by Webb, Peggy
Old Mr. Frumpett, who lived across the hedge on her left, caught her by the arm. “What’s the meaning of this, young lady? Sane folks are trying to sleep.”
She put her hand on his arm and tried soothe him. “It’s nothing to worry about, Mr. Frumpett. I’ll have everything quieted down in a minute.” She crossed her fingers behind her back as she spoke.
Emma, the post mistress who was also her backyard neighbor, appeared with her stiff beauty-shop hairdo wrapped in a protective roll of Saran wrap. A satin nightcap held the whole conglomeration in place. She grabbed Mr. Frumpett’s arm. “Didn’t you hear that nice young man propose? It’s an engagement party, you old sourpuss.”
“Who asked you, pancake head?” Mr. Frumpett turned his scowling face toward Emma. “It ought to be against the law to go to bed with a head full of Saran wrap.”
“Well, a face like your belongs on a leash!”
Mary Ann sneaked off and left them exchanging insults. She raced across the lawn where Bill was still in that ridiculous position, on one knee in the dew-dampened grass.
“Are you crazy?”
“I’m crazy in love.” He looked so sincere and absurd and endearing, she had to laugh.
“He’s in love,” her neighbors echoed like a Greek chorus. They shouted and clapped their hands.
“Get up from there, Bill, before we all get arrested.”
“Marry me, Mary Ann. Say yes.” He was grinning wickedly as he caught her hand and clutched it to his heart. Behind him the band still blared.
“Marry him, Mary Ann,” the neighbors chorused.
Somebody shouted, “Love makes the world go ‘round, Mary Ann. Marry the guy.”
“Is that a song request?” the trombone player asked. “Key of C, guys.” The band left Bill Bailey floundering in his rainy evening with a fine-tooth comb and swung into “Love Makes the World Go ‘Round.”
A prowl car pulled up on the street and out stepped burly Mac McAlister, the cop who had been on the beat in her neighborhood since she and Harvey had bought this house. “What’s going on, Mary Ann? Any trouble here?” He eyed Bill suspiciously.
Before Mary Ann could answer, Emma ran up, her satin cap askew and a stream of Saran wrap floating behind her. “It’s an engagement party. Mary Ann’s getting married.”
Judy appeared at the front door with a tray of cookies. “That’s right, Mac. Have a cookie.”
“Congratulations, Judy,” Mac said. “Don’t mind if I take a short break. Got any coffee made?” He followed her into the house.
“Tell them to stop that racket, Bill,” Mary Ann said. Half the band had swung crazily into “Alfie” and the other half was trying to play “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
“Tell me you’ll marry me.”
Clara and her husband, Hoot Sims, from around the corner strolled by. “Tell the man you’ll marry him, Mary Ann,” Hoot said.
“It’s the most romantic thing I’ve ever seen.”
“Marry the boy, Mary Ann, so I can get Clara to the café in time to make the biscuits.”
“Okay. All right. My answer is yes, Bill.”
“Would you mind repeating that?” Bill asked.
“Yes, yes, yes! I’ll marry you.”
Suddenly, she felt like flying. And all because of a simple yes. Or maybe it was because Bill had swept her off her feet, literally.
“She said yes,” the Greek chorus of neighbors shouted. “Yahoo!” They bailed out of the yard, housecoats flying and bolted into their houses, only to return moments later bearing an assortment of spirits that would keep a battleship afloat.
“She loves him,” somebody shouted. Mary Ann thought it was Hoot. Corks popped all over the yard. “There’s going to be a wedding.”
Oblivious to the commotion around them, Bill moved to the relative privacy of a live oak tree and set Mary Ann on her feet.
“Are you absolutely sure, Mary Ann?”
“If you hadn’t staged this insanity, I was going to tell you. I do love you Bill, and have for a very long time.”
“Then we need to escape this party and tell the boys in private.”
The minute they went inside, friends and neighbors started slapping them on the back and offering congratulations.
“Is there a back way out of here?” Bill leaned over to whisper.
“Yes. Through the hall and go left. We can exit through Mother’s sitting room.”
