Wyoming Nights (8 page)

T
he weekend sped by entirely too fast for Darlene’s liking.  Each time she tried to be alone with Daniel, her brothers would occupy the conversation or his time. Over breakfast on Saturday morning they were shocked to find out he didn’t eat pork.

“What do you eat for breakfast?” James wanted to know.

Daniel sipped at the tea he had in a mug. “I usually do a whole grain cereal for breakfast with maybe some fish,” he told them.

Darlene couldn’t wait to add the next bit. “Yes, he walks out the back door and over to the river, casts his line and comes back with fresh trout.  It is amazing.”

Roosevelt’s eyes were wide. “Seriously man? Fishing right out your back door?  On a bank or deck?”

“Off the bank,” he told him.  “The river is a bit aggressive in spring from the snow melting from the mountain, so building a ramp is out of the question.”

James asked, “What about the rest of the seasons?”

“The fish tastes different in the summer.  We are having the waters tested to see if there is something in the life cycles of the fish causing the odd taste.  In the fall is hunting season, so no time and winter is too cold.”

“You hunt too?” Roosevelt asked.

“Yeah, one elk and a buck can carry me for a year,” he told them. “My dog, Sheila D, is partial to rabbit stew, so I have a few of those in the freezer.”

James was grinning, “Sheila D?”

“Yeah, the E was taken,” Daniel laughed.

After several tries, she finally got her brothers to give them a bit of privacy during the afternoon. Daniel sat on the couch, looking at the paintings on the wall and all of the little touches in the living room.  His cabin was pretty sparse in comparison to this.

Seated in the chair next to him, she leaned over and touched his hand. “I didn’t pick any of this stuff. I worked.  I fought in the court room.  I came home to cooked meals, completed homework and a man who only talked to me about business,” she told him. His lips turned downward as he listened.

“I have no issues leaving any of this shit right here,” she told him.

He stood up.  The jeans molded to his thighs and there wasn’t an ounce of flab or fat on him.  It wasn’t muscles that were built in a gym either but muscles from being outside and actually doing something with his hands and that body for a living. 

Damn
,
is it warm in here?

“What about this little bowl.  It seems out of place in the room with all of these fine porcelain china pieces,” he told her as he picked up the candy dish.  He turned it over on the bottom to see if it had a brand name.  The bowl only held the initials DH.

“Oh you made this?” he said.

A smile crossed her lips as she rose to walk over to his side.  “Yes.  I took a pottery class right before we got married, because I was planning to make all of our dishes.  Out of all the pieces I made, that is the only one to survive the move,” she told him.

She held the lopsided bowl in her hand remembering a simpler time in her life.  A time when she wanted to be a home maker. She thought back to Darrel in Orlando,
go back to who you wanted to be
.

“Darlene, I do want to talk to you about the wedding,” he said softly, to bring her back from wherever her mind had wandered off to with the bowl.

She sighed deeply. “Honestly, I am okay with the courthouse. I had the big wedding already, so a small reception will suit me just fine.”  It was the look on his face that made her change her approach to it.  “This isn’t about just me. It’s your wedding as well. What did you have in mind for the ceremony?”

He took a seat back on the couch.  She was learning his tells.  When he was uncomfortable, he rubbed his hands on his thighs.

“I dunno...you know that moment at a wedding, when the music starts and the doors open for the bride to enter...,” he said sheepishly.

“Yeah...go on,” she encouraged him.

“I want that...”

“You want what?”

“I want that moment to turn and look down the aisle and see you standing there.  The one second in life when I know that you are committed to a life with me.  To see you walking down the aisle in all your finery, taking the steps necessary to show all of our family and friends that you are coming to meet me...to join with me...that you trust me as a provider, a mate...a partner so that we can begin our life together,” he said as he dropped his head.  He chewed on his bottom lip a bit, almost embarrassed by his openness with her.

Darlene sat the bowl down and walked over taking a seat in his lap. Her fingers caressed his jaw as she said to him, “Then that is what you shall have Daniel Wilstrom.  I shall dress in my finest and walk down that aisle to meet you.  I will take the steps in front of our family and friends, letting all who bear witness know that I have chosen you as my mate, my partner, my provider so that we may join us as man and wife.”

His hand rubbed his thigh again.

“Am I missing something?”

