From Here to Home

by Marie Bostwick

  Mary Dell laughed and tried to pull away, but he looped one arm around her waist, pulled her to him, and reached up with his free hand to try to undo the button he’d fastened only a moment before.

  “We don’t have time,” she protested laughingly, and slapped his hand away. “The wedding starts in less than three hours. Rachel and Mikey will be here any minute, and I still need to hang up flower baskets on the patio. Rachel felt so bad that she wasn’t able to come up earlier to help, but how could she? She’s so busy rehearsing for her new show.”

  Mary Dell grabbed a tube of pink lipstick off the counter and started applying it as Hub-Jay continued nuzzling her neck. “Tell you what,” he murmured, “how about I help you hang up the baskets and you help me—”

  “Aunt Mary Dell?” Linne’s voice came from outside the bathroom door. “Granny said to come tell you that Holly has something old, new, and blue, but she still needs something borrowed. And Uncle Donny wants to know where you want him to set up the bar.”

  “Okay, baby girl! Tell them I’ll be right there.”

  Hub-Jay groaned and dropped his head on Mary Dell’s shoulder as she disentangled herself from his grasp.

  “I love your family. I really do,” he said. “But there are times when living with the in-laws gets a little inconvenient.”

  “Which is why it is so nice that we have our own suite at the hotel,” she reminded him. “Splitting our time between Dallas and Too Much lets us keep tabs on Howard, Momma, and the rest of the family but still gives us plenty of private time.”

  “Yeah,” he agreed, and heaved a dramatic sigh. “But a suite in Dallas isn’t doing me much good right this minute in Too Much.”

  Mary Dell laughed. “Hub-Jay Hollander, we have been married for one year, three months, two weeks, and two days . . . when do you plan to quit acting like a love-struck groom on his honeymoon?”

  “Never.”

  “Good.”

  She turned toward him, kissing him lightly on the lips.

  “Tonight, I promise. After the guests have gone. It’ll be worth the wait. I was going to surprise you,” she said, adding a tantalizing note to her voice, “but when I took Holly to Neiman’s last month to pick out her bridal lingerie, I picked up a special garment for myself that I think you’ll enjoy.”

  Hub-Jay grinned. “Any chance of a preview?”

  Linne’s voice came from the hallway. “Aunt Mary Dell?”

  “Coming!”

  She kissed him once again, letting her lips linger long.

  “Tonight,” she repeated, her voice a whisper, her words a promise to herself as well as to her beloved.

  Two hours later, the wedding guests began to arrive. Howard and Jeb, dressed in their groomsmen’s attire, matching tan summer suits with bright blue neckties the same shade as the delphiniums and hydrangeas Holly was to carry in her bridal bouquet, directed everyone out to the back of the house.

  The design and construction of the new patio and pool had been supervised by Hub-Jay and finished just in time for the wedding. He had created a true backyard oasis, surrounding the patio with big trees to provide shade on hot days, building an enormous pergola of rough-sawn wood and a large outdoor fireplace and barbecue made from stone that matched the patio pavers. The new pool sat a few yards distant, at the bottom of a rolling hill planted with prairie grasses and native plants, the dark black bottom and stone edging creating the impression of a natural pond fed by an underground spring.

  It was the perfect setting for a small, intimate, casual wedding, which was exactly what Holly and Rob Lee had wanted. Though both Rachel and Mary Dell had offered to help pay for the wedding, Holly and Rob Lee said, “Thanks, but no thanks,” believing that at their ages, nearly twenty-eight and thirty-three, they should pay their own way. However, that meant keeping a lid on the budget and guest list.

  They could have afforded a larger celebration—under Rob Lee’s management, the horse farm, now named Stormy’s Refuge Ranch, was actually making a profit even while continuing to foster abandoned animals—but they were thinking ahead to the end of Holly’s contract with HHN and the time when they hoped to start a family. To that end they were saving up to build more stables and a bunkhouse and planning to open a riding academy specializing in weekend workshops for novice riders in the hopes that it would replace Holly’s television income. With that goal before them, they were perfectly willing to forgo a large wedding.

