Coming Home to Paradise (Sisters in Paradise #3)

Chapter 22

“Is it time? Is my hair bow straight?” Daisy was almost trembling with excitement.

“My mama says that Santa is coming after the program.” Calvin puffed out his chest and dared anyone to disagree.

“My mama said that we have to keep our hands by our sides and not pick our nose,” Annie added.

“My mama said that if I pick my underbritches out of my butt, Santa won’t bring me presents,” Donnie declared.

“I wish I had a mama,” Heather whispered.

“Me too,” Daisy whispered.

Rae’s heart went out to the twins, and she blinked back tears. “Okay,” she said around the lump in her throat. “If you are very quiet, you can hear the little children singing about Rudolph right now. Every seat is full out there, and you don’t want your parents, grannies, and grandpas to say those kiddos did a better job than you, do you?”

Because Daisy and Heather shook their heads, the others did the same.

“Okay, now, just like we practiced,” Rae said. “Go to your places. Remember what your mamas all told you. Don’t fidget or pick your nose or pick at your underwear. Sing loudly, and when you are done, hold hands and take a bow. Then you can go sit with your parents.”

“Why can’t we curtsy like we do with Queen Bernie?” Daisy asked.

Rae stopped at the door leading out onto the stage and straightened shiny halos on each child’s headband. “Because for today, you have to do things differently. Now, go on out there and make me proud.”

“Can we pretend that you are our mama for today?” Daisy whispered.

“Yes, you can,” Rae answered and watched from a crack in the doorway until her little group each hung an ornament on the Christmas tree while they sang “Jingle Bells.” Sometimes Bo carried the whole song, but every child came in loud and clear when it was time to sing the chorus about riding in a one-horse open sleigh.

After they’d sang “Frosty the Snowman,” they did a perfect bow. Rae smiled when Heather wiped her hand on her skirt when she dropped Calvin’s hand. That was a good sign—boys were still yucky. When they had all run off the stage and were seated next to their families, Rae made a beeline out a side door, around the church, and into the fellowship hall.

She cleared the chairs from around one of the long tables and then hurried out to her vehicle and brought in a box. In a few minutes, a red crystal punch bowl took its place on a snowy white tablecloth. The second trip out to her truck netted a chocolate groom’s cake. On the third one, she brought in the three-tiered wedding cake decorated with edible poinsettias dipped in sugar on the top and held her breath until it safely took center place.

Rae stood back and studied the arrangement for a few minutes, then decided that it needed something. She dug around in the first box and brought out a set of red candlesticks and a couple of matching flameless candles. “Thank goodness I brought some extra stuff,” she muttered as she set them on either side of the bride’s cake and took a moment to take a couple of pictures.

That done, she raced back to her Sunday school room. She was panting when she rushed into the room where Endora waited for Rae to help her get dressed.

“Sit down for a few seconds and catch your breath. We’ve got at least fifteen minutes, and I can get dressed in five. I can’t thank you enough for all this,” Endora told her.

Rae handed her phone to Endora. “Take a look at your table and tell me what you think. I hope I didn’t overdo it with the candles.”

“Oh. My. Goodness!” Endora gasped. “It’s beautiful!”

Rae didn’t realize she was holding her breath until she let it out in a loud whoosh. “Okay, then, we are ready to get you dressed and to the front of the church without getting a spot of dirt on this white velvet. I’ll carry the bottom, and you will go slow. Daddy is already waiting in the foyer. I had to tell him what was going on and he’s in shock.”

“Not as much as Mama will be,” Endora said with a nervous giggle.

Rae removed the plastic bag from over the dress and took it off the hanger. “We’re about to pull off the best-kept secret in Spanish Fort. People are going to talk about this for years and years.”

“Why?” Endora asked.

“‘The Girl Raised in a Former Brothel Marries the Local Preacher in a Surprise Ceremony.’” Rae held the dress for Endora to slip into it.

“That’s too long a headline,” Endora said. “Maybe ‘Brothel Child and Preacher Marry.’”

“Much better,” Rae agreed. “Now be still while I zip you up.”

***

Bo played “Away in a Manger” and sang along with the choir. She stole glances at Ursula and Remy kneeling beside a manger that Joe Clay had built for the program. She couldn’t see baby Clayton lying on a straw bed but knew that he was wrapped in a blue blanket that she had hemmed especially for the occasion. She envied both her oldest and youngest sisters that day. One already had a family started. The other was getting married and, if all went well, would probably have her own child to pose as baby Jesus by next Christmas. She had wallowed in self-pity for a week—telling herself that her one chance at love had vanished. Maybe it had, but like her mother had told her years ago, jealousy is a terrible thing that can eat away any happiness.