“Yes,” he said softly. “Are you willing to do all of that in Atlanta?”

“Atlanta?”

“Yes, my family is in Atlanta and my family is whole lot bigger than yours, I mean I have 29 nieces and nephews!”

“Say what now?” she said as she leaned back to look him in his face.

“I am serious.  I have six sisters. Camellia alone has 8.  Her twin Calla has 6, Petunia has 5, I think Iris has 6, Violet has 3 and Gardenia, she is the youngest, and only has one,” he told her.

Her mouth was wide open. “I don’t know which is more shocking...the 29 nieces and nephews or that all you sisters are named after flowers.”

“Oh yeah, it gets worse.  You know my middle name is Larkspur?”

She started to laugh hard. She smiled when she asked, “You do know that is a type of buttercup right?”

His hand remained still on her hip. “You would know that off the top of your head wouldn’t you?”

“Oh, don’t be so hard on yourself park ranger, I think you are the biggest, sexiest buttercup I have ever seen,” she told him.

His smile had faded and his look was serious. “You think I’m sexy?”

“Oh yeah, buttercup,” she told him.

“Works for me,” he told her as his hand slipped into her hair at the base of her neck. His lips met hers with a kiss fueled with more than compassion and friendship. His kiss was fired with a promise of what was to come.  She was ready for whatever her big buttercup had to dish out.

G
etting time alone with Daniel had been pretty tough since her brothers took a liking to him and consistently interrupted any minutes they took to be alone.  It became a bit of a joke after a while as her two brothers pelted her fiancé with all kinds of questions on hunting, fishing, hiking, camping and guided tours through national parks.

Sunday morning came far too soon as she took him back to the airport. Daniel asked, “How long do you think you are going to need to get everything closed out?”

“I think I may be able to get it all done in a month,” she told him.  Her fingers lingered on his solid chest while in the background horns honked, obscenities were being yelled, and others barked at them to get a room.  She did not want to be rushed.

“This is why I hate living in the city,” he told her. 

“I am so looking forward to the brightness of our home,” she told him.

He could not stop the smile which took over his face, as it radiated down his right leg and made his toes tingle. “Our home?”

“Our home park ranger,” she said as she raised up on her toes to kiss him.

Daniel responded by lifting her from the ground into his arms.  He kissed her deeply, his mouth slanting over hers again and again.  “I can’t wait to make you my wife,” he mumbled into her mouth.

“I don’t know what it is about you Daniel, but in my heart, I feel like I have been waiting for you all my life,” she told him.

“And I you,” he said as he reluctantly let her go.

She watched him walk through the doors, making his way to his departure gate.  Slowly she moved back to her car amid the bevy of horn honkers and middle finger gestures which came her way. 

“Oh blow your nose!” she yelled back as she cranked the SUV and pulled away from the curb.

T
he rest of the day seem to crawl along at a snail’s pace as she meandered from room to room making a mental inventory of what she could unload to antiquities dealers, friends, and others.  She hoped that her brothers would take much of it and save her a headache.  Daniel had left some of his tea for her to enjoy which is what she truly planned to do.  A large cup in hand, she made her way to the patio for a change of pace.

The sun beat down on her head as she stared out into the large backyard that she never really used. The perfectly manicured lawn was symbolic of her life with George. Everything was in its exact place, flawlessly groomed, and camera ready.  Underneath the perfection of lawn maintenance were grub worms eating away at the roots. Life with Daniel was going to be unordered.  They were going to live off the land. A warm feeling roamed through as she thought about making love whenever the mood hit them versus scheduled interactions.

Roosevelt walked up on her. “I don’t know what to make of all of this girly behavior Sis...I have never seen you this way.”

For the first time since they were children she let down her guard with her big brother.  “I went out with George because I was hungry,” she told him.

The shock on his face was evident.

“I told him what he spent on dinner for the two of us, I could furnish us with groceries for a whole month, so he stopped at an ATM and gave me the cash to prove it. So, we were basically having dinner together every night for a month.  In the interim, he set up meetings for me with people whom before I couldn’t even get into their buildings during lunch to grab five minutes of their time,” she said to her brother.

