Before Felix could answer, Dina burst into the kitchen. “Felix. . .Jay . . .Is everything all right with DeShawn and Miss Ingrid.”
“They’re trying to get married tonight,” Felix blurted out.
“What? I can’t believe it,” Dina exclaimed the rushed over to Jason and hugged him. “What can I do to help?”
Jason smiled. “We’re trying to do this quickly, but I know she’d love it if you guys could come. We can set up in the backyard and have something nice and intimate. You all have been like family to Ingrid and I appreciate how you welcomed me into the fold.”
“You better not hurt her,” Felix said, with a warning tone in his voice. “I know how to make grits.”
Jason held his hands up. “No need to play the Al Green card,” he said. “How mad would Ingrid be if we shut this place down early?”
“Hey, we got a wedding to plan,” Dina said. “We’re going to get these orders out and these people can go home. I’ll call Yolanda and make sure she gets to Miss Ingrid’s house on time.”
After Jason and Felix finalized the plans for the meal, he headed to Lois’s house. Even though the two hadn’t made everything right between them, he wanted to be the one to take to the wedding.
Christina shook her head as she walked into Ingrid’s kitchen and shook her head when she saw Reverend Easterling sitting at the table sipping on ginger ale. “Hello,” she said sweetly. Then she looked up at her friend. “Can we talk in the living room for a minute?”
“Sure,” Ingrid said then excused herself from the preacher. Once they were out of Reverend Easterling’s ear shot, Christina grabbed her friend by the shoulder. “Are you out of your mind?”
“What?”
“Did you and Jason just wake up and decide that you’re getting married today? What about all the planning you two were doing?”
“None of that matters. When we thought we were going lose DeShawn it made us see that life is too short and nothing is guaranteed.”
“What is your mother going to say?” Christina asked. “Have you told her? I know she doesn’t get along with Jason, but don’t you think she would want to be here and see her only child get married?”
“Jason and I are keeping this simple, you, me, DeShawn and the reverend. We’ll deal with my mother later,” Ingrid said. “Besides, this is about me and what I want and what’s best for my son.”
As if on cue, DeShawn bounded down the stairs dressed in a pair of shorts and a white shirt, “Is it time to get married yet?” he asked.
“Just as soon as Jason gets here,” Ingrid said as she met him at the base of the staircase and hugged him tightly.
“Ingrid, I’m glad to finally see you this happy,” Christina said. “Maybe Terry is right. We should live in the moment.”
“What does that mean?” Ingrid asked.
Before Christina could reply, Dina, Yolanda and Felix walked through the front door. “What are you guys doing here?” Ingrid asked with a shocked expression on her face.
“Now, you know you weren’t going to get married without us,” Yolanda said. “Jay Slade came by the restaurant and we’re going to set up for the wedding in the backyard.”
“Guys,” Ingrid said, nearly overcome with emotion. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Come on, we haven’t seen you this happy in forever and we’re going to share in this day with you,” Felix said. “I got a mess of food in the truck.”
Reverend Easterling cleared his throat from the doorway of the kitchen. “Did I hear someone say food?” he asked as he rubbed his pot belly.
“Yes sir,” Dina said. “We can’t have a party without some Soul To The Bone cooking.”
“Well, do you need some help setting up?” the reverend asked.
Felix nodded and led the preacher out to his truck. Ingrid turned to Dina, Christina and Yolanda. “All right, if you guys watch DeShawn, I’m going to go and get ready.”
She dashed upstairs and jumped in the shower. Ingrid trembled with excitement as the warm water washed over her body. Could this be true? Was she going to finally be married to the only man she’d ever loved? Would they be able to make it work this time? All of the obstacles were out of their way and she was totally secure in their love. Still, it nagged at her that her mother wasn’t going to be there for her. They weren’t very close, but other than DeShawn and Jason, Lois was the only other family she had. Maybe I should call her and let her know what’s going on. Jason did say he was going to make an effort to get along with my mother and she should be here, Ingrid thought as she shut the water off. She grabbed a plush towel and wrapped it around her body then rushed into the bedroom to call her mother. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she picked up the phone and dialed her mother. The phone rang and rang. “Where is she?” Ingrid mumbled when the voicemail picked up.
Moments later, Christina walked into her bedroom. “Getting cold feet?” she asked when she noticed Ingrid hadn’t gotten dressed.
“No, I was trying to reach my mother, but she’s not at home,” Ingrid said as she crossed over to the closet. “In all of this rushing to get married tonight, I hadn’t even thought about what to wear to my wedding.”
