Chapter 37

As the weekend turned into the week, Dad and Evie spent a lot of time with Grandma and Grandpa Edwards, Frank and June. Others noticed too, and he explained as we finished all of our leftovers for Monday’s dinner.

“Could I have your attention please? I want to thank all of you for joining your families with ours for this weekend. I know we’ve deepened our friendships together and in many cases made new ones. I understand that the kids had a great time too, and I want to thank Paige, Trent, Gloria, Mandy, Jake, Andrew and Tim for the activities. I also want to thank all of you for pitching in with the cooking, cleaning and other logistics.”

When the clapping died down, he continued. “Evie, would you join me?”

He pulled her to her feet and held his arm around her waist.

“Some of you know my history with the woman at my side, and some of you have learned a little this past weekend. Since I consider you all friends and even family, I’ll fill in a bit for you. I lost this woman the year I went off to college. It wasn’t her fault, and it wasn’t mine, as we found out this year, to the relief of both of us. In the interim we each married other people and both families were blessed with a child – you all know Tim, and now you’ve gotten to know Paige as well. My wife, the second love of my life, passed away almost a year and a half ago, but before she left she gave me a gift I didn’t at first appreciate. She paved the way for me to reconcile with my family, and she brought this woman back into my life.” Dad indicated Evie, standing with him.

“It’s been a crazy nine months since Tim and I moved to this town. We found people we thought had been lost to us. We started a business, built a house, built a gazebo, built a foundation. Through all of this Evangeline Lillianne Mercer has been there, she’s fought for her heart’s desire, for us; and she showed me that I could love once again. Recently, through no fault of their own, Evie and her daughter found themselves homeless. Since Tim and I had just built what bordered on a mansion, it only made sense for them to come live with us.”

Dad was all smiles as he continued. “Cohabitating with Evie and Paige has been both thrilling and pure torture. My first love and I have reconnected and in the process, we’ve built a relationship that has the potential to be as strong as the one I had with my wife. It’s been torture for me though, and maybe you married folk can have some sympathy. Imagine living with your spouse, seeing them every day and yet because you need to set a good example for impressionable young minds, they’re totally off limits.”

Frank yelled out, “Been there recently, done that. Erin is starting to sleep through the night though.” That got a laugh.

“Thanks, Bro. But I don’t want to do that anymore.” Dad got down on one knee and took hold of Evie’s left hand.

“I love you, Evangeline. I am so happy that you orchestrated our meeting again and forced me to confront you and our unresolved situation. I have thought a lot about you this spring as I’ve been away. Every time I leave, I can’t wait to get back. I don’t want to be apart from you one single minute more. You have my heart already, will you take everything else? What do you say?”

“I would say what took you so long, but I really have to pee. Finish asking.”

Dad looked startled thinking he already had. It finally occurred to him what was missing. “Marry me.”

“YES! Now move! You’re blocking the door.”

There was raucous laughter, and Dad was left on his knee, holding the ring, sans fiancé. He looked at me, then at Paige, shrugged and settled in to wait. There was more laughter a couple of minutes later when my future step-mother re-emerged from the house, left hand first.

“Put it on me, put it on me, put it on me!”

Dad tried and failed, and then there was a period of frantic waving.

“Fingers are still wet,” Evie explained as she air-dried her hand and the laughter didn’t abate.

The second try went much better. When the ring finger came back up, there was a sparkling diamond on it. Dad climbed up to his feet and the two of them kissed, then waved for their children to join them. I found Paige on my way up front, holding her hand as we went to join in a family hug. There was applause from those assembled.

Grandma and Grandpa Edwards searched me out before the evening was over, asking me to bring Paige and meet them in the media room. Grandpa had something he wanted to say to us.

“Tim, Paige, we just wanted to set your minds at ease when it comes to your parents. Our Jenny is gone, but she left us a wonderful son-in-law and a precious grandson. Before she passed, she made us aware of what she planned to do, and she asked us to watch out for her two guys. She was worried that you’d fall into a funk. If you did we had instructions to take action. Sure enough, we saw those things she told us to watch for after she left. I’m sure you noticed, but after your mom died, your dad didn’t start any new projects.”

I actually hadn’t noticed that at the time, but they were right – it was like he was shutting down, putting his life on a shelf.

“We were worried about you guys until you took your vacation and left Seattle last summer. When you Skyped with us that first time, we could tell that there was more joy in the two of you than there had been for almost a year. When you came back to visit us in late August, there was obviously a change in you both and there was an energy in your father that had been missing.”

