I was a couple of minutes late but had texted Benny when I left my place, then proceeded to drive like a crazy lady to get there on time so I wasn’t more late than my ill-advised side trip and crazier-than-normal Friday traffic threatened I would be.
I saw the double doors to the room were opened. I walked through and stopped.
I did this mostly because the back of the room was made up of windows, which had a fabulous view of a flawless green lawn that had pots and flower beds filled with vibrant color and greenery, and beyond that, a massive, tranquil lake, one of many in Indiana.
I also did this because there were three intimately arranged six-seater tables, all with white tablecloths, candles, and exquisite bouquets made of downy-green hydrangea, creamy roses, and spikes of purple iris.
Oh yeah, just with a glance at the rehearsal dinner setup, I knew the girls did good. I also knew this wedding was going to be amazing. Then again, even if they’d decorated in neon and asked everyone to wear ’80s outfits, it would be amazing simply because of the people involved and what this wedding meant.
The end to Cal’s years of grief.
The same for Violet and her girls.
I scanned the room and spotted Benny, his suit-jacketed back to me, Cal on one side wearing dark gray suit trousers and an open-necked, black, tailored shirt. Vi was to Ben’s other side and when I saw her, I smiled.
Cal and Vi, I found, were much like Benny and me in the squabbling department, and this occasion, joyous as it should be, was not immune to said squabbling.
Since Vi had shared during one of my shooting-the-shit times at her place, I knew that Cal wanted his band on her finger and he wanted that done yesterday. He didn’t give a shit about how that happened, he just wanted it to happen. Pronto.
Vi, on the other hand, was not about to make her second star appearance at a wedding wearing a maternity gown, something she’d done at age eighteen during her first big event.
“Been there, done that. This time I’m livin’ the dream,” she’d told me.
Because Cal loved her like crazy and wanted her to have what she wanted, he gave in, but only slightly. That was to say he wanted the wedding as soon as she could pull it off after she had their baby.
Thus commenced more squabbling because Vi didn’t want a maternity wedding part two, but she also didn’t want to be carrying baby weight at her dream wedding.
I was actually there during one of these squabbles, to which Cal remarked, “I don’t give a fuck if you got an extra pound or two.”
“It’ll be more like forty,” Vi retorted.
“Okay, I don’t give a fuck if you got an extra pound or forty,” Cal returned.
“I do!” Vi snapped. “Wedding pictures last an eternity.”
“Yeah. And we’ll look at them and remember a coupla weeks before we got hitched, you gave me my baby girl. How’s that bad?”
You couldn’t really fault that logic, and Vi agreed because she gave him a look but said nothing further.
Therefore, Vi, who had gained thirty-five pounds with Angie, had spent the last six weeks doing what she could to work it off.
Luckily, she was active by nature and went back to the side business she had within a couple of weeks of having Angie. She worked at the garden center in Brownsburg but also maintained a few personal clients’ lawns and gardens. So although the weight didn’t melt off dramatically, she’d taken off fifteen pounds and planned ahead, ordering a wedding dress that was two sizes too big.
At her last fitting on Monday, it had had to be taken in.
And now, she was standing there wearing a purple, strapless cocktail dress with a ruched bodice and a flirty skirt that fell just past her knees, which had a long, green, satin ribbon as a belt, the same adorning the flippy hem. She had on spiked-heeled, strappy green sandals and her fabulous, thick, dark hair was arranged away from her face and fastened in a side ponytail that was a burst of soft curls.
She was smiling at something Benny was saying.
She looked amazing.
She also looked completely happy.
Which made me completely happy.
I quit looking at her, and eyes to the prize (that being Ben’s broad shoulders in his suit jacket), I headed their way.
Cal’s gaze came to me when I was five feet away, Vi’s smile a couple of feet later. Ben noticed and started turning when I was right there.
So when I slid my arms around his middle, I got his back, his side, and full face. This meant I could roll up on the toes of my own strappy sandals and press my mouth against his.
