Epilogue
Audrey crowded into one of the Paradise bedrooms with the seven sisters on that hot evening in June.
Bo looked like she walked off the cover of a country western music CD in her white eyelet off-the-shoulder, wedding dress and white lace cowboy boots.
Bernie bustled around making sure that Bo’s veil was straight and she was holding her flowers right for the picture the photographer was trying to capture in the full-length mirror.
Audrey was glad to be included in all the excitement, but at the same time she couldn’t help but think about the day she would get married. Walter might be persuaded to come back to Texas to walk her down the aisle, but there would be no family on her side of the church.
“Just think,” Bo said and looked over her shoulder at Audrey, “I’m the last of the seven sisters to get married, and that means you and Brodie are next.”
“Yes, they are,” Bernie said. “When can we start planning?”
“Y’all do know that Aunt Hettie is my last living relative, other than a cousin that I hardly know. We probably should just go to the courthouse or maybe to Las Vegas and let an Elvis impersonator marry us,” she said.
“Oh, no!” Bernie declared. “That won’t do at all. We love weddings, and honey, you’ve got lots of relatives right here at the Paradise. We don’t stand on ceremony. Folks can sit on either side at a wedding here in Spanish Fort.”
“Thank you,” Audrey said. “I hear the music starting, so I’m going to go find y’all’s handsome brother and sit with him.”
“Talk to him about setting a date,” Bo said. “Mama will need something to plan after Luna and Endora have the babies.”
Audrey gave her a thumbs-up sign and escaped down the stairs to the living room, where Brodie waited. “Is all this giving you wedding fever or cold feet?” she asked.
“I told you a while back that I love wedding cake, and I definitely love you, so no cold feet here,” he answered with a grin. “This is the first of the sisters’ weddings that my brothers and I have got to be a part of, so I guess I’m getting a dose of wedding fever. Do you have cold feet?”
“I do not, and Bernie wants us to set a date,” she answered.
“I’m ready when you are. How about sometime around Christmas? This place is amazing during that holiday.”
“I love it,” Audrey said.
“Reckon we could seal that deal with a kiss?” he asked.
“A kiss for now. More than just a kiss later,” she whispered.