  But the bills for even a small wedding could mount up quickly, and so when Mary Dell and Hub-Jay suggested they have the wedding on the new patio, they immediately said yes. They were also delighted to accept Donny’s offer to grill steaks and chops for fifty guests and Taffy’s proposal that she prepare all the side dishes—baked beans, potato salad, coleslaw, and homemade rolls. She had wanted to make her special ambrosia salad, too, but Mary Dell absolutely forbade it. A small argument ensued, but it blew over quickly, and after that, every detail of Holly and Rob Lee’s long-awaited day had gone smoothly—until now.

  Holly, hair still in hot rollers but dressed in the simple, floor-length white gown that Cady had sewn and she had personally embellished with a star pattern of silver bugle beads along the neckline, stood at the window in Mary Dell and Hub-Jay’s bedroom, nervously peeping through a small gap in the drawn curtains, scanning the faces of the arriving guests.

  “Where are they?” she moaned. “We’re supposed to start in forty-five minutes.”

  Holly was thrilled that her mother’s fortunes had changed. Who could have predicted it? Two years ago her career was in the toilet, and now she was married, once again, to Mikey, the man who had always loved her. On top of that, in just three weeks she would be headlining in Las Vegas, with the first two weeks of her run already completely sold out. But this success and the demands of rehearsal made it hard for her to get away from Vegas, even for a day. But Holly wished they had booked an earlier flight.

  Cady pulled a roller from Holly’s hair, careful to keep from burning her fingers, and set it on the dresser.

  “They’ll be here any second. You know how the traffic can be from the airport. If they were going to be late, they’d have called. Ouch!” she cried when Holly moved her head unexpectedly, craning her neck to see if a couple walking across the lawn from the driveway might be Rachel and Mikey. “Will you hold still! I almost singed my hand.”

  “Sorry,” Holly said, and let go of the edge of the curtain. “I’m just nervous. What if they don’t get here in time?”

  “Then we’ll open the bar early and let everybody have a drink until they get here. Really, it’s going to be fine. Just calm down. One way or another, by this time tomorrow, you’ll be Mrs. Holly Benton. And my sister-in-law. Which is an even more important title,” she said, cracking a wry smile.

  Cady reached into her pocket and pulled out a slip of paper. “I caught Rob Lee skulking around the kitchen. He wanted to come down here and see you, but I said he couldn’t so he wrote you a note instead. Here,” she said, handing it to Holly. “You can read it, but don’t cry. Your mascara will smear.”

  In spite of Cady’s commands, Holly’s eyes did tear up as she read the words of love written by the man who held her heart in his. Holly sniffled and Cady took another piece of paper from her pocket, a tissue, and handed it to her.

  “Feel better now?” Cady asked.

  Holly nodded and pressed the tissue delicately under her bottom lashes.

  The bedroom door opened a crack. Taffy stuck her head into the room. “How are things coming in here? The minister just arrived.”

  “I’m not ready! Mom and Mikey aren’t here yet. I can’t get married without them. Mikey is supposed to give me away.”

  Cady rolled her eyes and pulled the last curler from Holly’s hair.

  “We’ve still got forty-five minutes,” she reminded her. “And if we start a little late, then we do. Seriously, Holly, take a deep breath and calm down. If you start sweating it’ll stain the satin.”


  The door opened wider and Mary Dell stepped into the room, carrying a can of hairspray.

  “Found it!” she announced triumphantly. “I don’t care how much times change, when you need your hairdo to hold up, nothing does the job like a good coat of Aqua Net. What’s the matter?” she asked, her brow furrowing with concern when she saw the troubled expression on Holly’s face.

  “Rachel and Mikey still aren’t here,” Cady said, answering for the bride.

  “They will be,” Mary Dell said, setting the hairspray on the dresser, then quickly combing through Holly’s curls with her fingers. “I put Linne on lookout in the driveway. She’ll let us know the minute they pull in. Now close your eyes and hold your breath. This stuff smells kind of strong.”

