Chapter 17

Cassie

After a while we found ourselves all sitting in the den, and every one of us was sniffling and wiping noses and eyes. I couldn't remember when I'd seen Daddy cry last, but he was crying that day and not trying to hide it. Mama of course was, and I was, and Yirmeyah's eyes were overflowing too. It was one of the happiest times of my life, and I knew then that I'd done the right thing way back in the early days when I'd quit trying to play games and had just been myself, for if I hadn't I don't know if Yirmeyah would ever have asked me to marry him.

I sat beside him, right next to him, our hands joined and our bodies touching from shoulders to ankles. Just that once we felt like we could do that, for my parents were right there and of course we wouldn't do anything we shouldn't under those conditions. And I knew that before too long Yirmeyah and I could sit that way anytime we wished, for we'd be husband and wife with a perfect right to each other. It was an overwhelming thought, that he would be completely open to me and I would be completely open to him. I looked over at his face, the face that had become so precious to me, and I thought that it wouldn't be long until that face was mine alone, and I alone could caress it and kiss it and go to bed with it beside me and wake up in the morning with it on the pillow next to me.

After we'd all calmed down somewhat, Daddy came up with some practical matters, which he was very good at. "First things first, Yirmeyah – when do you plan to have the wedding, and where, and who'll perform it?"

"I don't know yet, Jason. We haven't discussed that. But you'll remember that next week I'm planning – finally – to take a Sunday off and visit MJT, and I thought I'd take Cass with me. We could see what the church is like, and whether we might want them to do it. I cain't perform my own weddin', of course." Yes, he really did say "cain't," but then that was how he always said it.

"That seems like a good idea. They do have a larger building, and they're close by. I guess you'll think about dates after you've decided on where."

"That's my thinkin'." His Texas accent was stronger with his emotion, but I'd gotten so used to it that to me it was now just how he was.

"All right, the next thing. Have you thought about where you'll live?"

"I ain't put a lot into that yet. I know I'll have to move out of the apartment. It's fine for a single guy, but I don't want to take Cassie there. I was thinkin' we could look around and find a house for rent."

"You're thinking of children, then?"

He looked at me with a mischievous smile, and I returned it. "That's another thing we haven't discussed yet, but I know I want children and I think she does too." I nodded vigorously.

"Well, then, Yirmeyah, why don't you hold off for a bit on house hunting? I have a thought I want to pursue with the deacons."

I saw Yirmeyah raise his eyebrows, but he just said, "Yes, I can do that."

Now Mama took up her side of things. "Cassie, have you thought about your dress, and who you want for bridesmaids, and the rest of that?"

I looked at Yirmeyah, and leaned against him a little more, seeking his strength, for that we had talked about, if only for a few minutes while we walked, and what I wanted might be a disappointment to Mama and Daddy. "I have, Mama, and really we don't want a big wedding. Yirmeyah's a country boy, and says he'd be uncomfortable with all of that. And truthfully I'm so eager to become his wife that I don't think I could stand waiting while we arranged all that." I had a thought. "You know I like Liz Curtis Higgs' Scottish books. Maybe if we could find a dress like that, like Leana wore or like Davina was going to wear, I might enjoy wearing something like that, and I think maybe just you to stand up with me would be the most wonderful thing."

"Are you sure, honey? You really don't want a traditional wedding?"

"I'm sorry, Mama, but really I don't. I know it's something major and I don't plan to do it frivolously, but there's just no attraction for me in lace and veils and trains and bridesmaids and all of that."

"You've changed, Cassie," Daddy put in.

"Yes, I guess I have," I told him. "Yirmeyah's commented on it too, and when I look at myself I can see how some things are different in my heart and in my thinking, and maybe I'm growing up a little."

"I've thought that you ought to grow up too. I spoiled you, I know, but you're becoming a young lady, and not a girl. I'm proud of you, Cassie."

Mama nodded at that, and dabbed at her eyes. Yirmeyah reached his arm around me and pulled me closer to him, if it was possible to be closer, and said, "You know, I'm right proud of her too. Y'all are right, this lady's grown. Y'all can surely be proud of your daughter. There's not a better woman anywhere, nor one I'd rather have for my wife."

Yirmeyah

We did indeed visit MJT Christian Fellowship the next Sunday. Instead of both of us driving separately, I picked Cassie up at her place and we went to church together. She held my hand, except when I needed it to shift gears. I knew that I was very quickly going to get used to having her little hand in mine.

She had on a green dress, not the emerald of her eyes but a softer color. It was sleeveless, but before we left her house she put on a short, light cloth jacket made of some white fabric. She had been perfectly modest without it, but the longer I knew her the more I saw that she had an innate sense of modesty that I approved of. I'd rather have a woman take too much care in covering herself than not enough.

We were soon in the MJT parking lot. We held hands walking from my truck to the door. At the door a small and chubby Indian lady handed us each a bulletin, and I took off my hat as we went into the foyer. I'd left off my jacket and string tie, since I was "off duty," but I feel undressed if I go outside without a hat. The place was filling up, but we found seats together about halfway toward the front. There were three sections of pews, and we were on the right hand side of the center section. I handed Cassie in, and sat down next to her. She took both our Bibles and set them to her left, so that we could be closer together.