Forever

by Jeff Holmes

  The Broncos beat the Steelers on Saturday, 34-21. The McIntyres and Mitchells gathered at the ranch to watch the game. Maggie and Rick were there, too, but Maggie, Roni, Amy, Kimmy and Brooke were upstairs working on the wedding.

  However, they would cheer at appropriate times.

  The families attended Christmas Eve service together, and for the first time in a long while, Roni and Scott went home separately.

  It wasn’t their idea, but Donna really wanted to have one last Christmas morning with her children. Roni was more understanding about it than Scott, but he went along with it. But after presents and breakfast, he was heading for the ranch.

  “I really don’t sleep very well without you, you know that, right?” Scott said to Roni outside of the church.

  “Almost the last time, Footer,” she said. “After this, it’s pretty much all ours.”

  “Yep. Merry Christmas, Cowgirl.”

  “Merry Christmas, Footer.”

  Roni looked nervously at her watch.

  “Is it broken, babe?”

  “What?”

  “Your watch. You keep staring at it.”

  “No. Just thinking.”

  The original plan was for Scott to pick Andy and Mollie up at Stapleton Airport by himself. But at some point Monday morning, the bridal party decided they could get more done without the bride.

  “It’s not that I don’t trust my girls,” Roni said, “but after months of planning, I just don’t know what’s getting done without me.”

  “Probably a lot,” Scott said. “Look, it was either you come with me or they were going to lock you in the barn with Satch. I think you got the right end of this deal.”

  “Mmmm…I suppose.”

  “You SUPPOSE?”

  Roni smiled at him. “Actually, yes. I’ll tell you the truth, it’s kind of nice to get away from it for a little bit. But you’re coming tomorrow by yourself!”

  “Understood.”

  Naturally, the flight from San Francisco was late. Not too late, but at this point for Roni, every minute counted. But finally, at around 5:50 PM, TWA Flight 132 pulled up to Gate B24 at Stapleton International Airport. About two dozen people deplaned, including a lovely lady with long sun-kissed blonde hair and John Denver glasses, followed by some guy who just had to be in Army intelligence.

  “SCOTTY!” Mollie exclaimed as she ran over and hugged Scott. “Oh, we’ve missed you so much.”

  “You look great, Mollie!” Scott said. “Welcome to Colorado.”

  “I’m already cold!”

  Andy and Roni hugged, but they soon switched.

  “Mitch! How the fuck are you?”

  “I am the fuck good, Day! Let’s get out of here!”

  Scott and Andy sat in the front of Ray’s Jimmy on the way home. He told Scott as much as he could about his work at Fort Ord, near San Francisco. He intercepted a lot of Soviet and Chinese transmissions and translated them. He’d spent most of his AIT learning both languages.

  But they had other news as well.

  “Well,” Mollie announced. “We’re getting married in July. Right after the baby!”

  Roni hugged her, then pulled back and looked at her. “The what?”

  “I’m preggers,” she said, with a huge smile.

  “I have good swimmers,” Andy said.

  “And he got me drunk so I forgot my diaphragm.”

  “Whatever works, Mollie, whatever works,” Scott said.

  “Footer, a baby,” Roni teased.

  “Let them try it first, Cowgirl, let them try it first.”

  Scott was back in Denver the next morning to pick up Todd and Amanda on their flight from Wichita. Everyone was assembled now. Other than at night, the girls were off on their own. Brooke had taken complete command, finally getting her sister to sit back and enjoy the ride. Roni finally realized she could trust the rest of the girls enough to focus on being the bride.

  The guys spent Tuesday afternoon blowing up gold and silver balloons; 500 gold and 500 silver. Brooke and Amy brought two air tanks over to Mitchells’ house with orders to have them inflated, stuffed into huge trash bags and ready to be picked up by 5:00, or as Brooke put it, “You guys skip supper.”

  “Dad, what did you do the week of you and Mom’s wedding? Well kids, I BLEW!” Scott said as he filled another balloon. The novelty had worn off quickly.

  “Do we actually know what these are for?” Donnie asked.

  “I flew all the way from California just for this, guys,” Andy said, sarcastically. “This is a fine skill and my guess is that the girls gave us this because they knew we could handle it.”

