“Birth control pills,” Carol Ann said calmly.
“I know what they are. What I don’t know is why my unmarried daughter is taking birth control pills. Who are you screwing around with now?”
“Paul, calm down.” Carol Ann snatched the pack out of his hand. “Dr. Holt prescribed them for the problems she was having with heavy periods and cramping.”
“What about these?” He screwed the cap off the bottle, pouring the pills out on the table. “Why is she taking this shit?”
“Your daughter has had a rough few months.” Carol Ann scooped up the pills, “Those are prescribed, it’s not like she’s buying drugs off the street corner.”
“That still doesn’t make it right.” He glared at them. “All that prescription pill popping destroyed your mother and I refuse to have you wind up like her.”
“Funny, I thought she was killed in a plane crash. Did she share her,” Lizzie made air quotes with her fingers, “‘prescriptions’ with the pilot?”
“Don’t you get smart with me.” He hovered over her, refusing to back down. “Your mother was a lost cause before she ever got on that plane.”
“Thanks to your womanizing.”
“Watch your mouth young lady.” He turned to Carol Ann. “She never talked back to me like this until Billy Dalton came along. You’ve got to help me get my daughter back. Look at her, she’s a wreck.”
“Paul, I’m a nurse. Would you please just trust me on this?” Carol Ann stood to where she could look him in the eye. “Lizzie is going to be just fine.”
“Hello, I’m sitting right here. Stop talking about me like I’m invisible.”
“I will not allow her to become her mother.”
“She’s her own person and the sooner you realize that, the better she’s going to get.” Carol Ann took his hand, pulling him down beside her. “You can’t manipulate Lizzie’s life like it’s some worked wrestling storyline. There comes a time when you have to let her go on to be her own person and that time has come and gone.”
“But-”
“I know you love her and you only want what’s best for her. But Paul, you’ve got to realize that the ONLY person you can control is yourself. Not Lizzie, not your son, and most certainly not me.”
“I can’t just sit back and let her ruin her life.”
“It’s her life,” Carol Ann insisted. “In the past six months she has lost her mother, learned she has a brother, had her heart broken over losing her first love, and yet she’s still here to support you in starting a new life with our marriage. To me that’s pretty amazing.”
“Thank you,” Lizzie said.
Drawing on Carol Ann’s strength, she gathered the courage to finally ask, “Daddy, I want to know the real reason Billy left. Tell me the truth I can deal with it.”
“Pumpkin, only Billy can give you an honest answer to that question.” He tried to turn on the charm but this time it wasn’t working. “Now that I’ve seen how much you really did care for him, if he does decide to come back to the Carolinas and can prove to me that he feels the same way about you, I won’t stop the two of you from being together.”
“It’s a little late for your approval.”
“Perhaps you could make a phone call and tell Billy what you just told us,” Carol Ann suggested.
“I thought you didn’t want me meddling in Lizzie’s affairs.”
“Calling Billy would only be straightening up the mess you created,” Carol Ann said, shaking her head.
“I’ll take that under consideration.” He said, standing to obviously put an end to the discussion.
Maybe that was better than nothing.
“Sit back down.” Carol Ann must not have shared Lizzie’s opinion.
Surprisingly, he did as she requested.
“I want you both to carefully consider what I’m about to say.”
“Okay, I’m all ears,” he said.
“My mother doesn’t like you, Paul. She was horribly disappointed in me when she found out you were her grandson’s father.”
“Now, wait a minute. I’ve never even met this woman. How can she judge me like that?”
“Not meeting you is one of the reasons she feels the way she does. My mother thinks that if you cared about me, you would have taken the time to come see her, especially considering how often you were in Raleigh before she moved to Michigan to live with my sister.”
“What do you want me to do about it?”
“Shut up and listen to me.” Carol Ann shocked both of them with her boldness. “While my mother doesn’t approve of my being with you, I want you to know what she told me because you need to learn from her and give your daughter the same courtesy.”
