Chapter 20
CHAPTER
TWENTY
Kendall
Lalo Ortiz was my hero. He managed to find a team of subs from CAL FIRE to come in and relieve Rog, Arnie, and me, so we could help Francis get through the wedding from hell.
I’d been so worried about him after our talk the other night, and he’d been pretty quiet via text.
I knew he was busy, and so was I, as summer barbeques, motorcycle accidents, and heatstroke incidents kept us slammed on shift.
I got home at eight in the morning, showered, and hoped to grab a couple hours of sleep before I showed up to help, but my plan was thwarted by screaming just before my alarm went off three hours later.
I threw on clothes and dashed outside to find that somehow the entrance to the tortoise enclosure had been removed, and four of my giants were gone.
Shit.
I hollered for Alberto, who’d graciously volunteered to stay the week with all the scheduling snafus.
“What’s up?” He’d obviously just rolled out of bed.
“We’ve got four runners. Somehow the gate was wide open.”
“You know? I heard something around one this morning. I came out to check, and I saw a couple of women running up the hill and into the pool yard. You don’t think they—”
“With this wedding party? I wouldn’t put it past them. Can you—”
“Let’s go.”
We ran up the path, past the chairs set up in front of the gazebo, and discovered the cause of the screaming.
John Wayne, Gregory Peck, Cary Grant, and Marlon Brando were all munching on plants next to Francis’s pool yard, and there were at least four women screaming. There were three guys shouting at my crew, and one of them was spraying my tortoises with a hose.
Francis came flying out of the house shouting at them to stop.
“Leave them alone—those are my boyfriend’s animals! They’re not going to hurt you, dumbass!”
I ran toward the house, but Francis got there first and turned off the water. He yanked the hose out of the guy’s hands just as one of the others was about to put his hands on Marlon Brando, who stretched out his neck and gave him an open-mouthed grumble.
“Get away from him, you bitch!” Francis turned the hose back on and blasted the men, who backed away from the tortoises.
“Everyone calm down,” I shouted. I went to Francis’s side and turned off the water. “Are you okay?”
“No! They tried to hurt Marlon Brando! And they aren’t even supposed to be here,” he said, pointing at the men.
Thankfully, Alberto had thought to bring snacks, and he was in the process of leading the guys back to my place.
“Wait, you guys are those strippers!”
They turned tail and started to go back inside the guest wing, when Francis snapped his fingers. “Uh-uh. You’re not registered guests. You need to leave.”
Just then, three things happened:
A very worn-out Karen stumbled out the doors with makeup smeared down her face.
The caterer, florist, and bartender showed up, ready to get to work.
And a tall Asian man I’d never seen before came walking out of Francis’s house, pursued by Anne and Judy.
“Karen, what is happening here?” Francis said. “You’re getting married in under two hours!”
“No, I’m not,” she said, leaning into one of the bridesmaids. “I can’t. I’ve got to talk to Todd.”
I put my hand on Francis’s back and was about to ask him if he was okay, when Evelyn came screaming up in her Cadillac SUV. She climbed out of her car with a hand against her chest. “What is going on, Karen?”
“I can’t do it. I’m not getting married.”
“Francis?”
Francis stepped around me, and his eyes widened as he saw the Asian man. His face lost all color.
“Dad?”
“Dominic, this is really not a good time,” Anne said, taking the man by his arm. She tugged him back inside, and Francis held up a hand.
“Dad, let me deal with this, and then I’ll be inside.”
The man looked between us and nodded. He allowed Anne and Judy to bring him back in the house.
“Dad? Francis? What happened?” Shay came trotting up the path from where she’d been hanging pink tulle on the back of the chairs.
“Oh, everything.” Francis sighed and put a hand to his forehead. “Let’s deal with this fallout first. Shay? Can you please tell the caterers to hold on a minute?”
“Baby, what can I do?”
We both looked at the tortoises, who were already halfway back to the fence following Alberto like he was the Pied Piper.
Francis turned to me. “Stay? In case I need backup? In case someone passes out? That someone being me?”
I patted his back and followed him over to where Evelyn and Karen were arguing. The strippers had slinked away back to their cars, and the bridesmaids were back inside the guest wing watching through the window.
“Grandma, I am not going to marry him. I had an arrhythmia last night.”
“A what?”
“You know. An arrhythmia, like when you realize something?”
“You mean an epiphany?”