“As the year went on, our James turned back into the man we had known since he was in college and Jenny brought him home to meet us. We watched, too, as his creativity returned and he took an interest again in what had been his passion before. That was when we knew Jenny was right.”

Grandpa turned to my girlfriend. “Paige, it’s pretty obvious that your mother was a big part of that.”

“We just want the two of you to know that we are happy for James and Evangeline, and we consider you, Paige, and your mother, additions to our family. We want you to think of us not only as Tim’s grandparents, but yours as well.”

Tears welled up in Paige’s eyes. I rose from my seat and approached her, lifting her from her chair before sinking into it and placing her on my lap. A hug was what she needed and that’s what I provided. Grandma and Grandpa were watching as Paige buried her face in my neck.

“Thank you,” I mouthed to them. Grandpa just nodded and waited.

When my girlfriend finally looked back up, she took action, hopping off my lap and approaching her new relatives.

“Grandma, Grandpa,” she called them as they folded her into their embrace, “until this year, I never knew what this felt like, having loving family around me. Thank you.”

We eventually had to leave so we could bunk down with the kids. On the way to the tents Paige stopped me.

“You have been great this weekend, even though everyone made you the brunt of jokes and gave you a hard time. You’ve been kind, considerate, helpful, modest, and you’ve made it clear that you’re with me. I’ve gotten to know the people that you and Dad invited here and without fail, they are all wonderful. And yes, even though Amber was a little inappropriate in the kitchen, she’s a sweet, beautiful person. Every one of my girlfriends, and I’m including the new ones here this weekend, agree that you’re the best man they know. You’ve even made Trent and Andrew better men just with your example. Now, if you could work on Jake.”

She saw my expression and laughed, “Don’t worry, we all ran interference on Jake so Mandy didn’t have to put up with him. I was just trying to say that you’re amazing, and Dad stands at that podium right beside you. Mom is a lucky woman, and I hope I can only continue to be as lucky as she is.”

That kind of statement cries out for an answer. “I’m not going anywhere,” I whispered as I kissed her.

We didn’t get to do much more than that as we were needed down at the campfire to put pre-teens to bed. I hugged and kissed each girl on the cheek, not forgetting Mandy, and then all of us escorted our charges to their tents, waiting until they were asleep to come back out. Trent, Paige, Mandy and I spent another two hours just sitting around, feeding the flames, listening to a quiet playlist I had produced and generally behaving like the teenagers we were. It was the latest night we had yet but we were still in our sleeping bags by one.

The following day I was assigned to drive my grandparents and the Swifts to the airport. Those four along with their contemporaries among my McKenzie kin had bonded surprisingly well, with the visitors enjoying their all-expense-paid vacation in Georgia. Frank and June were going to spend a few more days with us and I was anxious to get back and visit with them and play with my cousin. Hey, guys can enjoy babies too.

There was a lot of work left to do at home when I got back. Trent and Andrew had clustered all of the picnic tables together and were washing and scrubbing them down, removing spills and other stains that showed signs of their happy use. The ladies were in the kitchen alternating between cooing at Erin, washing, packing up leftovers, and cleaning greasy surfaces. They looked busy, so I decided not to ask if they had anything for me to do. Instead, I walked back to the equipment yard, hitched dad’s truck to a flatbed trailer, put the forks on the skid-steer, loaded it onboard and drove around to the front of the house.

The guys weren’t all that happy with me as the forks gently lifted each picnic table and conveyed it onto the flatbed. I was under instruction to leave one behind, since it made a nice backyard addition for us. That one got moved into proximity to the pizza oven. When we had loaded the furniture, Grandpa drove it back over to the equipment yard, with the guys seated on the flatbed for the short trip. I unloaded and stacked the soon-to-be-donated items off to the side and then got to work putting the front-end-loader attachment on the Bobcat.

By late afternoon – when I thanked the Foster siblings, handing them gift cards to various local attractions – we had managed to mostly restore the yard to its prior condition. It might take a while for the sod to reattach, but things looked pretty good. Grandpa promised to have the outhouses removed, and he was going to get one of his friends in to take our shower facilities to a nearby YMCA camp. We had actually built it along the lines of the ones they already had, with an eye towards doing this.

Supper, for the crew that remained, was pure leftovers, and Grandma’s chicken tasted even better cold. ‘Operation Family Gathering’ had been fun, and I think that people had enjoyed the interaction and visiting that was the main purpose of the trip. If summer went as well as the last four days had, then the party would have been worth every penny. I was ruminating on that when Dad called a family meeting.

