The Wedding Pearls

by Carolyn Brown

  “I was a cheerleader until I got caught, so now I’m, like, off the team. The other four were smoking pot with me, but they got out before the teacher caught me. They promised that they’d still be my friends.” She pointed up at the clouds. “That one looks like an angel.”

  “And that one looks like a teddy bear.” Tessa pointed in the opposite direction. “So how are the other girls reacting?” Tessa pushed on.

  “Natalie is the head cheerleader and is, like, just the most popular girl in the whole school. If the others don’t do what she says, then she will figure out a way to, like, get them kicked off the squad, so we all basically do what she says. Oh. My. God! Do you think she got me kicked off the squad so that she could have Albert? She’s the one who is dating him now!” Melody clamped a hand over her mouth as if she’d only that moment seen the big picture.

  Tessa laced her hands behind her head. “What do you think?”

  Melody sat straight up. “I wondered why they all had to, like, leave in a hurry, and right after they were gone, a teacher came right in the bathroom. Surely she wouldn’t do that. I mean, we’ve been best friends since, like, summer started. She’s the one that told me all the girls were having sex and I’d better get with the program or she’d see to it I wasn’t a cheerleader.”

  “And who was your best friend before Natalie?”

  Melody slapped herself on the forehead. “I’m, like, so stupid, Tessa. My best friend was Jill and has been since kindergarten. We planned to finish high school and go to college together and then, like, open up our own computer tech business. We’re both good at that. What have I done?”

  “Were you happy when Jill was your friend and these mean girls weren’t controlling you?” Tessa asked.

  Melody nodded and wiped a single tear from her cheek.

  “You made a big mistake, but I bet it can be fixed. What you ought to do is go up to your room and call Jill. Talk to her and tell her that you’ve missed her being in your life. Share everything with her like you used to do and go back to being the girl you used to be when you were happy,” Tessa said.

  “I was happy before all this cheerleading shit.” Melody nodded seriously. “But, Tessa, what if she won’t talk to me? If she’d deserted me for a bunch of cheerleaders, I wouldn’t talk to her.”

  Tessa laid her hand on Melody’s. “Never know unless you try.”

  “How’d you get to be so smart?”

  “I lived through being sixteen.” Tessa bit back a giggle. This was far too serious to Melody to laugh about it. “Want to continue this jog, or have you got other things to do?”

  “I’m going to take a shower and then call Jill,” Melody said.

  “Good luck.” Tessa sat up. “See you at six thirty for supper.”

  “Thanks.” Melody popped up on her knees and wrapped her arms around Tessa, hugging her tightly before she stood up and ran back toward the hotel entrance.

  Tessa hoped that Jill and Melody could get over their differences. Everyone needed a friend in their corner. Clint had been her Jill, and she couldn’t imagine being sixteen and not having him around to support her.

  A squeak took her attention to a side door into the hotel. Branch came through it, crossed the yard in a few long strides, and sat down right where Melody had been not two minutes before. “I started out to the Caddy to get my laptop. Forgot and left it in the trunk when I saw you talking to Melody. It looked serious, so I didn’t want to disturb y’all.”

  “Girl problems. Being sixteen isn’t easy,” Tessa said.

  “That’s the gospel truth whether you are a girl or a boy at that age. We’re probably putting grass stains on our shorts.”

  “They sell khaki shorts in your size every day at Walmart.” She smiled.

  “Want to tell me what girl problems our young friend is having?” Branch asked.

  Tessa shook her head. “Can’t break the laws of confidentiality.”

  “Lawyer-client privilege, huh?” He grinned.

  “Something like that. More like friend-slash-friend privilege,” she answered.

  “So does that mean if we talk about things that you won’t tell anyone?” His hand closed over hers and he squeezed gently.

  “If we are friends?” She nodded. Why, oh why couldn’t Frankie have hired an old gray-haired married man to drive them around the state?

  “Maybe we can make that happen.” He moved his hand.

  She wrapped her arms back around her knees and laced her fingers together. They felt hot and tingly, but at least they didn’t have the ability to blush.

