Wall of Silence

by Dorey Whittaker

  Her mother was having her usual breakfast coffee while reading the morning paper. She didn’t even notice that her daughter was dressed especially nice today. Susan casually said, “Goodbye,” picked up her purse and keys, and walked out the door to meet Scott.

  Scott loved how she looked in that suit. The blouse was almost the same color as her eyes, and the cream suit looked gorgeous against her jet-black hair. As they walked to work, they chatted about going ring shopping the next morning. They both had been so busy all week that Saturday morning would be their first chance to try again. They giggled about how today was the last day she would have to be careful what she said to Mrs. Randal so as not to ruin their secret.

  They both had a hard time keeping their secret at the office. Twice Susan had forgotten and started talking about their plans with Mrs. Randal. She barely caught herself both times and had been sure she would not be able to remain quiet until Friday afternoon. They agreed to meet in Scott’s office at two thirty and wait there together until his mother had the cake and everything all set out. Mr. Thomas was to announce over the public address system that everyone was to stop what they were doing and join him in the company cafeteria for a party. Then, when everyone was there, the two of them were to walk out and make their announcement.

  Susan wanted to have someone besides Scott and his parents to talk to about their wedding plans. She knew Mrs. Randal would be happy for her, and she could hardly wait to tell her.

  Scott was booked with outside meetings for most of the morning, so she forced herself to keep working hard to keep her mind off what was coming. The day seemed to creep by without Scott there to talk to.

  ***

  Mrs. Thomas came into the office right around two o’clock and set up the cafeteria. She kept the doors locked so no one would accidentally walk in and see the decorations and give away the surprise. The bakery delivered the cake right at two-thirty as planned and everything was ready.

  ***

  Scott got back to the office just as the cake was being delivered. He went immediately into his office and waited for Susan to meet him. She came in a few minutes later. Scott closed his door, took her in his arms, kissed her, and said, “Well, you have one last chance to change your mind.”

  She gave him a little poke in the center of his chest. “Never! Let’s go do it.”

  “Not yet, sweetheart. There’s one more thing we need to do before going out there.”

  He reached into his pocket and pulled out the blue velvet ring box. He quickly took the ring out and slipped it on her finger. “Susan, you are everything in the world to me. I can’t put into words how happy you’ve made me. I love you and am so glad we will be spending the rest of our lives together. This ring is exactly like you—unique and precious—and the two of you belong together.”

  Speechless and fighting back tears, she stared at the ring. She knew it must have cost him a lot of money. She wanted to protest but when she saw the look in his eyes, she knew this was a gift from his heart, not from his wallet.

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered, “Do you know when I first fell in love with you?”

  Scott smiled and shook his head no. “I was eight years old. I fell in love with you the day you pulled Carol Anne and me from the pool. You were so sweet and kind, and that grin you have on your face right now was on your face that afternoon. I’ve loved you for thirteen years, Scott. Let’s go tell everyone else.”

  Walking down the hall, they could hear the excited voices coming from the cafeteria, and the anticipation of what they were about to do was clearly on both their faces as they swung the large door open wide and entered the room. There were dozens and dozens of yellow and white helium balloons covering the ceiling. Mrs. Thomas had tied curly yellow ribbons to each of them, and the ribbons hung like confetti above everyone’s head. Hanging from the far wall was an immense banner that read, “Best Wishes Scott and Susan.”

  In the center of the cafeteria was the lovely sheet cake they had picked out. It had white frosting with miniature yellow roses all around the edges. In the center, in graceful and delicate frosting script read, “Best Wishes Scott & Susan,” and little yellow hearts were scattered all over the table.

  Before either could say a word, everyone started cheering and clapping. Scott took hold of Susan’s hand, and they made their way to the table where his parents were standing. He motioned for everyone to quiet down so he could speak. “Well, by the wonderful job my mother has done on these lovely decorations, it seems almost redundant for me to make this announcement. However, because I love the way it sounds when it comes out of my mouth, here goes. Miss Susan Miller has graciously accepted my proposal of marriage. We are planning a spring wedding and would be honored if you all would now join us for cake and coffee in celebration of our engagement.”

