Nora Ray (Ray Trilogy)

chapter Twenty

“Dad, we need to talk,” Jeremy told his dad as soon as the game was over.

“Sure, Son, let’s step outside for a few minutes.”

Soon they were walking down the driveway. “What do you have on your mind?”

“Do you have any idea what Mom’s up to?”

Donald grinned. “You mean about planning your wedding?”

“I mean, she has talked Nora into getting married on New Year’s Day.” Jeremy smiled back, “Are you on board with that?”

Donald tried to be noncommittal, “Uhm, she did mention that it would be a good idea.”

“So, you don’t mind?” Jeremy tried again.

“I’ve thought about it a bit.” He rubbed his chin as he walked. “Under the circumstances, it’s probably the best. Don’t you think?”

“Sure,” Jeremy said thoughtfully, “Nora and I picked out the rings during the summer. I’ve been paying on them ever since.”

After a few paces, Jeremy continued, “That’s not what’s troubling me, though.”

Donald nodded knowing Jeremy would get to it eventually. “What’s the problem, Son?”

“When I drive to Tulsa on the weekends, I can’t sleep in the dorm with Nora. I would have to sleep in the car or get a room in the YMCA. It’s not like Nora can sleep in either one of those.” Jeremy stopped and turned to his Dad. “I’m in a mess here. What’s the hoopla of having a wife, if I can’t sleep with her? You know what I mean?”

Donald held back his grin, enjoying his son’s expression of his quandary. With a serious face, Donald asked as he began to walk again, “What do you think would be the best solution?”

“I think renting an apartment would be best. Something close to the campus for Nora would be best. It’s a shame since she has free dorm but why rent an apartment and only use it two or three days a week.”

“Sounds right.” Donald agreed.

Jeremy walked in silence for a while. He thought he’s not making this easy for me, but that’s normal for him.

“Well,” Jeremy began again, “It will take most of my extra cash to pay for the drive up there every week. I’m not sure I can afford it.” There he thought I’ve said it.

Appreciating his son’s guts and persistence, Donald responded, “Your Mom and I have talked about this some. We thought that since you are going to a less expensive University that we could increase your allowance some and foot the bill for an all-expense paid apartment for the next two years. At least until you graduate with your bachelor’s degree. Do you think you could handle it then?”

Jeremy grabbed his dad’s hand and shook it. “Dad, I appreciate this so much. You won’t be sorry. Nora and I will both be successful, you just wait and see.”

Donald put his arm around his Son’s shoulder, “I believe you.”

In his gratitude, Jeremy quickly blinked back the tears of relief.

Nora called Jamie, “I have news. Jeremy and I are getting married on the New Year’s day.”

“Oh, wow! That’s sooner than you planned,” Jamie expressed surprised.

“Yes, it is,” Nora agreed. After explaining the situation, she asked, “Would you be my Maid of Honor?”

“Goodness, Nora!” Jamie exclaimed. “You are full of surprises.” After a moment of hesitation, “I would be delighted. This is really soon. That will be Thursday this week. We have to get a dress and shoes.”

“I’ll see to that,” Nora said. “I’ll let you know when we are going shopping. I hope you will be available since you are on your Christmas break.”

“Yes, I’m just taking it easy before the next round of classes. Let me know when and I’ll be ready.”

Nora didn’t want a large wedding which was a good thing since they had less than a week to set it up.

It was finally decided not to have the wedding at the Littlefield residence but to have it at the little chapel that Samantha recommended to most of her clients at the flower shop who asked.

After inquiry, they found that the chapel would be available on the afternoon of the first. Samantha then took Nora and Laura to the flower shop to look at bouquets, boutonnieres, and other flowers to decorate the chapel.

Nora chose pink orchids surrounded by white lilies with long pink streamers for the bridal bouquet. White mums and carnations for the groom, the groom’s father and all brothers. She chose a single white lily with long pink streamers for the maid of honor. For the mothers corsages she chose pink orchids surrounded by ribbon and lace.

Laura had taken off work to be home with Danny for the holidays, but it turned out that he spent several days with Dennis while the mothers helped Nora shop for her wedding dress and other items they deemed necessary for her.

Samantha, Laura, Jamie and Nora went from shop to shop, then to Tulsa to find the perfect dress for Nora and Jamie.

