by CeeCee James
Her mother had worked on her hair—no easy task—and it was pinned and sprayed to a near inch of its life. But, as long as you didn’t touch it, it appeared soft and shiny in an elegant updo with small sprays of white flowers tucked in the waves.
Lavina was in the living room, waiting for her. She’d wanted to give Elise a moment of privacy with her mom. That thoughtfulness pierced Elise’s heart. Knowing Lavina didn’t have a mom made her gesture all the more heartbreaking.
Lucy was already at the gazebo with Brad. Elise glanced at the clock.
“Yes,” her mom said softly. “It’s time.” She turned her daughter to look at her and searched her eyes. Finally, she smiled. “I can see you’re ready. This is what you want. You’ve grown so much from my little girl, to an uncertain young woman, to this confident, amazing, mature woman before me now. I’m so proud of you.”
Oh no. The lump was growing in Elise’s throat and her eyes were starting to feel suspiciously blurry. “Mom,” she croaked.
“Yes, dear?”
“I think you just called me old.”
“What? I never—”
They both burst into laughter. The tears came anyway, but it was much easier to endure.
With a final wipe under her eyes, her mom hugged her and headed from the room. Lavina poked her head in.
“My goodness, you look lovely. Quite a contrast from that crazy laughter I heard a second ago. I was afraid a flock of loons had committed a siege against this room.”
Elise smiled. “It was just my mom complimenting me.”
Lavina arched an eyebrow and then checked her lipstick in the mirror. “Before we go, I have something to tell you.”
“What?” Elise asked.
“Promise you won’t say a word?”
Elise rolled her eyes.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Lavina held her hands up. “I know better. Anyway, I’ve just become a twenty-five percent shareholder in a brand new restaurant.”
A shiver ran up Elise’s back. Like a flash, it came to her what her friend was going to say next. “You’re telling me…”
Lavina nodded. “Yep. You know how I’ve always loved pie. I’m the anonymous donation to Grandma Babe’s restaurant. She’s given me twenty-five percent ownership in the restaurant. We’re thinking about collaborating together on a new catering business!”
Elise smiled. “Vi, that’s wonderful. What made you decide to do that?”
“You know, I got to thinking. I’ve had a privileged life. You know I’m adventurous. But I’ve kind of just been focused on myself. I figured it might be nice to invest in something important. Maybe something a little outside of my comfort zone. But still something I love.”
“You’re the skinniest woman I know who loves food this much.”
“You know it, darlin’. Anyway, I have a lot of money now. I can give back. Besides, it would be good for me to have a project like starting a catering company to sink my teeth into. I might need a little distracting.”
Lavina glanced at Elise again, this time her eyes filled with uncertainty. “I wasn’t sure I was going to tell you this. I mean, on your wedding day, and all.”
“There’s more?” Elise was scared now. What had caused this transformation in Lavina? Was she sick? “You okay?”
Vi looked down, a little introspective. “I’m fine. Don’t worry. It’s just, maybe it’s my age, I don’t know. But I’ve been spending some time really thinking about what I wanted. Seeing you and Brad together has brought home the fact that time is ticking away.”
“Great, another person calling me old,” Elise said, trying to break the tension.
“Shut your mouth. You know what I mean. It made me take a good hard look at my relationship with Mr. G, and…”
Elise held her breath.
“And we’re broken up,” Lavina blurted it out. For a second, her lip wavered, and Elise thought she might cry, but she soldiered on. “I love him, I do. But, you know how I’ve wanted to have a family. He’s had years to decide, and he just keeps putting me off. I can’t keep wasting my time with someone who just doesn’t want the same. I just have to move on.” Lavina paused. “This is the first time I’ve been single since…. You know, it’s embarrassing, but I can’t remember when. Since before I was sixteen. Now that’s sad.”
“Aww, Vi.” Elise reached out to hug her friend. “You’re stronger than you think. You can do this on your own.”