I smelled his aftershave, felt his strength, and therefore couldn’t stop myself from touching the tip of my tongue to his lips before I pulled away.
“Hey, baby,” I whispered.
“Hey,” he whispered back, then twisted further and brought me around so I was at his side, doing this with his eyes dropping to my dress.
I was not wearing a graceful-yet-flirty dress like Vi.
My dress was coral, short, skintight, had one long, tight sleeve and one exposed shoulder and arm. I’d toned down the jewelry (even so, my thin rhinestone hoops nearly brushed my shoulders) and went big with my hair. My sandals were copper. My makeup dark but dewy.
I had the process down so vamping it up prior to driving there didn’t take forever.
Still, from the look in Ben’s eyes and his arm tightening around my waist, I knew he appreciated my efforts.
I pressed closer to him and turned my attention to Vi and Cal. “Hey, guys. How did the rehearsal go?”
“We’re all set,” Vi said. “Tomorrow, five o’clock go time.”
I grinned and replied, “Awesome.”
I barely said that word before I watched Cal move in and touch his mouth to Vi’s, muttering, “Gonna check on Angie.”
“Honey, she’s sleeping and she’s with Mimi. She’s fine,” Vi told him.
He didn’t move back, but he did focus more intently on her face as he repeated, “Gonna check on Angie.”
Vi searched his face for about two seconds before she whispered, “Okay, baby.”
He touched his mouth to hers again, slid his eyes through Benny and me, giving us a chin lift, and took off.
“How’s that goin’?” Ben asked when Cal was gone and Vi, who had followed Cal’s departure with her eyes, looked at Benny.
“I think when Angie gets past Nicky’s age when he lost him, he might calm down,” Vi answered, knowing what he meant, that Cal was crazy-watchful over Angie. “Though, he’s Joe. He takes protectiveness to extremes on a normal day, so maybe he won’t. He hasn’t had the pleasure of watching a child he created blossom into something beautiful, smart, and strong. It’s like he’s a new parent. So I let him have that because it isn’t unhealthy, but it is all kinds of beautiful.”
She grinned a small grin with that, but it slightly faded when she went on.
“I didn’t have his tragedy in my history and I was the same with Kate. So was Tim, even if we were teenagers. So I’m not too worried about it.”
Tim was Violet’s husband who was killed several years ago. And Vi was right. Cal didn’t get to advance from the new parent stage to know that things were all going to be okay as he watched his baby mature.
He’d get there.
Or he wouldn’t and Angie would have an overprotective father on her hands who met boyfriends on his porch with a gun stuffed in the waistband of his jeans.
There were worse things, as I well knew.
And it struck me on this thought what Mrs. Zambino had said months ago.
I felt warmth gather around my heart because I knew when Angela Callahan grew up, she’d look in the mirror and see what Cal and Vi taught her to see.
Nothing but beauty.
I had that happy thought and studied Violet, noting, “You seem pretty calm.” I said this, but I thought she didn’t seem calm so much as she seemed utterly serene. “If it was the night before my wedding, I’d probably be a wreck.”
<
br /> “Well, I have two daughters who show signs of being wedding planner savants and one of them is Kate. She could be the president’s secretary and be cool during another missile crisis,” Vi replied, and I giggled as I heard Ben’s low chuckle. “They’re all over this and have everything in hand.” She smiled. “So I can be calm, kick back, and just enjoy my perfect wedding.”
I loved that for her so I told her that.
“That’s wonderful, Vi,” I said softly.
“I know.” She was talking softly too. “I’m one lucky lady.”
With all she’d been through, she wasn’t right, even as she was.
Her story of being a child bride with baby, happening into that situation to marry the man of her dreams, losing him, being stalked by the man who was responsible for his death, and ending that mess running through a forest with me, she’d earned this.
The hard way.
Kate rounded her mom, eyes to me, stopping and murmuring, “Hey, Frankie.”
“Hey, honey.”
She grinned at me and looked at her mother. “Mawdy, where’s Joe? It’s time to sit down to eat.”
