Part 17 (1/2)
Directly in front of her, Bob Ray and Heather were sitting together. Hearing Justin find the tissues, Bob Ray reached down and grabbed several and handed one to Heather and one to Selma. One he kept for himself and proceeded to loudly blow his nose.
Pastor Caldecott turned to Chaz. ”Chaz, you and your bride have made it no secret that you and Kaylee have waited to give the gift of your virtue to each other for after the wedding. For this obedience, I believe the Lord will bless you. And for this reason, I'll make every effort to keep what follows short and sweet.”
Laughter rippled through the audience as Chaz winked at Kaylee. Bob Ray slid his arm around Heather and pulled her close and kissed her temple.
”And so, Chaz, please repeat after me. I, Chaz Edwards, do take you, Kaylee Johnson, to be my lawfully wedded wife-”
Bob Ray's expression was solemn as he silently mouthed the vows along with Chaz into Heather's ear. ”I, Bob Ray Lathrop, do take you, Heather Bancroft, to be my lawfully wedded wife . . .”
Abigail felt her eyes welling up all over again and this time, Justin grinned and handed her the entire box of tissue. Her shoulders shook with silent laughter.
”. . . to have and to hold, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, from this day forward until death do us part.”
Kaylee repeated her vows next, her voice as clear and strong as Chaz's had been. ”Chaz, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and faithfulness. As I place it on your finger, I commit the rest of my life to you.”
”Do you, Chaz,” Pastor Caldecott asked, ”agree to wear this ring as a reminder of the vows you have spoken today, your wedding day?”
”I do.”
When they had both agreed and the rings were in place, Pastor Caldecott turned to the book of Ruth in his Bible and read from the first chapter: ”Wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your G.o.d will be my G.o.d.”
Eyes s.h.i.+ning, Heather smiled at the earnest expression in Bob Ray's red-rimmed eyes as she whispered the words along with Chaz and Kaylee. After a beautiful prayer and a song by a soloist, the couple lit the unity candle, and Pastor Caldecott happily proclaimed, ”By the powers vested in me by the laws of this great state, I now p.r.o.nounce that you are husband and wife. What G.o.d has joined together, let no one put asunder. Chaz, you may now kiss your wife as often as you like for the rest of your lives.” A happy whoop went up as Chaz swept Kaylee into his arms, bent her over backwards, and planted a joyful kiss on her lips.
”It is my honor to present to you for the first time ever, Mr. and Mrs. Charles E. Edwards! Please join us across the street at the Rawston Community Center for the reception.” Wild applause roared across the room as Chaz set his wife back on her feet and escorted her down the aisle.
The reception was even more fun, if possible, without the benefit of electricity. Held in the Rawston Community Center's enormous community room, Bunsen-burners kept the food piping hot and all of the tables had candles in the centerpieces. Someone had set patio torches up in iron floor stands and decorated them with ribbon and flowers. The string quartet traded in their various instruments for guitars and drums and Chaz pulled a reluctant Kaylee out on the floor for their first dance as man and wife. There was plenty of teasing between the two. Chaz spent considerable time limping, which had Kaylee going after his feet on purpose. Finally, her father cut in on the fun and the two of them danced off while Chaz hobbled over to his laughing mother. As plates were cleared, people filtered to the dance floor to dance in the twinkling candlelight. Standing, Justin extended his hand to Abigail.
”Dance?” Eagerly, she nodded and allowed herself be pulled through the candlelit throng. ”Just like starlight, huh?” he murmured.
”Better almost.” She nodded. It was absolutely enchanting. Everyone agreed, the power going out had only added to the beauty of the evening. ”I can't believe it's only been a week since I danced with you the first time.”
”I know. This is gonna sound like a really bad pick-up line, but I feel like I've known you all my life.”
”Me, too. Weird, huh? Okay. Since we are old friends now, can I ask you a personal question?” Abigail asked and angled a mischievous smile up at him.
Justin tilted his head toward her. ”Shoot.”
”I couldn't help but notice when I cut your hair that you clean up rather nicely.”
A crooked grin tugged at his lips. ”And?”
”Well, the wedding got me to wondering how you managed to avoid getting married and having kids, like your brothers did, for so long.”
”What, so long?” He pulled a funny face. ”I only just turned thirty.”
”In ten short years, you'll be forty.”
