When You Least Expect It (67 page)

Amanda laughed.  “I know you like girls Al, its okay.”

They were going the next morning to the dorm.  Blossoms five boys all wanted to go, too. 

“We’ve never been to a college dorm!  Please, Alex?” 

Alex couldn’t look into the big brown eyes of any of these boys and say no.  “Sure, why not.  But you have to help take things off the truck.”

“Yay!”  They all yelled in unison.

“I guess that means I’m going too?”  Blossom raised her eyebrow at her cousin.  “I don’t remember manual labor being part of the deal.” 

Amanda laughed.  “Surprise!” 

“Surprise?  I don’t think so!”  She got up in a huff and started to gather up the dishes.

“Come on, Blossom, it’ll be fun.  We can get it done quicker and have more time to have fun before I go back.”

“I’ll do it for Alex, not for you.  You haven’t even showed me that big rock you have on your finger!”

Amanda lifted her hand and flashed her engagement ring.  “You may kiss it if you’d like.”

Blossom grabbed her ring.  “Daaammnnn…that boy has great taste.  It’s beautiful, honey.”

“I know. I love it.”

“Am I invited to the wedding?”

“Well, are you willing to go to Las Vegas?”

“Why not?  A little gambling, some free margaritas; I think I can handle it.”

“Can I go too, Mom?”

Amanda looked at Alex, a bit surprised.  “You want to go?”

“Sure, not everybody gets to see their mom get married…for the third time”.

Amanda was shocked.  “How rude!”

Blossom cackled.  “Alex, your mom is working on her Ph.D.  Her first marriage, your dad, was her high school graduation, her second husband, the loser, was her college degree, and now, she is furthering her education.”

Amanda shot her a dirty look, before turning to her son.  “I’d love you to be there.  Blossom, will you bring him and stand up for me, even though you definitely don’t deserve that honor.”

“I do deserve that honor, and I’d love to.”

             
She hugged her son.  “It means so much to me that you’ll be there.”  She held her cousins hand.  “Both of you.”

             
Blossom cleared her throat.  “So, have you told the family?”

             
Amanda groaned.  “Here we go…”

             
Blossom went to her phone, dialed Leeza’s number, and handed it to Amanda.  “You might as well start with the head cousin.”

             
Rolling her eyes, she waited for her to answer.

             
“Hello?”

             
“Hey, Leeza, it’s Mandy.  How are you?”

             
They continued with the usual formalities.  Blossom was poking her in the ribs, wanting her to get to the point.
              “How’s Ray?”

             
“Well, he’s good.  In fact, I have a surprise for you.    I’m moving to Maine.”

             
“Really.  Wow.  That’s a radical decision.  Are you marrying Ray?

“Yes.”

“Well that’s good.  I would hate for you to go all the way across the country without getting married.”

Amanda was stunned.  She waited for more. There was none. She couldn’t contain herself anymore.  “So you’re not upset.”

“Why would I be?  I’m happy for you if this is what you want.”

“I guess I imagined you getting upset because I met Ray on the Internet.”

“So what?  He’s a nice guy, you love him, that’s the part that matters.  Meeting people on the Internet is the newest technology of dating.  It’s no different than meeting someone at a bar and giving him your phone number.  Only, in your case, you communicated with Ray for a year before even meeting him, so in a sense, you already knew him.  I don’t think anyone is so old fashioned that they can’t see that for what it is.”

“Wow, Leeza, thank you.  I’m so happy you’re taking this so well.  I hope the rest of the family does too.”

“They will.  Everyone just wants you to be happy, Mandy.  You have gone through so much, you deserve a good man who is going to give you a good life, and love you for
you
.  Ray is the epitome of a man in love.  I wish Jerry would look at me the way he looks at you, just once.  If it feels right; go for it.”

“I am.  Can you tell everyone for me?  Blossom already knows though.”  She stifled a laugh at the look of sheer panic on Blossoms’ face.  “In fact, she’s known for awhile.”

“What?  That stinker.  Tell her I’ll be giving her a piece of my mind later.  You take care, Mandy, and congratulations, cuz.”

As soon as she hung up the phone, Blossom came unglued.  “Are you nuts?  What did she say?”

“Take it easy there.  She was happy for me!”  Mandy felt as if a thousand pounds was lifting from her shoulders.  She looked at Blossom.  “I’m getting married.”

Blossom lifted her glass in a toast.   “May
this
time, you live happily ever after.”

~~

Alex had unpacked and was hanging up his posters in his room.  His mom and Aunt Blossom had gone to the store to pick him up a little fridge and some stuff to keep in it.  His mom looked so sad today, even though she was doing her best to be brave.  Alex knew how hard this was for her; he knew this because he felt the same way.

Ever since his dad left when he was seven, he felt it had been his duty to be the man of the house.  He remembered when his mom had told him that his dad had left, of course, at seven; his first instinct was to cry.  The hurt had been deep, but he’d quickly brushed his tears away, feeling he had to be strong.  His mom needed him to be, and he would never let her hurt as she hurt on that day.

It had been a tall order for a little boy, but he did the best he can.  Sometimes it was impossible, because she was still the grown-up and at times, made horrible decisions that he couldn’t change.   But, he still stood by her, and helped her in anyway he could.

He lay on his bed and threw his football around, worrying about what would happen to his mother with him gone.  Would she be okay?  What if this Ray was a psycho and she was there alone with him, with no one there to protect her?  He shook his head.  Ray seemed like a nice man, a good man, not like Peter.  He trusted him with his mother, and had to trust that his mom knew what she was doing.