  “Yeah,” Mark said. “That must be it.”

  Mark and Amy’s potentially awkward situation worked itself out. Amy was bringing a date to the reception and dance, a guy named Randy she met at CSU. Mark said something about bringing a date to the dance but really hadn’t said who.

  But the two of them were thrown together for a week of wedding preparations and appeared to be handling it OK.

  Wednesday was another day of wedding busy work for the guys. They assembled 300 plastic champagne glasses, then stuffed 600 napkins into little plastic wedding rings.

  Scott was happy Roni was sleeping better. They were staying at the Mitchells’ since Scott’s old queen-sized bed was still in his room. Andy and Mollie and Amanda and Todd were all staying at the farm, and loved it. The days were ticking down and by Wednesday night, everyone was exhausted.

  “I am going to go put my jammies on before ‘Eight Is Enough’ comes on,” Roni said as the family finished dinner.

  “Do we really have to hang out with the Bradfords tonight?” Scott whined. He wanted to watch Grizzly Adams, but he rarely won that argument.

  “Yes we do,” she said, leaning up and kissing him on the nose. “I haven’t won an argument all day. I’m winning this one.”

  Wayne was already in his Laz-E-Boy, while Amy was curled up in the bentwood rocker. Kimmy was propped up against the couch on the floor with a blanket and pillow. Donna was working on her dress in the basement sewing room. Scott climbed on the couch and leaned back, saving room for Roni. But by the first commercial, there was no sign of her.

  “She probably fell asleep,” Amy said. “She’s been moving nonstop since breakfast. I’ll go check on her.”

  “Ahh, I’ll do it,” Scott said. “I wanted to put some sweats on, anyway.”

  He opened the door to his room, and smiled at the sight. He went back up the hall and stuck his head around the corner of the living room. “Come here,” he said to his sisters.

  They followed him back down the hall. Roni lay diagonally across the big bed, she took her jeans off but was out like a light in her sweatshirt, underwear and socks.

  “Aww,” Kimmy said. “She looks so cute. Want us to put her to bed, Scotty?”

  “I’ll do it,” Scott said. “Besides, I have an ulterior motive.”

  “You’re sick, Scott,” Amy said, shooting him a dirty look. “She’s asleep.”

  “I know,” he said. “Now I can lay down in here and watch Grizzly!”

  Thursday was the fun day. In the morning, Scott, Rick, Andy and Todd met the girls at the Sagebrush Ballroom. Built the early in 1948, by Roni’s great-uncle Jack, it had been home to some of the biggest events in the history of Cheyenne County. It played host to many top musical acts over the years, especially country artists.

  The floor itself was huge and on this day, probably three dozen large round tables, seating 10 people each, were positioned around it. Around the perimeter of the floor, a half level up, sat booths. Behind them more tables and three different bar areas. On the bandstand was the head table.

  The whole room was awash in the gold and silver. Centerpieces of gold and silver flowers along with noisemakers donned each table. Boxes of New Year’s Eve hats waited near the front entrance. Everything looked ready for the biggest party in Wild Horse, at least since the Stampede.

  Scott pulled Roni as
ide on the steps near the front entrance as everyone worked on the finishing touches.

  “This looks amazing,” Scott told her. “No wonder you’ve been so tired. It’s beautiful.”

  “Fucking right it is,” Roni said. “You haven’t even seen the best part.”

  She took his hand and led him back down the four steps to the ballroom floor. She pointed up. Scott looked to the high arched ceiling of the building. Secured by huge nets, the balloons stretched from the head table, to out over the dance floor, to part way back over the tables.

  “At midnight, they all come down,” Roni said, quite proud of herself.

  “We have confetti?” Scott asked.

  “There about 500 of those little popper things we’ll hand out right before midnight.”

  “You,” he said, kissing her tenderly, “have thought of everything.”

  She smiled. “Yes I have, haven’t I?”

  It was a relaxing day. Scott and Roni even managed to get a nap and a little alone time at the house, but by 4:00 Roni was out the door. She, Donna, Amy and Kimmy piled into the van and were on their way to an undisclosed location.