“Whatever. I’m not getting married. Todd is great, and I love him, but I’m not ready to commit to one man for the rest of my life, and it’s not fair to him.”
Evelyn cupped Karen’s jaw and tilted her head, speaking slowly.
“And you couldn’t have decided this before we spent twenty-five-thousand dollars on your perfect day?
” She grasped her by the upper arms, but her expression was concerned.
I was kind of impressed that Evelyn wasn’t screaming at her granddaughter.
“I’m sorry, Grandma. I was so determined I was going to do this while Mom was still here to watch me get married, but she wouldn’t want me to do this if I’m not ready, and I’m not.
I’m so not. I’m not even finished with college yet.
I’m so sorry, and I’ll pay you back for everything. I just can’t do this.”
Karen went into her grandmother’s embrace, and Evelyn held her close as she cried.
Then it dawned on me.
“I hadn’t put it together, but I know who Karen’s mom is. She’s very sick, but I didn’t know how serious it was.” I turned to Francis, and he nodded.
“Okay.” He walked closer to Evelyn and Karen, and I stayed a few feet behind.
“Smart girl,” Anne said. She’d come back out and was standing beside me.
“Yeah, I guess,” I said.
“Better she decides now instead of dragging that poor boy through the wedding.”
I looked around. The florists had set out some breathtaking sprays on the patio and were standing around, wondering what to do.
“It was going to be so beautiful. Francis worked so hard on this.”
“Mm-hm,” Anne said. “Shame to let it all go to waste.”
The craziest idea hit me. What if all his hard work wasn’t for nothing? What if…
Would he marry me? In front of his family and our town? Was I out of my mind to even think about it?
The night after Francis stayed at my house the first time, I was going through some of the boxes I’d put aside with Grandma’s personal things, and I found Grandpa’s wedding band. I had Dad’s as well, and I’d wondered… what if?
Was it too soon? Would Francis even consider marriage?
I opened my mouth to say something. I could tell Anne was thinking the same thing. She grinned.
“Unless someone else wanted to get married today,” she said, her eyebrows rising toward her hairline.
I was speechless. Francis had seemed so troubled the other night.
I hadn’t wanted to push him on the topic.
But I wanted him to know that I absolutely wanted to marry him.
We’d both known nearly from the start that we had something special, and even though it had only been four months, we’d talked at length about what we wanted from our relationship, and we’d faced every possible obstacle together and worked them out.
I’d almost told him that I’d marry him right now, but he’d held back, and I didn’t want to pressure him if it wasn’t what he wanted.
“I love him so much, Anne. I’d marry him in a heartbeat.”
She nodded. “He needs to be reminded that marriage can be a good thing, and you two make such a great team.”
Francis actually had a smile on his face as he talked to the teary bride-not-to-be and her resigned grandmother.
Evelyn stepped away and spoke to someone on the phone, while Francis held Karen’s hands and smiled at her.
After a few minutes, Evelyn hung up, spoke to the two of them, and then Francis patted them both on the shoulders before returning to us.
“Okay. Here’s the plan,” he said, when he reached us.
“Evelyn says that since everything is already paid for, and it’s too late to cancel the wedding, she wants the show to go on.
She’s going to try to convince Karen’s parents to use this opportunity to renew their vows—her daughter Angela has terminal cancer, and she thought today could instead be a celebration of Angela’s life. ”
“Whoa, that’s… heavy but beautiful,” I said. Francis had the most serene expression on his face. His eyes were rimmed red, as though he’d likely shed a tear with Karen and Evelyn.
“Then put us to work.”
An hour later, we were all dressed in our finery and doing our assigned tasks.
Roger and I were in charge of parking, and Arnie had the keys to Francis’s new golf cart to drive those who needed help walking up to the house.
My buddies were bummed that Derek couldn’t make it, but he assured them that he was nearly finished covering for his co-worker and would be back in the area soon.
I was looking forward to the end of their moping, and I knew Francis would be happy to have his partner in crime back in town.
The venue was exactly as beautiful as Francis had imagined it would be, with white and yellow flowers and decorations everywhere.
With the fountain spraying on the lake, the blue sky overhead, and a slight breeze through the grass and trees, it was a perfect fall day for a wedding.
Shay had done such a bang-up job decorating the chairs for the ceremony, and the tent looked amazing for the reception.
Having her work with Francis had been a surprisingly good idea, and it was wonderful to see her get her spark back.