  Mary Dell was so enthusiastic in her ministrations that even after she finished, the air was still clouded with the acrid alcohol and perfume scent of Aqua Net. When Holly took in a deep breath after the hissing of the spray can finally ceased, she started coughing so hard that her eyes watered. Mary Dell and Taffy started pounding her on the back and Cady ran to the bathroom to get some water just as Linne bounded into the room shouting, “They’re here! They’re here!”

  Barely a minute later Rachel entered the bedroom, panting for breath because she was wearing heels and had run from the car, into the house, and down the hallway.

  “I’m so sorry!” she puffed, addressing Cady, who was standing nearest the door. “Our luggage got lost and my phone ran out of battery and I forgot the charger and . . .” She waved her hand. “Anyway, we’re here.”

  “Mom! I was so worried!” Holly exclaimed, walking toward her mother.

  Rachel lifted her head, turning toward her daughter with a look of surprise, as if suddenly remembering what this was all about. “Oh, punkin. Oh. You are so, so beautiful,” she breathed, then pressed both hands to her breast and burst into tears.

  In spite of the drama surrounding the last-minute arrival of the mother and stepfather of the bride, the wedding went off without a hitch, and it was beautiful, as are all such occasions that celebrate the joining of two people who are truly in love.

  But for Mary Dell, the real beauty of the occasion emanated not from the flowers, or the music, or the surroundings, but from the faces of the people, this gathering of the people who made her heart tender and her life meaningful.

  There was Rob Lee standing at the front of the aisle, a man who had been to hell and back and emerged transformed, whole and happy at last, the entirety of his love and devotion to the woman he loved shining in his eyes, perfectly reflected back to him in the mirror of Holly’s face. She was so fresh and hopeful, so breathtakingly beautiful and young. She was also strong, loyal, and wise, qualities that had made Mary Dell come to love her like a daughter as well as a friend.

  They would do well, Rob Lee and Holly. In the years to come, life would surely buffet and batter them, as it does everyone, but, together, they would endure whatever troubles might befall them. Mary Dell was sure of it.

  That was the trick of life: to cling to family and the people you love. People, Mary Dell had discovered, far more than any particular longitude or latitude, were the anchors of the heart’s true home. This gathering was proof of it.

  Standing next to Rob Lee was Jeb, the best man, the title a testament to a broken relationship between brothers that had been repaired and renewed. At Holly’s side stood Cady as matron of honor. She, too, had been transformed in these last two and a half years, finding the peace that had eluded her. She was happier now but also confident, able to roll with the punches and handle whatever setbacks might come. When the time came, Cady would be ready to take over the reins as matriarch of the Tudmore-Templeton clan, ensuring that the family name would continue, carved deep into the life and landscape of this corner of Texas that had shaped and defined Taffy, Mary Dell, Cady, and all those who had come before, the women upon whose shoulders they had stood, generation after generation. Mary Dell hoped that, somewhere along the way to fulfilling that role, Cady might find genuine and lasting love again, just as she had.

  Mary Dell glanced to her right and spotted Matt Pallow, Cady’s date. He was an old high school classmate she had reconnected with at last year’s Christmas Ball, and seeing the way he looked at Cady, Mary Dell couldn’t help but think that her wish for her niece might come true.

  Her wishes for Howard certainly had. Mary Dell had never suffered from a want of optimism, but even she could not have predicted the wonderful future that had awaited her son.

  Nearly two years after the kidney transplant, Howard was in excellent health, more energetic than ever. The operation had had the unexpected effect of transplanting Donny back in all their lives too. And that was good. Howard loved his daddy and Donny loved Howard; they were part of each other’s lives in the way they always should have been. Seeing them reconciled made it possible for Mary Dell to reconcile her own relationship with Donny, too, to genuinely and finally forgive him for what he could not be, a true husband, and embrace him for the lifelong bond they shared as parents, lost loves, and old friends.

  Hard and painful as the road had been, there was something beautiful in all that.