  He popped up on his feet and extended a hand. “I’ve got one more phone call to make and I’ll meet you in Melody’s room in half an hour for supper.”

  “Thank you, but I think I’ll sit here a few more minutes before I go inside. I think Lola needs some privacy.”

  “Oh?” He raised a dark eyebrow.

  “A couple of times I’ve walked in and she’s been chatting—or maybe I should say Skyping—with a man on her laptop, and she looked happy. I caught his face a split second before she pushed a button and he disappeared. All I could tell was that he wears glasses and has a thin face.”

  “Really? I wonder if Frankie knows,” Branch said.

  “Have no idea. I thought I’d give her some privacy if she needs it. See you in half an hour,” Tessa said, and she watched him from the corner of her eye until he disappeared into the hotel.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Folks must’ve thought that Frankie and Ivy were true celebrities, with the huge bodyguard escorting them into the casino that evening. He walked a respectful foot behind them, but his eyes kept sweeping the whole place as if he were looking for the paparazzi.

  “I feel young again,” Ivy said.

  Frankie chuckled. “Smart move in giving Horace extra money to pretend to be our bodyguard, wasn’t it? I bet he was a marine or maybe a pro football player.”

  “No, ma’am.” Horace chuckled. “I was in the navy and I was a cook. I come from real big people. Miz Ivy, you sure you don’t want me to take care of Blister for you?”

  Ivy glanced over her shoulder. “No, you keep acting like you are our bodyguard.”

  “Y’all really do need one, you know. What with all that jewelry, someone might knock you in the head to get at it,” he said.

  “Horace, I carry a pistol in this big purse, and there ain’t nobody takin’ a thing from any of us,” Frankie said.

  “Then I’ll keep the paparazzi away like I been doin’, ma’am.” Horace chuckled.

  “So what do you think of those looks that’s been goin’ on between Tessa and Branch?” Frankie changed the subject.

  “I reckon they like what they see, but I’m tellin’ you right now, us old farts are stayin’ out of that deal. We got involved in Lola’s love life and look what it got us. She ran off, came back broken, and never has been the same since. I never understood why she knitted all them pink baby caps until now,” Ivy said.

  Frankie sighed. “I wouldn’t mind if Tessa and Branch fell in love. Lola would have family closer that way. You are right, Ivy, we shouldn’t have interfered with her and that boy she was in love with, but Lester, he wasn’t having a hippie kid like that for a son-in-law. If he’d been clean-cut and tucked his shirttail in and maybe shaved that scraggly stuff off his face before he came to the house that first time, things might’ve gone different.”

  Ivy drew her painted-on eyebrows down and shook her finger at her friend. “We’re here to have fun, not worry about the kids. Lord, I’m glad I never had any.”

  Another gravelly chuckle came from Frankie and she pushed her way up off the bench. “Honey, it took both of us to get Lola raised and we didn’t do such a good job even then.”

  Horace stopped at the entrance into the gaming room. “Where would you like to begin? Blackjack tables? Slots? Name your poison.”

  “Blackjack,” Frankie said.

  “If we win more than ten thousand, we’re going to gi
ve you a thousand-dollar bonus,” Ivy said.

  “Well, then.” Horace kissed them each on the forehead. “That’s for good luck. Now, let the winning begin.”

  Lola was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the bed, her blonde hair up in a towel, makeup all washed off and a green mask applied to her face. A picture was on the computer screen and the speakers picked up deep-throated laughter.

  She smiled. “Stop laughing. I’ve been riding in a convertible with the wind blowing on my face, so I need this moisturizing mask or else I’m going to come home wrinkled up like an old prune. You wouldn’t love me if I looked like I was a hundred and ten.”

  “You would look beautiful in a tow sack, darlin’,” he said.

  Lola was glad the green goo covered up the blush. Even after more than a year of secretly dating Inez’s younger brother, Hank, she still had trouble with compliments. “I know exactly what I look like. I’ve only got a few minutes until I have to wash this off and go to Mama’s room for supper. She and Ivy have hired a limo to take them up to that casino over the line into Oklahoma, but Melody is here and we’re having supper in that room.”

