Changing Her Heart (13 page)

Just as he had feared, he felt his throat tighten and his eyes began to burn. He loved Lacey down to the bottom of his heart and soul, and he wanted Lacey to love him like that, too.

He quickly wiped his eyes when he thought no one was looking, and composed himself in the nick of time as the ceremony continued.

As he knew he would have to, when the ceremony ended he stayed by Bob's side for people to take pictures alongside the church. Then, because of the warm weather and the clear sky, the photographer convinced everyone to go to the park where he could take pictures of the wedding party amongst the natural flowers and shrubbery instead of against his studio's obviously artificial backdrops.

While Randy moved around, posing under the photographer's direction, he felt the telltale scratchiness in his eyes from his allergies kicking up. As well, he could feel his breathing beginning to tighten.

He moved away from the bushes and blossoms when he didn't have to be in the current photograph, but it didn't help. There were flowers everywhere he
could go. Adrian leaned closer to him when the photographer focused a series of shots on Georgette's family.

“Randy, your eyes are getting all red and you don't look very good. Did you bring anything?”

He sniffled. “No. We weren't supposed to be outside today, so I'm not prepared for this. Of course the photographer is picking all the spots with the most flowers. How much longer is this going to last?”

Adrian checked his watch. “They haven't even started taking pictures of Bob's family yet, so it's going to be a long time before you can get out of here. You're starting to look really bad. I'll be right back.”

Within a few minutes, Adrian had returned with two little pills and a bottle of eye drops.

“What is this?”

“I know someone else who has bad allergies, too. She gave me these for you.”

“I don't know. It's not a great idea to take someone else's meds, especially prescription stuff.” Despite his hesitations he accepted the pills from Adrian. “But at the same time, it's also not a great idea for me to be like this, either. I don't want to have to leave, and I especially don't want to leave in an ambulance with a ventilator.” He popped the pills into his mouth, and swallowed them dry. “Thank your friend for me.”

Adrian removed the lid from the eye drops. “Want me to put these in for you, since there isn't a mirror out here?”

With Adrian making such an offer, he could only imagine what he looked like. He didn't want to ruin Bob's wedding pictures with his bloodshot eyes. “Yeah. Let's go under that tree where less people will be watching. Thanks, Adrian.”

By the time the groomsmen were called back for more pictures, Randy was already starting to feel better. He made a mental note to send a gift to Adrian's friend.

After the pictures were finished and the wedding party was once again inside the building where the only flowers were fake, Randy felt completely back to his old self. He ignored everyone and everything, and went searching for Lacey.

As soon as he found her, she took him out of the way of the crowd. “Every table here has two bottles of wine on it.”

“Actually, there's a bottle of wine, and a bottle of sparkling fruit juice, so people can have a choice. George's family aren't Christians except for her mother, and her father wanted the guests to be comfortable since this isn't the kind of wedding celebration they're used to attending.”

She leaned closer to him. “Are you okay with that?”

“Of course I'm okay. Just like everyone here, I
have my choice, and my choice was made over six years ago. Don't worry about me. Are you okay here?

“Yes, there's a lot of people from your church who I've talked to before, so I'm not completely alone. Now go up to the head table. Bob and George are coming.”

He pointed to the table nearest where he would be sitting. “I tilted that chair for you. We won't be sitting together, but we should be able to talk without having to shout. See you later.”

When he took his place at the head table, Randy noticed that Paul was also walking to the head table holding hands with a woman. Paul gave the woman a quick peck on the cheek before he guided her to a chair, then walked away.

Randy's heart ached. He truly was the last one of his four friends without someone to call special, who would call him special.

Though, with a little luck and a lot of prayer, after Bob's wedding was over he hoped that would change.

Randy pulled the paper out of his pocket with the list of the order of events, and stood. As MC, he called everyone's attention to Bob and George and began the chain of events that, at the end of it all, would send Bob and George out into the world as a happily married couple.

As expected, his speech about Bob had everyone
present nearly rolling in the aisles with laughter, including those people on George's side of the family who didn't even know Bob.

To Randy's joy and relief, everything went exactly as planned. When he came to the last item on his list, again Randy stood.

“Here it is, everyone, the moment we've all been waiting for. I made a video documenting the courtship of my friend, Roberto,” he said, carefully rolling the
R'
s in his best imitation of the way Bob's mother said Bob's full real name when she was angry, “and his beautiful wife, Georgette, who looks great in a dress, I must say. Now everyone can see what Paul, Adrian and I had to put up with to get to this point.”

