Tori thought about the times she’d been on the other side of this table. She absolutely loved to watch people unwrap the presents she gave them. It was fun to see their faces light up, no matter whose gift they opened. She took a deep, calming breath.
Okay, God, help me to give them a gift, too.
Lexie figured which gift bag a card went with and handed both to Tori.
“This one is from Liz,” Tori said and waved her fingers at her friend. She read the card, laughing at the message, then opened the gift bag. She pulled out a small box and opened it. It was a beautiful silver necklace with two hearts joined together.
“‘First comes love’,” she read aloud from the tag inside. “This is beautiful, Liz.”
She pulled a large box wrapped in tissue paper out of the gift bag. “‘Then comes marriage’,” she read from another tag taped to the outside. She pulled off the tissue paper and sucked in her breath. The box was decoupaged in all kinds of pictures and little decorations.
There were pictures of Tori and Joe that she remembered posting on her Facebook page. Pictures from a bridal magazine, pictures from a home and garden magazine, and words like “love” and “forever.” Four black picture corners in the center of the top of the box waited for a new photo.
Tori opened the box to find the inside decorated as beautifully as the outside. Lying on the bottom of the box was a picture of Liz and Tori in front of one of the big roller coasters at Cedar Point in Ohio. It was taken in junior high when the church youth group went down for a weekend. Liz had decorated the picture to make it look like a Polaroid. On the bottom, she’d written “Best day ever — until now.”
Tori teared up. She couldn’t read it aloud. “Tissues, please!” she barely got out.
Sam ran for tissues while Hayley leaned over Tori’s shoulder and described the gift to the crowd. “Aww, that’s so sweet, Liz.”
Several people joined in with “Aww.”
Tori held the picture to her heart and smiled at her friend. “I’m framing this,” she told her.
Liz picked up her napkin and dabbed at her eyes. She waved her hand at the bag. “Keep going. There’s one more.”
Tori reached inside and drew out another tissue-wrapped bundle with one more note. “‘Then comes a baby in a baby carriage!’” Tori rolled her eyes and grinned. So much for trying to convince Liz there was no baby coming soon. She unrolled a piece of cloth to find a cute baby rattle. Unfolding the cloth, she found a hand painted baby bib. Amid the colorful pictures it read, “I love Aunt Liz.”
Tori laughed and held it up for people to see. “Thank you, but don’t be offended if I don’t use it for a couple of years,” she said to Liz.
Her friend shrugged. “The best laid plans…”
Sam took Liz’s gifts and carefully fit everything back in the bag. Then Lexie handed her more presents. Tori remembered what her mom said and made sure everyone could tell how much she loved everything.
There were handmade Christmas ornaments with their names and wedding date, a set of four hand-tatted lace doilies shaped like snowflakes, a satin bathrobe that was definitely not for staying warm, and so much more.
Or less, depending on how you looked at it. Hayley gave her a barely-there teddy from Victoria’s Secret. “Really, Hayley,” Tori said loudly so everyone could hear. “You couldn’t give me something like this in private?” Then she leaned over and hugged her. “It’s beautiful, thank you.”
“Just don’t tell me anything more than ‘he liked it,’ okay?” Hayley laughed.
After Tori opened the last gift, Sam presented her with her bridal shower ribbon bouquet. Tori didn’t know how she’d done it, but Sam had twisted some of the ribbons into flowers, braided others to make an edging, and left trailing tendrils to hang from Tori’s hands when she held the bouquet. She’d also braided the silver and white ribbons together to create a headpiece that looked like something out of a Disney movie.
“Sam,” Tori breathed as Sam arranged the ribbons on her hair. “This is beautiful.” She hugged her little sister tight. Since they hadn’t lived in the same house for several years, Tori hadn’t realized how much she didn’t know about Sam, like how artistic she was. “Wow.”
All the ladies ooh’d and ahh’d and suddenly everyone had a phone or a camera in hand, taking pictures. Tori smiled and grinned and hugged and laughed and smiled some more. By the time the last of the guests had left, her cheeks ached. But her heart was overflowing.