“After that, he bought a few nice dresses, some nice shoes, and gave me a strand of pearls for my birthday.  I was rubbing elbows with people I had only read about.  The change I was craving to create by protesting was happening with handshakes at cocktail parties, not with a bullhorn and picket sign. I moved into his townhouse, we became like this up and coming Washington power couple, and then I met his folks, he met mine, I got pregnant, we got married and here I sit. I am in a home where I didn’t pick a single thing in it.  I have a closet full of clothes and designer handbags that I didn’t buy and don’t give a shit about.  I didn’t know my own kids and I lost sight of myself,” she told him.

“I had no idea...I always thought you were happy,” Roosevelt told her.

“I never knew I wasn’t, because I was so busy,” she confessed. “George and I had a business arrangement not a marriage. So now, I get to experience what it is like when I see women light up when their man walks in a room.  I get that with Daniel.  I feel everything with him,” she said with a smile.

Roosevelt was shaking his head. “I tell you, I mean...I don’t want to be crass, but ya’ll women—once ya’ll get some good luvin’, you lose your damned minds!”

Darlene jumped up from the patio couch. “I haven’t slept with Daniel!”

“What?  The way you were cuddling up and cooing in his lap, I thought that big joker had blew your back out and put your ass to sleep with a big ole baby leg!” he said with a chuckle.

She swatted him on the arm.  “I am not that kind of woman.  I will wait to my wedding night with him,” she said and gave a wink. “Then I am going to blow his back out, because it has been 4 long years!”

“Yuck!  Yuck! And double yuck!” he told her.

“You started it,” she laughed.

“And I am going to end it.  Let’s go out and get some shrimp,” he told her as he tugged at her arm.

It was his thing whenever he came to town.  This was also the first time in almost four years she would be going out with him versus him showing up with the food.  He liked this new version of his sister.  Now, he didn’t have to worry as much, but he didn’t know how he felt about his little sister moving to Wyoming; even if you could walk out the back door and catch fresh fish.

T
o say that it was unusual for a bride to be on the outside of planning her own wedding would be an understatement, but that is what happened to Darlene. She was assured by Daniel’s sisters that all was taken care of and all that was required on her part was to show up and look beautiful for their brother. Several times during the next two months she tried to interject a few ideas into the planning process but she was shot down by one of the flowers. Futilely, she tried to object to one particular idea but again, her objection was over ruled even though it was her wedding. She explained, with passion to her groom to be, that the entire concept of being married in the south in the middle of summer in a tent was the not a very smart idea, yet that was only the beginning of issues with the wedding that went horribly, hilariously, and embarrassingly wrong.

It began with the booking of Daniel’s family church.  It was too late to change the date when it was realized that the funeral of the church founder, Mr. Willie Morri was also scheduled on the same day in the chapel. Mr. Morri was considered by many in the church to be a kind of celebrity. Several Atlanta dignitaries showed up to pay their respect which resulted in security, lots of limos and people needing to be redirected to the funeral upstairs, which was not to be confused with the wedding downstairs.

Iris, Daniel’s oldest sister who truly favored Rasputia Latimore, had made the uncomfortable wedding arrangements.  She wasn’t an attractive woman and she had given birth to six equally unattractive daughters that could have been the starting line up to a pro basketball team. Iris had a thick mustache that she groomed, waxed and shaped.  Her daughters also carried the same trait.

The pastor, who was working on an addition to the church, was charging a chunk of change which was to be contributed to the building fund, saw no reason to change the date, since Iris had already sent out all of the invitations. With a few adjustments and a call to the party rental store, both events were scheduled at Christ Chapel Baptist Church. The celebration for the end of a life for Mr. Willie Morri’s took place in the chapel upstairs as the merriment of a new life together began downstairs. This is what led to the wedding being held in a tent.

Outside. 

In July. 

In Georgia.

Fortunately, the reception was held inside of the basement of the church, but the people from Mr. Morri’s funeral kept sneaking in trying to get food and wedding cake. The kids, Darlene was uncertain which children belonged to which sister, maintained a vigilant watch on the stairwell, yelling,
Go on git now!
each time someone tried to descend the stairwell. A few of the interlopers were even more direct, by being straight forward asking for someone to save them a small slice of cake.

Petunia Daniel’s sister who was the second oldest and suffered from diabetes, made the wedding cake. Darlene learned about Petunia’s diabetes right after the woman passed out on the floor of the church kitchen because she would add a little frosting to the cake then eat a little frosting. Actually she ate a lot of frosting, almost half of the bowl which spiked her blood sugar making her collapse.

