Chapter Twenty-Two
The next two weeks were nothing less than a blur.
With the wedding plans, closing on Iris’s house, and working every day, Tina hit the floor running every morning and fell into bed at night exhausted.
Each day seemed like new and bigger details had to be worked out—so many that it boggled Tina’s mind.
When the big day arrived, she declared that she would go to the courthouse before she would go through all that—if she ever did get married.
Cleo and Mae rented hotel rooms for the wedding party for the weekend and hitched a ride with Tina and Walker on Friday night after the store closed. They got to the church for the rehearsal dinner five minutes before it was to begin, and Cleo checked out the hallway and sanctuary.
Gracie’s eyes lit up when she saw Tina enter the sanctuary. “I’m so glad y’all are all here. My brothers said they are coming, but I haven’t heard a word from my parents.”
Cleo wrapped her long arms around Gracie and said, “No worries on your wedding weekend. It’s their choice, and they will regret their decision.”
Tina could feel her friend’s pain down deep in her soul, which was another reason for her to elope rather than have a wedding.
Who would walk her down the aisle? Her mother had left no doubt that she didn’t want to be involved in Tina’s life.
She closed her eyes, and a visual popped into her mind.
There she was, in a pretty white dress, with Cleo on one side and Mae on the other.
She looked ahead and saw a groom standing at the altar, but someone nudged her before she could make out his face.
“Are you okay?” Gracie asked.
“Yes, and I’ll add my amen to what Cleo said.
” Tina wondered whether Walker was the groom in the short flash that she saw or their relationship would end before long.
“Everything is lovely, but you are wearing a pink dress,” she teased, hoping to take Gracie’s mind off the ache of not hearing from her parents.
“I’m too nervous for jokes,” Gracie said. “You know very well that the white one is for tomorrow.”
Tina slipped an arm around Gracie’s shoulders. “Don’t be anxious. It doesn’t matter if you stumble or fall flat on your face. Just get up and smile and keep walking. From now until you leave on your honeymoon, this is your time.”
“You always know the right thing to say,” Gracie told her.
“So do you. If I remember right, you didn’t have to be nice to me after I ghosted the whole lot of you.” Tina gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze and stepped back when she saw Dakota coming toward them.
Gracie finally smiled. “We didn’t have a fatted calf, but we were glad that the prodigal daughter came home.”
“So am I,” Tina said.
Dakota walked up behind Gracie and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Tina, I’m glad you are here. She’s been stressed all afternoon.”
Gracie turned around and kissed him on the cheek. “I’m fine now. My support team is here.”
“That’s right,” Mae said. “Now, let’s get started. Cleo has the plan, and she’ll stay at the back and tell everyone when each one comes in ahead of the bride and Walker.”
“Okay, everyone line up, starting with the flower girls.” Cleo motioned for the whole wedding party.
She positioned the flower girls first, and right behind them were the bridesmaids and the groomsmen who would escort them. Last came Tina and Walker and then Gracie.
“Looks good,” Cleo said with a nod. “I hear the music starting, so, Maria, you show the others how to pretend to drop flower petals down the aisle.”
Maria raised her chin. “Yes, ma’am, and tomorrow we get to wear our pretty dresses.”
Cleo patted the top of her head. “Yes, you do, and each of you will have a pretty flower crown with ribbons down the back. Now, go on and lead the others.”
“This is really happening, isn’t it?” Gracie whispered to Tina.
“Yes, but we can always run if you’ve changed your mind.”
Gracie shook her head. “Let’s get this over with and go to the hotel. You being with me keeps me from panicking.”
“I kept listening for a knock on my door last night,” Walker whispered to Tina the next morning when the bridal party showed up at the church.
“Our job was to help the bride on her last night as a single woman,” Tina told him, then lowered her voice.
“But I would have rather been snuggled up next to you than listening to Cleo and Mae snore in the adjoining room. I’m on my way to one of the Sunday school rooms now to spend the rest of the morning getting hair and makeup done.
I’ll see you right here about fifteen minutes before the ceremony. ”
“I’ll be the one in the white shirt and starched jeans,” Walker said.
“I’ll be the one who looks like a giant standing up there among all those petite women,” she told him.
“Darlin’, so will I,” Walker chuckled. “Dakota barely comes up to my shoulder, but other than me, he’s the tallest of the groomsmen.”
Tina gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Then I’m really glad you are walking out with me.”
