Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Tess carefully hung the garment bag containing her wedding dress and veil in the closet. She fell in love with the first dress she tried on. It was a strapless ivory gown with a ruched bodice.
Ivory chiffon fell from the bust to the floor and was sprinkled with tiny crystals that caught the light each time she moved. Her headpiece was a slim headband of crystal flowers attached to yards and yards of ivory tulle.
The shoes looked like delicate glass even though they were made of much sturdier material and she felt like a princess the minute she slipped her foot into the first one.
Putting what she considered an outrageous amount on Rory’s bank card made her feel guilty until the girls assured her it really was a bargain.
Tess placed the shoebox on the shelf and quickly changed into an old pair of jeans and a tee shirt.
The girls were coming to help her and she had a hard time containing her excitement.
Two hours later a pickup backed into the driveway and Bridget and Maggie jumped out. Molly pulled in behind them with Jason. Colleen parked on the lawn, Michael and Ryan spilling from her car.
Tess ran outside as Maggie dropped the tailgate and stared at the array of items. It seemed everyone in the family had cast offs they were willing to donate and as they unloaded the truck, Tess had a moment of panic. Rory was going to kill her.
“No, he’s not,” Molly assured her standing off to one side as the boys carried in a bright purple rug.
“Are you sure?” Tess asked, doubting Molly for the first time.
“Pretty sure,” Molly replied with a grin.
“On the other hand, Patrick may kill me when he finds out I’ve given his brother his prized possession,” she continued skipping to her car and returning with a replica of the lamp from A Christmas Story, complete with fishnet stocking and tassel trimmed shade.
“Pat loves this lamp, but I’ve tolerated it for the last holiday.
Take it with my good wishes,” she laughed.
All in all, they were there about four hours “fixing up” the house. Half the living room floor was covered with the purple rug, the other half with neon green shag.
The couch Maggie picked up was two houses down from hers.
It was waiting for the trash man, but Maggie and Bridget managed to stuff it up onto the truck.
Her neighbor behaved very sympathetically offering a nicer couch she had in the garage but Maggie insisted that this one was perfect.
It was red, lopsided with one broken leg and the cushions were as thin as pancakes.
Molly covered Rory’s recliner with a ruffled pink bedspread that had seen better days and quickly stitched up the back so it would stay on.
While Colleen hung curtains on the window, half Superman and the other half, Barbie, the boys carried in something they called a potato chip chair.
It had no arms and looked a little like a lounge chair, but wider.
It was upholstered in orange fur and it vibrated.
Tess got into the spirit of things and strung Christmas lights corner to corner across the ceiling with Jason’s help. When she plugged them in she realized they were chasing lights in green, purple, yellow, blue and red.
Maeve arrived about an hour before they were finished, carrying a lighted picture of the Eiffel Tower and another of Elvis painted on black velvet that had its own spotlight to go over it. They hung one on each side of Rory’s big screen TV, which they decorated with silver garland.
“I picked up a couple of items at the store for ya, dear,” she told Tess. “Jason, run out to my car and get the packages in the back seat.”
The first item was a singing Christmas tree that danced around and had them all laughing. This they placed on Rory’s end table so he could enjoy it while he watched TV.
The other item was a wireless doorbell. It was programmable and it took quite a while to decide what sound to have it play. They finally agreed on the barking dog.
Tess made a big pot of hot chocolate and got out the cookies she baked yesterday. Looking out the window she saw Mason’s truck. They laughed hysterically when Rebecca rang the doorbell.
Wide-eyed, Rebecca looked nervously around until she was assured there was no dog. She didn’t have a clue what to say when she got inside the house. “It looks nice,” she finally stammered, not wanting to hurt Tess’s feelings.
“Thank you,” Tess replied straight faced, which had Colleen running for the bathroom, before she wet her pants, and Maggie and Bridget howling as they held each other up.
Maeve, too, was wiping her eyes as she giggled like a girl.
“Did I say something funny?” Rebecca asked seriously.
“No,” Tess replied wiping her own tears from her cheeks and holding her aching side. “I have been having a problem with Rory. He told me to redecorate the house, but has no opinion about how to do it so the girls decided to help me out. What do you think?”
