by Rikki Dyson
The next pre-school lasted less than a week, and the teacher was not as polite as to why, ‘Little Stacey had to go.’ Stacey wasn’t always, ‘The devil’s spawn,’ she picked and chose her victims. She got along well with Tony and Rich. When they were five, Stacey and Tony started kindergarten. Things went well, most of the time. Tony found himself in trouble quite often because he followed, wherever Stacey led. As Rich got older so did he. Much of the time, Mr. Chen found himself with three troublemakers and not just one. When Stacey and Tony were three, Mr. Chen taught them how to swim in the big stock tank where the cattle drank. By the time they were in first grade, Tony was learning not to follow Stacey blindly, but to pick and choose the mischief for which he knew he was most likely going to be punished. His parents had no qualms about spanking. Sam and Jessie being professional people felt sure their little Stacey would out grow her mischievous ways.
Chapter-14
Sir Richard Heath
Lora Beth tried to give all of her great nieces and nephews equal attention, but there was something about Jessie’s little girl. She was a little devil and she got on her Gram Flemming’s nerves, but Lora Beth liked her best.
Sam’s practice was going well and so was the ranch. Jessie wanted very much to travel to other countries to study their ancient remedies. Her cousin, Stewart, Uncle Farley’s oldest son was an executive at American airlines. He had told Jessie many times, “If you wanna’ travel let me know. I’ll provide passage to wherever you wanna’ go.”
Jessie talked with Sam, then with her Aunt Lora. “Could you get time off for two weeks to go with Stacey and me? I don’t wanna’ leave my daughter behind. I wanna’ spend as much time with her as I can, but I know I can’t take her to the meetings.”
“Yes, I’ll be more than happy to travel and spend time with two of my favorite people,” Lora said.
Their first trip was to Arizona to speak with the Navajo people. To Lora Beth, this was a godsend. She had been rather lonely lately, remembering too much of the past. She had met men and dated, but just couldn’t find someone she knew she could love. There was no way she was going to tie herself down to a loveless marriage. This little bargain would give her two weeks each summer to look forward to, with anticipation.
Lora watched her great-nieces and nephews grow up to be fine young women and men. Stacey was the oldest, then Daniel and Lynn’s twin daughters, Brittany and Brandy. Four years later, they had a son, Cody. Suzanne and Paul’s daughter, Ashley was next and then four years later, another daughter, Jackie Sue. David and Melissa had twin sons, Dylan and Dusty born in nineteen-eighty-five. They were a year younger than their twin cousins, Brittany and Brandy Jessie’s youngest sister, Tracy and her husband Alan with daughter, Rebecca, eighteen and their son Robbie age fourteen. Then of course, there was her brother Douglas, he had children and grandchildren. Lora didn’t see them as often, but they were growing up fast too.
Sometimes she felt as if time was passing her by, but the time with Jessie and Stacey helped. Stacey was a fun child and was always full of energy. Everywhere they went, they found amusement parks and museums. They learned to surf in Hawaii and to hula in Tahiti. They toured castles in Germany, France, Ireland and England. While Jessie was collecting ancient remedies, Lora and Stacey toured the ruins in Italy, Greece, Turkey, Israel and Mexico. When Stacey was twelve, she fell in love with archaeology. This seemed to give her a smoother path to follow. Stacey had started settling down a bit when she was ten. Sam and Jessie had given her a Great Dane puppy for Christmas when she was eight. She named him ‘Scooby.’ Stacey was an unpredictable child. You might say, ‘she marched to a different drum.’ Stacey was extremely intelligent; however, she had little patience with her peers. When she became bored with others, she would just up and walk away. She kept her parents, teachers and Mr. Chen on their toes, trying to keep up with her. Scooby was better at this, than others were put together.
Lora watched Stacey grow from a rambunctious preteen into a captivating, vivacious, beautiful young woman. The older Stacey grew, the more she resembled her great-grandmother, Eleanor Macgregor. Now today is Stacey’s wedding day. Lora thought and wished in many ways that Eleanor could be there.