  They made a deal there would not be wild stripper parties. The guys were headed to McNichols Arena in Denver watching the Rockies and LA Kings play hockey. The girls had their own plans.

  Promptly at 4:15, two shiny new Suburbans pulled into the driveway. Ray was driving one and Rick the other, but he gave up the wheel to Wayne. Scott, Rick, Andy, Todd and Mark were in one, while Ray had Kevin, Donnie, Grandpa McIntyre, Grandpa Hanna and Roni’s cousin Tim on board. Tim was a sophomore at WHHS and had a major crush on Kimmy.

  They made good time, and by 6:30, they pulled off of I-25 and into the parking lot of the sports complex. Big Mac sat on the left, Mile High on the right. Ray turned into the VIP lot and after he spoke to the attendant, both vehicles were waved in.

  “VIP lot?” Scott asked. “How did we pull this off?”

  “Oh, you’re in for all kinds of surprises tonight, Footer,” Rick said.

  “Don’t tell me; strippers at the hockey game,” Scott said.

  “No,” Wayne said. “But it probably wouldn’t hurt attendance. You’ll see.”

  Obviously, Scott was the only one kept in the dark.

  They entered a canopied doorway marked “Suite Holders” and were whisked up an elevator to the main concourse. Ray, Wayne and Rick went ahead of the rest of the group.

  “Grandpa,” Scott asked Grandpa Hanna. “What’s going on?”

  “It’s a hockey game boy,” he said. “Fairly obvious.”

  “What else is going on?”

  “Beer, I would guess.”

  That was going nowhere.

  Rick returned with an usher in a gold satin jacket and Rockies’ hat. “Right this way, gentlemen. You’re in Suite 18.”

  They walked through the concourse past a couple of gates, then were let in a door between two of the loge seating tunnels.

  It was a magnificent suite. In the back was a kitchen area with a fully stocked fridge of beer and pop. Huge bowls of chips, pretzels, Cheetos and Chex Mix were scattered around the room. Some tables and chairs sat toward the front overlooking the rink, and in front of them a row of 10 arena seats hung above the loges.

  “You guys go ahead, grab a beer and get seats,” Ray said to wedding party. “The servers will be here in a few minutes to take your dinner orders.”

  “This is great,” Scott said. “How did you pull this off?”

  “Ray used his GM connections to get the suite and the food and drinks come with it,” Rick said. “We kicked in for this for you.”

  Mark handed Scott a wrapped package. “What is this?”

  “Your bachelor party present, Mitch,” Todd said. “It was actually a pretty good idea.”

  Scott tore off the paper and pulled the box open. It was a Rockies hockey jersey, with the mountain logo that resembled the cutout of a Colorado flag. It was blue with the distinctive red and gold trim.

  He took it out and was even more surprised. On the sleeves and the back were Scott’s number 73 and across the nameplate it read, “GROOM.”

  “Shit, you guys, this is GREAT!” Scott said, pulling it on over his shirt.

  Scott sat on the aisle of a row of five seats. Rick was on his left and Todd across the aisle from him. The rest of the guys were spread along the seats enjoying cold (and free) Coors. A shelf to place the beer and food on ran the width of the seats.

  Scott was leaning forward to say something to Donnie when he heard the servers behind them taking orders. The choices were steak sandwiches or tenderloins.

  The servers were all dressed in blue shorts, white and red Rockies T-shirts and gold visors. One of them was leaning over the far end of the row. She had long wavy blonde hair. She looked very familiar. Scott was pondering that fact when he heard another server ask, “What can I get you, ‘Groom’?”

  Scott turned, and then nearly fell out of his seat. Roni and Amanda were standing there in server outfits. He then realized the blonde was Mollie, and as he looked around, Maggie, Amy and Kimmy surrounded him, all in server outfits. Kat and Donna were standing back as well enjoying the moment.

  “Surprise!” Roni said, leaning down to kiss Scott. “Now what will you have?”

  It was a magical night. The Rockies managed to make it a good game, scoring twice in the third period to beat the Kings, 3-2. Maggie took tons of pictures. Tim followed Kimmy around all night.

  It was nearly 1:00 by the time they were ready for bed. WGN had just been added to Wild Horse’s cable system so Scott had tuned in to the start of “Holiday Inn.”