Frank, June, Grandparents McKenzie, Dad, me, Paige and Mom, I guessed I could call her that now, all found comfortable spots in the living room. Dad took the floor.

“I know we just finished up a hectic weekend and I want to thank all of you for your help. I think, to a family, everyone remarked at how much fun they had and how they enjoyed meeting each other. There’s still a little work to be done to clean up, but for now I think we can put a bow on it. Thank you all.”

“That brings me to the next topic, the upcoming wedding. Evie and I talked this weekend with Mom and Dad Edwards about their schedule. We have their availability already.”

Grandma broke in. “So you’ve talked about it. When are you getting married?”

He looked nonplussed. “I don’t know. I was thinking along the lines of August or September. That would give us enough time for planning. What do you think Evie?”

“Sunday.”

“Okay, we’ll be married on a Sunday. I don’t have a problem with that. Which one?”

“Five days from now.”

I know she shocked Dad with her assertion, but for all that he looked like someone had hit him upside the head with a two by four, he really didn’t seem displeased. “Five days? Can we do that?”

Evie appeared to be certain and in control of things. “I will call or email all the people that I want to be here, you can do the same. Make sure Mom and Dad Edwards can come – Paige, take my credit card and get two tickets for them so they can get here on Saturday. We’ll call them this evening yet when they get home and hope they’re not too put out.”

“Frank, June, you’ll stay?” She actually waited for their nod.

“Paige, you’ll be my maid of honor?” Another nod.

“June? Bridesmaid?”

“Of course.”

Evie turned pleading eyes on Grandma. “Will you and Dad give me away?”

Grandma looked at her husband who was having another allergy attack. “I think Lionel would like that very much.”

“We’ll have it at church with the reception at the Armory Ballroom if it’s available. Look into that, James. Four o’clock wedding with a five-thirty reception. I need to call Linda yet to see if she can help. I’ll work up an assignment list and we’ll all meet back here in an hour. Is that doable?”

She got nods from everyone. Before I left the room, I made sure to catch her. As I hugged her, I breathed, “Welcome to the family, Mom,” into her ear. She didn’t let me go.

“That’s the second time you’ve called me that. I like it.”

I had to haul all of my belongings back to my room, from where they had been temporarily stored in the basement. While I was trudging up and down two flights of stairs, I made sure to bring Paige’s too. We had an hour to get things back into place. Along the way I noticed that the linens had been washed already and the beds made. Obviously the ladies had done more than just play with the baby today. Paige got the plane tickets quickly and then unpacked her stuff. Mine didn’t take all that long. I made sure to bring my Surface down to the next meeting so I could take notes on what I needed to do.

There was a wedding book on the coffee table when I returned, with Evie, June and Grandma poring over it.

“We can update the dresses – can you sketch us something Candace? Flowers are easy. The guys will be in tuxes, including Lionel, and I think we can contact Alfonse for that. You, June, Paige and I will need to go into the city to get the fabrics right and get June measured. Frank ... he’ll need to wear his dress uniform. You didn’t bring it did you?”

Aunt June shook her head.

“Okay then. Frank, can you get hold of a uniform or would you rather wear a tux?”

He looked startled to be included in the conversation. “Uh, they’re fairly standardized. We get ours from a place online and they have all the customizations except for a few insignia and patches. I can call back home and have one of the guys FedEx those to me and just order a new uniform to ship here.”

“Okay, that should work. You can get it by Saturday?”

“If we put a rush on it, sure.”

“Use James’ credit card and pay for expedited service.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“Tim.”

It was my turn. “Yes?”

“Take the guys with you to the city tomorrow after you get home from school. You’re getting the tuxes that we pick out. You know where to go and your grandmother will have notified Alfonse in the morning so he should have them prepared for fitting by the time you get there.” She was almost done with me. “Oh, you’re in charge of putting together a playlist for the reception. I want standards like the ones from the Gazebo along with waltzes and other classical dance music.”

I wasn’t sure I wanted that responsibility. “Don’t you want to hire a DJ?”

“No. They won’t do the night justice. I trust you.”

“Do you want to listen to it first?”

“No. You’ll be fine. I trust you.” Having assured me, she moved on to her next victim.

“Paige.”

“Yes, Mom?”

“Flowers and catering. Don’t worry about the budget, just make sure everything is classy and err on the side of understatement. Tracy can help with the details. Take Tim with you so he can provide the caterers with his expertise.”