Stacey had met Doctor Shane McLeod in England in the summer of two-thousand-two. It had been a whirlwind romance; however, it had stood the test of a long distant courtship. Lora was very happy for her great-niece, however, was going to miss her terribly.
Lora looked at herself in the mirror one more time and told herself; pull up on the nonsense you have a wedding to attend.
Bradley called up the stairs, “Are you ready Lora?”
“Yes,” she said, “I’m coming.”
On board the jet, Jackie asked, “Are you okay, Lora?”
Lora smiled at her sister-in-law and said, “Yes, I’m okay, I admit I just let myself reminisce too far back.”
Jackie put her hand over Lora’s and gave her sister-in-law a poignant smile of understanding.
When they landed at the ranch, it was decorated beautifully with blue, silver and white ribbons from the pecan trees to the big barn where the service was being held. Lora along with Jackie was looking forward to meeting Shane’s family. The news of their unusual connection was still a bit mind-boggling. Stacey, in her ancestral search had compared her ancestral tree with Shane’s grandmothers, where she found more than one or two names in common. They now knew that Stacey and Grandmother McLeod’s matrilineal ancestors were twins. One had stayed in Scotland while the other had married an English army officer and transferred to the colonies in seventeen-forty. Now today the two Jacquelyn Suzanne’s would meet for the very first time at Stacey’s and Shane’s wedding.
Stacey and Shane drove the SUV’s out to pick up Shane’s family and Sir Richard Heath on the tarmac. Everyone was excited about the meeting of these two matriarchs. Afterwards, Stacey introduced her Houston relatives to Shane’s family and Sir Richard Heath. Stacey’s, Aunt Lora was coming down the stairs when Sir Richard saw her.
“Sir Richard, I would like for you to meet my Aunt Lora Flemming. Aunt Lora, this is Sir Richard heath.”
Lora extended her hand and said, “Pleased to meet you Mr. Heath.”
Sir Richard took Lora’s hand and said, “Please, call me Richard. I had heard you were lovely, but you are beyond expectation.”
Lora took her hand back and said, “As the recipient of such flattery, you may call me Lora.”
Richard asked, “Are you the sister of Stacey’s mother? I see the resemblance.”
“No, I’m Stacey’s mother’s aunt. Stacey is my great niece.”
Richard smiled and said, “Dear lady, I would be remiss, if I didn’t tell you what an extraordinary young woman I think Stacey is.”
“Thank you, we all feel that way about our Stacey.”
More of the family was arriving when Stacey asked, “Aunt Lora, will you please take care of Sir Richard and introduce him to the rest of the family as they arrive? Uncle Farley and his family just got here, also Gram’s great niece, Diana from California.”
“Of course, I will sweetheart,” Aunt Lora said. Then she turned to Richard and asked, “What heroic feat did you accomplish to receive knighthood?”
Sir Richard laughed and said, “Nothing heroic about what I do, I must admit. I was merely a financial adviser to the crown. I’m very accurate with numbers.”
“Good for you. Now come along and we’ll see how good you are at remembering names. I’m about to introduce you to what we lovingly refer to as, members of the tribe.”
“Ah, the gauntlet as been cast,” he said with a smile and a bow, “I accept the challenge, dear lady.”
As Lora, was taking him to the den where Farley and his family were, she was thinking to herself I like this guy. He’s fun and it doesn’t hurt that he resembles Sean Connery, with hair.
After meeting aunts, uncles, cousins, great aunts and great uncles, plus cousins so many times removed, Sir Richard turned to Lora and
asked, “How can one young woman have so many relatives? Now that she is married to Shane she has inherited more.” As he said this, he realized he had phrased it in the past tense.
Lora glanced at him, and then asked, “Would you care for something cool to drink?”
On their way to the kitchen, they passed Sam’s office-sanctuary. He stopped and asked, “May we?” He admired the glass door with the rearing horse, the pictures and Remington statues, the pewter chest set and the polished petrified wood coffee table. “Very nice,” he said.
However, Lora noticed he had a look on his face of peacefulness, as they headed to the kitchen and iced tea. They took their tea out to a swing on the verandah. “I have drunk tea all of my life, but this is my first time for drinking iced tea,” he said. “Actually it’s quite good.”