“Okay. I’ll get the boys and you wait for me there.”
Mary Ann watched until he’d disappeared down the hall, and then she backed into her mother’s sitting room…and smack into Judy.
“My goodness, dear. What are you doing here?”
“Waiting for Bill and looking for a way to escape. We want to tell the boys in private.”
“Me and my pushy ways! Why didn’t I think about that?” Judy grabbed her arm. “You can’t go through here. You’d have to cross a hedge to get to the car. Just leave it to me.”
Mary Ann followed her mother back down the hall and watched her move through the crowd, her trim figure winding in and out with ease. Holding up her hands, she shouted, “Fresh batch of cookies in the kitchen, everybody.”
The crowd made a beeline for the kitchen just as Bill appeared in the doorway carrying both boys. Judy gave her favorite son-in-law-to-be a broad wink.
“Don’t squeeze the lettuce while you’re in there, Mr. Frumpett,” Judy yelled, then waved them off. “Now, scoot!”
Mary Ann followed Bill as he bolted out the door. She climbed into the front while he deposited the boys in the back seat.
“Does this thing have wings?” she asked as he slid behind the wheel.
“It’s going to sprout them right now.” He was grinning as he sped down the empty street.
“I’m sorry I took so long to say yes, Bill. I really am.”
“You’re worth waiting for, Mary Ann. And so are the boys.”
She glanced in the rearview mirror where Mike and Mitch had fallen back asleep. “It looks like they’ll be out for a while.”
“That’s okay.” Bill pulled onto a beach access road and parked facing the Gulf. The morning sun gilded them with silver, turning the moment into a bit of magic. “I could spend forever just looking at you.”
“Forever is a long time.”
“Not nearly long enough,” he said, and she knew it was true.
He pulled her into his arms, and there with the water lapping against the shore and the scent of orange blossoms filling the car, Mary Ann knew that second chances could sometimes be the first time around with your one true love.
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“I can’t seem to fasten my dress,” Judy said, appearing at the door of Mary Ann’s bedroom.
Mary Ann looked up from putting on her panty hose. “Let me see, Mother.”
Judy turned her back toward her daughter. “Something’s wrong with the zipper.”
“The problem is not the zipper. The problem is that this dress is too small. It lacks half an inch in the back.”
“Nonsense. It fit perfectly when I bought it two weeks ago.”
“Two weeks ago! You’ve known for only three days that there would be a wedding.” Mary Ann couldn’t help laughing at her mother’s stubborn optimism.
“I knew there would be a wedding the first time I ever saw you with Bill Benson.” Judy turned this way and that, viewing herself from all sides in the mirror. “Maybe if I suck in my breath a little...” She took a deep breath to demonstrate.
“It might work if you don’t plan to breathe during the ceremony. Why don’t you wear the lilac silk? It looks super on you.” Mary Ann pulled her own dress over her head and whirled before the mirror. The full skirt billowed around her like a pink cotton-candy cloud.
“You look gorgeous, dear.” Judy sounded distracted as she headed for the door. “I’ll just put on my good girdle,” she muttered.
“You shouldn’t have baked all those fattening goodies for Bill,” Mary Ann called after her
.
“Poppycock. All I need is my good girdle,” Judy’s voice echoed down the hall.
Mary Ann grinned. What a super scrumptious gorgeous day!
“Mama!” Mitch said, running into her room, his bow tie askew. “Is Mikey the ring baron or me?”
Mary Ann bent to straighten his tie. “Both of you are. Where’s your brother?”
“He’s giving Rover a bath so he’ll be fluffy for our wedding.”
Mary Ann flew down the stairs two at a time. She burst through the downstairs bathroom door just in time to stop Mikey from coaxing Rover into the bathtub. Soap bubbles flew all over the room as she shoved Rover out the door and rescued her son, who was up to his elbows in soapy water.
She glanced at her watch as she marched her boys upstairs for a final slicking before the wedding.
They had to be at the church in forty-five minutes.
“Mother,” she called as she passed Judy’s door. “Find Bill’s ring. It’s almost time to go.”
