To Have and to Hold (23 page)

Kirk cracked up. “Don’t worry. You’ll get over it,” he joked. “See you later.”

He turned and raced across the dance floor to a cluster of other cousins. Madison returned to her chair at one of the tables to take a break from dancing.

“Excuse me, is this seat taken?”

Dad appeared and sat down in the folding chair next to Madison.

“Where were you?” she asked. “I thought you needed to say hello to all of the guests.”

“I did,” Dad said. “Sort of. Now it’s your turn again. I promised not to desert you, right? Enjoying the hoedown?”

“Yup,” Madison said.

“I saw you and Kirk on the dance floor. You and your new cousins seem to be getting along great,” Dad said.

“Yeah,” Madison said. “I didn’t know what to think at first, but they’re really nice.”

“Have you played any of the games?”

Madison shook her head. “Not really, Dad. Those are for the younger kids. I’m a little beyond the hay hunt, don’t you think?”

“Well …” Dad said awkwardly. “I guess. If you say so.”

“Plus, I’m all dressed up, Dad. I can’t exactly use a squirt gun in this dress….”

“Okay. Well, where’s my square dance?” Dad asked. He stood up and wiggled his hips.

“Dad, let’s get this straight. You can’t square-dance or any other kind of dance!” Madison said.

“Who says?” Dad said, grabbing Madison’s wrist. “Let’s find out.”

“No,” Madison squealed. She dragged her feet as Dad tried to yank her out onto the dance floor.

“Daddy, no!” Madison said, half laughing. “I mean it.”

“Come on, honey bear,” Dad said, with another goofy swivel of the hips.

“Dad, please, I really, really,
really—
”

Thwomp.

With one not-so-smooth motion, Madison’s shoes wobbled, and her legs gave way underneath her, and she landed with a loud thump on the middle of the dance floor.

Madison’s ankle throbbed. The room was spinning.

“Are you okay?” Dad asked.

“Oh, no,” Madison said meekly. “My right foot … it’s a little bit …”

Dad leaned over to pick her up.

“Ouch … eeee!” Madison cried.

She looked down at her ankle. It had already swelled up around the sides of one of her orange shoes.

“W
ANNA DANCE AGAIN?” KIRK
cracked himself up.

Madison just shook her head. “Very funny, Kirk,” she said, readjusting her sitting position. She’d been propped up on a chair on one of the patios overlooking Bobcat Lake. Her ankle was wrapped in bandages and ice to keep it from swelling any more than it already had.

All around Madison, the hoedown continued with its loud music and even louder guests. Stephanie had some wild friends and family who liked to hoot and holler whenever a song they liked was being played. There was a lot of commotion near the lake, too, because Mr. Wolfe had planned for fireworks to close out the evening, and the kids at the party were eager for that to happen. A few men made preparations to row out in small boats and set up the display. As soon as the sun set, the Wolfe family promised, the “under the stars” part of the hoedown would begin. That was hours away, Madison realized. This wedding seemed to go on forever.

At first, Madison felt self-conscious about her accident. But then she saw it as an opportunity really to take in the wedding and all of its sights and sounds. Much to her surprise, she discovered that she liked watching the action from the patio. And she liked the fact that everyone was coming by to say hello.

Kirk was only one of many visitors. Almost all of her new boy and girl cousins came over to see how Madison was recuperating, in addition to seeing just how much her ankle had swollen. Was it the size of a cantaloupe or just the size of an orange? In some ways, it made Madison just another ranch attraction at the hoedown, but she didn’t mind. She just hoped the kids wouldn’t start climbing on her the way they’d been climbing on the stuffed bull earlier in the day.

For the first time since the weekend had begun, Madison felt as though she were a part of something. She wasn’t alone anymore.

From her perch on the patio, she watched guests whirl each other around in different variations on the Texas Two-Step. She spied Stephanie dancing with a group of her girlfriends in the middle of the floor, shaking her arms like a chicken. Uncle Rick and Aunt Violet were the best whirlers of all, but Madison knew that that was because they had once been Canadian dance champions.