Nora refused to buy a big wedding dress. She found a dress that she thought was really cute and practical. The white, chiffon dress had a pretty lace overlay across the bodice with a regular length flared pleated skirt. The short sleeves and bodice had matching white embroidered edges.

She chose some plain white three inch heels that she thought complimented the dress.

Samantha and Laura had a blast buying underwear, gowns, slippers and jewelry for her. Nora in turn rolled her eyes and blushed.

It was harder to find the Maid of Honor dress because it needed to match the color scheme of the flowers. Finally they found a beautiful pink dress that Jamie loved which was the perfect color and shoes that matched.

Jeremy didn’t think he needed a new suit. He thought that the one he had should be sufficient. Samantha was adamant that he needed a new black suit and new black dress shoes.

As busy as they were, Jeremy and Donald took the time to go to Tulsa to pick out an apartment. After checking with local realtors they found something very small but large enough they decided for the two of them that was close to the campus. They returned home that night very happy that they were able to accomplish renting an apartment on only one day.

New Year’s Day arrived quickly considering how much they had to do in such a short time. Flowers adorned the chapel, as the organ music filled the air. All the brothers escorted the few guests to their seats except Jeffrey who would stand up with Jeremy at the altar.

The magical time arrived and the wedding march began. Jamie began her march down the aisle. When she stood in place, Nora walked down the aisle looking only at Jeremy. When she walked near enough, Jeremy reached over and took her hand. He had never seen her so lovely.

Laura and Samantha both were wiping their eyes.

After they said their vows, the reception was prepared at the Littlefield house. Most of the guests came to enjoy the cake and punch and to wish the newlyweds their congratulations and good wishes.

Wedding gifts had been arriving all week long as soon as friends and business acquaintances heard about the wedding. As Nora went through the gifts later, she was so thankful. Almost everything they needed as basics had been given to them. There were towels, sheets, silverware, dishes, and pots and pans.

Donald asked Jeremy, “Well, Son, where do you plan to take your bride on your honeymoon?”

“I have this great place I want to take her to see. She has never been there before.” Jeremy told him, “It has a very private wedding suite where we will lounge around for a few days. It also has this sunny balcony that is three by five feet where we can lie in the sun. As long as we are newlyweds we don’t need much more room than that.”

“Sounds like you have it all mapped out.” Donald said with a grin knowing exactly what Jeremy was talking about. “I have one other little gift I want to give you.” He handed Jeremy a one hundred dollar bill. “While you’re on your honeymoon, take her out to eat every night.”

“Thank you, Dad.”

By the time they arrived at their apartment, it was nearly ten o’clock. They both felt exhausted. Jeremy suggested, “Let’s just find our sheets so we can make the bed. We’ll worry about the rest of this in the morning.”

Nora nodded. She just wanted to go to bed. They found the sheets and locked the car. They entered the apartment and Jeremy gave her the grand tour. She noticed that it was pretty small but mostly it would be just her there anyway. She decided that it would be okay. All she required was a place to study, a bed, and a bathroom.

They put the sheets on the bed and looked for the pillows. “Jeremy,” Nora laughed, “Why didn’t we think of pillows?”

“Probably the same reason we didn’t think we needed anything other than sheets.” He stood there getting a mischievous look on his face. “I won’t need a pillow because I’m going to sleep on you.”

She grinned back at him catching the same mischievous look on her face, “Only when it’s your turn. I’m taking the first turn.”

Jeremy went out the next morning wearing his wedding suit to get some donuts and coffee for breakfast.

It took them hours to unpack the car and get the house organized and their clothes hung in the closet.

They left the apartment in the afternoon starving, looking for a restaurant where they wanted to eat. On the way home they stopped at a department store to buy pillows and a blanket and also bought enough groceries to stock the cabinets and refrigerator.

The next morning Nora wanted to cook breakfast. She found that she could stand in one place and wash dishes, ninety degrees turn and she could open the refrigerator, another ninety degrees turn and she stood in front of her cook stove.

By the time she finished cooking breakfast, she was dizzy.

Their tiny table stood in front of a bay window. Nora liked having lots of sun light and a window to look out while they ate or studied. The view was another apartment wall but she decided not to complain. It could be worse.

Monday morning Nora wanted to visit the college. She had pre-enrolled but she needed to buy her books and find her classes. They spent the rest of the morning walking around the campus.