She washed her boys’ faces until they shone. “Don’t my ring bearers look handsome?” She planted a kiss on both of them and they promptly wiped it off.
Judy poked her head in the door. “I can’t find the ring. Where did you put it?”
Mary Ann flew out the door and into her room across the hall. “It should be right here on top of my dresser.” She ran her hand frantically across the smooth surface. Where in the world could it be? She rushed around the room, tearing into her bedcovers and crawling along the floor in her search.
“We’ll find it, dear. Don’t panic.” Judy was perched on top of a chair, peering anxiously into the closet.
Mitch and Mike watched the search from the door. After a whispered conference Mitch approached Mary Ann and tugged at her skirt.
“Not now, Mitch,” she said. “I’m busy.” She was rummaging through her lingerie drawers, pulling garments out and dumping them into a silken heap on the floor.
“It flew off into the sky and Mikey couldn’t get it down,” Mitch said.
“Um-hmm,” Mary Ann muttered as she dumped her socks and panty hose on top of the lingerie.
Judy turned from the closet. “What did, Mitch?”
“The kite. It wouldn’t fly good so we put a weight on the tail and it got stuck up in a tree and I told Mikey not to use the ring but he said we’d put it back and Rover said it was okay.” He ran out of breath.
Judy was already out the door. By the time Mary Ann realized that her boys had used Bill’s ring as a weight for their kite, Judy had skinned up the willow tree in the backyard and was struggling to untangle a kite string.
“Is it there, Mom?” Mary Ann called anxiously. “Be careful,” she yelled as Judy’s foot slipped.
“I got it!” Judy shouted triumphantly. With the agility of a much younger woman, she shinnied back down the tree holding the ring aloft. “Let’s go!” She flew around the house toward the car. There was a smudge on her left cheek and her dress had a large rip in the back.
“Your dress, Mom!”
“Forget the dress. This is one wedding I’m not going to miss.” Judy crawled behind the wheel of the ancient car and revved the engine. “Hop in, gang.”
Mary Ann hustled the boys into the back seat, noticing that Mitch had lost a shoe in the confusion and Mike’s tie had mysteriously disappeared.
The motley crew shot down the street at breakneck speed and squealed to a stop in the church parking lot just in time to see the soloist huff out the church door.
Bill bounded down the steps, jerked open the car door, and scooped Mary Ann into his arms. He painted her face with kisses. “I thought you’d changed your mind.”
“Never!” She caught his face between her hands and gazed into his eyes. “I’ll never change my mind about you, Bill Benson.”
“Is that a promise?”
“On my honor as a reluctant bird-watcher.” The sun beamed down its benediction as the Bear held his Goldilocks close to his heart.
“Come on, you two,” Judy said. “We have a wedding to attend.” She tugged at Bill’s sleeve and he bounded up the church steps, two at a time, still holding Mary Ann in his arms.
The crowd clapped wildly as Bill strode down the aisle with his bride-to-be in his arms. Judy and the boys followed close behind.
Mary Ann missed most of the wedding ceremony. She was vaguely aware that Emma, the post mistress who doubled as organist on Sundays and for special events, had played the “Wedding March.” The minister was saying something about loving and cherishing. Most of Mary Ann’s attention, however, was on the man standing beside her in a dark blue suit, pristine white shirt, and burgundy tie.
“Psst,” Judy whispered from the front pew.
Mary Ann tore her thoughts back to the minister just in time to hear, “Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
“I do,” she said.
“What’s awful wetted?” Mitch whispered loudly to his brother.
“I think it’s something grown-ups do,” Mikey answered in a stage whisper.
“I now pronounce you man and wife,” the minister said. “You may kiss the bride.”
Bill took his wife in his arms and kissed her then leaned down to kiss his brand new sons on their cheeks. They wiped the kisses off and trotted along behind their new daddy to the tune of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy.”
They had barely taken three steps when Rover bounded into the church wearing Mike’s bow tie. He headed straight for the organist and knocked her off the stool. The recessional ended with a crash, and Emma’s hair lost some of its starch.
“I guess she should have played Ode to Chaos.” Mary Ann smiled at her new husband. “Did you get more than you bargained for, Bill?”