For once Daddy was silent.
“When I told her we were moving to Charlotte, she said, 'I’ve spoken my peace and now all I can do is lift this up to the Lord and pray this man will treat you right and make you happy. I might not like your decision, but you’re my daughter. I’m always going to love you and I will always be on your side.’”
Wow, Lizzie liked Carol Ann’s mom already.
“If you even think about showing your ass in front of my mother and sister, there won’t be a wedding Monday morning.” She gave Daddy a look that made them both realize she was dead serious. “I’m meeting them at the airport this afternoon. For the next two nights, you will be sharing a room with your son so we can let them have the master suite. If it’s okay with Lizzie, I’ll share her room or I’ll sleep on the sofa. Either way I won’t be sleeping with you again until I’m officially your wife.”
“You’re welcome to stay with me,” Lizzie said, trying to suppress a smile.
“Understood.” Daddy gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek before he bolted back into the house.
If he had an Achilles heel, it was definitely his love for Carol Ann.
Chapter 32
“Are you sure you really want me to do this?” Carol Ann’s sister brushed Lizzie’s hair back into a ponytail one last time.
“Yes, start snipping.”
Lizzie closed her eyes and gritted her teeth as Linda went to work with her scissors.
“I have women at my salon that would kill for hair this thick and the color is just gorgeous. I can’t believe you talked me into buying the bleach.”
“Whoa,” Carol Ann gasped. “You’d better have some more champagne before you check this out.
Lizzie opened her eyes to see Linda dangling the curly ponytail she had just lopped off the back of her head.
“No peeking in the mirror until I’m done.”
Just seeing her hair not attached to her head was all the shock Lizzie could handle. She gulped down the last of the bubbly drink and squished her eyes closed to let Linda get back to snipping.
About thirty minutes later Lizzie sneaked past the mirror to jump into the shower to wash the bleach off her head. It felt so weird not having to deal with all the usual tangles and snarls. Her fingers flew through the short hair until all the suds disappeared down the drain.
She slipped back into the robe and wrapped a towel over her head, taking a deep breath before opening the curtain to find both Linda and Carol Ann waiting for the reveal.
“Wow! It’s really cute.” Carol Ann said.
“Look at those cheekbones and it really pops your eyes,” Linda added.
The blonde chick with the pixie cut staring back at her didn’t look like Lizzie at all. She looked confident and in control. Mature, a woman instead of a little girl.
“I love it!” Lizzie hugged Linda in appreciation.
“Whew, I was so afraid you weren’t going to like such a drastic change.” Linda turned to Carol Ann, “Now it’s your turn for a makeover.”
“The red toe nail polish is as wild as I’m going to get,” Carol Ann said as they followed her back into the bedroom to do their nails.
“If you’re going to do this sunrise wedding first thing in the morning, we had better get all your stuff laid out.” Lin
da reminded her. “Let’s see… something old?”
“My pearl earrings,” Carol Ann tugged at her earlobe.
“Something new?” Lizzie asked.
“My dress.”
“Something borrowed?”
“Hum, what have you girls got for me?”
“Oh, I know.” Lizzie dug into the makeup bag she had retrieved after her daddy’s snooping expedition. “Grandmother Bryson’s hair clips and that covers the blue too.”
“These are beautiful.” Carol Ann examined the antique clips adorned with blue rhinestones.
“Perfect, I’ll roll your hair so I can fix it up for you in the morning.”
“These belonged to Paul’s mother?" Carol Ann asked. "He’d never mentioned her to me.”
“She died when Daddy was just a couple of days old, some kind of infection from his birth.”
“That explains a lot about his attitude towards women,” Linda said.
“What are you a shrink or a hair dresser?” Carol Ann teased.
“A little of both. Comes with the job description.”
