Chapter 21
Less than a week later, the house was finished. Holly had the photo from her childhood hanging in a hallway—the one that had been taken with the baseball team. She intended to hang one from their wedding right beside it.
The contractor was gone. All signs of building scraps removed. There would never be grass in the yard, but the wildlife in the area had become familiar enough with their presence now that they heard coyotes in the night and birdsong in the days.
The Spanish hacienda, with the adobe walls, the red terracotta roof, the arched windows and doorways, and the decorative ironwork, had become the cherry on top of the town of Crossroads.
The blacktop road leading from the house to the highway was clearly visible, as was the NO TRESPASSING sign at the foot of the hill.
* * *
During the same time, Jacob had enlarged and updated the kitchen in their little home, and Pearl ruled it like the queen she was, polishing appliances after each use as if they were jewels.
And to further please the love of his life, he announced a new closing time of 10:00 p.m. and warned the customers to get used to it, because life was passing way too fast. When they all began to moan, he silenced them with a truth they could not deny.
“One day, you will regret the time you spent here with me when you could have been home with your wife and family. People die. Children grow up and move away. Ten o’clock is closing time.”
In the end, they lifted their drinks in a toast to Jacob and took the change in stride.
Pearl was happy. Jacob was happy, and when Pearl’s bedtime came, she no longer went to bed alone.
* * *
The night before their wedding, Holly Dillon went home and slept in her childhood bedroom. Going back to the ranch for this night only had been symbolic—her last night as a single woman.
The next morning when she woke, her first thought was pure joy.
Today is the day I become Gunner’s wife.
Their wedding was happening at the little church where she and Gunner were baptized as children—where the services for her grandpa Dillon and her mother’s funerals had been held, where both their parents had been married.
The space within the walls of that small church still held the echoes of years and years of joy, grief, baptisms, and salvation, and it was only fitting that they added their own moments of joy to the energy within.
She and her granny Dillon had gone to Amarillo months ago and picked out the dress her granny would wear, but Holly had known from the start what she wanted. It had taken a heart-to-heart talk with her daddy to get the okay, and she could still remember the look on his face when she asked.
“Dad, when Gunner and I get married, would it hurt your heart too much if I wore the dress Mama wore to your wedding?”
Garrett’s eyes welled, but he was smiling. “Baby girl, I can’t think of anything better. Do you know where it is?”
She nodded. “After I turned thirteen, she let me try it on once a year. I needed to see how much growing I still had to do before it fit, but I told her every time that it was what I wanted to wear when I got married. She would laugh and tell me if I ever changed my mind, it would be okay. I didn’t change my mind, and I know it still fits.
I’ll take it to Amarillo to have it cleaned and then bring it back here. ”
Garrett hugged her. “Sounds like a plan.”
And she followed it through.
But that was then, and this was now, and their morning routines were all out of whack.
By the time they got to the church, her grandmother, Trudy, was large and in charge, checking to see if the flowers had arrived and that Holly had “something old, something new, and a penny in her shoe,” and then announcing it was all systems go.
Holly’s dress was something old, her engagement ring something new, and there was a penny in her shoe.
But taking the dress out of the garment bag was an emotional trigger.
Her mom should have been the one pulling it over her head, zipping up the back, and fastening the little hook and eye above the zipper.
The urge to cry was quelled by knowing that the man who held her heart would be waiting for her at the altar.
But it was her granny doing the honors, and she was grateful she was there.
“There now!” Trudy said. “Just look at you,” she said and turned Holly toward the full-length mirror.
“You look so much like your mama. Such a beauty she was, just like you. Now, turn around. I need to get this veil pinned to your hair, and then my work here will be done. I’ll be in the foyer with the rest of the wedding party.
Your daddy is waiting, and Pastor Reeding is ready if you are. ”
“I’m ready, Granny,” Holly said and took the bridal bouquet Trudy handed her.
“You are a beautiful bride. Be happy, love. Be so very happy.”
Holly nodded. “With Gunner in my life, there’s no other way to be.”
Trudy blew her a kiss, and when she opened the door to leave, Garrett was waiting in the hall.