They went back to the apartment to eat a sandwich and decided to drive to Stillwater to check out that campus. Neither of them had been to Stillwater so they enjoyed the scenery and finding the campus. Jeremy also had pre-enrolled. They studied the campus map to locate the book store to buy his books. They walked around and found his classes and dorm knowing that he would have to come back on Sunday afternoon because classes started early on Monday morning.

Their apprehension grew the nearer Sunday came. If they sat reading they were side by side on the couch. When they made love, they put everything into it. A dozen times a day they stopped and hugged each other. Then the time came for him to go.

Jeremy knew she felt as sad as he did. He tried to lighten up the mood by saying with a smile, “In only five days, I’ll be back.”

Nora stood by the door after he left and cried. She had five days before she could see him again.

A thought came to Nora. One of her old mottos she hadn’t thought of in years. ‘I’m used to trouble and I will face trouble head on.’ I used to be so tough before I fell in love with Jeremy. Unfortunately, that motto doesn’t work where he is concerned.

Jeremy settled into his dorm room and organized his things so that he would be ready for his first classes in the morning. He had his science project ready. This time he would choose carefully which professor he consulted.

As the day progressed and he saw the green houses and the labs designed to study agricultural science, he knew he was finally in the right university. He wanted to wait for a few days to insure he knew which professor he could be the most comfortable approaching.

Jeremy finally realized that these guys were much more relaxed than those uptight professors at Harvard. Maybe he told himself it’s because they are all from Oklahoma, my kind of people.

By the end of the first week he had made an appointment to speak to Dave Bradley, one of the horticultural science professors. Jeremy came this time with a briefcase of the most pertinent papers which described what the study contained and the progress he had made in increasing production. He explained that he needed more time, lab room, and greenhouse space to continue his project.

“I’m very impressed,” Professor Bradley told Jeremy. “You did this all on your own? This wasn’t an assignment?”

“No,” Jeremy said shaking his head. “I studied Horticultural Science and Biochemistry while I was at Harvard studying to be a lawyer.” Jeremy grinned emphasizing the ridiculousness of the situation. “My Dad was certain I should be an attorney like him, but I’m not cut out of that cloth. Anyway, I became intrigued with the idea of trying to manipulate those genes so that the nutrition would increase rather than decrease with volume.”

“Wow! I admire your drive to work so hard, just on your own, too.”

“I actually had some success but I need more proof and much more increase before I have anything to crow about. That spurred me on.” Jeremy felt relaxed enough with the Professor to confide, “I had another motive which outweighed them all. I wanted to get married.”

“Aah,” Professor Bradley grinned, “That is a powerful motive.”

“At the time I hoped I could get a scholarship, a grant, or maybe God would drop money from Heaven,” Jeremy half teased.

Professor Bradley laughed then became serious, “Did you know that many people have worked very hard to accomplish this very thing that you are attempting?”

“No, but I’m not surprised.”

“I would like to monitor and maybe even help you to an extent but I promise I will not take over your project or steal your data. You must know that this will be yours. As long as you work under the Universities protection and guidance, the University will get credit for your work but so will you. Your name will be recognized. Are you willing to accept those guidelines?”

Finally Jeremy thought I will get some help and direction. “Yes, Sir, I understand the University’s stand on this. I very much appreciate your help and interest.”

Professor sat forward with his eyebrows raised to emphasize his point, “Jeremy, everything that you do here must be very confidential. Never leave papers lying about or any other data, samples, etc. where others might steal your work. From this point be very careful who you speak with concerning your experiments. This is ground breaking data that if accomplished could be worth millions of dollars.”

Jeremy left the Professors office with his heart pounding. Never in his dreams had he thought about his experiment being that valuable! There I’ve left my papers sitting in a cardboard box in the dorm. I’ve left that cardboard box in my trunk, months on end at Harvard. Then he realized, I’m carrying the best stuff in my briefcase. Someone could mug me!

He assured himself that at this point. Nobody thought he was important, except maybe Nora and his parents.

Professor Bradley must have seen something in my paperwork that impressed him enough for him to take me on like he did Jeremy thought. I haven’t even worked on this since last summer. Wonder how far I could be by now if I could have been working on this since then?

Jeremy squared his shoulders as he walked back to his dorm room, he knew last year when he came home for the summer break that he was onto something important. Now he just had it confirmed by a specialist in the field.

Just wait until I tell Nora! He skipped a couple of steps. He felt that his feet were hardly touching the ground. First thing I must do is find a hardware store to buy a vault.