Bob's sister's boyfriend hit the switch for the lights, sending the room into sudden, total blackness. Before anyone's eyes could adjust, the bright light of the video broke the darkness, searing like a knife through Randy's head. He stared at the screen, but he couldn't see the whole picture—a glare of light with a dull gray spot in the center marred his vision.

Randy felt himself sway. He quickly sank down into the chair, landing with a thud.

“Randy? Are you okay?” asked Paul, who was sitting beside him.

He covered his eyes with his hands. “I'm not hav
ing a very good day,” he mumbled as he pressed into his temples with his fingertips. “I've been feeling a headache coming on all day, I think it started with all the flowers in the park. Now the sudden light just triggered it into a migraine. I already have a blind spot and it feels like my head is going to explode.”

“Do you want me to take you home?”

“I can't leave, and you can't, either. This is Bob's wedding.” Randy quickly fished his keys out of his pocket and opened up the secret compartment in his keychain fob, where he always stored one of his prescription migraine pills for emergencies. “The video is going to last twenty minutes. I'm going to take my meds and go lie down in the closet where the supplies are because that's the only room without a window. Come and get me at the part where George drives the motorcycle by herself for the first time. That's three minutes before the end. That gives this just enough time to work, and I should be okay.”

He quickly swallowed the pill, dumped some ice cubes from his water glass into one of the cloth napkins, and went into the pitch-black broom closet. He did his best to relax laying on what he hoped was a clean spot on the floor, with the napkin containing the ice over his eyes.

A gentle rap sounded on the door just as he felt the dulling effect of the meds starting to work.

“Randy? Time's up. You going to be okay?”

He sat up slowly, pushed himself to his feet and opened the door. He blinked repeatedly until he could get used to the harsh light before stepping out of the closet. “The headache is starting to fade, so other than feeling incredibly thirsty, I feel worlds better. Thanks. Now let's get back to the action.”

L
acey joined a group of people to talk to while Randy and the rest of the wedding party visited with different people around the room.

Just as he'd teased her, he did look great in the tuxedo, and every once in a while, she'd noticed that as she was watching him, he was also watching her.

“Your name is Lacey, isn't it?”

Lacey turned to the woman who had addressed her. “Yes. I'm so sorry, I know you're one of Bob's sisters, but I can't remember your name.”

“It's Maria. Don't feel bad. You're the new face here. I only had to learn one new name, but you've had to learn dozens.”

“Pleased to meet you, Maria. The wedding's been beautiful. Bob and Georgette make such a nice couple.”

“Yes, everything has gone so well. Even that ri
diculous video Randy made was great. We weren't sure what it was going to be like. Sometimes we don't know what to expect from Randy. Speaking of Randy, why aren't you with him?”

At the mention of his name, Lacey turned her head to watch him. Randy was talking to someone different than the last time she'd looked at him, and this time, as he was speaking, he was pouring the last of the contents of one of the bottles from a nearby table into a glass.

Lacey turned back to Maria. “I don't want to stop him from doing what he should be doing. After all, he is the best man and there are people here he hasn't seen for a long time. He can see me anytime. I told him to go visit with everyone he won't be seeing for a while.”

Maria moved closer. “He keeps looking at you.”

“I know.” She kept looking at him, too.

Maria's voice lowered to a whisper. “He likes you, you know.”

Not really knowing how to respond, all Lacey did was nod.

“Randy has such a kind heart. All of us tend to watch out for him. He lived with us for a while, you know.”

Suddenly Maria had all of Lacey's attention. “He's mentioned that to me. He said your mother taught him a lot about cooking.”

Maria sighed. “Yes, Mama has quite a heart for
poor Randy. Maybe I'm saying more than I should, but Randy's parents left him alone so much—more than they should have, Mama always used to remind us. They traveled a lot and when they were gone, Randy stayed with us.”

“Didn't he have relatives to stay with?”

“No. The few relatives he had seemed very old. Even his parents were a lot older than Mama and Papa. Mama always insisted he stay with us so he wouldn't be so sad.”

Hearing the wistful tone of Maria's voice instantly made Lacey feel sad for Randy. “He never talks about his parents.” Not that she told him much about her parents, either. “What did Randy's parents do that they had to travel so much?”

“I'm not really sure. All we knew was that they were self-employed. Often they were gone for months at a time, and sometimes it sounded more like vacations than business. Once they were gone for six months. That's a long time for a kid. Mama insisted Randy stay with us so he wouldn't miss school.”

Lacey's head spun. “I can't imagine having seven children in the house at once.”