Suddenly Tiffany appeared. “Want some dessert, Madison?” she asked. “The waiters just put everything out on the buffet. You have to try the blackberry cobbler. Or maybe the peach pie …”

“Mmmm,” Madison smiled. “If you don’t mind getting me a piece …”

“No prob! Back in a flash,” Tiffany said. She hustled over to the buffet table.

Dad kept checking in to see how Madison was feeling. She figured that he felt guiltier than guilty for yanking her onto the dance floor when she’d been resisting so fiercely.

“Blame me,” Dad moaned. “I ruined the party for you, I know it.”

“No, Dad,” Madison insisted. “I’m okay. I feel fine up here.”

“But you’re in pain,” Dad said. “And you can’t dance or join in the party!”

“Exactly,” Madison said with a grin. “I can’t dance. That’s the good part.”

Dad chuckled. “Oh, I see. This was all a strategic ploy to get out of a square dance with me. Hmm.”

“Yeah, me and my master plans …” Madison said with a laugh.

“Have you seen Uncle Rick?” Dad asked.

“Yes, and Aunt Violet has been super sweet, too,” Madison said. “She and I made a promise that we’d try to keep in better touch from now on. I’m so glad they came to the wedding.”

Dad smiled. “I’m glad, too. Did you talk to my work friends at all?”

“Yup,” Madison said. “I met the couple from California and the guy who works in New York. Everyone has treated me like I’m royalty or something. I can’t believe I’ve been sitting up here for almost two hours.”

“Time flies when you’re … trapped in a chair with a bum ankle,” Dad joked.

“Where’s Stephanie?” Madison asked.

“Off carousing,” Dad said with a smirk. “She’s having a blast. She came over to see you, too, right?”

“Like five times,” Madison said.

“Gee whiz. What a trip,” Dad said. “One surprise after another. Your mother will have my head for this one.”

“No, she won’t,” Madison said.

Dad rolled his eyes. “You don’t know your mother,” he said.

“I know she just wants me to be happy. And the same goes for you.”

Dad laughed. “Oh, yeah?” he asked. “She wants me to be happy? On my wedding day?”

“That’s what she told me,” Madison said. “Seriously. So did Gramma Helen.”

“Your mother is a special woman,” Dad said, choking up a little.

Madison felt a twisting sensation in her tummy. “I’m sorry for acting so weird about the wedding. Really sorry.”

Dad shook his head. “Not at all, honey bear. You’re allowed to feel weird when your dad gets married for a second time. Trust me. I think you’ve been a real trooper, especially tonight.”

“I guess,” Madison said. She gazed off at the lake.

Maybe it didn’t look so murky anymore.

In fact, the lake—and everything around it—looked brighter than bright. The setting sun caused oranges and yellows to be reflected off the surface of the water. Bird feathers glistened. The sides of the little rowboats sparkled.

“One piece of cobbler!” Tiffany announced as she brought Madison her dessert.

“Well, I see you have your servants bringing in the supplies,” Dad joked.

“Oh, Dad! Cut it out,” she said, giving Dad’s shoulder a little smack. “Thanks, Tiffany.”

“Would you two excuse me while I go find my new bride?” Dad asked.

“Of course,” Tiffany chirped. She tossed her blond hair and took a seat next to Madison’s. “I’ll hang out here.”

“You’re a great cousin,” Madison said.

“Thanks. So are you.” Tiffany said.

“Well, thanks,” Madison said.

“Look at him!” Tiffany said all of a sudden. “He must be someone Aunt Steph works with. Do you see that scary-looking cowboy over there with the toupee? And what about that woman wearing the turquoise turban or whatever it is? Someone needs to give her a serious makeover.”

Madison couldn’t stop laughing at Tiffany’s comments. “Aren’t you related to half these people?”

“I am
not
related to
them
, no way!” Tiffany said with a growl of disgust.

“Wow. I hate to think what you thought of what I was wearing when you first met me,” Madison said.

“Oh, that isn’t the same thing,” Tiffany said. “What did you think of me?”

“Well …” Madison flushed a little. She had to lie. “I wanted to get to know you…. You were so nice.”

