“Shit.” Walter sighed. Suddenly, not so mad at Christopher. He helped himself to a cup of coffee, and sat at the island to drink it, allowing Christopher to talk about his past. This was the first time in all the time he dated his daughter that he was able to get a glimpse of the real Christopher. He knew his daughter would never be with him again, and he was actually sad to be losing the younger man as a future son-in-law.
“Yeah. The little girl was in the hospital for months. It was almost a year. I only found out this because the local minister came to our house. The family called him in for last rights. But she, and I’m sorry, I can’t even remember the little girl’s name. This was twenty years ago. But she had a dying wish, and she wanted to marry her best friend before she died.”
“Let me guess, you were her best friend?”
“I was. After the minister came and talked to Mom, Dad and me, I had them take me to the hospital. She was a shell of herself. I didn’t even recognize her. She had no hair, she’d lost so much weight, and she was all skin and bones. Without saying anything, I bent down on one knee and asked her to marry me. I told her I’d plan everything out, but she had to live long enough to make it to the wedding.”
He was lost in his memories as he continued. “The wedding took place two weeks later, on Easter Sunday. We had it at the church we all attended. She was able to receive special permission to leave the hospital, and the doctor and nurse had to come with her. After Sunday service, with the whole congregation there, she walked up the aisle on her father’s arm, and the nurse had to wheel her IV pole behind her. Don’t quote me on this, but I vaguely remember that her father either had to carry her, or he picked her up and carried her the rest of the way up the aisle.” He heard a noise and looked up and saw the horror on Walter’s face.
“Yeah, she was that sick, but she made it. We did the ceremony. Her mother was the Matron of Honor, my dad was the best man. The minister did the ceremony. Afterward, we had cupcakes and Kool-Aid for the reception.” He grinned as he remembered. “Thirty minutes after the ceremony began, she was taken back to the hospital.
“The next time I saw her was three weeks later. I went to tell her goodbye. Dad received his orders to transfer, and we were leaving. That was the last time I ever saw her. I heard years later that she’d died.”
“How are you married to her? I understand about the ceremony, but like you said, you were both really young. I’m asking how something cute like that could turn into a legal marriage?”
“Someone at the church filed the ceremony with the courthouse, I’m not sure.” He held up the paperwork he’d gotten earlier.
“So why don’t you sit down and discuss this with Amber?” Walter still wanted Christopher in his daughter’s life, and wasn’t afraid to admit it.
“Because she cheated on me when we were engaged. If she did that, what’s she going to do if we were married? Is she going to sleep with someone behind my back, get pregnant, and stick me with some other man’s kid? No, if I can’t trust her before the wedding, I’d never be able to trust her after. Once that trust is gone, it’s over.”
“What are you going to do?” Walter knew from Christopher’s response that it was over between the younger couple. He agreed about the trust issue, he was just sorry to see that it happened to be aimed at his daughter.
“Probably take a leave of absence from work and go back to California. I haven’t been back since I was five. Maybe I can look up some old friends and get to the bottom of things. If she did die, maybe I can get a copy of her death certificate and clear this up.” Hewatched as Amber and her mother came down with several suitcases, and he didn’t even acknowledge her when she left. He was too reflective on his memories of the past.
Chapter 3
“Who is it?” Willow Raintree called out and stood when the back door opened. “Hey, Gary, what’s up?”
“Delivery.” The delivery man grinned as he entered pulling a cart behind him. “Big one today, almost triple your normal order.”
“Good. Can you put it over here?” she asked as she wiped her wet, dirty hands on a rag and pointed. “And when you finish with that, those can go.” She grinned as she pointed in the opposite corner and he saw at least fifty boxes there.
“Been busy?”
“I have, my completed orders, and I’ve even been able to send some stuff out to family and friends.”
Gary did his work, and at one point he stopped and watched as Willow sat at a stool and leaned over a potter’s wheel, forming a glob of clay into a vase. “Wow. Never seen anything like that.”
“Thanks.” She glanced up, and Gary sucked in his breath as her bright blue eyes danced with an inner fire.
“If you don’t mind my asking, what’s in all those boxes I bring you every Monday?”
“Clay.” She grinned and nodded to a plastic bag on a table beside her. “I get a discount if I order a certain poundage.”
“Glad I’m a strong guy.” He grinned, and they shared a laugh. She continued working and watched him out of the corner of her eye as he loaded the outgoing boxes. He had to make five trips to get them all out to his truck.
“Need your signature.” He smiled and watched as the wheel slowed then stopped and she wiped her filthy hands on an equally dirty rag. She grabbed the tablet he passed her and quickly signed her name. She thought he was leaving, but she looked up and frowned when she saw him still standing there.
“Was there something else?”
“Will you go out with me?” He blurted out and then groaned and quickly backed away. “Sorry.”
“Wait!” she called out, and stood. “I didn’t hear what you said.”
“It was nothing.”
“It was if you’re flushed and rushing out of here. Take a breath and tell me what you said.”
