushes every year,” Lucas said. “This way they'll make my mom happy.”

“Cassie will stroke out when she finds out,” Sharon said.

“They're just flowers,” Lucas said. “She'll get over it. She's always getting worked up about something, but she calms down eventually. Besides, I read that it's good to prune shrubs periodically. It makes them healthier.”

Sharon wasn't going to get into a debate about pruning versus picking flowers. “I just hope I'm not there when she sees her stripped bushes for the first time,” she said.

At the house he and Olivia had remodeled, D. J. was hanging a swing on the front porch. “Hey, Sharon? What are you doing here?”

“The kids recruited me to help with the wedding. Congratulations.”

His smile contained equal parts joy and anxiety. “Thanks. I just hope we can pull it off.”

“Cool, a swing.” Lucas plopped himself in the wooden seat and pushed off.

“I meant to put it up this last week,” D. J. said. “But with the mine collapse and all, I forgot. But I know Olivia really wanted a swing for the front porch.”

“Come on, you guys, you can't just stand around.” Alina joined them, a box of flowers almost obscuring her figure. “We have to get these inside and start decorating.”

“Now that your mom is here, I thought you and she could do that,” Lucas said.

“She's going to get the cake.” Alina nudged him with her foot. “Come on. We need to find vases for all of these, then arrange the candles and light them. It's going to be beautiful.”

Reluctantly, Lucas followed her inside. “Maybe Alina has a future as a wedding planner,” D. J. said.

“Or an army general.”

Reverend Kinkaid emerged from the house next door and waved to them. “Everything all set?” he called.

“We're just putting on a few last minute touches,” D. J. called.

“Wonderful. I'll see you in about an hour, then.” He went back into the house.

“Convenient to have a minister as a neighbor,” Sharon said.

“He didn't even blink when I told him what I'd planned.”

D. J. had an air of quiet certainty that would prevent most people from questioning his actions or plans, Sharon thought. “When is Olivia due back here?” she asked.

He checked his watch. “In about an hour. I told her Lucas and I were going to be here working on stuff and she said she'd stop by with her mother; she wanted to show her the border she painted in the dining room.”

“The house looks beautiful,” Sharon said. “I never saw it before, but obviously you've worked hard.”

“The place was a dump,” D. J. said. “That's how we were able to afford it. But now”—he surveyed the red brick bungalow—“now it looks good.”

The house featured a mansard roof, mullioned windows, and a deep front porch supported by squat brick pillars. Twin dormers jutted from the second story, flanked by red brick chimneys at either end of the house. A large elm shaded much of the front yard, and honeysuckle spread along the fence. “It's a beautiful home,” Sharon said.

They moved inside and found Lucas filling jelly jars with bunches of lilacs. Alina alternated jars of flowers and votive candles along the mantelpiece, the sideboard, and in the windowsills. Someone had rearranged the furniture to form an aisle from the stairs to the fireplace. “The bride will come down the stairs and walk to the fireplace, where the groom will be waiting.” Alina indicated the path. “The guests can sit on the sofa and in chairs and watch the ceremony.”

“Are you expecting a lot of guests?” Sharon asked D. J.

He shook his head. “Just Lucille, and now you and Alina. It's plenty for us.”

Alina stopped in front of D. J. and regarded him seriously. “Do you have a marriage license?” she asked.

“Yes, Reverend Kinkaid has it so he can fill out his part.”

“What about a ring?”

A smile tugged at his lips. “I've had the ring for months. I brought it with me when I first came to Eureka.”

“You must have been pretty certain she'd eventually say yes,” Sharon said.

“I wasn't certain of anything. I just knew she was the only woman I loved, and I'd wait as long as I had to, to make her see that.”

“Mom, you'd better go get the cake,” Alina said.

Sharon snapped off a salute. “Yes, ma'am.”

Alina flushed. “I just want this to be a really nice wedding for Lucas's mom,” she said. “And you, too, Mr. Gruber.”

“I appreciate that.” He squeezed her shoulder. “Now tell me what I should do.”

When Sharon left, Alina was directing D. J. and Lucas to move the sofa back to make room for a table with more flowers.

She had to park down the street from the Last Dollar, and was surprised that the restaurant would be so crowded. But as she walked past the Dirty Sally she realized most of the cars must belong to the bar's patrons. A glance in the window showed Jameso in the middle of a circle of well-wishers. She smiled and hurried on. She hoped her brother enjoyed himself tonight—but not too much.

“Hello, Sharon.” Janelle, her blond hair wrapped in an orange and pink scarf, hurried to greet her. “Would you like a table or a booth?”

“Neither. I'm here to pick up a cake.” She lowered her voice. “For D. J. and Olivia.”