  Mary Dell saw Jenna sitting in the second row, gazing at Howard with pure adoration, and wondered what the future might hold for her son and this dear, talented young woman. Together, Howard and Jenna had given Rob Lee and Holly a sunflower quilt made with the fabrics based on Jenna’s painting, fabrics from the first collection in Howard’s Down Home Fabric line. The initial collection had raised more than sixteen thousand dollars to benefit the National Down Syndrome Society and had been followed by a second just-as-successful collection, also inspired by one of Jenna’s paintings, with plans for more in the works. But that wasn’t the only thing keeping Howard busy these days.

  While recovering from the transplant, he had started sewing decorative pillows and selling them on Etsy. People snapped them up, and so Howard, after seeking some guidance and a small loan from Hub-Jay and Mary Dell, had opened a small company, Down Home Interiors, to manufacture pillows for sale in gift and home-accessory shops. The company employed three part-time workers with Down syndrome who helped with sewing, stuffing, packing, and shipping and some clerical work. Things had gone well. The company was on schedule to pay back the loan and Howard was already talking about hiring more workers.

  He was a happy and entirely independent man, capable of caring for himself and for others, making the world better by being exactly who he was and fulfilling every ounce of his personal promise.

  What more could she have wanted for him or for herself? Yet beyond all that, she had found the other half of herself, Hub-Jay, a man she could love fully and trust completely, who made her feel alive to life’s possibilities. She could not believe her good fortune, and the way Hub-Jay’s face lit up whenever she entered a room made her know that he felt exactly the same.

  Holly and Rob Lee joined hands and repeated their vows. A soft breeze rose from the west, bringing with it the scent of earth and stone, juniper and mesquite and grass, the incense of the prairie come to bless the union of two who had decided to make their lives there. The mossy hanging baskets of flowers Mary Dell had hung with Hub-Jay’s help swayed gently. The purple faces of pansies nodded ever so slightly, as if to say, Amen and amen, so say we all.

  As they did, Mary Dell felt the presence and approval of the great cloud of witnesses, those who were loved no less dearly for being long departed: Grandma Silky, Aunt Velvet, Dutch, Graydon, and Lydia Dale.

  Sitting at her side, Taffy reached for her daughter’s hand and in a voice choked with tears whispered, “How I wish your daddy and sister could have been here to see this.”

  Mary Dell squeezed her hand.

  “They are, Momma. They are.”

  Even at her age there was nothing Taffy liked more than cooking for a crowd, and so they had far more food than was required for fifty guests. Still, the fare was so delicious that people lingered at the rec
eption, eating and talking and refilling their plates again and again. It was a lovely day, and no one, except the bride and groom, was in a hurry to leave.

  Linne, just as horse-crazy as ever, had campaigned for a wedding on horseback, arguing that because Stormy was the one who had brought the couple together, he should definitely be included in the wedding party. Her idea was rejected, but even so, Stormy did get a chance to play his part in the ceremony.

  When it was time for Holly and Rob Lee to depart, Stormy, handsomely groomed, with blue and white ribbons braided into his mane and tail, came up the driveway pulling the black two-seater horse cart, driven by Donny, that Rob Lee had given Holly as an engagement present.

  After giving the reins to Rob Lee, Donny handed Holly up into the cart, making sure her train didn’t get caught in the wheels. When she was settled safely, dress tucked up into the cart, Rob Lee clicked his tongue against his teeth and Stormy walked on.

  While the wedding guests applauded and whooped, Holly threw her bouquet over her shoulder. Somehow, the ribbon holding the flowers came loose and the bouquet split into two bunches. Cady caught one half, and Jenna, showing surprising speed and agility as she sprinted past a determined Taffy, caught the other half, waved it triumphantly over her head, and then looked at Howard, whose face split into a grin.

  After that, everyone returned to the party, but Mary Dell, with Hub-Jay’s arm around her shoulders, stood on the porch watching and waving as Stormy carried the newlyweds home to begin their new life together.

  When they finally disappeared over the crest of a hill, Mary Dell laid her head on her husband’s shoulder.

  “Hub-Jay, do you know what I love about life? Do you?”

  “Tell me,” he said, and kissed the top of her head.

  “Everything.” She sighed. “Just everything.”

  Gentle Reader,