“Who? Your awful wetted husband? I was thinking we need at least one more dog.” He pulled her close. “And two or three more kids to keep the animals in line.”
Mary Ann wound her arms around his neck. “Just think what fun we’ll have producing the Benson kids.”
The sounds of the happy wedding crowd receded into the background as Bill cupped Mary Ann’s face in his hands. “If you’re not careful, lady, we’ll create a scandal that will shock Sunday Cove.”
“Would I enjoy it?” she teased.
“I should hope so.”
“Then go ahead, scandalize me.”
“It looks like I’ve married a shameless woman.”
“Are you complaining already, Mr. Benson?”
“I’m gloating already, Mrs. Benson.”
“I married a genius.”
Mary Ann stood on tiptoes for her husband’s kiss while Mitch and Mikey danced around them chanting, “We married a genius.”
-The End-
If You Enjoyed This Book…
If you enjoyed Birds of a Feather (Sunday Cove), try Disturbing the Peace (Sunday Cove) and Naughty and Nice (Sunday Cove). More Sunday Cove romances to come!
Don't miss Peggy's new women fiction novel, Stars to Lead Me Home.
Details on the Sunday Cove series and all Peggy’s books are at www.peggywebb.com. Join Peggy on Facebook and Twitter.
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About Peggy Webb
Peggy Webb is a USA Today best-selling author from Mississippi with 70 books to her credit. She writes romance, women’s fiction and the hilarious Southern Cousins cozy mystery series starring Elvis, the basset hound who thinks he’s the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll reincarnated. Her peers call her a “comic genius.” She also writes literary fiction and is a member of PEN under the name Elaine Hussey. Pat Conroy calls her literary work “astonishing.” This critically acclaimed author has won many awards, including a Romantic Times Pioneer Award for creating the sub-genre of romantic comedy. Several of her romances have been optioned for film.
Peggy is a member of Novelists, Inc., Authors Guild, International Thriller Writers, and Romance Writers of America. She is excited about bringing her romance classics back to readers as E-books. The award-winning Touched by An
gels and A Prince for Jenny, as well as the Donovans of the Delta series and her boxed sets, have all been Kindle Top 10 bestsellers.
Follow the author on her websites: www.peggywebb.com and www.elainehussey.com and on Facebook and Twitter.
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Books by Peggy Webb
Classic Romance
Dark Fire
Touched by Angels (RT Reviewer’s Choice)
A Prince for Jenny, sequel to Touched by Angels
The Edge of Paradise
Duplicity (Rave review, RT Reviewer’s Choice)
Where Dolphins Go (RT Reviewer’s Choice, women’s fiction, optioned for film)
Night of the Dragon (time travel romance)
Christmas in Time (time travel, prequel to Only Yesterday)
Only Yesterday, (time travel, sequel to Christmas in Time)
Summer Jazz
Taming Maggie (#1 on romance bestseller list)
That Jones Girl (sequel to the Mississippi McGills series)
Indiscreet
The Donovans of the Delta Series:
Donovan’s Angel (Paul Donovan’s story)
Sleepless Nights (Tanner Donovan’s story)
Hallie’s Destiny (award winning book, Hallie Donovan’s story)
Any Thursday (Hannah Donovan’s story)
Higher Than Eagles (Jacob Donovan’s story)
The Mississippi McGills Series (spin-off from Donovans of the Delta)
Valley of Fire (Rick McGill’s story)
Until Morning Comes (Jo Beth McGill and Colter Gray Wolf’s story)
Saturday Mornings (Andrew McGill’s story)
Forever Friends series
Can’t Stop Loving You (Book 1, Helen’s story)
Only His Touch (Kat’s story, Book 2)
Bringing Up Baxter (B. J.’s story, Book 3)
Angels on Zebras (Maxie’s story, Book 4)
The Dixie Virgin Chronicles
The Dixie Virgin Chronicles: Belinda
The Dixie Virgin Chronicles: Janet
The Dixie Virgin Chronicles: Molly
The Dixie Virgin Chronicles: Bea