“Have you been to Texas previously?” Lora asked.
“No, I’ve never before had the opportunity, but I believe I’ll take this occasion to rectify that.”
Chapter-15
Getting Acquainted
And Reception
The wedding ceremony was over. Little Brandon had been so cute. Lora could tell by the way Shane handled little Brandon, he was going to make a wonderful father. She knew he and Stacey planed on having children as soon as possible. Lora had enjoyed the look of mirth on Richard’s face, while watching the antics of little Brandon. Later, at the reception, she asked, “Do you have children, Richard?”
He looked at her surprised and answered, “No, dear lady, I have never been married. Do you have children?”
Lora watched his reaction, as she said, “No, I’ve never been married either.”
“Why ever not, you are such a lovely woman?”
Lora touched his arm and said, “It’s a long story, however, not for a happy day such as this.”
“Right,” he said. “Would you care to dance then?”
After a couple of dances, Lora asked, “Would you like to change into something less formal, they’re serving barbeque and it can get messy, not to mention it’s quite warm? Our Texas summers are notoriously hot.”
“Yes, I believe I will, if you’ll excuse me, dear lady?”
Lora smiled to herself thinking what a polite man he is. These British men seem to have a knack of making a woman feel special. Lora watched him walk to the travel trailer he was sharing with Shane. While he was changing, she ran upstairs and did the same.
She slipped into slacks and a sleeveless blouse. Lora glanced at herself in the mirror on her way out of the room. She saw a woman with a smile on her face that she had not seen for years. Yes, of course, she had smiled, but not like this with sheer delight and happiness as today.
Lora felt alive; really alive for the first time in...she could not remember when. The ranch grounds were full of people and the pool and tennis court was full of young people. The ranch had always been a refuge for young people and today was no exception. Stacey’s wedding was quite an occasion for the little town of Rawhide.
Lora asked Richard, “Do you want to tackle the mob out there, or would you rather eat in here where it’s cool, and no flies?”
Jessie had set the senior members of the families in the dining room where the caterers would serve them. She asked her mother, “Will you look after everyone in here please? I need to get back to our guests outside.”
“Not to worry darling, I’ll look after everyone in here,” Jackie assured her.
Lora took Richard to the kitchen, where she helped their plates. They sat at the round red booth. Richard watched Lora serve their food from the center island, and their iced tea from the refrigerator.
“You certainly know your way around a kitchen,” he remarked.
She smiled at him and said, “Sir Richard, you have entered the realm of working people. You learn to either serve yourself or go hungry. I suppose it’s a little different for men. They have mothers, wives or girlfriends to depend on, but we working girls must depend on ourselves.”
“I’ve never thought about it that way,” he said. “I’m sure you’re right.”
As they were eating, they saw Stacey come in the kitchen through the back door with Brandon in her arms. Lora asked, “Where are you two off to on such a hot day?”
“Upstairs, to put some cooler clothes on my little guy, it’s awfully hot out there.”
“Darling, it’s your wedding day, can’t his mother do that?” Lora knew she had said too much, when Stacey turned. Lora put her hand up and said, “Sorry darling, go take care of little Brandon.”
“There seems to be a special bond there,” Richard said.
“Yes, she’ll be a furiously protective mother someday.”
When Stacey and Brandon came back down, he was in shorts and a tee shirt. Stacey came over, kissed her Aunt Lora and said, “Forgive me.” Then turned to Sir Richard and said, “Thank you for coming all this way. Shane and I are looking forward to seeing you in London. We have unfinished business.”
“Yes, we do. I’m also looking forward to our meeting with great anticipation.”
When Stacey and Brandon walked out the back door, Lora asked, “Do I dare ask what that’s all about?”
Richard patted her hand and said, “Dear lady, at the present I would rather you didn’t ask.”
Lora smiled at him and said, “Hum, a mystery. Now I am intrigued.”
To Richard’s amazement, Lora let it go at that. Richard had known many women and knew when their curiosity was aroused, they would wheedle and cajole until they received some sort of information. He was very impressed with this lovely woman.