Paige now knew what it felt like to be handed responsibility for a significant part of the ceremony. “Yes, Mom.”

She moved to the next person. “James. Honeymoon.”

“On it.”

“Dad?” Evie seemed tentative calling Grandpa that, but he responded.

“How can I help?”

“Could you arrange transportation for the wedding party please? Oh, and can you arrange for a cake too? Candace can help you with that.”

“Our pleasure.”

There was one thing that needed to be nailed down yet – attendance. Paige really needed to know. “Mom, how many settings do we need?”

Evie looked at Dad and they went into a huddle, speaking softly with each other. They must have come to a conclusion. “Pay for one hundred and plan for ninety.”

“Thanks y’all.”

Well that wasn’t too bad. I was responsible for getting dressed and selecting music. The one I did every day, the other terrified me. I decided to reach out for help.

“Paige,” I managed to get her attention before she started her week of frenzied activity. “I’ll make you a deal. I’ll help you out, and you help me. We can be a team.”

She looked grateful for the offer. “Deal. The first thing we need to find out is the colors. The guys will be in black so that’s easy. Let’s look in the book for what Mom wants.” I watched as she paged through tabs until she found dresses and colors. “It looks like she wants some type of blue. Let me check.”

“MOM! WHAT COLORS ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?”

Grandma’s voice came back. “Navy for the dresses. Pick flowers that complement that.”

“Well, I think we’re going to be at the mercy of the season and availability, but we can probably do white, pink and red roses. Those should contrast well, but we need to get the order in tomorrow! I’ll make an appointment for early evening if I can so you can get back in time. After that we can meet with the caterers. I’ll use the ones from the open house since they came recommended by both Mom and Grandma. Are you ready for this?”

No, but I found myself going into end-game mode. “So long as you help me with music selection I will be.”

Wednesday we were back at school, and our friends wanted to talk about the long weekend. We simply didn’t have time. Paige pulled the girls aside at lunch and I took the guys. “Mom and Dad are getting married this Sunday – we need help.” Since they were friends, we had offers to pitch in wherever they could.

I broke the rules after explaining to Mrs. Demeter why I needed to, and she let me into her classroom over lunch so I could make some calls. The first was to the reception venue.

Yes, they had been contacted regarding the M&M wedding already. Their problem was that they had an event on Friday night and didn’t have a crew coming in until Monday morning to clean up. With the help of my friends, I offered to tear down the prior event on Saturday and set up for the new one. That was acceptable to them. They also told me that the events normally provided all the equipment for a DJ if there was one.

That was my second call after searching online for a place that rented DJ equipment. I explained what I needed and when, and they said I could come down to look at what they had. We made an appointment for Thursday afternoon to do that.

After school I met Paige and we tore back to the house. The Tahoe was waiting for me, Dad behind the wheel. I told Paige to take my truck which got a grin from her as I had forgotten she had her own wheels. Regardless, she had things to do and we were on our way.

Frank was impressed that the tuxes were ready and waiting for us, but he didn’t know my McKenzie grandmother very well. The ladies minus Paige showed up just as we were leaving, having been checked and measured. Alfonse had our measurements from all the business we had done with him lately, so there weren’t many alterations to be made. Our party kissed and was kissed in passing and then zipped back home.

There was a sandwich and a note waiting for me – I was to eat the one and read the other. The note told me that we’d be sampling dishes later on so I’d better not fill up. Paige bounded through the door just as I finished my snack and then we were on our way to the florist’s.

“Hi, we’re here to select flowers for the Mercer-McKenzie wedding. We spoke on the phone. I’m Paige and this is Tim.”

I butted in, pointing at my chest. “McKenzie,” my finger turned to indicate Paige, “Mercer wedding.”

“Don’t get your panties in a bunch. The M&M wedding. How’s that?”

This conversation had brought a smile to Mabel the florist already. Good, it was easier to deal with people when they were predisposed to like you.

“M&M it is.”

Paige dismissed me and spoke to the florist again, “The M&M wedding that’s taking place this Sunday.”

I saw eyebrows go up.

Paige pulled out a sheet of paper. “We need arrangements for the ends of pews, bride’s bouquet, bridesmaid’s bouquet, altar arrangement, one large one for each side, arrangements for the foyer and the stage. That’s for the church, and I don’t know how many in total we’ll need. This is sort of sudden.” Paige leaned in conspiratorially, “My mom is forcing the issue.”