Ingrid reached in her closet and pulled out the sundress she wore on her first date with Jason when they’d reconnected. “Well, it’s not white, but DeShawn proves that I’m no virgin,” she said as she held the dress against her skin.
“And that dress looks great on you,” Lois said from the doorway.
“Mom,” Ingrid said. “What are you doing here?”
“Well,” Lois said as she walked into the room. “Your future husband didn’t think you should get married without me. Jason came over and asked me for you hand in marriage, so to speak.”
Ingrid raised her right eyebrow. “And you two didn’t kill each other?”
Christina stifled a giggle. Lois shot her look that quieted her immediately. “Am I going to stand here and say that things are one-hundred percent better between me and Jason, no. But it took a lot for him to reach out to me. I can admit that I could be wrong about him.”
Ingrid smiled at her mother. “This is the best wedding present that I could’ve ever gotten.”
“All right,” Lois said as she clasped her hands together. “Let’s get my daughter ready to get married.”
Jason held his son’s hand as they waited for Ingrid, Lois and Chrissy to come outside. “I’m hungry, what’s taking so long?” the little boy asked. Jason looked over at the buffet that Felix and Dina had just finished setting up. There was fried chicken, sweet corn bread, collard greens, red velvet cake, macaroni and cheese, chocolate cupcakes and a fountain of fruit juice. Had he not been so excited to marry Ingrid, he would’ve been hungry too. But Jason’s stomach was in knots. What if her mother wasn’t as happy as she’d let on when he’d picked her up?
Jason’s mind wandered back to the conversation he and Lois had about two hours ago. When he’d walked up the steps to ring her doorbell, his heart was pounding just as it had been when he picked Ingrid up for their senior prom. Lois had opened the door and when she saw Jason, she immediately had a look of annoyance on her face. “Is everything all right?” she asked not really trying to hide her irritation with seeing Jason there.
“Everything is fine,” he’d replied. “Well, not really. May I come in?”
Lois stepped aside. “I was about to cook dinner, so can you make this quick?”
“I know we said we weren’t going to be best friends, but are you even going to make an effort?” he asked.
“What do you want?”
“Ingrid and I are getting married.”
“And? I already know that. I told you in the hospital that it was going to take time for us to make this family thing work. . .”
“Mrs. Russell, we’re getting married tonight and I think you should be there. I know it’s going to take time for us to make things work, but tonight is going to be one of the biggest events in our lives and we can’t d
o it without you. I wouldn’t feel comfortable marrying Ingrid if you weren’t standing there giving us your blessing,” he’d said.
“My blessing?” Lois stretched her eyes incredulously. “You want me to be a part of your wedding?”
“It wouldn’t be right if you weren’t. This isn’t about me and how we feel about each other. Ingrid should have her mother and her son standing up there with her.”
Lois’s face had softened and Jason could’ve sworn that he’d seen tears welling up in her eyes. “My goodness,” she’d said after a brief moment of silence. “Jason, I guess I have been wrong about you all this time.”
For a moment, he thought she was going to hug him, but they’d both realized they weren’t there yet. “I’d better go and get dressed,” Lois said. “Do you mind turning my stove off?”
“Sure.”
DeShawn tugged at Jason’s arm, breaking into his thoughts. “Look,” he said as he pointed to the sliding glass door. Jason looked up and saw Ingrid standing at the door. Her hair was parted down the middle and pressed bone straight. She was wearing his favorite dress and she looked like a dream. Jason took a half step forward, but stopped when she walked down the patio steps. He was mesmerized by her, she seemed to glow and her happiness lit up the back yard. Lois and Ingrid held hands and walked toward Jason and Reverend Easterling.
Ingrid turned to her mother and smiled as squeezed her hand. “Are you ready for this?” Lois whispered.
“Yes,” Ingrid replied then kissed her mother on the cheek. “Thank you for being here.”
“I can’t think of any other place I’d want to be right now. Now, he’d better treat you right because if he doesn’t, I will get him,” Lois said.
“Mom,” Ingrid said. “Don’t start.”
“I’m not, I’m just stating a fact. There’s been enough pain in this family,” she said as they reached the make-shift alter where DeShawn, Jason and the reverend were waiting.
“Let me just say this is a special night, a special ceremony and two special people about to enter matrimony,” Reverend Easterling began. “Jason and Ingrid you two have a history and a foundation that marriage will only make stronger. Make sure that you keep your hand in God’s so that your marriage will last and prosper. I’m at a loss for words and I don’t know how you two want to go forward with your vows and everything.”
