Moving On:
Chapter Eight
My mind
wanders thinking about our wedding as I paint the awning in the back of the
house, starting with the posts. I’m up and down, climbing the ladder. It’s hard
work. I’m sweating like a pig running from the cook. It’s the hottest day so
far this summer, and to make matters worse, it’s humid!
Michael
sneaks up behind me and nibbles at my neck. I swat at the tickle, hitting what
I think is a giant mosquito after me, and jump higher than Magic Johnson. “You
startled the crap out of me.” I turn and hug him. He is holding his nose. I
accidently smacked it.
“Do I need to
call an ambulance? Are you in pain?” I ask as if totally innocent.
“I’m O.K. I didn’t mean to scare you. I see you’re
covered with paint, what are you naming this masterpiece?” His free hand moves
in an arch as if showing off my ‘designer rags’ while still holding his poor
nose.
“You must
know that this one of a kind painters’ ensemble is my own original thank you. What
are you up to?”
“I came to
take you to lunch. Now that I see you, we might just call delivery. What’s your
desire, Ma’am? My treat.”
“You are my
treat. I’ll go clean up. How does Mexican food sound? I could use a giant
Margareta now, how about you?”
“That sounds
perfect, I’ll see you soon. Call me when you’re ready. I’ll go feed Ma Barker
now.”
“Good. I’ll hurry ‘cause I’m starving.” I give him a quick kiss and get ready to shower
away the acrylic paint. As I finish preparing for the late afternoon outing I
phone Michael, “I’m ready. Just come in.”
I leave my
bedroom glowing clean and stand in front of Michael. I’m all dressed, shoes on,
makeup done and hair coiffed. I ask, “Did I get that sought-after fashionable
‘over fifty’ look?” We both laugh.
“You sure
did. You are most striking, madam.”
“I’ll put the paint clothes in a frame and
hang them in a gallery. Since I worked on the awning over the deck, I’ll call
it ‘All Decked Out.” I kid.
“Hey, that
might make you rich. Andy Warhol made ordinary famous. He just did the soup,
not the nuts, though.” We head out to
the convertible. Top’s down, I notice and love that. “How about going to
Rosario Resort for a few days? It’s beautiful there. Besides it’s a perfect place
to relax while we plan our wedding.”
“That sounds
great. I love Rosario. It’s one of my favorite places.”
“I think it’s
time we set the date.”
“I was
thinking about that yesterday and today, around my painting that is. Let’s plan
a nice quiet trip, we’ll discuss the details sitting with wine, and watch the
boats going in and out of the inlet while the sun crosses the sky.”
Michael
drives toward the U-District. Our favorite restaurant is on fifteenth. It looks just like a hole in the wall until
you go inside. It’s narrow until you pass the bar, were it widens to hold many
tables. There’s a Mariachi band on Friday and Saturday nights. It’s a lovely setting with Great food.
We are taken
to a table in the corner in back. It’s perfect. There’s no band tonight so it
will be quiet. We order Margarita’s, our meal, then relax and talk about our
wedding.
“If we knew
then what we know now, we could have saved a lot of years. We’re fortunate in finding
each other again. This time we’re ready.
“We were on different
paths back then. But no longer.” Our drinks arrive. We take a sip. He reaches
into his pocket and out comes a beautifully wrapped jewelry box. He grins as I
open it. “I’m late giving this to you.” There is another giftwrapped box
inside. I open that and find a ring box, inside, there’s a toy plastic gaudy
bilious fake diamond. I look at him and laugh. Clever.”
“OK, so that
will never do. How about this?” He hands me a diamond ring set in gold,
stunning and magnificent. A full carat and a half at least with three smaller
diamonds in a nest design on each side of the main diamond.
“It’s
beautiful.” I slip it on. “It fits.” I have tears in my eyes now.
“I love you,”
he says tenderly.
“I love you
too.” We stretch across the table to kiss, my arm hits my drink and it flies
off the table, crashing to the tile floor. He jumps; his hand springs up, hitting
his glass along the way. It tips over, spilling across the table and the glass
rolls off onto the floor where it crashes into pieces. “We’re supposed to clink
our glasses together, not have them come to a crashing halt.” We kiss in spite
of the chaos.
----------------------------
Back home,
I’m into my paint garb once again to finish while the weather is clear and dry.
Meanwhile we’ve decided to get married at the Seattle Yacht Club. Michael raves
on, “The view is wonderful. Our family is close by and it’ll be easy for them
to get there. Parking is not a problem. I’ll check to see when I can get a
reservation for July or even August.”
“Michael, you
are the perfect man. Nose hair, flat feet and all.”
“Gee, thanks.
You’re special too, except for that god-awful ugly scarf you had on when you
were painting. Would you dare paint
without it?”
“I could, but
it protects my hair from paint splatter. Otherwise I’d look like a Dalmatian. Of
course, that is one way I could distract from getting gray hair. Why, I could
be doggone good looking.” I bat my eyes and grin.