“Their housekeeper pretty much raised Daddy when Grandpa was on the road wrestling. She was a real sweet colored lady. Daddy hired her to look after me when I was little. I remember that me and Daddy were the only white people that went to her funeral. I guess I was about seven or eight when she passed away.”
“That must have been the lady who took the bus up from Charlotte to come get him out of the hospital after the wreck. It’s funny how we remember odd things like that.”
“Daddy thought the world of her.”
“Who would have ever thought?” Carol Ann got a dreamy look in her eyes. “Twenty-one years after that wreck and I’m finally marrying Paul.”
“Go on and get your shower, I don’t have all night,” Linda said, dumping a bag of pink sponge rollers on the bed.
Almost as soon as Carol Ann went into the bathroom, there was a knock on the bedroom door.
“No seeing the bride the night before the ceremony.” Linda cracked open the door to discover it wasn’t Paul.
“Can I please talk to Lizzie?” PJ asked timidly.
“Sure, what’s up?” Lizzie asked, following him into the living room.
“I have a problem,” he whispered, leading her towards the balcony and on outside. “I need some help about something I’m scared to talk to mom about.”
“What’s wrong?”
He kept on walking down the beach, going further away from the house to where there was no chance of anyone overhearing their conversation.
“It’s Rita.”
“Don’t tell me you got her pregnant?” Lizzie panicked.
“No!” She could see his face reddening in the moonlight. “We’ve never even did it. I lied to Dad about it. We've never done anything more than make out.”
How ironic, her kid brother had to lie to Daddy about pretending to have sex while she had to sneak around just to be able to date.
What a double standard.
“What is it?”
“I’m scared for her. She came to the matches last night, all the way from Virginia. Her stepdad did some terrible things to her and she’s beat up pretty bad.”
“She ran away?”
He nodded. “Dad knows she's here, but he didn’t see her. She went and got a motel room after she talked to me outside.”
“So,” Lizzie said sitting down on the sand to give this some consideration. “She thinks she’s going to go back to Charlotte with her eighteen year old boyfriend?”
“I told her the truth.” He plopped down beside of her. “She told me she had lied to Dad about her age too. She’s really only seventeen, at least until the end of August.”
A breeze blew up from the ocean, making Lizzie shiver in her cotton pajamas. Ever the gentleman, her kid brother offered his denim jacket and she draped it over her shoulders. Lizzie tried to think of what to say, but when it came to this relationship stuff she was at a loss for words.
“I guess I could sell my Corvette and use the money to get her an apartment.”
“Knowing Daddy, that car isn’t even in your name and he would have a fit if he came home and found it gone.” Lizzie shook her head, biting her lip in consideration. “You really like this girl enough to sell your new car?”
“Yes,” he said without the slightest hesitation. “I know I’ve not known her long, but we’ve been writing to each other just about every day since the night we met back in March. When I see her, we can sit and talk almost all night. It’s usually real hard for me to talk to girls but she just gets me and she’s so sweet and -”
Lizzie couldn’t believe how he lit up just talking about her.
“I think she’s a lot smarter than she lets on. She’s been leaving early from school every afternoon to work in an office. She paid for her own car last month and was saving up to go to secretary school. She’s going to run my office when I’m a doctor.”
“Whoa, slow down. You’ve still got two more years of high school and I don’t even know how many years of college to make a doctor.”
“I already know she’s the girl I’m going to marry someday, so maybe we should go ahead and just-”
“Give your mom a heart attack.” While Lizzie admired his enthusiasm she couldn’t help but worry that he was way too young to even think about going steady, much less... She couldn’t help but remember how gung ho Billy had been to get her to the altar. And look at how that had turned out.
“Don’t even say the m---- word. If you don’t stop talking like that I’m going to go tell Carol Ann everything.”
“Please don’t do that,” he pleaded. “I don’t want anything to spoil her wedding and you know how she is. Mom would miss out on her honeymoon and she really deserves that time away.”
Damn, he had her on that one. And she was looking forward to Daddy being gone for three weeks.