  Mrs. Randal was standing next to Mrs. Thomas, and when Scott finished his speech, she spoke up for everyone to hear. “Well, it’s about time. Everyone in the office has known for months that you two loved each other. We were all waiting for the two of you to figure it out. Congratulations and best wishes.”

  Finally, when almost everyone had greeted the couple and were busily enjoying the cake, Mrs. Randal came up to wish the couple well. “Susan, there is no one in the world more deserving of this than you. I couldn’t be prouder if you were my very own daughter. Scott is a wonderful young man, and I know he adores you. I’m so very happy for the two of you.”

  Susan gave her a big hug. “It was so hard keeping our secret from you all week. I wanted to share with you all the wonderful plans we’ve come up with and get your opinion on some things. I know you have three married daughters, so you’ve been through the planning of weddings. Would you consider helping Mrs. Thomas and me with my wedding?”

  “Well, I can’t say I’m an expert or anything, but I would love to help in any way I can. From the looks of this cafeteria though, I think I would leave the decorating duties to your future mother-in-law. She obviously has a flair for decorating. Didn’t she do a wonderful job?”

  “Yes, she did, and we haven’t thanked her yet. If you will excuse us, we need to do that right now.” With that, the happy couple went over to the cake table. “Mrs. Thomas, everything looks so lovely. I can’t believe how much you did in only one hour.”

  “Susan, considering you are marrying my son, I think Mrs. Thomas is a little too formal. I’d feel honored if you would call me Mom.”

  Mr. Thomas chimed in. “Hey, wait a minute! If you get to be called Mom, then I get to be Dad. Do you mind, Susan?”

  “Do I mind? All my life I’ve dreamed of having a Mom and Dad like you.”

  Scott took hold of her hand and held it up for his parents to see. He had deliberately not told them about the ring because he wanted Susan to be the first to see it. Mr. Thomas could tell his son had chosen an incredible ring. It didn’t take a jeweler to see that it was something special. He put his arm around his son’s shoulder and said, “That is a beautiful ring for a beautiful girl.”

  Scott was simply beaming with pride. “Dad, life just couldn’t get much better than this.”

  Bill reached over, put his arm over his son’s shoulder again, and pulled him a few steps away from Susan. “We need you to keep Susan away from the house tomorrow.”

  “Why?”

  “Carol Anne is flying in late tonight and wants to surprise Susan at the party tomorrow evening. She couldn’t wait until Christmas to celebrate with you two.”

  Scott was thrilled at this news. “Susan’s going to be so happy. With her taking summer classes this year, she was only home for one week this summer. Susan’s really missed Carol Anne. But hasn’t she just started her new semester? How long is she staying?”

  “She talked to her professors, and she’s only going to skip her classes on Monday, so she must fly out at seven Monday evening.”

  “Great. I’ll make sure Susan doesn’t book us for anything on Sunday or Monday. Would you mind if we
both took Monday off so we can have more time with Carol Anne?”

  “That’s fine. Just make sure Mrs. Randal knows Susan isn’t coming in. Your mother was suggesting the five of us might drive to Jefferson Sunday afternoon and visit with Aunt Gladys. Carol Anne didn’t get to see her this summer since Gladys was up north. That way you can introduce Susan and tell Gladys the good news. She doesn’t get the Atlanta paper there, but she has so many friends here in town someone is bound to call her, since the announcement will be in Sunday’s edition. It would be nice if she heard it from family.”

  Scott agreed. Besides, he knew he was Aunt Gladys’s favorite nephew and she would want to meet his bride-to-be. He also knew she was going to love Susan.