It was seven p.m., and most of the adult people connected to the families had migrated to the house. When Stacey and Shane came in to say their, good byes, there were hugs, kisses and best wishes all around. When Jessie heard her daughter tell the McLeod’s, “We’ll see you at home.” It was all she could do to hold back her tears. She had driven Stacey to the airport many times to travel to one place or the other; however, this time seemed so finial. Her daughter was leaving to go live in her husband’s home, so far away. Sam seemed to know what his wife was feeling. He came and put his arms around her.
Jessie’s mother came to her and said, “Sweetheart, every mother goes through this, even if they’re just moving to the next town.”
Stacey came over, kissed her mom and dad and said, “We’ll see you New Years.”
Mr. Chen was waiting by the door. Shane shook hands with him and Stacey hugged and kissed him bye. He said, “You will see me before the New Year, little daughter.”
Stacey left with a smile on her face as the twins came in and said, “Make the ‘goodbyes’ short. We gotta’ go, if we’re gonna’ make the Houston connection.” Sam and Eric drove the SUV’s to the jet with the parties that were leaving.
Around ten p.m. Sam and Jessie along with Mr. Chen brought in champagne before the Scott and Cohen families left. It was an extraordinary occasion to have the entire families on both sides together for the celebration of Stacey and Shane’s wedding.
Bradley Flemming stood up and said, “My wife, Jackie and I wanna’ propose a toast to our granddaughter Stacey and her husband Shane. May their marriage be a long and happy one!
“Here, here,” Sam said. “From your lips to god’s ears.”
Jessie was sitting on the floor with feet tucked under her smiling. Lora asked, “What are you smiling about, Jessie?”
“I was just remembering when Stacey was little and would climb upon the piano and yell for dear life, “Dis mine, dis mine.”
“Yes, I remember,” Lora, said. “And she learned to play it like it was hers too.”
Mr. Chen chortled and said, “Yes, and the dining table also, remember? She would pull out a chair, climb up in it, then upon the table and claim her ownership.”
Jessie and Sam nodded their heads, laughed and said, “Yes, how could we forget. Plus a temper fit when she didn’t get things her way.”
Aunt Lora asked, “I wonder from whom she
acquired that temper?” The Flemming family all looked at Jessie and laughed.
Elizabeth McLeod said, “Well, they’ll compliment one another. Shane has always been a very placid person. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen him angry.”
“I have,” Andrew said. “Perhaps you should go fishing with us. When he loses a fish off his line, he says, “Bloody bugger.” The British families all chortled.
“Their children should be an interesting combination,” Grandmother McLeod said.
The families spent about an hour reminiscing about the childhoods of the newly weds.
Shortly afterwards, the older people adjourned to their beds. It had been an exciting, eventful day. Tomorrow they would all be flying to Houston, then Monday morning on to Canada.
Stacey’s older cousins had stayed at the hotel in town. They arrived back at the ranch in time for breakfast. They had said goodbye to their Uncle Farley and his family, plus Alan and Tracy. Rebecca and Robbie were going to spend a couple of weeks with their grandparents. The cousins had driven from Houston early for the rehearsals. Now the young people from Australia and Canada wanted to drive to Houston so they could see some of Texas.
Jessie asked, “Aunt Lora, will you drive my Daimler to Houston? All the young people won’t fit in Brittany’s SUV.”
“Of course, darling, I’ll be happy to do so and keep an eye on them.”
“Would you mind terribly if I rode with you as well? I fancy to see more of Texas also,” Sir Richard said.
Jessie whispered in Sam’s ear, “I just bet it’s more of Texas he fancies to see.”
Sam kissed her cheek and said, “As we tell little Brandon, be nice now.” Jessie pulled her husband into the hall, put her arms around him and kissed him.
The next morning, Daniel and David loaded the jet and flew fifteen passengers to Houston. Two SUV’s had left an hour earlier for the same destination. Lora stopped at a McDonalds on the way, that’s where the kids wanted to eat. She had called Brittany on her cell phone and told her, “Pull in at Mickey D’s, that’s where my troops wanna’ eat.” Sir Richard was all for McDonald’s too, since he’d never eaten there. He gave a high-five to the troops and said, “Its jolly nice to be considered as one of you chaps.”