“No, Elise,” Vi sniffled on her shoulder. “You’ve always been the strong one. You started over. You made it work. Now I’m following in your footsteps so be prepared to give me lots of advice.”
“Step one,” Elise grabbed her friend by the shoulders and looked her square in the eye. “No matter how messy it looks, you’re going to be okay. And I always have your back. Even when you do try to get me to wear a taffeta monstrosity.”
Lavina sniffled and laughed.
“Seriously! And in the winter! All I would need is a black top hat, and they’d be calling me Frosty.”
“Shut your face. That dress was amazing. A real Caroline Stacy!”
“Yeah, well, thanks but no thanks.” Elise looked fondly at her friend. “You going to be okay? With this whole wedding thing? Because you get an automatic get-out-of-maid-of-honor card. You can cash it in right now. Go chill out at the spa or something, instead.”
“Elise Pepper soon to be Carter. Are you kidding me?” Lavina turned Elise around by the shoulders and pushed her out the door. “I can’t even believe you’d suggest that. Now quit your dilly dallying. You have a wedding to attend.”
Chapter 22
Oh, boy. The tears are really flowing now. Elise took one look at the gazebo—at everyone’s hard work at decorating it— and then at her sweet man at the end waiting for her. I’m going to lose it. I won’t even be able to see to get down the aisle.
She sniffed and glanced at her dad. She hadn’t even gotten out of the car yet. No, she wasn’t going to make it.
“Aww, sweetheart,” Her dad tried to gently wipe the tear rolling down her cheek. It felt more like a bear paw going after a bit of honey, but she smiled at his effort.
His forehead creased as he tried to wipe again. “I’m not doing too great, am I?” He reached into his pocket for a handkerchief. “Here you go. Don’t cry. You’re going to make me sad.”
“You sad?” She sniffled and dabbed under her eyes. Then she smiled to show her dad that she was fine. “Why? I’ve already been down this road before.”
“Sweetheart, that’s something that I might never be able to explain to you. But seeing your daughter happy, knowing she’s going to have a good life. It gets me right here.” He clenched his fist and tapped his chest. “There’s nothing Mom or I ever wanted in this life more than to see our daughter happy.”
“I’m sorry it took me so long.” She sniffled again. “I kind of made a mess of things for a while there.”
He breathed out in that heavy way he always had when he was taking a moment to think. “Don’t live in the past, Eli. Live in the present. Get it? Present. It’s a gift. And every day you unwrap it, and you do your best with it. You take that opportunity to be grateful for something and to tell someone you love them, and you stack those presents one on top of each other knowing that you’re building something worthwhile.”
“And the messy mistakes?” she asked.
“The way you looked at me just now reminds me of when you were a little girl.” He chuckled. “You’d be coloring a picture and accidentally get out of the lines. Man, that’d make you mad. I remember taking one of those pictures and hanging it up in my office. One day, you came in and said, ‘Daddy, why did you put that up? I messed it all up.’”
His warm eyes twinkled under gray brows. “You remember what I said? I said it’s because it’s one of a kind. It’s a masterpiece. Just like you.”
He reached over and hugged her. And she tried her best to quit crying.
“I love you, Eli. You ready t
o get out?”
She nodded then, not even able to speak. She took a few slow, deep breaths to calm herself down.
“And would you look at that.” Her dad glanced up at the sky. “It’s starting to snow.”
Elise glanced out the window and saw it was true. Not a lot, just a few fairy flakes falling from the sky.
Her dad reached for her flowers on the seat and handed them to her. Tamara had done a beautiful job with pale peach roses, peonies and bay branches.
Her father got out and came around to her side of the car. He opened the door and helped her out. He squeezed her arm gently and smiled. A snowflake fell on her arm like an angel kiss.
Music floated through the air from the guitarist. Elise had no idea where Lavina had found him, but it was beautiful and calming.