Janelle giggled and took her arm. “It's in the kitchen. Come on back.”

They found Danielle piping the last frosting curlicue along the bottom of a round white cake decorated with sugared violets. “It's beautiful,” Sharon said. “Olivia will be so pleased.”

“I hope so.” Danielle deposited the icing tip in a tub of soapy water. “I took an Italian wedding cake we hadn't cut into yet and covered it with fondant and added the violets. I wish I had a wedding topper, though.”

“The flowers are perfect,” Sharon said. “Olivia doesn't strike me as someone who's overly traditional.”

Danielle brightened. “That's true.”

“She's going to be so blown away by this surprise wedding she won't even notice the cake, lovely as it is.” Janelle popped open a cake box and transferred the cake into it. “I think this is just about the most romantic thing ever.”

“This weekend is just full of good things,” Danielle said. “Bob was in here earlier and we made him all his favorites and fussed over him.” She laughed. “I never thought I'd be so happy to see a grouchy old man, but we were really worried about him.”

“I think I saw him just now at the Dirty Sally,” Sharon said.

“He wouldn't have missed Jameso's bachelor party,” Janelle said.

“Bob would have been at the Dirty Sally tonight anyway,” Danielle said. “The bachelor party is just a bonus.” She handed Sharon the cake. “Tell Olivia and D. J. congratulations from us. I guess we'll see you at Jameso and Maggie's wedding tomorrow morning.”

“Of course. Two weddings in one weekend. Who would have thought?”

“Who knew Eureka was such a romantic place?” Danielle laughed and Sharon smiled all the way to her car. Helping with the surprise wedding was much better than sitting at home alone moping.

She returned to a living room transformed into a romantic bower. Someone—Alina—had scattered flower petals down the makeshift aisle and tied lavender ribbon to the spindles of the stair railing. Candles filled the room with a soft glow in the deepening twilight. “Did you get the cake?” Alina rushed to greet her mother.

“Danielle outdid herself.” Sharon set the box on the kitchen counter and opened the top.

“Oh, it's beautiful!” Alina set a plate beside the box. “I think this is big enough.”

Mother and daughter carefully transferred the cake from the box. Alina was licking a dab of icing from her finger when Lucas called from the front room. “They're here!”

Alina started for the front room, but Sharon grabbed her arm and held her back. “Let's give the family a moment,” she said.

“Oh . . . yeah.” She moved to the door. “But we can watch, right?”

Sharon joined her daughter at the door and they watched as D. J. ushered Olivia and Lucille into the candlelit room. “What is all this?” Olivia asked, looking around in wonder.

“You said you didn't have time to plan a wedding, so I planned one for us,” D. J. said.

Olivia gaped at him. “You did what?”

“Everything is taken care of. All you have to do is walk down the aisle and say I do. That is, if you still want to.”

She laughed. “Of course I want to. But I'm a mess.” She looked down at her paint-splattered skinny jeans.

“There's a dress upstairs for you to wear—the lilac one you wore to Lucas's program at Christmas.” He smiled. “I always thought of that as our first date in Eureka.”

“I don't believe this.” She looked around the room. “You did all of this yourself?”

“I had a little help.” He put his arm around Lucas.

“Alina and her mom helped, too.” Lucas looked anxious. “Mom, you're not mad, are you?”

“No! No, I'm not mad.” She pulled him close and he allowed it. “Thank you. This is the sweetest, most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me.”

“Hurry and change,” Lucas said. “Reverend Kinkaid will be here soon . . . and Alina says the candles won't last forever.”

“Then we'd better get to it.” Olivia hugged D. J. close. “I can't believe you did this.”

“Then you don't think I'm overstepping? I know most women like to plan their own wedding.”

She shook her head. “The idea of pulling together a wedding just made me tired. This is perfect.”

D. J. bent his head as if to kiss her, but Lucille tapped his shoulder. “Save it for the ceremony,” she said. “We have to transform ourselves into a wedding party.”

All four of them headed upstairs, and Alina and Sharon returned to getting the refreshments ready. Sharon found a bottle of champagne chilling in the refrigerator and set it in a bucket of ice, then arranged glasses and cake plates and forks. “Can I have some champagne?” Alina asked.

“I might give you a sip,” Sharon said. “I'm betting you won't like it, though.”

Alina shrugged. “I think there's Sprite I can drink instead.”

“Good idea.”

A knock on the door made her jump. “It's probably Reverend Kinkaid,” Alina said.

They made small talk with the reverend while they waited for the wedding party to come down. D. J., Lucas and Lucille eventually trooped down the stairs. The men had changed into suits and ties. Lucille had settled for combing her hair and freshening her makeup.