Gracie couldn’t believe how fast and furious the time went by, but when Cleo popped her head in the door, all the ladies, from the six-year-old little girls to the bride, were ready to obey her orders.
“The preacher and groom will be coming out of a side door in exactly ten minutes, and, Gracie, your brothers and their families are all here, plus a bunch of your friends and several of the teachers that you’ve worked with all these years,” she said.
“Your side of the church is overflowing to the point that folks are already standing at the back.”
Gracie breathed a sigh of relief. She had received dozens of RSVPs, but to know that they were really there eased her fears. “Thank you,” she said.
Cleo patted her on the shoulder. “You are gorgeous. I would have picked out a big old dress with yards and yards of beaded lace, but this one is you, and it will be so much easier to dance in.”
“And to wear to the honeymoon,” Gracie said.
Tina giggled. “Most of all, for Dakota to get you out of.”
“That’s the part I like the best,” Gracie said with a sly wink.
Gracie half expected Cleo to do a cadence when she marched the wedding party all the way down the hallway to line up at the doors leading into the sanctuary.
“Left, right, left, right, left!” Tina whispered.
“You read my mind,” Gracie said.
“That’s what best friends do.”
“Okay, little ladies,” Cleo said, “remember how we practiced last night. Walk slowly and scatter your rose petals a few at a time. When you reach the front of the church, you can sit beside me and Mae in the front row. Walker is going to escort me in before you, so I won’t be here to remind you again. ”
“Yes, ma’am,” Maria said.
Gracie tapped Tina on the shoulder and whispered, “Thank you for everything.”
“I should be thanking you for being my saving grace—literally as well as figuratively. I was a lost soul, and you, Walker, Cleo, and Mae have saved me,” Tina said with a smile. “We’re down to the last minutes. We can still run if you are having second thoughts.”
“Never,” Gracie declared.
“Flower girls are done,” Walker said. “The rest of the bridesmaids have been escorted down the aisle. It’s time for me to walk Tina down, and then I’ll be back for—”
“I’m here! Don’t go without me.” Gracie’s father, John, rushed through the doors. “Your mother and I got stuck in traffic, and I was afraid we’d be late. You look beautiful, my child. Does that offer still stand for me to walk you down the aisle?”
Gracie’s eyes welled up with tears. “Am I dreaming?”
“I’m sorry,” Elana said. “I was wrong to treat you the way I did, and I regretted it the minute you drove away, but my stubborn pride wouldn’t let me call you back. Can you ever forgive me?”
Gracie squared her shoulders. “Yes, I can, Mama.”
“Miz Ruiz, may I escort you down the aisle to sit with the rest of your family?” Walker said. “I’ve been waiting right here to see if y’all would make it.”
“Yes, please,” Elana said. “After the ceremony, we would love to meet your Dakota, Gracie.”
Gracie nodded and whispered to Tina, “Is this real? Is my dad really here?”
“Miracles,” Tina said.
“Did you have anything to do with it?”
“Not now,” Tina answered. “We’ll talk about the whole thing when you get back from your honeymoon. The Florida beach is waiting on you.”
“What changed your mind, Daddy?” Gracie asked when they were alone in the church foyer.
John looped her arm into hers. “You are my only daughter, and this young man makes you happy. I would have never forgiven myself if I wasn’t here for your big day. You and I might not always agree, but we will always be tied together with heartstrings.”
The door opened, and the two of them slowly walked down the aisle of a very crowded church. From the moment that Gracie locked eyes with Dakota, there was no one else in the sanctuary. They were in a bubble built just for them. His smile seemed to reach out and tell her how much he loved her.
When the preacher asked who was giving the woman to be married to this man, John said in a loud voice, “Her family and I do.”
“And so do we,” Cleo and Mae said in unison as they stood up.
“It looks like the bride has plenty of family to love and support her,” the preacher said.
Gracie handed her bouquet of wildflowers to Tina and took both of Dakota’s hands in hers.
Today a miracle had happened, but that was a minor thing compared to what she felt in her heart.
Had she and Dakota been standing in a field of clover with no one else around but the preacher, she would have been just as happy.
When the vows were said, Gracie heard a few sniffles, but even that couldn’t put a damper on her joy. After the kiss, Dakota scooped her up in his arms and carried her out of the church amid whistles and applause.
“I love you, Mrs. Chatto,” he whispered when they were in the reception tent set in the parking lot.