“Lex, Hayley, Sam, that was wonderful. Really beautiful.” She hugged them each in turn. “Thank you so much. That was the loveliest shower I could have imagined.”
She turned to Joe’s mom. “Hannah, thank you so much for this. I hope your family thinks I’m…” She fluttered her hand, trying to think of a word better than “okay.”
Hannah hugged her tight. “They think you’re wonderful,” she said. “You and your whole family.”
Tori smiled and felt her usual quieter self return. She ducked her head to hide the blush she feared was blooming. “Oh…well, good. Um, do you need help cleaning up?”
“You girls go on, I’ve got it covered.” Hannah pointed behind Tori to four women coming down the stairs. “The troops have arrived.” At Tori’s questioning glance, she clarified, “My Bible study offered to do the cleanup today.”
The ladies waved and called out greetings to each other. Tori recognized one woman, but didn’t know her name. These strangers had come to help make her day perfect. Wow.
Tori turned to her mother. “Mom,” she started to speak as she hugged her, but her throat closed up. Dixie held her close, rocking her slightly in her arms. Neither of them said anything, just sniffled and held on.
Eventually Dixie pulled back. She placed her hands gently on the sides of Tori’s face. “I love you.”
Neither one of them mentioned any of their struggles to get along over the years, the fights, the misunderstandings, the times Danny had to step in and negotiate peace. They just stoodtogether for a moment.
“I love you.” Tori poured her heart into the words, willing her mom to believe she meant it, no matter what.
“It’s been a beautiful day,” Dixie said. “Everything a young bride could want. You could treasure up these moments,” her words began to trip over each other as she hurried to get them out, “and have a lovely June wedding. June is a beautiful—”
“Mom,” Tori interrupted. She tried to stay calm. “A Christmas wedding is beautiful, too.”
“Spring then,” Dixie pressed. “I’m not asking you not to get married. Just let us get to know him better, makesure this will…”
Tori knew her mom was going to say,make sure this will work. She gave her credit for not finishing the sentence, at least. Danny had said more than once that it wasn’t that they didn’t trust Tori’s ability to make sound decisions, but that a few weeks wasn’t long enough to know if you could make a fifty-year life together.
Tori couldn’t explain how, but shedid know. “Mom, I appreciate your concern for me, but I’m marrying Joe on Wednesday.” She was trying to decide if she should say more, press her case, but they’d been over this a dozen times.
Dixie took a deep breath and stepped back a step. “Okay,” she said, wiping a finger below each eye, “go get dressed. Fix your makeup. Have fun andbe safe. And keep Sammie safe,” she added.
“I will, Mom. Don’t spoil Ben too much.” Tori wiped her eyes and turned to grab her bag and head for the ladies’ room with the other girls. For all that her mom had been trying to get her to reconsider her rush to the altar, except for the last two minutes, today she was the epitome of support. Tori closed her eyes for a moment and willed herself to commit this day to memory. Hard to say how long this truce would last.
Chapter 5
JOE straightened his cuffs as he looked in the mirror. The alterations were perfect, no small feat for a man of his size. The last time he’d worn a tuxedo must’ve been the twins’ weddings about four years ag
o. He was pleasantly surprised. Tori would probably like this look.
The tailor at the tuxedo shop made a few adjustments and stepped back again, eyeing Joe critically from every angle. He finally nodded his head. “Good.”
Joe nodded back. “I’m sure my friends will be here any minute. Work must’ve kept them.”
The man nodded and returned to his station behind the curtain.
All of the Paladins in the various sectors of the city were taking shifts to patrol their own neighborhoods as well as to provide backup when one of them had a holiday event, or to give added protection to the worst areas of the city. Stretch’s team agreed to cover Joe’s team’s area during Joe’s wedding, and an older team offered to cover tonight when many of Joe’s friends would be at his bachelor party.