There were more people seated there than she’d expected. Friends and family filled the white chairs that were lined up in rows before the gazebo. A length of red silk carpeted the grass walkway.
“Can everyone please stand,” the Pastor directed.
Everyone’s head turned in her direction. Brad caught sight of her and put his fist up to his mouth. She smiled in his direction, and he tried to smile back, but she could see he was fighting tears.
The guitarist played the wedding march, and her dad led her down the aisle. Lucy grinned from the front, while Lavina looked suspiciously puddly.
And then she was there, standing at the front, Brad staring at her like he never wanted to look away.
Her dad patted her arm. “You’ve got this, kiddo.” He nodded to Brad, and Brad came down and took her hand.
The Pastor led them through the simple vows. Elise could still hardly speak, her voice sounding strange in her ears.
When it came time for Brad to put the ring on her finger, he hesitated, his thumb gently stroking the back of her hand. “Elise.” His voice cracked, and he cleared it. “Typical. Being around you makes me feel like a teenager sometimes.”
Everyone laughed.
He smiled too, and started again. “Elise, when I first saw you in Math class all those years ago, I dreamed of this day. I don’t know what clued me in, or how I knew, but in my heart, I believed then we were meant to be together. But the reality of being with you is so much better than anything I ever dreamed. I promise to love you forever, and to treat you like the gift I know I’ve been given.” He slid the ring on her finger and kissed her hand.
Now it was Elise’s turn. She’d written it out, and practiced what she’d wanted to say, but now staring into his eyes, it all flew out the window. So she went with what her heart wanted to say.
Carefully, she held his wedding band. “With this ring I promise to love you, to always stand with you, to remind you of how awesome you are on those days you forget, to help you when you fall, to protect you and fight for you when you want to give up. To share the joys of life and remind you of them on the cloudy days.
“My dad once told me when I was a little girl that I didn’t need a Prince Charming. I needed a best friend and a partner, someone who would listen to me, respect me, and someone I could always respect. You are all of that, and my hero, too. I love you.”
“Aww, honey. I love you, too.” He brought her in to kiss her.
“Now hold up. I haven’t done the official pronouncing yet,” said the Pastor. He then pronounced them man and wife. “Now you can kiss your bride, young man.”
Oh, boy, did Brad kiss her. Amidst the whoops and laughs, the Pastor continued. “Ladies and Gentlemen, I now present to you Mr. and Mrs. Carter.”
Elise was in shock as they walked back down the aisle. Because, when Brad had dipped her back and been kissing her, he’d also whispered. “And, my little bet-winner, I’m taking you to Turks and Caicos for two weeks. How’s that for a honeymoon?”
At the end of the aisle, she looked into Brad’s eyes and smiled. “That was just about as close to perfect as a person could ask for.”
“Pretty amazing, huh? We did it,” he whispered as he hugged her.
“Just one second, darlin’s,” came Lavina’s drawl over the microphone. “On behalf of the Carters’, we’d like to invite you to a reception being held at Rose Hall. Everyone know how to get there?”
People in the audience yelled back.
Lavina responded to one smart-aleck comment, “And you there, Joseph, don’t be thinking….” Her voice trailed away. She stared out in the parking lot.
Elise turned to look. A black limousine was parked there, and a figure was walking toward them.
Goosebumps ran up her arms. Brad noticed and pulled her in close.
Around her, she could hear whispers.
“Is that Todd Gray, the lead singer of the Smoke and Glory country band?”
“Didn’t they win the CMA’s last year?”
“I know they went platinum.”
“He won best male vocalist of the year three years in a row!”
The man walked firmly down the bank, sunglasses on and cowboy hat pulled low over his brow.
Elise glanced up at Lavina. She was still staring, mouth open.
“Vi!” the man called. “Vi, I need to talk with you.”
The sound of her name got her moving. She put down the mic and walked briskly down the aisle.
“What are you doing here?” She glanced around at the guests.