“Brace yourself,” Trudy whispered to her son, as she hurried off to find Travis.
Garrett wasn’t sure what that meant until he walked into the room, and in the space of a heartbeat, he saw what his mother meant.
He only saw Helen as she’d been before, and then he blinked, and she was gone.
He was frantically gathering his emotions before he transferred them to Holly and made both of them cry.
“Holly, sweetheart! You are absolutely stunning,” he said. “Are you ready?”
She nodded, slipped her hand in the crook of his arm, and then they were walking up the hall, past the rooms where Sunday School was held, past the nursery where the youngest Kingstons could be heard giggling and playing, then into the foyer of the church where the other members of her wedding party were gathered.
Without close friends here in Crossroads anymore, she had prevailed upon her new sisters-in-law to be her bridesmaids, and they had happily agreed.
As the moments passed, she felt her mother’s absence now, more than ever before.
Mom… This isn’t fair. This shouldn’t be happening without you.
As if sensing her struggles, Garrett whispered in her ear. “Chin up. Look for Gunner. After that, it will all be easy.”
She nodded. Her dad was right. Gunner was her North Star. With him, she would never be lost. She lifted her chin, her heart pounding, waiting for the moment when she would see his face.
* * *
Spending the night without Holly had been long and restless. It didn’t feel right without her curled up in his arms, but Gunner woke to this day with a sense of relief.
Today was their wedding day, and he was at their new house alone, biding time until he needed to leave.
He’d chosen his own clothes—a black Western-style suit and black alligator boots.
A white-as-snow shirt, and a black string tie at the collar.
He knew better than to worry about his hair because the wind was going to blow it six ways to Sunday before he got to the church. He’d deal with it there, later.
His brothers and their families had arrived yesterday and were all packed in at Jacob and Pearl’s, and for once, the little house was noisier than the bar.
Pearl was already excited about the expectation of Maggie and Sonny’s twins, and Asher and Dylan’s two boys were already calling her Grammy.
It had taken her and Jacob half of their lives to get to this place, but he had finally given her the family she’d always wanted, and Gunner and Holly were about to add to it.
It was almost time, but not yet, so Gunner walked the halls of the house alone, admiring the Spanish influence in the colorful handmade tiles in the bathrooms and kitchen, and the adobe red floor tiles throughout the house.
He stopped at the sliding doors in the dining room to look out from beneath the sheltered verandah at the eastern view.
The place where daybreak happened, and each new day began.
He was at peace within the solitude and silence of their new house, but Holly’s boundless exuberance was missing.
The reverence of the day and the magnitude of the promises they were going to make was uppermost in his mind.
The most important words he would ever say to her were in the vows.
To cherish. To protect. To love her forever.
In sickness and in health, in death and beyond. Those were his promises to her.
He kept watching the clock, wishing time would hurry up just this once. He wanted his ring on her finger and his mouth on her lips.
He’d kissed her countless times before, but never as his wife.
* * *
Then finally it was time. He got in the Mustang, backed out of the garage, and drove to the church, then went in through the back entrance. He walked in on his dad and brothers, who were waiting with the pastor.
“There you are! Good morning, Gunner,” the pastor said. “I’ll go check with the ladies and see how close we are to being ready,” he said and left the room.
“See, I told you he’d be here when he was ready,” Jacob said. “Still our loner.” And then he gave him a big hug and a pat on the back.
“He won’t be a loner anymore,” Dylan added. “Proud of you, Gunner. You and Holly were made for each other.”
Asher hugged him. “I am proud to be your brother.”
“I know this was quite a trip to make with your families, but I sure appreciate that you made it happen,” Gunner said.
“Oh… We had to see this in person, just to make sure we weren’t dreaming,” Dylan said. “Besides, who else would be your groomsmen?”
“All of you, Dad included, got me through a hell of a mess back in Dallas. I don’t know how this would have turned out without your help.”
“That’s what dads and big brothers are for,” Asher said. “Do you have the rings?”
Gunner took the little box out of his pocket and handed it to Asher, who immediately gave it to his dad.
“Take a breath. You’ve got this,” Dylan said.