”Wow! When you put it that way it makes me sound old or something.” He laughed. ”Seriously?”
”Yeah. Seriously.” Abigail shrugged. ”I really don't get it. You've got all the Boy Scout virtues, plus you're hard-working and good-looking . . . I mean, I don't want to stick my nose where it doesn't belong, and you can tell me to mind my own business but, like Selma says, time is short, and I figure, if you want to know something you should just ask. So. I want to know. Why haven't you allowed some filly to la.s.so you into the barn?”
A half-smile crossed his lips as he ruminated over her question. ”A bunch of reasons, really, but they all boil down to one thing.”
”What one thing?”
”The thing on the list.”
”The list? What kind of list?”
”The list of things I am looking for in a wife.”
”And you haven't found someone who is everything you're looking for yet?”
His shadowed gaze found hers. ”Maybe. I'm not exactly sure.”
Abigail swallowed at the suddenly serious look in his eyes. ”What is on the list?”
”Well, she has to be at least 5'6”.”
Abigail grinned. ”What else?”
”I like crazy, curly hair. And green eyes. I insist on a great sense of humor and someone who will be willing to cut loose and just have fun. But at the same time, she needs to be enterprising and a hard worker. I am also looking for a loving spirit, a soft heart, a tough cookie, a helpmate, a best friend, and one other, extremely important thing. In fact, to be honest? It is the only thing.”
Breathlessly, Abigail looked at him. ”What?”
”The woman I marry will just know.” A new song began and Selma tapped Justin on the shoulder to cut in, leaving Abigail to ponder his mysterious words.
20.
The weeks that followed Chaz and Kaylee's wedding pa.s.sed in a flurry of activities for Selma's household, interspersed with time spent together in the evenings working on the quilt . . . and healing. By day, Bob Ray, Justin, Abigail, and Heather volunteered for various clean up and recycling task forces. By Monday, it was clear that everyone who could be rescued had been, and when at last all rescue efforts had been called off, it became a gut-wrenching search for bodies. The list of deceased continued to grow and the cost of the damage mounted, but there was progress, too. An army of heavy equipment and their operators descended upon Rawston and slowly cleared the debris away. Temporary housing arrived in the form of trailers. Government a.s.sistance trickled in and insurance adjusters were overworked and overwhelmed.
It was also clear that Rawston would be digging out from under for years to come.
Even so, the beleaguered community was enjoying a spirit of camaraderie and brotherly love that most American cities would never know. The storm brought out the very best in people, and more than one Rawstonian was heard to say they'd had no idea just how rich they were in love, until they lost everything they owned.
In as little as two weeks after the storm, Danny's quilt top had been pieced and sewn together, and Selma asked Justin and Bob Ray to carry the old quilting frame that Clyde had built up from the bas.e.m.e.nt. After the dinner dishes were done that evening, everyone helped to drag the heavy oak kitchen table up against the far wall. Then, they pulled Clyde's frame into place and Selma loaded the quilt top together with a thin layer of batting and the quilt's back onto the roller arms. The atmosphere was party-like as everyone dragged chairs around the frame for Selma's most popular lessons on ”Hand Quilting” and ”Tying Your Quilt.”
Abigail settled in next to Justin as they listened to Selma teach and watched her work with rapt attention. It was just as if she'd stepped backwards into another century, she thought, reveling in the simple pleasures that her new life offered. She wasn't the only person who was eager to thread their needles and start quilting the beautiful piece. They were all fairly giddy with antic.i.p.ation.
”I'm going to ask the girls to do the needlework, and you boys to do the tying,” Selma explained. ”Tying takes strong hands. Watch, while I demonstrate the double-twist square knot.” Once she'd guided them through several knots, Selma hovered behind Bob Ray as he and Justin loaded large quilting needles with heavy thread and plunged them into the dots she'd drawn. The elderly woman's small hand rested lightly on Bob Ray's broad shoulder as both he and Justin grunted and fought to get their needles through the heavy layers. But the needle was slippery and unwieldy in their large, unskilled fingers.
”If that's too hard for you, Selma could probably help you, Bob Ray,” Heather goaded and bit her lip to keep from laughing.
Eyeing her crossly, Bob Ray snorted. Justin did, too.
”You still struggle with arthritis in your fingers, huh Aunt Selma?” Abigail asked innocently, after Selma had successfully demonstrated another tie.