“Aw, that is sooooo sweet,” Tiffany said. “Actually, I know most people think I’m too nice. Isn’t that funny?”

“Hilarious,” Madison said.

“Oh, look!” Tiffany said, pointing up at the sky.

The sun’s luster had begun to fade, and now the colors in the sky were changing to varying shades of pink. The wedding day was slowly turning into night.

“Madison, I’m going to go find my mom,” Tiffany said. “Will you still be here when I get back?”

Madison looked down at her foot. “Um …”

“Oh, yeah. Duh! Your foot,” Tiffany giggled. “Okay, so I’ll see you real soon, then.”

Tiffany bounced away toward the dance floor and toward Kirk and the other party action, while Madison stayed put, wondering what Mom would have said if she had seen this place. She’d probably have made some funny crack about Tiffany’s being a space cadet or a little bit snotty.

And what would Aimee have thought? She’d have been in heaven with all the dancing, so there would have been no time for her to think. Fiona would have liked it the best, though. Fiona was always up for an adventure.

Madison realized how much she missed Far Hills. The Texas crew was nice, but it wasn’t the same thing as her friends from home.

Madison’s eyes focused back on the rose-colored sky. The band played a slower song now.

Loooove
,
soft as an easy chair …

Dad and Stephanie waltzed among the other guests, arms wrapped tightly around each other’s waists and shoulders.

Loooove
,
fresh as the morning air …

Madison’s upper body swayed back and forth to the rhythm of the music, too, even though she didn’t like the sappy song very much. It reminded her of the music that was piped into the dentist’s office.

Slowly, the sky grew dim and turned more of a gray color. All around, couples pressed closer together. People held hands and wandered off for romantic sundown walks around the ranch. Even the ponies that were grazing from behind the fences seemed to mellow out as dusk set in.

Madison was thinking about love, too.

Back home—where her
Hart
was.

Later, after Uncle Rick had driven her back to the Bellville Villas, Madison poured her heart out into a new file. The wedding had officially ended (for her, anyway). Once again, she was writing on her laptop.

To Have and to Hold


When someone says “to have and to hold,” it usually means to love someone forever. Right? When Dad said that to Stephanie today, that’s what he meant. It doesn’t mean to have and to hold your breath, hold your horses, or hold your nose. And it certainly doesn’t mean to have and to hold a giant ice pack on your ankle.


Then again, this is ME we’re talking about.


Rude Awakening:
If aspirin works on a headache, then what kind of medicine helps someone like me, who’s lovesick? The ice pack just isn’t cutting it.


My ankle will survive, I know. But this whole wedding thing had me thinking sooo hard as I sat there tonight on the patio watching all the other guests. It got me thinking about love and how I would give anything if someone would just fall in love with ME just for five minutes even. Five minutes! Is that so much to ask? Five lousy minutes!


I always tell Fiona that she’s crazy to be crushing on Egg because, well, Egg is a big geek. But really, I’m jealous of them. Soooo jealous. And I’m jealous of Drew, too, because now he has his neighbor Elaine. AND I am jealous of Aimee because every boy at FHJH (including the older ones) wants to go out with her even if she only has eyes for that brainiac Ben Buckley.


Then there’s me, Queen of the Ice Pack.


I wonder what Hart is doing right now at this very second? Could he be thinking of me at the exact same time that I am thinking about him?


Nah. He’s probably hanging with Poison Ivy or one of his other guy friends.


Madison wriggled around on the chair.

For some reason, the air that night was breezy, unlike that of the previous nights, when it had been hot and stuffy. Madison opened the window a crack, sucked in a mouthful of night air, and kept typing.

Today I really paid attention to the wedding vows Dad and Stephanie read at the ceremony.


First of all they promised to have and hold. Then they promised to do it in good times and in bad times, in sickness and health, all the way until death. DEATH! What kind of a promise is that?


It sounds so morbid, but then I thought about it. There is nothing more romantic than forever, is there? Like, “I will love you forever and ever into infinity, my darling Madison.” Just thinking about a boy saying that to me makes my head spin.


I can almost hear Hart’s voice saying it. Almost.