“Hey!” Woody stepped up on the porch, grabbed a beer, and settled in beside Nettie on the swing. “I was out for a walk and decided to see if y’all might be on the porch. So what are they going to name the baby? Woodrow is a good boy’s name.”
“That’s their job. Ours is to get them married and settled into the trailer,” Nettie pointed out. “Y’all did a fine job of that porch.”
“I just supervised. Them young’uns did the work. I still can’t believe that Emily is going to marry Ryder. I love them both, but . . .” He hesitated.
“Everyone in Pick knows what he’s been, and if I remember right, before you got married all them years ago, you might have given him a race for his money. You and Leonard both were pretty ornery in your day,” Nettie reminded him.
Woody rubbed his chin with his hand. “But this is our sweet little Emily.”
“I imagine Darlene’s and Irma’s folks felt the same way,” Nettie told him.
Woody chuckled. “Probably so. I always felt like the luckiest man in the world just to get to spend my days with Irma. I imagine Ryder feels the same way. Hey, how much you bet me that Jancy and Shane are married by Christmas?”
“Christmas of which year?” Nettie teased. “It sure won’t be this one. She’s taking things too slow for that.”
“Betcha a hundred dollars.” Woody stuck out his hand.
Nettie shook it. “I’ll take that in five twenties on the day after Christmas.”
“I want mine in a hundred-dollar bill on the same day,” Woody said, laughing.
“Have you met Andy Butler?” Vicky motioned to her right with a slight wave of the hand. “He’s got the Southern Pastry Shop down in Palestine.”
Woody stuck out a hand. “I know your dad. Saw you at the picnic when Carlton was trying to hoodwink us into selling off our town. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Andy shook with him. “Glad to know you.”
“My late wife loved them little macaron cookies that you make down there. I always got her a dozen for her birthday. We’d eat at the diner and share a tart. Then she’d eat one macaron a day for twelve days.”
“Thanks for tellin’ me that story.” Andy grinned.
Nettie chuckled when the Ryder’s truck came to a stop in the front yard. “And here they are already back home. I figured they might be gone until midnight.”
“Well, look here what the cats dug up,” Woody called out as all four of them got out of the vehicle.
“Not cats, just part of a wedding party that’s sugared up on cotton candy and who rode the carousel,” Emily said as she crossed the last six feet toward them in long, easy strides.
It was near midnight when Vicky finally got to bed that night. Her feet ached so badly that she wished Andy had offered her a foot massage that night. She was already looking forward to the one after the wedding. Andy had better have been serious when he offered that.
For the first time ever, they’d decided to close the diner for two whole days. They’d need Friday for the wedding preparations, but Nettie insisted that they would be open on Sunday. Andy would take care of the cleanup, and if anyone needed them, they’d take turns helping him.
She wiggled her toes and shut her eyes, but her mind kept going in circles. Tomorrow morning by ten o’clock things would start popping. The dress had been bought, and it was exactly what Vicky had envisioned. Emily would look like a princess in all that fluff, and the train went on forever.
“Shoes!” She sat straight up in bed then fell back. “We decided she would wear the ballerina slippers that she used for her last sorority party. Lord, I’m losin’ my mind.” A gentle knock on her bedroom door brought her back up again. Nettie was sick again, she just knew it.
“Mama,” Emily whispered.
Oh, no! Something was wrong with the baby. Cold chills covered Vicky’s whole body as she threw back the sheet and hurried to the door.
“Are you okay?” Vicky voice quivered.
“I’m fine. It’s just so late . . .”
“Are you sure?”
Tears flowed down Emily’s face. “It just dawned on me that after I get married, you won’t come into my room and kiss me on the forehead anymore. I’m going to miss that, Mama.”
Vicky wiped away the tears with her hand. “You go on and get into bed. I’ll come and kiss you on the forehead. I’ll miss that, too, but now it’s your turn to be a mother.”
“I’ve had the best role model in the world. I only hope I can remember everything that you’ve taught me by example.” Emily hugged Vicky and then went across the hall to her bedroom.
Vicky gave her five minutes and then slipped into her room and kissed her on the forehead. “Good night, my sweet little girl.”
“Good night, Mama.” Emily yawned.
That time when Vicky crawled into her bed, she went right to sleep and there were no dreams or worries.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Waynette had given Emily a mani-pedi right there in the tent, and now it was time to put the dress on. Jancy took it off the hanger and dropped it in a pile of fluff onto the carpeted floor.
“Just like the lady at the store said, you step into it and then be very still while we take care of all the rest,” Jancy told Emily. “We need to avoid those pretty curls on top of your head.”
“If you’ve got to go to the bathroom, go now, because it’s an hour until the ceremony is over,” Waynette said. “I had to cross my legs the last half of my wedding.”
“I’m fine, but don’t let me have another drop of water.” Emily put one bare foot into the dress and then the other one. “I can’t believe that I let Mama talk me into this thing. I wanted something simple.”
“My granny told me that it wasn’t my wedding”—Waynette helped Jancy pull the dress up—“it was my mama’s affair, and when I had a daughter, I’d understand. We have this idea of what our wedding will be, but we have to remember that our mothers have been saving and thinking about it since the day we were born. My granny said that when she got married she and her mother had a big fight over how wide the ribbons were going to be in her bouquet. That’s when she decided that all she wanted to be was married and she didn’t really care about the wedding part.”
“Yes!” Emily pumped her fist in the air. “Exactly.”
That old familiar green monster hit Jancy right in the middle of her heart. Her mother would never get to argue with her about the width of the bouquet ribbons or whether to wear heels or flats, like Emily and Vicky had done in the bridal shop.
She and Waynette laced the dress up the back, making sure each ribbon was flat and the bow at the top was tied neatly. Then they carefully turned Emily around so that she could see herself in the mirror.
“Oh. My! Mama was right,” Emily whispered. “I feel just like Cinderella, and it’s a wonderful feeling.”
“And she was right about our dresses, too. We talked about silver in the beginning, but this light-green floral is so much prettier for an outdoor wedding.”
“Ryder’s eyes are going to pop right out,” Waynette said. “Now, I’m going to take my place at the guest table. I’ll send Vicky in to put on your veil and put the penny in your shoe for good luck.”
“Thanks for everything,” Emily said. “Especially for my hair. I love it.”