“I can’t stand it. I can’t stand being without you. I’m so in love with you. Baby, we’ve got to figure this out. I don’t want to live without you. We’ve got to make this work. Please baby, I’m begging you. Right in front of God and all these people.”
She eyed him for a second. Elise held her breath waiting to hear what Lavina would say. “All right, darlin’. Let’s go talk.”
Vi met Elise’s gaze and winked at her as she slipped her arm through Mr. G’s.
Elise watched them walk down to the Angel Lake shore. Maybe Elise and Brad weren’t the only ones getting a happy ending today. She glanced up at Brad, not sure what to do next.
He cleared his throat. “Come on everybody! Get on down to the Rose house and help us celebrate. Drinks are on me!”
Everyone got moving with some laughter. Their family and friends surrounded them in hugs and congratulations.
It was a good day.
The End
Want a peek at the new Oceanside Hotel series? Here is Chapter one. And keep your eyes out for more of Elise, Brad and Lavina, plus brand new series coming soon!
Oceanside Mystery Series
Booked for Murder
Deadly Reservation
Final Check Out
Fatal Vacancy
Angel Lake Mystery series
The Sweet Taste of Murder
The Bitter Taste of Deception
The Sour Taste of Suspicion
The Honeyed Taste of Betrayal
The Tempting Taste of Danger
And my own personal story 2016 SIBA Memoir Winner Ghost No More
Booked for Murder
My name is Louisa May Marigold Swenson, Maisie for short. How in the world my parents got Maisie out of Louisa May or Marigold, I’ll never know. It’s my theory that my Momma wanted to name me Maisie to begin with, but with a Grandma named Louisa May, and a father whose favorite flower was of the many-petaled orange variety, she just had to sneak it in any old way she could.
Momma has called me Maisie for all of my life, only trotting out my full name when calling me home for dinner, or when she’d discovered the cookie jar was empty, or the dog had been given a haircut—although to be fair, I was five at the time. Still, I can hear her voice ring out over the air, especially at twilight on a summer’s eve.
And not just because it’s a childhood memory. No, Momma lives with me, along with her basset hound, Bingo. That dog is something else. The story that Momma tried to spin was that she got him for my birthday—my thirty-fourth birthday, mind you. Momma expected me to go ga-ga over the floppy-eared pup like I was still in pigtails unwrapping gifts under the
Christmas tree.
Well, I did go ga-ga. I can’t lie. Who could resist a basset hound puppy with those giant crocodile feet to match dark brown eyes?
Bingo adores me. I’d love to say that’s unique but, truth be told, he adores anyone with food. I’ve always said he’d betray our whole family for a French fry, which makes Momma frown. Although he loves all people, the dog is especially bonded to Momma, I think half because she’s always here with him and the other half because she keeps a box of Nabisco vanilla wafers nearby that she insists are to aid with her digestion. Kind of supports my theory, because I have a good feeling they help Bingo’s digestion pretty well, too.
I’m originally from Angel Lake, a gorgeous little town in Tennessee, but I recently scored my dream job down here in Starke Springs, Florida as a manager at the Oceanside Hotel, complete with a complimentary suite on the bottom floor. It’s only two blocks from the beach and near the most amazing amusement park. Not the iconic one with ear hats. We have a squirrel on ours. That’s just our thing, and we do treasure it.
Technically, I applied for the hotel manager’s job and moved down here from Tennessee to look after Momma. I wouldn’t tell her that, though. She’s apt to pull out a darning needle and threaten to chase me with it. Not that she could chase very far, but I’d rather not get her riled up.
Momma believes I moved here for the job, and because I’m desperate for her help in finding a man. “Maisie, you keep going like you are, and you’re going to be living in Spinsterville,” she likes to warn me. Her not-so-subtle hints let me know she secretly feels like she’s my last hope to find me a good match, and actually believes she’s the one taking care of me.