“Okay, I’ll keep quiet for now. After we get Daddy and Carol Ann off to the airport tomorrow afternoon, the three of us will sit down and try to figure something out.”
“You’re the best big sister ever.” He hugged her. “And the new hair-do is really pretty too.”
“I was wondering if you were going to notice.” Lizzie stood and offered him a hand, pulling him up to his feet. “We’d better get back to the house before anyone gets suspicious.”
“I’m going to go back to the motel to stay with Rita. Dad said it was okay as long as I’m back here in plenty of time for the wedding.”
Chapter 33
“Who took off with my little girl and left me with an all grown up daughter?” Paul reached over to ruffle what was left of Lizzie’s hair as soon as she sat down beside him on the deck.
“Do you like it?”
“If it makes you happy, then its fine by me.” He laughed. “See, I am working on that control issue of mine.”
“Thank you.” Lizzie knew when to leave well enough alone.
“This is Judge Jerry Calhoun, an old college buddy of mine, here to do the honors if we ever get Carol Ann out of the house.”
“You have grown into a lovely young woman,” the judge said, shaking her hand before turning back to Paul. “Hard to believe our kids are grown when it just seems like yesterday that we were playing football together.”
“Jerry’s son is in law school and I hear he’s single.” Daddy hit her up with that fake grin. “Maybe we should plan a game weekend this fall and see if you guys hit it off.”
“Daddy.” Lizzie protested his attempted matchmaking.
“I thought you were going to quit meddling.” Carol Ann’s mother reminded him from her perch on the rocking chair by the table.
“Now you see where my lovely bride-to-be gets her spunk.”
Daddy waved at PJ as he dashed towards them with hair still damp from his shower.
“Sorry I’m late,” he said catching his breath.
“You’re fine. We’re still waiting for your mom.” Daddy beamed at PJ
like the kid could do no wrong. “This here’s my chip off the old block, Paul Junior, or PJ as I like to call him.”
In their matching tan linen suits and pale blue dress shirts, PJ really did look like Daddy’s clone - same slicked back dark hair, Bryson brown eyes and pearly white toothy smile.
Linda poked her head out the door. “She’s ready whenever you are?"
“Let’s get this shindig started.” Her daddy said taking Lizzie’s hand to escort her to the beach. “I got my best gal right here ready to stand up for me.”
The judge, Linda and her mom followed them down to the beach and they all turned to watch Paul Junior walk Carol Ann down to meet them. She looked radiant in a simple cream colored lacy shift dress, he hair pulled up to accent the pearl earrings Paul had given her all those years ago. The rhinestone hair clips looked perfect in her dark hair as they gleamed in the morning sunshine.
The service was simple, no flowery words or excessive sentiments. Carol Ann’s mother said a prayer then they traded the basic ‘I dos’, swapping gold bands and a single kiss to seal the deal.
They all trailed behind them back to the deck where Paul lifted Carol Ann into his arms and carried her up the stairs. The next part caught Lizzie by surprise. Carol Ann tossed the bouquet of wild flowers over her shoulder and right into Lizzie’s hands. Not that there would have been any scramble to catch it, considering that Lizzie and Carol Ann’s widowed mother were the only single women there.
After a champagne toast, Paul reached into his jacket pocket to retrieve two wrapped boxes. “We got you kids a little something to remember this day.”
PJ and Lizzie both opened the gifts to reveal gold Rolex watches.
“We selected the watches to signify that our love for you and our new family is timeless,” Carol Ann said, hugging her son.
“Now Pumpkin, just cause you caught the bouquet, that better not mean I’m going to come home from Puerto Rico and find you married off.”
No chance on that happening. Not with his constant meddling.
Lizzie didn’t know which of them were more relieved to get everyone off to the airport for their respective flights back to Michigan and to the island honeymoon. Despite her happiness for the newly married couple, she couldn’t stop thinking about Billy and her wedding that never was.
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