“He’s with Mimi and Angie,” Vi answered, and Kate nodded understandingly.
“I’ll go tell him it’s time,” she said.
“I’ll help Keira get everyone to their seats,” Vi offered.
“Thanks,” Kate muttered, gave Ben and me another grin, and took off.
“Excuse me,” Vi said.
“Sure,” I replied.
Ben just moved out of her way as she started drifting toward her guests.
Then he moved to shift me front to front, both arms around me.
I looked up at him.
“How’s Gus?”
He smiled, even as he shook his head. “Gus is fine. Gus is with Mrs. Zambino. I’m fine too, in case you’re wondering. Was fine before, but I’m a lot more fine, seein’ you in that dress.”
His eyes had dropped to my chest so I gave him a squeeze to get his attention back.
“You can’t blame me for worrying about my baby. You gave me a present and then kept it.”
He didn’t stop smiling as he returned, “You travel half the time, live in a rental, and have nice shit. I live in big house and have shit that’s just shit that he can chew on as much as he wants.”
I felt my brows draw together and told him, “You shouldn’t let him chew, Ben.”
“You stop a puppy from chewing,” he told me.
“I would, if he actually lived with me.”
He pulled me closer and dipped his head toward mine, saying low, deep, and easy, “He’s assurance my baby will keep comin’ back to me.”
“Like that wasn’t gonna happen already,” I whispered my reply.
His gaze dropped to my mouth before his lips touched there, then he pulled back and offered, “Want a drink before we sit down?”
I nodded.
“Bellini or somethin’ else?” he asked.
“I’d love a Bellini.”
“Then you’ll get one,” he said on a squeeze.
That made me feel warm and happy, even though Benny had been demonstrating regularly, in fact, constantly that whatever I wanted was mine. Like a puppy. He’d even shown that he could give me things I didn’t know I wanted. Like an off-the-charts fabulous birthday party. And last, he’d shown he would do pretty much anything for me. Like set up a Champagne brunch so I could celebrate part of my birthday with Sal and Gina.
Suffice it to say, I was no longer in crazy-woman-falling-in-love mode.
I was in a much more dangerous mode. That was crazy woman in love.
“We’re at the head table with Vi, Cal, and the girls,” Ben informed me, jerking his head toward a table by the windows.
“Right. Meet you there.”
“Right,” he said on another squeeze and a touch of the lips to my temple. Then he let me go and took off toward the bar.
I moved to the table, having honored seating because I was Ben’s date. He was the best man and Kate and Keira were Vi’s maids of honor. Manny was also in Cal’s wedding party, as well as Colt. Vi’s bridesmaids were rounded out with her friend Cheryl. That meant Manny and Sela were there, Colt and Feb too, and Cheryl, with her date being her son.
Vi’s dad was there (not her mom, they weren’t tight), as were Theresa and Vinnie as the only parental figures Cal had left. Still very close with her first husband’s parents, this meant Bea and Gary Winters were also there, rounding out the three tables.
Folks settled in their seats. Ben brought my drink, then took off his suit jacket to expose the deep green tailored shirt underneath. He tossed his jacket over the back of his chair. Cal showed, coming in with Kate, and I knew another friend of Vi and Feb’s was there, Mimi (the lady who also owned the kick-ass coffee shop in Brownsburg), who was coming to the wedding but was there early to look after Angie and Colt and Feb’s Jack.
I sipped my Bellini, sitting back, slightly listed to the side because Ben was leaning into me and the arm he had on the back of my chair. I smiled, chatted, giggled. Champagne and red and white wine (consumer choice, total class) were brought around, as were mushroom caps stuffed with cheesy, creamy crab meat.
It was when the appetizer plates were whisked away, glasses were refilled, and we were gabbing while waiting for our main meals when the clink of a knife against a wineglass sounded.
All eyes went to the parents’ table to see Gary standing, holding up his Champagne glass.