“Impressive,” Rebecca laughed, her green eyes twinkling as she took in each item that had been added. The Elvis picture was her favorite followed by the dancing tree. “Hey, Mason wants one of those lamps,” she told her pointing to the leg in the fishnet hose. “I told him absolutely not.”
“He can have this one after I am done with it,” Tess teased.
“Don’t be so sure he will let you get rid of it,” Molly spoke up. “He may decide to keep it. I never would have gotten out of the house with it if Patrick had been home.”
“What will you tell him happened to it?” Tess asked curious to how Molly dealt with this type of situation.
“I’m going to tell him that it shorted out so I set it out by the curb and the garbage truck ran over it,” she insisted laughing with glee as the girls cracked up. “And no one better tell him any different,” she continued, giving the boys a penetrating stare.
“Rebecca, can I get you something, some hot chocolate maybe?” Tess asked when she could talk once again.
“No thanks, Tess, I wanted to ask you to dispose of this for me,” Rebecca begged, handing Tess a thick black book. “I don’t care if you burn it or bury it in the trash, but I can’t do it at my house.”
Tess opened the book and gasped as she read dates and offenses.
“You found it,” she cried.
“Only by accident,” Rebecca replied quietly.
“Where was it?”
“If you can believe this, it was in the glove compartment of his truck. Apparently, he was afraid something was going to happen to it if he left it at home,” she complained her hands on her hips.
“It was lucky you thought to look there,” Tess replied.
“That’s the scary thing. I didn’t look there. I had to run out to the store and both Juliana and Mason were napping so I decided to take his truck instead of moving it to get my car out.
“I was speeding, just a little,” she assured Tess when her eyes got big, “and I got pulled over. I had to open the glove compartment to get the registration and insurance papers and it fell right into my hand. Thank God, for speeding tickets,” she breathed reverently.
“Will Mason be unhappy about the ticket? Will he know you found the book?”
“I have no intention of telling that sneaky man anything. I’ll send the ticket in, plead guilty and pay the fine with no one the wiser. Can you get rid of it for me, Tess?”
“I will do it right now,” Tess replied walking across the kitchen and shoving the book in the trash.
“Thanks, hon,” Rebecca told her giving her a quick hug. “I have to get home, Juliana will be waking up and I’d rather get home before that happens. If I’m really lucky, they both will still be napping and he won’t even know I left the house.”
“You are much braver than I,” Tess told her, admiration in her voice.
“Not braver, just desperate. There are a lot of dates in that book,” she laughed with a little shiver.
“Mason has a long memory and a hard hand, but without that book he’d just be guessing and he would never spank me if he wasn’t sure about why.
Take care everyone, I’ll see you all at the wedding if not before. ”
Jason had been working quietly in the living room and he called Tess in when everyone started packing up and getting into their coats.
“I found a couple of power strips, Aunt Tess, and I hooked everything into them so when you turn the light switch on, everything comes on at the same time.” He demonstrated it for them and they all watched in awe.
“Thank you, Jason. Thank you, everyone,” Tess said turning off the switch. “I hope Rory will learn a lesson from this, and if not, we will have the most unique decorations in town.”
“That’s for sure,” Maggie agreed, hugging Tess good bye.
“You let me know if my son gives you any trouble,” Maeve told her. “I love the dress you chose, Tess. You will be a beautiful bride,” she continued, kissing Tess on the cheek.
“Thank you, Madre. See you for dinner tomorrow.” Waving them off, Tess locked the door and slid the deadbolt home. It would be better if Rory had to ring the new doorbell, she thought with a smile as she turned the outside light on. He may as well get the full effect.
After cleaning up and doing the dishes she showered, putting her prettiest nightgown on. It couldn’t hurt to look her best in case Rory did not appreciate her efforts. Curling up on the orange chair with a book, she fell asleep.
* * *
Rory stood on the porch, fiddling with his key. Tess left the outside light on and he was glad to see she had followed his instructions regarding her safety. He hated to leave her alone at night, but this time it couldn’t be helped.
As he was unlocking the dead bolt, he noticed the new doorbell and smiled.
Cool, he’d been meaning to install one. As soon as his finger touched the button, he jumped back several feet, his hand going automatically to his concealed weapon.
Hell, she got a dog, a mean dog, he thought groaning!
Feeling like a fool, he looked around to make sure none of the neighbors saw him.
Then he realized, there was no dog, just a brand-new doorbell.