Mending Hearts (24 page)

“
Good, Emma’s a great
girl.” 

I tip my beer back and finish it off. “Yes,
she is. This time next week I’ll have everything I ever dreamed
of.” 

“
Have you considered a
honeymoon? I know with the school situation and Raelynn, I wasn’t
sure if you had made any plans.” 

“
No, Emma and I don’t want
to leave Raelynn. We thought of taking the kids with us somewhere,
but Rae isn’t ready for that. To be honest, I just want to marry
Emma and have one night alone with her. I don’t need a honeymoon, I
just want a wedding night.” 

“
You can always plan
something at a later date, maybe when Raelynn is back to her old
self.”

We have a great day of fishing, laughing,
drinking, and joking. The crew on the boat luckily clean the fish
we caught and package them up for us to take home. We head back to
the port and everyone is beginning to sober up. We say our goodbyes
and I head home.

I walk into a dark house that I expected to
see lit up. When I get to the top of the stairs, I check on the
kids; they are both asleep. The bedroom is dark, but the bathroom
light is on. I smell lavender and vanilla, and I know Emma is
taking a bubble bath. I call her name so I don’t startle her.

“
Baby, I’m
home.” 

“
Did you have
fun?” 

I walk into the bathroom; she is covered in
bubbles.

“
I did, did
you?” 

“
I had a great day. The
party lasted longer than I thought so I was late getting the
kids.” 

“
Molly was fine with
that?” 

“
She was; she actually
offered to keep them overnight, but I picked them up
anyway.” 

I’m glad that Emma picked
them up. Molly hasn’t kept the kids overnight yet, although she has
everything she needs for them to stay.
Baby
steps, one hour at a time
, I remind myself.
I’m not ready for them to stay overnight with
Molly. 

“
I’m going to shower and try
to wash this fish smell off in the kids’
bathroom.” 

“
Toss your clothes in the
washer, too, will you?” 

“
These clothes?” I ask,
jokingly, pointing to my lucky fishing shirt. 

“
Yes, those clothes are
stinking up my house,” she says as she crinkles her
nose.

I wasn’t going to kiss her until after I
showered, but I just changed my mind. I slowly walk over to her
with a grin on my lips.

“
Kiss me, then I’ll
shower.” 

“
Will you shower first
before I kiss you? You stink.” She giggles.

I walk even closer to her and kneel down
beside her, as I try to look serious. She laughs and plugs her
nose.

“
Did you just say, ‘I
stink’? We’re not even married yet and you think I stink.” I hold
my hand over my heart like her words crushed me. 

“
Alec, don’t — you stink.
You need a shower.” She laughs as she tries to scoot away from me.
“On second thought, I think you should burn those nasty clothes. I
don’t want them in my washer.” 

I laugh and say, “Kiss me and then I’ll
shower.” 

“
I’d rather kiss you after
your shower,” she says, laughing.

“
Kiss me first, and then
I’ll shower.” 

“
Promise?” 

“
Promise.” She kisses me
quickly before she plugs her nose and scoots away from me. I stand
up and say, “I’ll shower, but I’m keeping the clothes. This is my
lucky fishing shirt.” I walk out the door and close it behind
me. 

I can hear her say, “We’ll see about
that.” 

The next morning we wake up and Raelynn is
excited. “Daddy, I have to go to Walmart. I have an
idea.” 

Raelynn still doesn’t leave the house much
since the shooting at the school. If my daughter wants to leave the
house, we’ll leave. Baby steps, remember? 

“
Rae, I have some things I
need to get, too,” Emma says. 

“
No, it’s a surprise. You
can’t see it, Emma. It’s for you.” 

Emma looks to Raelynn and smiles. “Ok, James
and I will stay home.” 

“
I want to go to Walmart,
too,” James says. 

“
Ok, I’ll stay home
and…” 

“
Bake?” I ask
hopefully. 

“
And bake,” Emma
confirms. 

James, Raelynn, and I go to Walmart and Rae
loads up the basket with glitter.