Jason took Ingrid’s hand in his and kissed it. “I’ll start,” he said. She looked into his eyes and Jason felt as if she could see his soul. “I’ve been all around the world and the only thing that I know for sure is that you’re the only woman I’ve ever loved. You’ve given me a gift that I never knew I wanted and I promise to cherish, honor, love and protect our family for the rest of my life. You are everything that I’ve ever wanted, desired and needed. I’m happy that you’re going to allow me to be your husband.”
Ingrid stroked his cheek and inhaled deeply. “Jason, I have never loved anyone as much as I love you. When I thought our relationship was over, I knew I’d never love anyone as much as I loved you. Then, I had our son and I knew he was the most important thing in my life. Part of me wanted and needed you to be here, but I never thought this day would come. We spent so much time allowing other people to dictate what our relationship should be, all we needed to do was trust in each other and allow our love to shine through. Being your wife will be my life’s joy and raising our son together will be a dream come true and I can’t wait to begin our life together.”
Jason brought Ingrid’s hand to his lips. “I love you,” he mouthed.
“Are there rings?” the reverend asked. Ingrid was about to say no, when Jason reached into his pocket and produced two platinum wedding bands.
“Just a little something I’ve been holding on to,” he said with a smile dancing on his lips.
“All right,” Rev. Easterling said. “Jason, take Ingrid’s left hand in yours.” Jason did as the reverend instructed. “Do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife? Do you promise to forsake all others and devote your life to Ingrid? Do you give your solemn vow to honor, cherish and protect her?”
Jason stared deep into her eyes, which shown with tears of happiness. “I do,” he said without hesitation or a second thought.
The reverend turned to Ingrid and motioned for her to take Jason’s left hand. “Miss Ingrid, you take Jason’s left hand in yours.” She gripped his hand and fought back warm tears. “Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband? Do you give your solemn vow to honor, cherish and protect him? To be his help mate in every way and forsake all others for him?”
Ingrid slipped the wedding band on Jason’s finger and said, “I do.”
“Then, by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife,” Reverend Easterling said. Before he could tell Jason to kiss the bride, he had Ingrid in his arms, locked in a passionate embrace. DeShawn giggled and Yolanda, Dina, Felix, Christina, Terry and Lois cheered.
“All right,” Reverend Easterling said. “Now, it’s time to eat.”
“Yeah, let’s eat,” DeShawn cried happily. Everyone headed for the buffet table but Jason and Ingrid stood back, holding each other tightly.
“Well, Mrs. Campbell, are you happy?” he asked.
“I’ve never been happier. I love you so much,” she said. “Are you ready for the simple life?”
“I can’t think of anything that I’m more ready for. As long as I got you, I don’t need anything else,” he said then kissed her with a fiery passion that made her swoon.
“Look at those two,” Terry said loudly as he loaded his plate with food. “Not married two seconds and already practicing for the honeymoon.”
Christina nudged him in the ribs. “They’re happy, finally together as they should’ve been a long time ago.”
Terry looked over at Christina. “When two people belong together, they should just go for it, right?”
She nodded. “Most definitely and nothing should stand in their way.”
Terry set his plate on the edge of the table and took Christina’s hands in his. “Then we belong together and I’m not going to let you get away from me.”
Christina shivered. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying let’s do it, let’s fall in love and get married. I don’t want to wait, I want to make this happen now,” Terry said.
“I-I don’t know what to say,” she stammered. “We haven’t even known each other that long and . . .”
He stroked her cheek. “A wise man told me that when you find a good woman, you have to hold on to her because you may never find another one like her.”
Christina pushed away from him. “This is happening too fast and I’m sure you’re not willing to give up your career to move to Elmore. We can’t do this. You’re just caught up in the moment of Jason and Ingrid’s wedding. Let’s be real, we can’t just up and get married.” Before Terry could say another word, Christina pushed past him and ran into the house.
Ingrid and Jason looked from Terry to the door. “What in the world?” Ingrid asked.
“You’d better go after her,” Jason urged his friend. Ingrid looked up at Jason.
“Did he just ask her to marry him?” Ingrid asked incredulously. “They’ve only known each other for five minutes.”
“Sometimes that’s all you need to fall in love,” Jason said.
Ingrid kissed her husband’s cheek. “So, you’re a match maker now?”
“No, but everyone should be as happy as we are right now,” he said.
DeShawn rushed over to his parents. “Can we have cake now?” the little boy asked as he wedged himself between Ingrid and Jason.
“Yes, son,” Ingrid said. “We’re going to have cake and anything else we want today.”
“Because today is the first day of the best of our lives,” Jason said as they headed for the table.
If It Isn't Love Page 25