That didn’t explain where his non-superhero brother Carl was, though. Joe looked at his watch. Right as someone punched him hard in the arm. Joe turned to see his big brother coming in for another swing. They traded a few punches and fell into a backslapping hug that would’ve felled smaller men.
The sharp sound of a clearing throat cut short their greeting.
The tailor stood nearly a foot shorter than Joe, and must be easily sixty pounds lighter. But he had the same commanding presence as Joe’s old high school principal, Mr. Granger. Carl must’ve sensed it as well because he, too, stood up straight, hands to himself.
Joe whispered to his brother, “You’re late.”
“Kids,” Carl whispered back. “You can’t make them listen and you can’t trade them in.”
Joe snickered. When the tailor raised his eyebrow, Joe put on a more serious expression. Apparently, grooms were supposed to act more mature. He stood waiting for the tailor to tell him what to do.
The tailor appeared to be waiting for Joe to do something. He finally swished his hand at Joe. “You may take that off now.Carefully.”
The rest of the men in the bridal party — Bull Kincaid, Mickey Valient, and Darian Johnson — all walked in together a few minutes later as the tailor adjusted Carl’s trousers.
“Hey, guys!” Joe called. “Where ya been?” He pointed to his watch. “Another time zone?”
Joe saw the tailor give Carl a menacing glare for waving. He stepped back. Safer to stand over here with his friends. “Hey, you guys better hurry,” he said quietly, shaking hands and doing fist bumps. “The little guy is getting perturbed.”
The men started toward the back room to find their tuxedos. Another loud throat-clearing stopped them in their tracks. That tailor could say more without saying anything. Joe tried not to smile.
While Carl’s tuxedo was tweaked—“What have you been eating?” Joe heard the tailor ask his brother—Joe asked the others about work.
“Aw, man,” said Darian, “there werefive muggings in Memorial Park last night. And those are just the ones that got away.”
“What happened?” Joe asked.
“Christmas party,” said Mickey with a scowl.
Joe frowned.
“Sector Eight had a team Christmas party,” Bull explained, “and J-Mac forgot to tell his Sector One team that they were to cover for them.”
“Irresponsible.” Mickey shook his head. “Someone could’ve been hurt.”
“But they weren’t,” Darian said soothingly. “We can’t be everywhere, neither can the police. One starfish at a time, buddy.” Darian slapped Mickey’s shoulder. “Who’s covering for us tonight?”
“Sector Eight,” Mickey grumbled.
Joe and Bull grinned at Mickey’s fresh scowl. The man was a perfectionist in the worst way, and a tough team leader as Tick Tock. But the three of them and Hayley Addison worked well together keeping Sector Seven safe from the worst of Double Bay’s crooks and criminals.
Darian slapped Mickey’s back and gave him a reassuring smile. He was a glass-mostly-full kind of guy and loved to compare their superhero work with the story about a guy saving starfish on a beach — we can’t save them all, but we can help as many as we can. Joe liked his attitude. Too bad he served with Sector Four. It would be fun to work together more often than just the high-crime Christmas season.
The tailor, finished with Carl, brought over three garment bags, handing them to each man without asking for names. Joe didn’t know how he could remember so many people’s names and faces. Must be a gift.
The man stared up at Darian. “I know your face, but the name isn’t right. You are related to Cesar Johnson, yes? Michigan Wolverines basketball?”
Darian grinned. “He’s my little brother.”
The tailor actually smiled. “Excellent player. How is his knee?”
“He’s walking again. Beat the odds. Got hired a few months ago by a high school south of Ann Arbor to teach English and coach basketball.”
The tailor beamed at Darian and clasped his arm briefly. “That is wonderful news. Blessings on your family.” Then the stern expression returned. “Now dress, all of you.” He swished his hand toward the curtained area.
In between the trying on, the final adjustments, and the tailor letting out a button on Carl’s tuxedo jacket—“No more cookies untilafter the wedding,” scolded the tailor—Joe told the guys about the morning’s terrifying events.
“There I was, staring Tori’s dad, Danny Lewis, in the eye —as Superhero X!” Joe wiped his hand across his eyes. “What if he recognized me?”
