Chapter 39
“I’ve been thinking,” Frank said as he twirled his fiancée, Betsy, around on the dance floor.
“About?”
Frank looked down at her, marveling as he did every day about how lucky he was to have found her after so many years alone since he lost his young wife, Joann, to cancer. “About you and me and making some plans.”
“What kind of plans?”
“The kind where we get to spend forever together.”
“I thought we’d already made those plans.”
“I’m talking about making it official and tying the knot. What do you think?” He’d surprised her over breakfast one morning last spring with a ring and a proposal that’d made her cry. Since then, they’d had a busy summer and hadn’t given much thought to a wedding.
“I think that’s a fine idea. With all the weddings you preside over, it’s probably time you got one of your own.”
“My brother Mac has offered to get internet ordained so he can preside over our wedding when we’re ready.”
“Of course he has,” she said, laughing. “He’ll do a great job.”
“I told him he can only marry me and you. I don’t need him cutting into my gig.”
“No one can replace you, Your Honor. When are you thinking to have this so-called wedding of ours?”
“That depends on what kind of shindig my bride wants.”
“Small and simple works for me.”
“That’d work for me, too, except there’s nothing small or simple about the McCarthy family.”
“True. What do you propose?”
“What do you think about late October at the Wayfarer? The season will be over, the tourists will be gone, and we’ll have the place to ourselves again.”
“You mean this October?”
“Yep. I don’t want to wait another year to marry you, Betsy Jacobson. It won’t take much to pull it off for this October.”
“That’s like two months from now.”
“Right, and all you need to do is buy a sexy dress and show up on time. I’ll talk to Nikki and figure out the rest.”
Before she could respond to that, a collective shout erupted from the other guests.
“What’s going on?” Frank asked his son Shane, who was dancing with his wife, Katie, next to them.
“Power’s back on.”
“Oh, thank goodness,” Frank said.
“Thank goodness is right,” Katie said. “I can’t take another night in this heat without air conditioning.”
“She’s not kidding,” Shane said, smiling at his wife. “She’s a bear without her AC.”
“Guilty as charged,” Katie said. “It’s been awful.”
The air in the big room already felt cooler as the air conditioning came back on with full force.
“Shane, will you please talk to your father and tell him we can’t plan a wedding in two months’ time?”
Katie laughed. “Oh, how fun!”
“He’s crazy,” Betsy said, rolling her eyes.
“He’s crazy about you and can’t wait to be married to you,” Frank said.
“Aww,” Katie said. “That’s so sweet, and we can pull off a wedding in two months. Of course we can.”
“You’re all crazy,” Betsy said.
“And you already know that,” Shane said, smiling. “So, you’d better be sure before you marry into the circus known as the McCarthy family.”
“Hey,” Frank said. “Don’t try to talk her out of it. I’m already batting way above my pay grade with her.”
“That’s true,” Shane said, his expression deadpan.
While Frank sputtered with outrage, the others laughed.
Owen and Laura came over to see what was so funny.
“Dad’s trying to talk Betsy into marrying him in two months,” Shane told his sister. “She thinks he’s crazy, and Dad is worried about me trying to talk her out of it. Oh, and she’s way out of his league. Now you’re caught up.”
“A wedding in two months?” Laura asked. “That’s doable. Let’s have it at the Surf. I’ll take care of everything. Late October is beautiful.”
“Every one of you is crazy,” Betsy said, her dark eyes glittering with amusement, “but I know when I’m outnumbered.
Laura, I’d love to get married at the Surf.
Shane, there’s nothing you can say to talk me out of marrying your dad.
Sorry. And, Frank, stop thinking you’re marrying up.
I’m the one who’s marrying up. Not only do I get you, but I get your beautiful family, too.
So yes to late October, yes to everything, including the McCarthy family craziness. ”
Surrounded by friends and family, Frank put his arms around her and kissed her as if they were alone, while the others whooped and hollered. He couldn’t wait to make her his wife.