“
I thought we just bought
glitter the other day.” 

“
Daddy, I bought the wrong
color.” 

“
What color do you
need?” 

“
It has to be silver. It’s a
surprise for Emma,” she says. 

James adds, “Momma is going to love it. It’s
a surprise, Alec, so we can’t tell you.”

I smile and put more silver glitter in the
basket before paying for it and heading home. When we get home, the
house smells of pumpkin. I inhale deeply because anything made with
pumpkin has got to be good. When I walk into the kitchen, I am
pleasantly surprised to find pumpkin rolls on the table. 

The week flies by, and tonight is our
rehearsal dinner. Emma took this week and next week off work to
prepare for the wedding. The lawn care workers are here today and
mom is outside directing and guiding them where to trim, edge, mow,
and spray. I’m sure they already know; it’s their job. I put it in
my memory to tip them extra.

After the rehearsal dinner is over tonight,
James and I will be heading to my parents’ house for the night.
Emma and Raelynn will be staying all night at the house. I know the
rule about not seeing the bride before the wedding. It’s
superstitious, but I’ll go along with it. Emma believes it’s bad
luck, and who am I to argue?

We show up to the rehearsal dinner and
Raelynn asks, “What’s mommy doing here?”

I whisper to Emma, “That’s a good
question.” 

“
We needed a photographer,”
she whispers back. “Hi, Molly, I see you have your
camera.” 

Molly hugs Raelynn and James. “I do.” Molly
holds up her very large and expensive camera. “I have already
started taking pictures. I hope that’s all right.” 

“
That’s perfect. I want some
action pictures and some candid shots as well. Poses are nice, but
I did want a variety of mixed shots,” Emma says. 

“
If you don’t mind later,
could I get some shots of me and Rae? It’s been
awhile.” 

“
No, not at
all.” 

Emma takes my hand and we walk into the
already busy banquet hall.

“
I didn’t realize Molly was
our photographer.” 

“
She’s the best around. I
checked others and no one compared to the quality of her
work.” 

I smile at our guests and add, “So I should
assume my ex-wife will be at our wedding.” 

Emma waves and smiles to our guests and
says, “You should.” She leaves me and joins our family and
friends. 

“
Is everything all right,
Daddy?” 

“
It’s fine,
Raelynn.” 

I watch as James and Raelynn run over to the
table where the Grannie Nannies are seated. I head straight to the
bar where the guys are.

“
Need a drink?” Mason
asks.

“
I may need two,” I say as I
watch my ex-wife maneuver around the room with her camera in hand.
I nod to the bartender to bring me a double. 

Mason laughs and says, “Does this have to do
with your ex-wife being here?” 

I look at him; he is smiling. 

“
Don’t
start.” 

“
You didn’t
know?” 

“
You have to
ask?” 

I tip the shot back and I order another
round for all of us. 

“
Hi, Alec,” Angel says as
she hugs me. “Congratulations.” 

“
Thank you.” I down another
drink and decide that should be enough to take the edge
off. 

“
I ordered you a cranberry
juice,” Mason says as he hands Angel her drink.

“
Great, thank you. I just
looked at Molly’s portfolio and she does amazing work,” Angel says
as she takes a drink of her juice. 

“
Alec is a little upset
because his ex-wife will be at his wedding,” Mason
says. 

He laughs and I now can hear Vincent and
Donovan laugh, too. 

“
Alec, if it doesn’t bother
Emma, it shouldn’t bother you,” Angel says honestly. “Besides,
you’ll have the best wedding pictures out of all of us. I thought
our photographer was good, but I think Molly has him
beat.” 

“
Thanks, Angel.” I look
around the room and add, “I have to mingle;
enjoy.” 

I walk away from the bar already feeling
better. I don’t know if it’s the alcohol or what Angel has said.
Emma comes up and kisses me, and I soon forget where Molly is. I am
thankful she is blending in with the crowd.