When conversation died, his eyes to Vi and Cal, he started speaking. “I apologize. I have something to say, but I’ve had concerns if I should say it. In the end, I felt it needed to be said. I talked with Bea and we decided it was more appropriate tonight, in close company, than tomorrow.”
He drew in a deep breath and his voice got softer, but it still carried when he went on.
And now his eyes were just on Vi.
“My beautiful flower,” he started, and I didn’t even know what he was going to say, but the way he started made me deep breathe in an effort not to start crying. “This day was a day I never thought would come to pass. This day was a day I never would wish to come to pass. But here we are, witnessing you closing one book and opening another that’s empty. A book you get the privilege of writing, the story of the life you’re about to start making. Bea and I know, to the depths of our souls, just like the extraordinary story you crafted the first time so magnificently” —he tipped his head toward Kate and Keira— “this one will be no different.”
“Holy crap,” I whispered, and Ben’s hand went from dangling off the side of my seat to wrap around my arm.
Gary’s eyes went to Cal.
“This day is a day I never would wish to come to pass. But you must know, Bea and I are honored beyond imagining that you’re the kind of man who would allow us to be here tonight, to share in your joyous celebration tomorrow, to keep us stitched into the fabric of your life. However, it’s more, Joe Callahan. Bea and I are honored beyond imagining simply to know a man with such love in his heart, he would give it freely to our girls, strength in his mind and body to protect them, firmness in his resolve to take care of them. Regardless if this new book you’re writing with Violet means Bea and I must close our book, a book that has no hope of reopening, there is no other man in the world we would wish to sit in the seat you’re currently occupying. We’re pleased to know you. We’re pleased to have you as a part of our family. And we wish you, Vi, Kate, Keira, and little Angie have all the beauty you deserve as you write your story.”
He lifted his glass as I heard Vi make a whimpering noise, but I didn’t look at her as Gary kept going.
“To the soon-to-be Joe and Violet Callahan, wishing you a life story full of all the love, hope, promise, joy, and laughter you not only deserve, but you’ve earned.”
A variety of “here here’s” and “To Cal and Vi’s” were shouted as we all grabbed our drinks and took a sip.
Except Violet, who got up from he
r chair, walked with red cheeks and shining eyes to her father-in-law, wrapped her arms around him, and shoved her face in his neck.
And I sat there thinking I loved that. I loved that emotion from Vi. I loved that she was the kind of person who could take something possibly awkward, but knowing the players, understand it would end up stunningly beautiful.
And I sat there looking around, seeing Cal give his attention to Kate and Keira, both overwhelmed with emotion from their grandfather’s speech, both not his by blood but his all the same. I took in Vinnie and Theresa, who were there not only as relations but also because they’d earned their spot there, being the only real mother and father Cal had his whole life.
And then there was me. Loving one brother who was killed and, years later, loving another one because he was everything a man should be and he gave all that beauty to me.
And I sat there thinking that what was in this room was it.
This was life.
This was family.
This messy, strange, awkward, crazy conglomeration of people that totally fit when they shouldn’t. That could make beauty like Gary’s speech, even through the heartbreak of knowing they were there because their son was not.
This was what I’d always wanted.
And this was what I’d always had. Maybe mine was messier, stranger, more awkward, and definitely more crazy.
But this was family.
And sitting beside Benny Bianchi, surrounded by family, I knew without any doubt there was no place on the planet I’d rather be.
* * * * *
I stood at the panoramic window of Benny’s and my cabin, staring at the dark lake.
The hotel had seventy-five rooms and a string of cabins along the lake. Benny had checked us into one for the whole weekend. So after the festivities tomorrow, Ben and I would have nearly a whole day to ourselves surrounded by beauty.
Before that, though, tomorrow, Ben, Kate, Kiera, Feb, and I were going out on the lake in Colt’s boat that he’d brought down. We were going to tube and water-ski.
Cheryl and Vi were going to the hotel spa to get a massage, facial, and polish changes before having hair and makeup done.
The Promise (The 'Burg Series) Page 39
