At five minutes to noon, she arrived at the home of Mark and Ruth Neary, fashionably dressed and sporting a strand of pearls given to her for Christmas by her hunk of a husband.She offered Ruth a large smile as the woman barreled out of the door with the planner Helen had given her.
“The hotel is expecting us,” Ruth said.“While we are there, we can have lunch, sample the food, and go over menu options for dinner while we eat.”
“Sounds good,” Helen said, parking her own vehicle to get into the late model Mercedes with her mother-in-law.
The woman drove like a soccer mom late for the championship game with the designated snack packs.Helen sat calmly, trying not to press on the imaginary brakes on her side of the car.She needed Ruth to calm down and breathe.
“Mama Ruth, I need to hit a stationery store while I'm here,” Helen said adding the endearment to her name to shift the energetic monkey running rampant in her Ruth’s mom on a mission brain.“I think I want to create and print the invites myself.”
“Why would you want to do that?”
“Well, the invite for my mother will list my name as Shenita Nelson, getting married to Jarius Neary,” Helen said.“My father knows me as Helen, but my mother doesn't, and her time for the event will be different than the others.”
“Yes, but that is only two,” Ruth said, slowing down her speed considerably as if it would help her hear better.
“The other invites, I want them to be more casual, like you're cordially invited to celebrate the union of The Mustang and The Cranberry.It works, considering most people know him as The Mustang and may not know his name,” Helen said.“The others, who don't know me at all, will know, based on the name that I am also a Technician.”
Ruth slowed a little and said, “Odd, but it makes sense.Understood.We're here.”
The hotel was everything Helen wanted.The spa was wonderful.The salon was pricey, but the guests had time to plan and put a little aside if they wanted to budget for some pampering.There were bars, eateries, and a pool.Helen peered at the gym.However, the ballroom and meeting space worked perfectly.
“I love it,” she said to the catering manager.
Twenty minutes later, she had a copy of the contract in her hand, a catering menu in the other, and time with her mother-in-law to pick a meal.Over lunch, she and Ruth scoured the menu, making selections on everything from lemonade for the kids to wine for the adults.The cost of it all made her head spin, but she wanted this, and she and Jay deserved it.
After a full day with Ruth and light blue tinted invites on creme cardstock purchased at the stationery store, Helen could begin to work on the website for the registry, design the invites, and start making the list of addresses to send them to via the postal service.She didn't feel much like cooking today, and on her way home, stopped by a chicken joint for wings and fries, arriving home ten minutes before her husband.
He found her sitting on the couch, staring at the fireplace, which wasn't lit.He sat on the couch next to her, and Helen leaned into his strength.Mustang sighed as well, thinking she must have had a shitty day.
“Bad day?”
“Not at all, but your mother's driving has traumatized me,” Helen said.“There were three instances I saw my life flash before my eyes, and when I got home, my underpants were damp from pee because she scared it out of me.My foot was pressing into the floor as if it had the power of mental stoppage to make her cease and desist from terrifying the hell out of me.I am not okay.”
Surprised, he asked, “You spent the day with my mom?”
“Yes, we toured the venue, signed the contract for the big day, had lunch, and picked out the menu for our grand event,” Helen said.“Still kind of shaken.No one warned me ahead of time about riding in the car with her.I am mad at all of you.”
Mustang burst into laughter.“There was this one time, I had a dental appointment before a football game.She refused to reschedule it, knowing it was going to be tight to get me to the field by kick off.Between the pain in my mouth and fear in my heart, I played like shit the entire game because I was so out of whack.My mother is a terrible driver.”
“That is an understatement,” she said.“On a positive note, the celebration of our union will be June 14th at The Galt Hotel in Louisville, at 4:30.”
“The Galt?Nice,” he said.“Expensive.”
“Jay, my thoughts are that there's a pool for the kids, a bar for the adults, a salon for whoever may need to get tidied up, and a spa,” Helen said.“The room block is for two days before and two days after, so they can arrive when they want and stay after to chill.It's not about me and you getting hitched; we're already married.This is a celebration honoring what we do for this country that no one knows about.I want us to celebrate our silent heroes.”
“You think we're heroes?”
“Shit, don't you?”she asked softly.“When you helped Cherry find me, you became mine.I became Oscar's, and Passion Fruit became Bryan's.We serve a purpose, but we are people.People need connection and friends.These are our friends, so let's bring them together and have some damned fun.”
Mustang smiled at her.“I like you.”
“Oh really?Last night you were talking about how much you loved me.”
“True, but as a person, I really like you.You're cool.Down to earth and so frickin' thoughtful,” he said.
“I like you as well,” she said, giving him a side eyed glance.“Can I tell you something that has been on my mind for a minute?”
“Sure,” he replied, feeling a bit concerned.