  “Pizza again?” he asked.

  “No, we stopped by a church festival on the way here. Did Inez show you the pictures?”

  “Oh, honey, she squealed when she saw what all you’ve found. I miss you, Lola. I can’t believe we have to go a whole month without seeing each other. Think if I showed up in the same town you could sneak out for a night?” he asked.

  “That ain’t damn likely,” Lola said. “I’m rooming with Tessa and I wouldn’t have any idea how to explain that to her.”

  “So how is it going with you two? That picture of her and Branch sitting at the picnic table reminds me of you. But not her eyes. Do those belong to her father?” he asked.

  “I didn’t know which of those guys fathered her until she showed up that Sunday for dinner. I do now, and it would have to be the worst in the lot but the prettiest one. She reminds me of him in the way she smiles. She’s got my awkwardness and Mama’s big heart, but there’s something else, probably from Sophie. It’s a softness that neither Mama nor I have.”

  Hank wasn’t handsome or rich, but he made her feel special and he always put a smile on Lola’s face. “Sounds like you are kind of proud of her, but honey, I disagree about that softness. You’ve got it, but you keep it tucked away pretty deep so folks can’t hurt you.”

  “I am proud of her. I realize she won’t ever think of me as her mother, but I think we might be good friends. She’s a better person than if I’d stayed in that commune and raised her.”

  Hank leaned forward until all she could see was his eyes. “Who are you trying to convince? Me or you?”

  “Oh, hush. I’m going to wash my face, get dressed, and go eat chili and soup and fresh-baked bread and chocolate chip cookies. And I think Mama bought a tray of lemon bars.” She winked.

  Hank sat back and folded his arms across his chest. “You are horrible, mentioning lemon bars to me when I’m too far away to get any of them. They’re my favorite. Now, that’s what I want and the bakery in Beaumont is closed. I may show up on your doorstep to pay you back for that.”

  “I know. I’ll take a picture of them and send it to you in tomorrow’s e-mail.”

  Hank chuckled. “You do and I’ll put the one I snapped off my screen on Facebook and declare than I am in a relationship with Lola Laveau.”

  “They will never find your body if you do that.” Lola groaned.

  “Then don’t mention lemon bars to me unless you are standing in front of me with them in your hands. Good night, and Inez told me before I left the shop that she sold four thousand dollars’ worth of stuff today. I’ll talk to you tomorrow night!”

  Sophie started talking when she answered Tessa’s call. “Where are you? Are you okay? I’ve been waiting by the phone all evening. Please tell me your father and I didn’t give you bad advice. If we did, say the word and we’ll be there to bring you home as soon as we can get there.”

  Tessa had dreaded making the phone call, but now that she heard her mother’s voice everything was fine. “Mama, you and Daddy didn’t give me bad advice. We are in Gainesville tonight. And everything is okay.”

  “Are you keeping a journal like I suggested? What does Lola look like these days?” The anxiety in Sophie’s voice settled and now she was being a nosy mother.

  “I don’t know what she looked like in those days. Did she have tattoos?” Tessa sat down in an uncomfortable chair in the lobby.

  “One on her shoulder of a bunny. It wasn’t healed up all the way when they got to the commune. Does she have more now?”

  A family checked in with two little children who eyed her from behind their mother’s skirt. “Now she has a rose on the other shoulder—said she thought she might name me Tessa Rose, so that’s why she chose that one—and a symbol on her ankle that means happiness.”

  Sophie sighed.

  “Are you all right, Mama? You’re not sick, are you?”

  “No, I miss you.”

  Tessa laughed softly. “I miss you, too. I was sitting here thinking about you and your dance class today. Then this cute little blonde-haired girl came in wearing a tutu. I wish I could have danced for you.”

  Sophie laughed. “Oh, hush. You’ll have me in tears. I’m glad you are who you are. So you have a tutu mama and a tattoo mama.”

  “I have one mama. Lola and I are probably going to be friends, but you are my mother,” she said.

  “Thank you,” Sophie said with a catch in her voice. “I hope you are friends.”