  Chapter 11

  There were cars parked all around when Scott and Susan arrived Saturday evening. His mother had told them both that almost a hundred people from their church had called to RSVP for the party. His family had attended that church his whole life, and Susan had been going there since she was a freshman in high school.

  Mrs. Thomas had instructed them to use the front door. No one in the family ever used the front door, but since this was a special occasion, Susan didn’t think anything about it. The house was filled with guests. The living room and great room were overflowing with excited people, and the staircase had someone on every other step. There were so many people, Scott and Susan didn’t quite know where to go, so they stood in the foyer and greeted people.

  Mr. Thomas slipped through the crowd and asked Susan if she would like something to drink. After deciding on sweetened iced tea, Mr. Thomas suggested, “Why don’t you two stay put and keep greeting people. I’ll send someone out with your iced tea.”

  With everyone pressing in close, Susan gave him an embarrassed little grin and said, “That would be great, Dad.”

  Everyone wanted to see the ring and give the couple their own best wishes. Susan was chatting with several women as someone stepped up beside her and handed her the iced tea. “I hope its sweet enough for you, Snow White.”

  Susan spun around to see Carol Anne standing in front of her, smiling. “Hello, sister. I understand you’ve stolen my brother’s heart.”

  Squealing with delight, she almost knocked the iced tea out of Carol Anne’s hand as she grabbed her and said, “I can’t believe you’re here! How did you get away from school?”

  Knowing her friend needed to circulate, Carol Anne whispered, “Why don’t you sleep over tonight so we can have our time to talk?”

  “I desperately want to sit down with you and tell you everything that’s happened in the past week, but you’re right, I need to attend to our guests. I can’t believe you’re here! We’ll talk tonight.”

  With this she gave Carol Anne a hug and kiss and then moved among the guests with Scott. As they made their way into the dining room, they spotted the cake. It was made of five separate tiers joined together by arched stairways. Each tier was frosted in dozens of yellow roses, except for the one in the middle. On the two arched stairways stood a bride and groom. It was set up to look like the two were coming to meet on the center cake, which was covered with smooth white frosting with tiny yellow rose-buds all around the edge. The frosting script on the top read, “Scott & Susan, to be joined in matrimony, April 12, 1974.”

  Carol Anne stepped up behind Susan, and they admired the attractive display. “I can’t believe all this. Your mother has outdone herself. This is the most beautiful cake I’ve ever seen. Your parents have been absolutely wonderful to me.”

  Carol Anne leaned over and whispered, “I’ve never seen my parents quite this happy before. Scott is their only son and their first kid to get married. There are loving all of this. Susan, Mother and I talked about you and Scott that first summer he came home. We knew you were perfect for each other; we weren’t sure if Scott would be patient enough to wait for you, since you were so young! Mom and I were sure it was a trust issue for you; we just didn’t know how long it would take you.”

  Scott turned as his sister said this, and placing his arms around them, said, “I would have asked her to marry me back then, but I knew she would have turned me down. Believe me, I tried dating other women, but it was always Susan for me and she certainly was worth the wait.”

  The party went on well past midnight, and when the last guests were finally gone, the girls picked up a few stray dishes and headed for the kitchen. Scott started making the rounds through each room to look for any stray cups or glasses while Mr. and Mrs. Thomas were urged by all three kids to go relax.

  It was almost one in the morning before the house was put back together and the last of the dishes were dried and put away. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas said their good nights and had gone to bed a half hour earlier, and Scott was preparing to leave.

  “Honey, I couldn’t tell you before because Carol Anne’s coming was a surprise, but Mom and Dad suggested the five of us might take a drive to Jefferson tomorrow after church. You’ve heard me talk about my Aunt Gladys, Dad’s older sister. We all thought it would be good if we formally introduced you to her. She is the essence of old, southern etiquette and would not appreciate hearing family news from friends, or having to read about us in the paper. Besides, she has always been Carol Anne’s and my favorite relative. She is the sweetest, kindest woman in the whole world. Would you be up to it tomorrow afternoon?”