“
Are you still mad?” Emma is
smiling, and her smile makes me smile.

“
Not mad — ‘shocked’ is a
better word.” 

“
Are you still shocked?” she
jokes. 

“
If it doesn’t bother my
soon-to-be wife that my ex-wife is at our rehearsal dinner, it
shouldn’t bother me.” 

“
Good, because as odd as all
this sounds, now that you worded it like that, I’m fine with it.
But would you mind if we call her Molly, or Raelynn’s
mom?” 

Someone says, “Smile,” and we look at the
camera. 

“
Molly wants us to smile,” I
say, almost laughing.

Emma looks at me and she is also laughing.
After several pictures, Molly leaves.

“
See, this isn’t awkward at
all,”
I say, laughing.

Brooke

Before the wedding begins, I
walk around and make sure everything is in its place. The bar is
set up and the bartenders are in place.
Drinks before the wedding
: This is a
brilliant idea. “Champagne, please,” I tell the
bartender. 

“
Drinking before the
wedding, are ya?” my husband says from behind me.

I turn around and see Brice. Molly comes up
and snaps a few candid shots of Brice and me. “I thought I would;
our children are at the sitter’s and I’m not driving tonight. Would
you like a glass of champagne?” I ask Brice. 

“
I’ll have a Corona,
please,” he tells the bartender. 

“
Lime?” 

“
Yes, thank
you.” 

Molly and a few other guests join us at the
open bar. Molly introduces us to her friends: Bobby and his wife,
Leah. I remember the name, but Bobby doesn’t look like what I
thought he would. He is buff, tall, and extremely good looking.
Mason and Angel come up to us with the twins. Angel introduces the
twins to everyone and I ask to hold one.

Ana and Alex are dark-haired babies with
dark eyes. Bobby’s wife, Leah, holds Ana and I hold Alex.

“
Oh, Angel and Mason, they
are beautiful.” I smile and kiss the baby on the
forehead.

Angel and Mason stand nearby, admiring their
own children. “Thank you, Brooke. We think so, too.” 

Bobby takes the baby from Leah and says,
“With luck, we’ll have one of these next year.” 

Brice lightly touches the babies’ dark hair
and says, “Us, too. A little girl would be nice.” 

“
Or a little boy,” I
add. 

“
Brice and Bobby laugh and
Bobby says, “You can’t go wrong with a boy or a
girl.” 

“
How is your book coming,
Brooke?” Angel asks. 

“
Great, thank you. Hoping to
have it self-published
by the end of the
year.”

Mason says, “That soon? That’s very
impressive.”

“
Thank you, what’ll be
impressive is if it sells,” I say, laughing.

Molly takes more photos and excuses herself.
Soft music begins to play and we all take our seats. Before sitting
down, we brush off the silver glitter from the seats. I smile
because I know this is Raelynn’s surprise decorative contribution
to the wedding. “Looks like there are going to be some glittery
butts at the wedding,” I say, laughing. 

Brice sits close and runs his thumb across
my bare shoulder. I rest my head on his shoulder and he kisses my
head. “We don’t have near enough alone time together,” he says.

“
No, we don’t. This feels
like a date,” I admit. 

Brice smiles and says, “Remind me to date
you more often.” 

“
I’ll be right back. I want
to check on Emma. A marriage takes precedence over a
date.” 

“
True, but sometimes you
need to date your wife.” 

Emma

“
Emma, I swear you are the
most beautiful bride ever.”

I look at myself in the full-length mirror
in my and Alec’s bedroom and say, “Thank you, mom.” 

The curtains and blinds that are normally
opened are now closed. I love the natural light and the view of the
lake from the bedroom, but because of the wedding beginning soon,
Mom and Cheryl closed all the blinds in the house so I can’t see
out and Alec can’t see in.

I want to look outside at the gazebo, but
I’m not allowed to see it. Alec, with the help of the Grannie
Nannies, was responsible for taking care of the wedding
decorations. Oh, yeah, Raelynn and James also helped.