“Okay Alex, one dorm refrigerator, as ordered.”  His mom burst through the door.  “Wow, you’re all unpacked.  The room looks great.”  She looked around at the big room with two beds.  “Have you met your roommate yet?”

“No, he hasn’t arrived.  The fridge is great Mom, thanks.

She looked at her watch knowing she had to start heading back to El Paso. She had already dropped off Blossom.   “You’re welcome.  So, how are you feeling about all this now that you’re actually here?”

“I think it’s going to be fun, Mom. I don’t want you to worry about me.” 

Amanda fought back tears.  “That’s my job, Al.  I want you to promise that you’ll behave just as if I will pop into this room at any minute.”

Alex laughed.  “Whatever you say, Mom,”

She hugged her son, willing him to be seven again, to depend on her for everything.  “I’m only a phone call away.  I’ll miss you so much Al, but I’m proud of you.  I know you’re going to do great.”

“I know you’re going to do great too, Mom.”

They clung to each other, both afraid to let go.

Chapter 45

Amanda stood in front of her mirror, admiring the dress she’d picked for her wedding.  It was simple, light blue, long and flowing, accentuating all her curves.  She’d found shoes to match perfectly, and loved the look she’d created.  She planned to wear her hair piled loosely on top, with wispy curls framing her face. 

She got out of it and hung it carefully in her closet.  Ray would be arriving tonight from Portland.  He’d asked her not to pick him up from the airport, as he was planning to rent a car himself.  They planned to drive up to Vegas in the morning, their wedding day.

Amanda was disappointed that Elisa and Tom weren’t planning to make the trip.  Elisa had claimed she was too busy with the wedding, school and work to make such a trip.  Amanda, of course, said she understood, but nonetheless, she wished Elisa had wanted to be there. 

A car honking startled her back to reality, as it was coming from her driveway.  She looked out the window; it was Ray and his daughters!  He hadn’t told her he was bringing them; she was pleasantly surprised as she opened the front door.

“Hey, it’s the whole crew!”

Ray hugged his future wife.  “Well I thought about what you said about getting to know each other, and it was a great idea, so here we all are.”

Amanda hugged his daughters, happy to see them.  “Welcome to my little home, well, my home for the time being.”  She was suddenly embarrassed at all the boxes she had piled up in each room, getting ready for the move.  “It’s going to be a tight squeeze, but I’m sure we can manage.”

“I rented a hotel room for us, Mandy.  Since I was surprising you, I didn’t want you to feel too overwhelmed by extra company, especially on the eve of our wedding.”

Amanda laughed, slightly relieved.  “Okay, then I can take my thinking cap off.”  Besides for Alex’s room, she really did not have the room for all of them.  “Shall we go out to dinner?”

“Yes, let’s go to Nene’s.  The girls love Mexican food.”

“I’ll call Elisa and see if she and Tom can join us.”

“That sounds great.”

Amanda went into the bedroom to make her phone call, with Ray following a few seconds later, enveloping her in a sexy hug.  “I couldn’t wait another second to be alone with you.  Mandy, I can't believe this is actually happening.  I’ve never felt this happy.  You’re really going through with this right?” 

“So far it looks that way,” she teased.  “If you’re an axe murderer Ray, you better speak up right now, or forever hold your peace.”

Ray laughed, kissing her.  “I promise to not kill you, only to love you, and kiss you, and…”

“Dad?”

Ray groaned.  “Yeah, I should have thought this through.  Some honeymoon we’re going to have.”

“Well, they have their own room in Vegas, right?”  Amanda held her breath.

              “Don’t worry.  We might not be having a traditional honeymoon, but you will have your wedding night.”  Ray kissed her neck.  “I look forward to that almost as much as marrying you.”

             
Amanda laughed and whispered, “Good, I wouldn’t want that negligee I bought to go to waste.”

             
Ray locked eyes with her.  The knock on the door broke his trance.

             
“Are we going?”  Nikki was knocking on the door. 

             
“Let me make this call, Ray, go out with your daughters.” 

             
After his reluctant departure, she dialed Elisa’s number, getting her answering machine.  She waited for the beep and left her a detailed message about her surprise guests and asking her to meet them at the restaurant. 

             
Once they were at the restaurant, the girls talked nonstop.  They told Amanda about the plane ride, how excited about going to Las Vegas they were, and about the new outfits, they’d bought for the wedding.

             
“So, was your mom okay with you coming to Las Vegas?”

             
The silence was deafening.  Amanda wished she could take back that last sentence.  What had she been thinking?

             
Ray finally spoke up.  “I guess Carrie was a bit in shock when she heard the news.  I was planning on talking to her, of course, to discuss the girls coming out with me, but as it turned out we ran into her at the mall when we were shopping for our new clothes.”

             
Amanda’s hand went to her mouth, her eyes wide.  “So you told her at the mall?”

             
“It seemed safer.”

             
“How did she react?”

             
“She didn’t.  She just looked at me, stunned, with no facial expression whatsoever.  We all just stood there in the middle of the mall, speechless.  Finally, she just turned and walked away.”

             
Norma grimaced.  “Yeah, but when we got home, we got to hear everything she thought, and loudly.  She was pretty upset.  She didn’t want us to come, but we said we had a right to come to our own father’s wedding, so she dropped it.  She’s been in a rotten mood ever since.”

             
Ray muttered, “She never wanted me when we were married, but I guess she doesn’t want anybody else to have me either.  Go figure.”

             
“Hi everyone.”  It was Elisa.  She hugged her mother.  “I can’t stay long; I just dropped by to meet everyone.  She hugged Ray as Amanda introduced her to the girls. 

             
“It’ll be nice to have some sisters.  Hey, and I’m the oldest still, no fair!”