Daniel remained cool about all of it as he sat with his arm draped over the back of Darlene’s chair like a king being entertained by his kingdom.  His legs were crossed in his white rented tuxedo and white patent leather shoes, as he sat waving to relatives as they walked by him and his beautiful new wife. As his family paraded by in colorful outfits, each would address him as if he was some form of a celebrity. 

“What’s up Unc?”

“How you doing nephew?” he would respond.

A cute young teen girl passed by, “Hey Uncle Daniel, you look so handsome.”

“Thank you Cutie Pie Niece Face,” he said to her.  He said the same thing to every one of his nieces that came over to speak to him and give him hugs. The man also greeted each nephew the same way.

“You have no idea what their names are do you?” Darlene asked.

“Nope,” he said with a smile. “I lost that ability after the first ten.  Now, the older ones are having babies so I don’t even bother.”

“How am I supposed to learn their names if you don’t know who is who?”

He gave her a big grin. “That’s easy.”  A small girl, about seven or eight years old walked past them.  “Come here little Cutie Pie Niece Face,” he told her.

“Yes Uncle Daniel?  You look like a prince in that white suit,” she told him.  She was cute as a button in a little pink dress and the start of her very own little mini mustache.  The Wilstrom’s were truly a hair clan.

“Would you like to help with me a very special job?”

Her little head bobbed up and down. “Yes, yes, yes!” She told him as she bounced on her tiny toes in her shiny white patent leather shoes.

“I need you to get all of your brothers, sisters and cousins to come over a take a selfie with your brand new aunt,” he told her.

Her little hands were outstretched with the palms up as she shrugged her tiny shoulders, “But I don’t have a camera Uncle Daniel!”

“I am going to let you use my phone,” he told her.  For some reason this must have been the key which opened the magic door.  The little angel took off running to the left, then she doubled back to the right and finally stopped in the middle of the floor adding a blood curdling scream at the top of her lungs.  Everyone in the room turned around. She had garnered the family’s attention.

“We are going to do selfies with Princess Aunt Darlene so she can learn our names!” the little girl screamed.

It worked like a charm.  An entire swarm of teens and people she didn’t know lined up to take pictures with her.  She also understood perfectly what Daniel was saying; after ten of them, she gave up on the names after the first seven. Some were named after flowers, some plants, there was even a girl named Thistle. While she was distracted, the big named Hollywood actress, Angie Chihuahua walked into the church basement.  A cloud of perfume, a mound of hair, and two tons of attitude arrived before the sexy bombshell even made it into the room. Daniel’s son, who was on the other side of the room taking selfies, not with anyone, just of himself in various poses, took a break from admiring the levels of his handsomeness, to greet his mother.

Violet, the sister who was a year younger than Daniel, took offense to Angie’s presence and made of point of telling her so.  “Why are you here?  To see my brother actually marry a woman with a heart?”

“She may have a heart, but does she have a brain?  I know he has sold her on that sappy idea of a country store in the middle of mountain country in the ass crack of Montana or some crap,” Angie said in a huff.

This also offended Violet.  “I should knock your teeth out again like I did when we were twelve. Your uppity butt needs to go over in a corner somewhere and google that woman,” she snapped.

“I tell you Daffodil,” Angie told her, intentionally mocking her name, “Every time I come back to Atlanta, I am amazed at how ugly you continue to get each time I see you.  Did the man who knocked you up with his wolf cub ever marry you?” This was said with a toss of the mane of weave that sat upon her head.

“Why are you even here?  He didn’t invite you and I know no one in this family wants you at this wedding,” Violet yelled again.

Violet’s son, who did in fact look like a darker version of Eddie Munster, ran to her side.  “Everythang okay Momma?”

Angie burst into laughter at the sight of the hairy young man which made Violet charge at her, only to be caught midair by Daniel Jr.  “Calm down Auntie V, you and my mama aren’t going to solve anything today.”

This tiff was brought to an abrupt halt as Daniel began to cough.  Darlene ran to his side as his right eye began to twitch and his top lip began to quiver involuntarily.

“Daniel, my God, what is wrong,” she asked as she bent to his side.