“Our house was busy. But everyone had a job to do, including Randy.” Maria turned to look at Randy, who was filling up his glass from one of the bottles from another table. He raised his head just as Lacey
looked at him, making eye contact. He winked, blew her a kiss, then grinned ear to ear.

Maria giggled. “I told you he likes you.” She leaned closer. “My sisters and I, even though we're younger than Bob, we always thought Randy was so handsome! And those eyes!”

Lacey couldn't stop her blush. The unique blue of Randy's eyes was what had prompted her to buy the dress she was now wearing—it was the same color as Randy's heart-stopping eyes. Then once she had the dress, it was only natural to buy accessories in the same color.

She turned again to watch Randy, but this time he wasn't watching her. He had turned around and was starting to walk back toward the head table. On his way, he bumped into someone. Randy said something, they both laughed, Randy bowed melodramatically and then continued on his way.

“It sure is crowded in here,” Lacey said, compelled to make some kind of excuse for him.

“Yes. After we invited everyone, Georgette's family decided to come at the last minute, so the room is filled to the capacity of the permit.”

“Who did the decorating? It's lovely. I meant to tell you earlier.”

“My sisters and a few of our friends. Randy made all the banners on his computer. Didn't he do a good job? He's so creative.”

Lacey gritted her teeth. Ever since she'd met Randy, everyone continually sang his praises, and now even Bob's sister was doing it. Just once she thought someone could say something slightly negative about him, but no one ever did. But then, instead of agreeing, Lacey knew she would probably defend him, which was even worse.

Randy picked up something at the table, then turned around, making a path directly for her. He had almost made it when another guest stopped him to talk.

The longer they spoke, the louder Randy's laugh became.

He swayed on his feet, laughed a little more, then turned around and again refilled his glass.

“Well,” Lacey said under her breath. “He certainly seems to be having a lot of fun tonight.”

Maria's head tilted to one side. “Maybe, but something seems different about him. He's not usually so…loud. Or maybe it's my imagination. I don't know.”

Lacey had just been thinking the same thing. “Maybe I'll go talk to him. Excuse me.”

She hadn't taken more than three steps, when someone whom she didn't recognize stopped her. “I know I've seen you somewhere before,” the woman said. “You work at the mall, don't you?”

She glanced toward Randy. This time, when they
made eye contact, he started to make kissy motions with his lips at her. He nudged the man he was standing beside, pointing to her. The man nodded, reached for one of the bottles from the nearest table and topped up Randy's glass.

Randy raised the glass to his lips.

Lacey narrowed her eyes and stared at the table nearest to him. Randy was acting stranger than usual. She was too far away to tell which bottle Randy was drinking from, but the bright colors on the label of the bottle remaining on the table didn't seem to be the wine bottle.

She glared at Randy, watching him as took a sip.

Randy's eyes widened when he noticed that she was watching. He sputtered into the glass, then swiped the back of his hand over his mouth.

Busted.

She'd seen enough of Eric sneaking booze at their house when he thought Susan wasn't watching. She knew all the signs, and she also knew that the more intoxicated Eric became, the less subtle he was when he saw that he'd been caught. Now, in the same way, she'd startled Randy.

His words from the beginning of the evening echoed through her head. He'd told her not to worry, but she had worried, and rightly so.

What she feared would happen, had happened.

Randy thunked his glass onto the nearest table,
turned around and hurried to the doorway leading to the hall. No one else was coming in as he was going out, but he didn't make it all the way through the door. Randy walked into the doorframe. He bounced back and shook his head, swaying on his feet as he pressed his fingers to his temples. He shook his head, then aimed himself carefully through the center of the doorway, staggered through and disappeared down the hall.

It was all Lacey needed to see, but something deep inside of her wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt.

She strode to the glass that he'd left on the table, picked it up and sniffed it.

The sharp odor of alcohol wafted up at her.

Her stomach clenched.

He'd asked her to trust him. Just like her mother had trusted her father, which was the catalyst that led to her father's drunk-driving accident where he'd killed himself, followed by the loss of everything else they held dear until all they had between the three of them was each other. Because her father had promised to use restraint, and her mother had trusted him.

Lacey didn't know if she wanted to throw up, or cry.

But whatever she did, she wasn't going to do it here.

She walked straight to the table where she'd been
sitting, retrieved her sweater and purse and made her way to the door.

Maria stopped her before she could escape. “Lacey? Where are you going?”

“I really can't stay. Thank you for inviting me.”

“It wasn't me who invited you, it was Randy. Where is Randy? Does he know you're leaving? Don't you want to talk to him?”