  “That sounds great,” was Susan’s only response, although she didn’t like the idea of going to Jefferson with Scott’s whole family. Jefferson represented everything she was ashamed of, since her sister lived there and that’s where her father’s trial took place. The idea of driving down there with these sweet people was a little overwhelming. Susan would never say such things out loud, but as Scott continued to talk, she thought, Why couldn’t your aunt have lived anywhere else but Jefferson? When is God ever going to give me a break

  But as Scott finished, she simply nodded, knowing she wouldn’t have to see either her sister or father and said, “That sounds fine to me.”

  Scott kissed her good night and then gave his sister a kiss on the cheek. As he walked out, he called back, “Be sure to lock this door when I leave, and don’t stay up all night talking.”

  Of course he knew better. There was no way these two girls were going to get any sleep tonight. As suspected, they talked until the wee hours of the morning, finally drifting off somewhere around four. Carol Anne filled Susan in on all the different projects she was involved in out in California. She told her about several guys she liked and what her college life was like. There was one guy in particular that she especially liked, and it sounded as if Carol Anne was more than a little interested. They talked until they were both so tired they simply fell asleep in the middle of a sentence.

  Since Susan hadn’t known Carol Anne would be there, she hadn’t planned on staying over. She would need a change of clothes for church and the trip to Jefferson. Scott said he would come by around eight and drive her back to her apartment to change, so she set the alarm for seven. She decided to shower there so all she would have to do at home was change and leave. She had been doing that a lot lately. Her mother hadn’t acknowledged her or talked to her since Scott made their announcement, and that was probably best.

  She already knew what she was going to wear. Because it was September, she had only a few more opportunities to wear her favorite summer dress. Pretty soon fall would settle in and winter clothes would be required, but September in Georgia was beautiful and the days were still warm and balmy. When she finished getting dressed, she made one final inspection in the mirror and walked out to the living room. She was sure her mother would still be asleep as she headed toward the kitchen for a quick bite of breakfast. She poured a bowl of cereal and sat down to eat when her mother entered the kitchen. She quickly gave her mother a nervous nod of greeting, but Marjorie ignored her and simply went to the sink and filled a pot for coffee.

  She knew better than to attempt small talk with her mother. Marjorie Miller hated
small talk. While growing up, Susan would frequently hear, “If it isn’t important, then don’t bother me with it,” and important to Marjorie Miller was only something that interested her. Since nothing that was happening to Susan interested her, they really had nothing to talk about.

  Susan was almost finished with her breakfast when her mother spotted the ring. She poured herself a cup of coffee and sat across the table from her daughter so she could get a closer look. Susan knew her mother was staring at the ring, and it made her nervous. There were a dozen ways her mother could react, and none were nice. Susan didn’t know what to do with her hands. She didn’t want her mother to think she was waving the ring in her face, but she didn’t want to put her hand in her lap either. Her mother would accuse her of trying to hide it, so she tried to behave normally and finish her cereal.

  “So! He’s showing off his family’s money. Rings like that are a ridiculous waste. But then, people like that have so much money they can afford to waste it.”

  There was absolutely nothing in the world in which her mother could not find fault, Susan momentarily considered correcting her mother’s facts. She wanted to inform her that Scott had purchased the ring with his own money, but realizing the futility of it, she remained quiet.

  She washed her bowl and put it away and said goodbye as she left the kitchen. She was not going to let her mother’s poisoned tongue make her angry. She was not going to be like her mother. She picked up her purse and keys and left.

  ***

  As soon as church was over and they had a bite of lunch, the five of them left for Aunt Gladys’s. Jefferson was a two-hour drive on a Sunday afternoon, and Gladys was expecting them around four. Gladys had moved to Jefferson years earlier with her husband, Karl. After Karl’s funeral, she had been tempted to sell their house and move back to Atlanta, near her beloved brother, but could not leave all the memories and friends she had made over the years.