When the song ended, Shane, Noah, and Jake—the three kings—entered the stage, and she hit the first chords for “We Three Kings.” After that one was finished, Bo would only have to play one more, and then there would be a wedding. She smiled, not because all the envy had left her—that would take a while longer to get rid of. But she took pride and happiness in the fact that she had gotten to be a big part of Endora’s secret.

Maverick startled her when he sat down on the end of the piano bench and nudged her. At first she thought he was nothing more than an apparition, a figment of her imagination. She didn’t miss a note, but her breath caught in her chest when she realized that his hands were poised and ready to play. She lifted her trembling fingers, turned the piano over to him and let the choir sing without her. A ghost would not have been able to play, and it absolutely wouldn’t have the ability to heat up her entire body by merely brushing his shoulder against hers.

“What are you doing here?” she whispered.

“Playing for you,” he said. “Why aren’t you singing?”

“You are not forgiven,” she snapped.

“You are not singing,” he said. “Can we please talk later?”

Bo blinked several times, but Maverick still didn’t vanish. He was right there beside her—nine days after the Paradise Christmas party and the same amount of time since he left Texas for Wyoming. Nine days and nights of misery, and finally coming to terms and making peace with the fact that he was gone, never to be seen again. Was he just passing through? Did the job in Jackson Hole not work out after all? Why? What? How? No answers came floating down from the church rafters to the questions that bombarded her mind as she and the choir sang the last verse and chorus of “What Child Is This?”

Silence filled the church, and Parker took his place behind the lectern. “This has been a wonderful program and a great turnout, but it’s not over yet. If you’ll just keep your seats for a few more minutes, we have one more event today. Your former pastor has joined us, and he will take it from here.” Parker stood to the side, and an older man with gray hair and wire-rimmed glasses left the front pew and slowly made his way to the lectern. He took the microphone from the stand and stood in the center of the stage.

“Since Parker and Endora’s friends and family are here, they have decided to get married today, and they have asked me to perform the ceremony,” he said and nodded toward Bo.

“I guess you want to do the honors on this one?” Maverick asked.

“Yes, I do,” Bo answered with a nod, and hit the first chords of “Mama He’s Crazy,” an old Judds song that Endora asked to be played as she walked down the aisle. Bo leaned into the microphone and sang the words about being afraid to let the man in because she wasn’t the trusting kind. The lyrics could have been written just for Endora and Parker, especially when they said that he was crazy over her and thought she hung the moon and stars.

Bo didn’t only sing the words but felt them when she sang about leaping before she looked. Maverick was sitting right beside her, and if he had come back to stay, Bo needed to look before she made a leap for sure. Her poor heart wouldn’t take another nine days like she had just spent.

Rae threw the double doors open at the back of the church and the preacher motioned for everyone to stand.

***

“You are going to give your mama and Aunt Bernie a heart attack,” Joe Clay said out the corner of his mouth.

Endora took the first step down the aisle. “But I’ll be married and won’t have to worry about all that planning.”

“Yes, you will,” Joe Clay agreed.

“Now she can focus on a wedding for Rae and Gunner, and good grief! Is that Maverick up there beside Bo?” She gasped.

“Looks like it,” Joe Clay answered and stopped at the pew where Mary Jane was seated. Endora took a rose from her bouquet, handed it to her mother, and gave her a hug. “Be happy for me, Mama. I didn’t want to wait until spring.”

“Be happy,” Mary Jane said.

Endora crossed the aisle to the other side of the church and handed Parker’s mother a rose. Arlene hugged her and whispered, “Welcome to the family.”

“Thank you,” Endora said and tucked her arm back into Joe Clay’s.

When they reached the place where the preacher and Parker were standing, Joe Clay took Endora’s bouquet from her and handed it to Bernie. Then he put Endora’s hands in Parker’s. “I’m not giving you this woman to be your bride. Her mother and I are sharing her with you. Be good to her.”

“I promise I will love and honor her,” Parker said.

“Everyone can be seated,” the preacher said. “I understand that Parker and Endora have already said their personal vows to each other, so this will be short. Do you, Parker Martin, take this woman, Endora Simmons, to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

“I do, and that song was perfect. I am crazy over you,” Parker answered.

Endora’s eyes didn’t leave Parker’s. “I love you now and for always.”

“I love you,” Parker said.

“Looks like the vows weren’t quite finished.” The preacher chuckled and went on with the rest of the ceremony, ending with, “You may kiss your bride.”