Lacey gulped, barely managing to fight back the burn in the back of her eyes.

“No. I don't.” Not now. Not ever again. “Goodbye, Maria. It was nice meeting you.”

Lacey walked away without allowing Maria to respond.

She didn't know how she got home, or how she managed to make it home without crying, but the second she closed her apartment door behind her, the tears she'd been holding back could no longer be restrained. As she cried, she wished Susan could be there for her, just like she'd been for Susan, so many times. Susan was the only one she knew who could understand. Lacey had comforted her sister so many times as Susan cried over Eric. While Lacey had always sympathized, until now she had never adequately imagined the soul-wrenching pain of the betrayal.

He'd promised. She'd wanted to trust him.

And now, just like her sister, she'd been reduced
to a pile of mush, sobbing her eyes out because she'd believed that Randy would keep his word. Yet at the same time, it was exactly what Susan had done with Eric, and continued to do, time and time again, only to be disappointed, time and time again.

Lacey couldn't live like that. By allowing Randy into her life she'd let him break down her defenses—she'd let her heart override her head, and now she was no better off than Susan, except for the fact that she wasn't married to Randy.

And she would never be married to Randy.

A fresh flood of tears burst out. For a while she'd actually imagined what it would be like to be married to Randy. He made her laugh, but now all she could do was cry, and she hated herself for it.

 

Randy blinked to help focus his vision. “What do you mean, she left?”

Maria pointed to the door. “She just picked up her stuff and left. She said she didn't want to talk to you. What did you do?”

Randy's head swam. “I didn't do anything.”

Just to make sure that Lacey hadn't seen what he was planning to do and ran off, Randy reached into the inside pocket of his tuxedo jacket. He remembered leaving the brochure at the head table, and he remembered that he wanted to go get it before Lacey saw it, but now he couldn't remember if he
actually had recovered it. He reached up to pat the inside breast pocket of his jacket, but his hand missed its mark and he smacked himself on the side of his chin.

Maria tilted her head. “What's the matter with you?”

Slowly and carefully he reached into the pocket. The brochure of engagement rings he'd picked up from the jeweler's was still in there after all, along with the Valentine card he'd managed to find out of season, that he was going to give to Lacey as a declaration of his love. “Nothing. My coordination's just a little off.” And his head was swimming, but the headache and nausea were at a level he could handle and still talk to people coherently, even if he was having trouble concentrating.

Adrian appeared at his side. “I just saw Lacey in the parking lot. She got into her car and drove away.”

Randy sighed. “I know.”

Adrian pulled him to the side. “Excuse us, Maria. I need to talk to Randy alone. You know. Guy stuff.”

Maria smiled, satisfied, and walked away.

“What's the matter with you? I saw you walk into the door frame a few minutes ago, and then you ran into the washroom faster than you've ever moved on the basketball court. Are you feeling sick?”

“I had a migraine coming on, so instead of going home, I took one of those new meds my doctor gave me. My coordination's off a little more than usual.” He
rubbed his chin where he'd just smacked himself. “But at least I got to take my meds before I got sick this time.”

“Then why were you running?”

Randy grinned, proud of himself for his ingenuity. “I'm usually very careful to always pour my own drinks, but I let someone else top up my glass, and he poured wine into it. I spit it out, but I didn't want the taste in my mouth, so I went to go brush my teeth.”

“Brush your teeth? Here? You've got a toothbrush in your pocket?”

He smiled brightly, knowing his teeth were white and shiny, and sparkling clean as any toothpaste commercial. “Yeah. I bought one of those small fold-up, travel kinds. It even comes with a small tube of toothpaste. I was planning on, uh, well, never mind.” He sighed, and all the joy seeped out of him. He was planning on getting up close and personal with Lacey tonight, to propose to her on bended knee, and he wanted everything to be perfect, including clean and minty fresh breath. Not only were things not going perfect, they weren't even going well.

He stared at the doorway. “She's gone. I don't know what happened. I barely even talked to her all night. Do you think she's mad because she thinks I'm ignoring her?”

Adrian shook his head. “You're crazy. You're carrying a toothbrush, but you didn't bring anything for your allergies…” Adrian's voice trailed off, and his
brows knotted. “Wait a minute. Did you just say you took something for a migraine?”

Randy pressed his fingers into his temples. “Yeah. But I feel better. Except I feel more spaced-out than usual after I take my meds.” He didn't tell Adrian that the side effects of the strong medication that made him feel loopy at the best of times were getting worse and worse as time went on. “It must be the new prescription. I'm going to have to go back to the old kind, even though they're more expensive.”