“Did he?” asked Carl.
Joe shrugged. “I don’t know. But if he says something to Tori…”
“I was there, man,” said Darian, “and the guy had the same shell-shocked expression everybody does when they’re being robbed. He didn’t recognize you.”
“I can’t let any of her family know until she knows,” Joe said. “I’m just saying, we’ve got to be careful.”
“So tell her, already,” said Mickey.
“I’m going to,” Joe heard his voice rising with a defensive ring. “As soon as I’m sure she…that she…” He rubbed his chest, unsure how to put it in words.
“You want to be sure she loves you for you,Joe, before she has to decide what she thinks about X,” Carl stated, as if it were obvious.
Joe glanced at him in surprise.
“I get it, brother,” Carl said. “You want to make sure the glue has hardened before you have to test it.”
Joe nodded. “But Dad’s not…”
“He may be a superhero, but he’s also a pastor with a whole other agenda of things he thinks are important. And he’s our dad. You know he’s gotta be feeling protective.”
Joe raised his eyebrows. “No, actually, I hadn’t thought of that. I thought he was acting tough as the head of the Paladin’s Guild.”
“That, too,” Mickey said with a firm nod.
Carl clapped Joe on the back. “When you have kids, you’ll understand. I’m beginning to get it now after thirteen years of being someone’s dad. I think parents are always a little messed up in the head. There’s more second-guessing going on up here,” Carl tapped his temple, “than a squirrel trying to cross a four-lane road.”
Carl was the only married one of the group. Even though he didn’t have powers, Joe’s oldest brother had always been a fount of wisdom in just about everything Joe had ever needed to learn. If Carl understood why Joe was feeling nervous about explaining his family to his fiancé, then Joe must not be completely out of line.
“Or you could not get married,” Mickey said.
Joe glared at him.
“What? I’m just stating the obvious. I’m sure I’m not the only one thinking it.” Mickey looked around at the others but no one would meet his eye.
“You love her, marry her,” Bull said, folding his arms over his chest. “Everything else will work out.”
Joe took a deep breath. “Okay, so tonight, we need to make sure no one gets too drunk and forgets that they’re in public — or forgets that Tori’s brother will be with us. Agreed?”
“Relax, man,” Darian slapped his back. “It’s just a ba
chelor party.”
JOE’S friends had arranged for a private room at the back of a local sports bar. Most everyone had already arrived. Driving over had taken longer than usual because the long-awaited snow had finally started to fall. People were driving as if they couldn’t remember what to do when the white stuff came down.
As Joe walked in, a loud chorus of yells and whistles and raucous cheering filled the air. The dark wood tables were already covered with pizzas, hot wings, chips and salsa, mozzarella sticks, and pitchers of beer. His younger brother Stuart and Tori’s brother Kevin stood at the door collecting car keys in empty French fry baskets.
Joe’s friends came over, slapping him on the back, ribbing him about his rush to get married, and talking animatedly about the Notre Dame football game on one of the televisions. Joe saw basketball on another television, and his brother Eddie was up on a chair trying to change a golf channel on a third TV. A waitress in a short skirt laughingly told him to get down.
Yup, it was gonna be a good night.
Joe shucked his coat, took the beer his brother Eddie handed him, and grabbed a slice of pizza with everything. As soon as the Notre Dame game hit half-time, his friends crowded around the entrance to the room. Joe started to walk over to see what was going on, but Bull pulled him back.
“Hold on there, buddy.” Bull grinned at him and folded his arms over his chest. “Just watch.”
Music beat heavily from the direction of one of the food tables. A moment later, the crowd of men parted in a riot of whistles and calls. A beautiful young woman dressed in what appeared to be only a Norte Dame football jersey sauntered in toward Joe.
Darian pulled up a chair in the center of the room and several hands forced Joe to sit. He groaned and laughed and didn’t put up too much of a protest.
A Very Merry Superhero Wedding (Adventures of Lewis and Clarke) Page 5