  Roni came back from the bathroom and had already laid claim to the Rockies’ jersey, which was even bigger on her then Scott’s football jersey.

  “Is your dress that long?” he asked as she crawled under the covers with him.

  “At least that long,” she said, snuggling up to him. “Did you have fun tonight?”

  “It was great. But I’m looking forward to the party Saturday. I’m looking forward to marrying you.”

  “Me too. Are your vows ready?” she asked.

  “Yep. Yours?”

  “I’m working on them. I want to say it just right. I love you.”

  “See, that was just right.”

  ****

  CHAPTER 27

  “Does anyone on this fucking planet actually know how to tie one of these things?”

  Scott was standing in front of the mirror in the back upstairs Sunday School room of the First Congregational Church trying to tie his bow tie. Actually, all of the guys were trying with no success.

  “Footer, don’t say ‘fuck’ in my dad’s church,” Maggie said as she clicked pictures around the room. She was having a ball, and was even wearing her bridesmaid dress. But it was 3:15, 45 minutes before the wedding, and Scott was in no mood.

  “A: It is not your dad’s church anymore. 2: You just said ‘fuck.’,” he answered.

  “1: If my dad’s here, it’s his church. B: When it’s my dad’s church, I’m allowed, and 3: Grandpa Mac and Grandpa Hanna are on their way up to help you guys.”

  “Oh. You win,” Scott answered, smiling as Maggie took another picture.

  “This is what happens when you give her too much power,” Rick said.

  Maggie bopped back and forth from the guys’ dressing room behind the choir loft to the girls’ dressing area in the basement, which explained why she was wearing black Chuck Taylors instead of the black pumps like the rest of the girls.

  At 3:35 she returned. She took some staged group shots of all of groomsmen together, including one of all of them – including their ring-bearer, Coach Connel’s son, Tyler – pointing at Scott’s watch with shocked looks on their faces. She took an interesting candid shot of Scott, Mark, Rick and Andy staring solemnly out the window. “That’s a going to be good one,” she said.

  But she also took one that fascinated Scott. She took him over by the oval mirror on the wa
ll and had him stand next to it with his foot propped up on a chair. She had Rick hand him Roni’s wedding band.

  “I want you to stare right at the ring and I want a few smiling and few not smiling,” Maggie said. She fired off about six shots with her auto drive. “Perfect. OK, we’ll see you guys out there.”

  She kissed Rick as she was about to leave the room, then leaned up and gave Scott a quick kiss on the lips. “Don’t worry. You’ll be great. And wait until you see her.”

  Scott was looking forward to that. They spent their last single night apart; both moms and grandmas insisted Scott and Roni follow the age-old tradition of the groom not seeing the bride before the ceremony. So, after the rehearsal dinner, the girls planned a slumber party at the ranch, while the guys camped out in the Mitchells’ basement.

  They played poker and talked long into the night. Scott finally went up around 3 in the morning to try to sleep, but without Roni there, he just dozed off and on. Now, between caffeine and adrenaline, he was wired.

  At 3:50, Pastor Jackson came into the room and said a prayer with the guys. At 3:55, Todd’s voice came over the little walkie-talkie. “It’s time.”

  “Roger that,” Rick answered, then turned to the rest. “Let’s do this.”

  Mark opened the door to the choir loft. The place was packed. Even the horseshoe-shaped balcony was full; it looked like Christmas Eve service. They walked along the right side of the loft, then on to the right-hand grand staircase that led to the stage. Mark walked about two-thirds of the way down, then stopped as the guys positioned themselves two stairs apart.

  Joanie was at the piano. At exactly 4:00, the church’s great bell rang three times and when the chimes finished, Joanie started playing “Canon In D.”

  Amanda was first. She looked stunning; her hair was up and she was wearing a halo of baby’s breath and daisies Baxter’s Florists had woven for each of the girls. “Amazing,” Scott said to himself.

  As Amanda walked about two-thirds of the way down the aisle, Mark walked down the rest of the way to the stage, then down the front stairs and over to meet her. He escorted her to her spot at the base of the stairs, then went across to his spot.