“Nuts,” he said as he pointed at the cake on the plate in front of him.

Violet, eyes wide, stormed over, pink taffeta rustling as she walked to the table, belted over the gathering crowd, “Petunia, did you put nuts in the wedding cake?”

“No,” Petunia yelled back.  “I used almonds.”

Gardenia hearing this ran from the back of the room. “I will get my medical bag,” she called. No one was certain why she kept a medical bag since she wasn’t a doctor or even in the medical field. She kept it with her at all times and it was always fully stocked with the perfect medicine for any occasion.

“Petunia you numbskull, almonds are nuts and he is allergic to nuts!”  Violet yelled back.

Daniel’s eyes were closing, his tongue was swelling and Angie bolted forward putting on her best acting skills. She kicked off her shoes like she was about to dive into the Chattahoochee River and swim to his rescue. 

“He needs mouth to mouth,” she yelled as she ran towards him. This, Daniel wanted no part of as he raised his leg and caught her in the mid-section bringing her to an abrupt stop. This did not slow her efforts as she pushed against his leg like she was a doing an airplane ride on his foot.

“No...top...top...make ther top,” he tried to say.  His tongue was swelling fast and he was losing the ability to speak.  This was followed by an involuntary twitching as Angie tried to climb on top of him and give him mouth to mouth. Again.

“Thombody get her off o’ me,” he mumbled.

Gardenia had returned with a black medical bag and pulled out an EpiPen. “Stand back everyone,” she screamed.  She peeled back the wrapper, opened the cap and jammed the needle into his leg.

“Thear Gawwwd,” he cried out.

Darlene, in a $2,000 white Vera Wang gown, pushed everyone aside, especially Angie, and dropped to the floor.  She held her husband’s head in her lap, looking down at him with loving eyes and whispering encouraging words.  “It’s going to be okay baby, just relax, relax,” she said with soft words.

He was whispering something as she lowered her head, with her ear to his mouth.  Darlene asked, “What are you saying sweetie, I can’t hear you.”

Daniel swallowed hard, “I tink I teed on mytelf.”

That did it for Darlene.  It was officially the worse and most hilarious disaster of a wedding she had ever been to and it was her own.  She started to laugh.  She tried sadly, to use the train of her gown to cover his lap which was obviously wet in the white pants and showing way too much of his assets. She laughed so hard that she leaned forward and whispered in his ear.  She told him, “I laughed so hard until I just peed on myself too!”

James and Roosevelt had been in the corner watching the whole thing. Neither moved from their spots as plates of fatty foods were placed before them with too sweet iced tea to wash it down.  Several of Daniel’s relatives snapped photos with them and both men agreed that those were some of the hairiest women they had ever seen in their lives. This was also the reason Krysten had not made the wedding.  She opened a file on his sisters and relatives.  After seeing many of their photos she called Darlene three weeks prior to the wedding to tell her the news.

“Gurl, even I ain’t that horny!  Those are some hairy, unattractive women,” she told her friend.  True to her word, she sent a gift but did not show up.

Her brothers would have lots of stories to share with Krysten. Their heads moved slowly as their eyes scanned from one end of the room to the next as they watched the scores of children, the bevy of cousins, over to the crazy ex slash movie actress and back to their brother-in-law peeing on himself in the middle the floor as he was rescued from anaphylactic shock.

Roosevelt asked James, “Can you imagine what Thanksgiving will be like?”

“I sure as hell plan to find out. This is like watching a bad movie scene,” James said.

“Are you enjoying yourself?”

“Heck yeah!  It is whole lot more entertaining than her first wedding,” James added. “The only thing that happened at the one was some dude dropped a shrimp on his necktie!” He looked at Roosevelt. “What about you.  You having fun?”

He chuckled, showing a perfect set of white teeth. “This is hilarious! It’s so funny, I can’t even laugh. I am just sitting here with my mouth open.”

One thing was certain, if this was how the marriage was going to start, their sister was bound to have a very different life with Daniel Wilstrom than she ever had with George Patterson.  Her cheeks were rosy and her face was aglow as she sat in the middle of the floor holding his head.  They were laughing and looked happy although the man was in the throes of a medical emergency.

Darlene deserved a different life.

She deserved a chance at something different.

Daniel Wilstrom was going to give it to her.