by Jane Tesh
For once, Ellin stayed quiet while Camden and Denise looked at each other. It was odd to see them together. They didn’t share a single feature. Denise Rice could’ve been any woman off the street who happened to wander into the reception.
“Camden,” I said, “this is Denise Baker Rice, your birth mother. Denise, meet John Michael Camden.”
“Michael,” she said faintly.
“I told him that was the name you’d chosen for him.”
“So I took it,” Camden said. “Thank you.”
Her voice wobbled as if she was holding back tears “You really shouldn’t thank me for anything. I couldn’t keep you. You have every right to resent me.”
“I don’t.” He reached for her hand. “You did what you had to do. I always wondered about you, that’s all, you and my father.”
“His name is Martin, and you look exactly like him. I wish I could tell you more, but it was a long time ago, just a fling, I’m afraid.”
Since Camden was holding her hand, no doubt he could see this was the truth. “Did you ever wonder what happened to me?”
“I have to admit I tried to forget. It wasn’t until Mr. Randall found me that I began to get a little stirred up.”
“That’s what Randall does best, stir things up.”
This made her smile. “I’m glad he did.”
“Me, too.”
A group of people had gathered around us, curious about the woman who was the focus of Camden’s attention.
“Denise, this is my wife, Ellin. This is my sister, Daisy Camden, and my sister by choice, Kary Ingram. This is Rufus Jackson and his wife, Angie, and Randall’s mother, Sophia. I want you to meet all my friends and the rest of my family. Can you stay?”
Can you stay? Camden must have asked that question a thousand times as he tried to figure out why his mother left him. Stay, if only for a little while. Stay, so I can find out who you are and how we are connected.
Denise hadn’t let go of his hand. “Yes.”
***
There was dancing and feasting and presents and wedding cake. Denise watched with unmistakable pride as Camden and Ellin danced. With her flowing gown and his old-fashioned suit, they looked as if they’d drifted in from another era, a couple of graceful ghosts. Then Camden escorted his mother to the dance floor while Ellin danced with her father. I gave Mom a few spins before claiming Kary’s hand for the next round. As we passed by my mother, I saw her give us a long considering look that had more than a tinge of anxiety.
Don’t worry, Mom. I’m taking this slowly. I want Kary to love me as much as I love her. I want us to find a way through our grief. I want a family.
I surprised myself with this last thought. A family. Until I met Kary, I never wanted another family.
“What are you thinking about so hard?” Kary asked.
This wasn’t the time to get too serious. “Weddings, of course. Doesn’t this inspire you?”
“It was a beautiful ceremony. Strange, isn’t it? We’ve had a funeral and a wedding in the space of a few days.”
“Think Fred would’ve liked all this?”
“He’d be over by the buffet tables, complaining about the tiny rolls and eating as many as he could.”
Rufus and Angie sailed by, surprisingly light on their feet. Rufus winked. “Ya’ll look finer than frog hair. Better catch that bouquet, Kary.”
They twirled back into the crowd of dancers. The song ended, and Kary said she’d promised Buddy a dance. “But we’ll have another, David.”
We could go dancing through life, I wanted to say. But that was up to Kary.
Camden and Denise sat and talked until she had to leave. I overheard her promise to visit again soon, and she told him he was welcome to come see her any time. We threw birdseed and blew bubbles at the happy couple as they hopped into Ellin’s car, Ellin driving, of course, heading to the coast for their honeymoon.
Daisy had a way back to Virginia, and Mom, as independent as ever, waved off my offer of a ride and took a taxi back to the airport to rejoin her tour in Greece. Rufus and Angie went for a ride. That left me and Kary at home. We changed out of our wedding finery and sat down in the rocking chairs on the porch. Kary cuddled one of the kittens in her lap. We’d found homes for the others, but decided to keep the black and white one. I’m sure there was some deep abiding significance to this, but, at the moment, I didn’t care. Camden had not only gotten the girl of his dreams to marry him, he’d had major closure, thanks to me. And Kary.
“That was an excellent thing you did, calling Camden’s mother.”
“I had to give it a try.”
“What did you say to make her change her mind?”
“I said, your son is getting married on May 31st, and it would mean the world to him if you were there.”
“That’s it?”
“I may have mentioned something about being estranged from my own family and how much it hurt.”
I couldn’t believe she’d brought up such a painful subject. “Kary.”
“I might as well use all that angst for Good. A negative into a positive. It worked.”
“Fantastic.”
She rubbed the kitten’s ears. “There’s no way my father will ever walk me down the aisle. He’s already given me away. And I can’t imagine my mother showing up at my wedding. But at least I could make part of that happen for Cam.”
“Speaking of your wedding.”
“Way in the future.”
We rocked for a long time with only the purring of the kitten and a few blue jays calling from the trees. Black and white, right and wrong, male and female. Absolutes. There were no absolutes in this world, only thousands of shades of gray.
No, I could think of one absolute. I love you, Kary. I started to say it when Kary got up.
“I’ll go start dinner.” She plopped the kitten in my lap. “Tuna casserole sound okay?”
“Sounds fine.” The kitten yawned and curled up in a fuzzy ball. “I hope you’re comfortable,” I told it, “because you won’t be there for long.”
But I let him stay. With the kitten purring softly and a warm spring breeze blowing, it wasn’t hard to visualize two little girls out on the front lawn, one blonde and one dark. Beth and Lindsey, dancing in a circle, hands together, twirling around, singing a childhood chant, not “Mother, May I,” not “Red Rover,” but “London Bridge is falling down, falling down. London Bridge is falling down, my fair lady.”
When Kary called me in for supper, the children were still singing.
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