--------------------------------
Michael hangs
up and is all excited. “It’s a six month to a year solid no reservation
available. Premium months are over a years’ wait. They just had a client back out today. It
can’t be filled with one of the regulars on the list because it’s THIS
Saturday. If we take it now, they offer a big discount. It could pay for half
the rent of the place. It’ll take hours of organized work to be able to pull off
a wedding that soon. What do you say? Can we do it? I told her I’d call right
back.”
Three days,
my head reels. “I think we can do it. Yes, tell her yes, immediately. You’ll
have to make phone calls too. We must order the cake and catering now. No
waiting. I’ll get Angie to help. We can be ready. It won’t be too big a group,
mostly family. Let’s call her up now before it’s taken and we can start
immediately.” I’m talking faster than I can think. Blurting every idea that
comes into my mind, which I think I’ve lost now.
------------
We make phone
calls into the late evening. I talked with several caterers. None could do
anything in such a short time frame. The remaining list of calls to make is
long, but we can do it. I’m glad this is a big city, or we’d be out of luck. It
would be just Betty Crocker and me in the mix.
I wake up,
now with two days remaining before my wedding day, the flowers waft fresh sweet
fragrances into my bedroom through the open windows. The sun is bright and warm,
even as it rises. What a wonderful day this will be. Angie is here at 8:30 A.M.
We grab a cup of coffee and talk about our list of must dos before heading out.
The first place she drives me to is the dress shop.
“Angie, I
never knew this place existed. Wow.”
“My big
secret is out.”
I look around at the racks of beautiful
designer clothes, pick one out and go to the dressing room. I put on the dress
and make a grand exit all excited. I pull the curtain back and stand in the
doorway for effect then walk out as if on the red carpet waiting for Angie’s
approval. “Angie, I found the perfect dress. Look at this lace over satin design
and it’s cream colored.” I twirl. “I love how it billows gently showing off the
soft flowing skirt. See how it shows a peek-a-boo-view of the short skirt underneath
in the front? The outer skirt reaches nearly to the floor, it unsnaps in front,
leaving the practical fancy dress ready for another occasion. Oh, Angie, look
at the dainty design of this yoked top, it will show off my mother’s pearls. It’s
absolutely perfect. I won’t even need any alterations. Look at how it drapes
down nearly touching the floor. Help me find the right veil to go with it, will
you?”
“Of course,
Mom. I love this dress. It looks like it was designed just for you! Mom, you
look radiant.”
Angie goes
around the store and comes back with a veil in hand. “What do you think of this
one? It will fall gracefully down your back, will this do?”
I put it on,
study how it looks and tell her, “Oh, yes. It’s perfect. Wow. How did you find
this quaint little shop?”
“It all works
together like it was meant to, Mom.” Angie hugs me. “I’ll divulge my pure lucky
secret in finding this amazing place later.”
Leaving the
purchase of my dress and veil to Angie, who has my credit card, I phone the
caterers weeded out by Angie. Notes are in my purse. Looking around inside the
car, it looks like a homeless person lives in it with my notes strewn all over.
Fortunately, I hire a company only Angie
has heard about, and finish the order on the phone. Sight unseen, Cake
untested. Wow. I’m trusting. I begin to collect all the papers and put them
into a trash bag while waiting for Angie.
We go meet
Michael and have a glass of wine while telling him the news. “I hit the
jackpot. The Caterers have been hired. They’ll make the wedding cake and
deliver it to the Yacht Club along with the catered food. The cake will be
vanilla with lemon curd center; three tiered with white icing and yellow roses.
We will serve Wild caught shrimp with garlic sauce and Parmesan cheese topping
the mashed potatoes, Creamy Brussels Sprouts with bacon and Gorgonzola cheese, Vegetarian
Vegetables with Couscous Salad, Filet Mignon with Green beans gently sautéed
with pinion nuts, Walnut and Cranberry Salad, and that should fill the crowds
stomachs. What do you think?”
Michael
shakes his head and smiles. “You two are miracle workers. We should be all set.
While you two were shopping I finished the list of calls. All have finally been
made. We have a few I left messages with. We did it! Just a couple of people
can’t show up.”
“Yeah,
the Fly by night friends. We don’t want any fickle frivolous yo-yos.”
“Well, then,
I can’t invite my aunt.” Michael looks at me with narrowed eyes, and then
bursts into laughter. “My aunt is not flighty, or irresponsible. If ever you’d
suggest she is a fringe character she’d faint. You’ll both love her down to
earth spirit. She’s cheerful and fun.”
“I’m looking
forward to meeting her. Isn’t she the one that lost a sombrero when she was
nearly naked during her honeymoon? I want to hear that story. Especially since
it happened in a small closet.”
“Wow, Mom, I
want to hear that one too.”
“You will,
Angie.”
“I’ve got to
run. See you two later. Love Ya.” And off Angie goes.
“Thanks,
sweetheart,” I tell her as she whisks off.
I turn my attention
back to Michael. “By the way, you realize we won’t be making any wedding plans
at Rosario? I think it would be a great place for our honeymoon. Shall we call
for a reservation? We can go to Greece next year. How does that sound? Rosario is the perfect place to relax after
this crazy rush we’re going through.” We kiss to seal the deal.
“Perfect.”
For the rest
of the night our minds are not on the up and coming wedding.