Parker did justice to their first kiss of their married life together, and then the preacher said, “I’d like to introduce for the first time Mr. and Mrs. Parker Martin. They would like to invite all of you to their reception starting right now in the fellowship hall. After dinner, Santa Claus will make an appearance and will bring presents to all the boys and girls, and there will be goody bags for the children to take home.”

Bo hit a few chords on the piano, but Endora and Parker didn’t make it past the first pew when Mary Jane grabbed them both in a fierce hug. “How on earth did you pull this off?”

“Rae and Bo helped me,” Endora answered. “I didn’t care about a big wedding. I wanted to be married.”

“Well, darlin’, you got your wish,” Mary Jane said.

Bernie stepped up for the second hug and put the bridal bouquet back in her hands. “Does this mean I was your maid of honor?”

“Yes, it does,” Endora answered.

“Where are you going for your honeymoon? You will be back in time for Christmas morning at the Paradise, won’t you?” Ursula asked when she finally made it to get in on the congratulatory hugs.

“Honeymoon is going to be at the parsonage right here in Spanish Fort,” Parker answered. “And yes, ma’am, we’ll be there bright and early on Christmas morning. Right now, we should be getting into the reception room, though. Rae says we have a cake to cut for the pictures.”

“I’m so shocked that photographs didn’t even cross my mind,” Mary Jane said. “Follow me. I’ll lead the way.”

Parker slipped his hand around Endora’s waist. “You look like an angel today. I can’t believe that we are really married, and I get to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Endora tiptoed and kissed him on the cheek. “Remember the feeling you have right now when we have our first fight.”

“Honey, I’m looking forward to it.” He grinned. “You realize what comes after an argument since we vowed we would never go to bed angry.”

“I do, and why argue? We can sneak off to the bedroom anytime we want,” she whispered. “Want to ditch the reception and go right now?”

“Yes, I do, but…”

“Parker, I can’t believe you and Endora did this”—his mother grabbed them both in a hug—“but we are so glad you did. Now we don’t have to worry until spring about Endora changing her mind.”

“Never!” Endora snuggled in closer to Parker’s side. “This is forever.”

***

Bo waited until everyone was out of the sanctuary before she stood up, popped her hands on her hips, and narrowed her eyes at Maverick. “Now, what are you doing here?”

He ran his hand through his thick hair and frowned. “I am miserable. I can’t sleep. I can’t eat. When I played the piano at the bar up north, I had to swallow lumps in my throat. I know! I know!” He held up his hands. “Grown men don’t cry, but I did. Everywhere I turned, I would see you, Bo. Every song I played reminded me of you. I dreamed of you every night and would wake up heartbroken that you weren’t there beside me in the bed. I made a colossal mistake leaving here, and it wasn’t until I was back in Nocona this afternoon that I started to feel peace again. That sounds corny, doesn’t it?”

“A little,” she said, “but it’s still pretty romantic.”

He reached out and took her hands in his. “Would you like a partner in the music business and to see where this thing between us goes? I don’t deserve a second chance, but here I am, begging for one. I’ve never known this feeling, and I don’t ever want to let it go again.”

“Can I trust you to stick around and not get bored?” she asked, still wondering if she was dreaming. “Don’t say yes if you don’t mean it, and don’t say yes if there’s a remote chance you’ll walk away from me again. I don’t often give second chances, so…” She paused.

“I can say yes to both issues without blinking an eye,” Maverick said. “I don’t want to be away from you ever again if I have to feel like I have for the past nine long, long days and nights.”

“Then yes, I would love to have a partner.” She finally smiled. “And we’ll go slow on whatever this is between us.”

Aunt Bernie is going to pitch a good old southern hissy, the voice in her head shouted. She’s going to remind you daily that he ran away once, and he’ll do it again.

He stood up but didn’t offer to hug her. “I’ve had a lot of time to think about things on the two-day drive back down here. One of the jobs I’ve had was in construction. If I could park a travel trailer next to the old store, I could live there and work on the building. When you learn that you can trust me, maybe you’d even move in with me.” He hurriedly said, “But no rush, and I’m not expecting anything soon, honest. I’m just asking for a chance.”

“I can do that,” Bo said, “and if you know how to hang drywall and make shelves, it will save us a lot of money, but this thing—this attraction between us—it has to go slow.”

Maverick flashed a smile that threatened to make her underpants start crawling down around her ankles. Even though it was tough, she resisted. She looped her arm into his and led him into the fellowship hall.

“Is your Aunt Bernie in there?” he asked.

“Yep, but I’ll protect you. That’s what partners are for,” she told him.