  Tessa winked at the little girl and she smiled shyly, then turned her head away. “Lola is like a bird with a broken wing and she needs me to be her friend, but she’s satisfied with our relationship; I can feel it. She knits pink caps for newborns and hums lullabies.”

  The silence was so long that Tessa held out the phone to be sure she hadn’t lost service. “Mama?” she said.

  “I’m sorry. Poor Lola. You said it right, Tessa. She really was like a little bird that had fallen out of the nest too early. Wasn’t sure how to fly or how to stay away from the predators. Bless her heart,” Sophie said softly.

  The little girl waved as she and her family pulled their suitcases to the elevators. Tessa wiggled her fingers at the child.

  “Lola is going to teach me how to knit,” she told her mother.

  “Good luck with that.” Sophie laughed.

  “I know. It’s probably an impossible situation.” Tessa laughed.

  “Oh, not that it has anything to do with your condition,” Sophie said quickly. She never used the words clumsy or awkward, not once in Tessa’s lifetime. It was always her condition. “I tried to knit when you was a baby. I wanted to make you a special blanket. That thread crawled up my arms and tried to strangle me to death.”

  It was Tessa’s turn to sit in stunned silence.

  “Tessa Ruth, are you still there?” Sophie asked.

  Tessa gasped. “I thought you had a Super Woman cape in your closet. I didn’t think there was anything you couldn’t do.”

  “Sorry, darlin’. But there are no capes hiding anywhere in this house. I can dance, but I cannot knit, crochet, or do any of those things that require finger dexterity. I got all my talent in my feet, along with a healthy supply of rhythm and balance. If you learn to knit, I want a scarf for Christmas. Purple will be fine.”

  “I’ve got fifteen minutes to get a quick shower and go to Frankie’s room. That’s where we’re having supper, but she and Ivy won’t be there. They hired a limo to take them to a casino, so there will only be the four of us. I’ll send you a long e-mail later telling you about Melody. I think I made friends with her today.”

  “Tessa, honey, you make friends wherever you go. You’ve always drawn people to you, especially those with problems that need fixing. That’s you. Good night, and I’ll look to hear from you in a couple of days, right?”

  “Right. Love yo
u, Mama.”

  “Love you more.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  The first thing Tessa noticed when she reached Frankie’s room that evening was the complete difference in Melody. With a freshly washed face, no makeup, and her red hair swinging from a still damp ponytail, she looked more like a happy teenager.

  “So how did it go with Jill?” Tessa asked.

  “Well”—Melody drew out the word into six full syllables—“we had a long talk and she said that Natalie is dating Albert and that they make out in the halls, like, right in front of everyone and that they are dealing pot, like, right out of her purse. And”—she paused to catch her breath—“when I get home and back in school she is going to, like, come over to my house for a sleepover that first day.”

  “That means she forgave you, right?” Tessa asked.

  “She’s a good friend.” Melody nodded very seriously. “I’ve learned, like, a big lesson.”

  “Good!” Tessa hugged her just as a gentle knock on the door preceded Lola and Branch arriving.

  When they’d finished heating bowls of chili in the microwave and eating, Melody helped clean off the coffee table and put the food back into the refrigerator. That she was deliberately moving slowly was plain to Tessa. She didn’t want to be alone all evening.

  “Hey,” Tessa said, “I saw a commercial a while ago while I was drying my hair. Y’all want to curl up on one of the beds and watch an old rerun of Steel Magnolias? It’s coming on channel thirty-four in about five minutes.”

  Melody hurried with the rest of the cleanup and nodded the whole time. “I’d love it if y’all would stay. I was dreading a long evening in here all by myself. What kind of movie is this that you’re talking about?”

  “A chick flick,” Branch answered. “But I don’t want to spend an evening alone, either, so I’m in, but only if y’all don’t make me stay on a bed all by myself. I’d feel like a leper.”

  “This is my favorite Julia Roberts movie, so I’m staying. Here, it’s your room, Melody, so you get to control the remote.” Lola pitched it to her and took up residence on the far side of the bed closest to the television.