The Scarlet Letter Society (25 page)

Her eyes filled with tears. She had hated returning to that house because it as where her son had died, along with her marriage to the man she loved.

“Maggie,” he said, “I don’t want you to cry. If you don’t want to, it’s ok. I just know that the girls probably won’t be coming home for many more holidays, so I thought we could spend Christmas Eve together as a family. For old times’ sake.”

“I would love to do that,” said Maggie. “For old times’ sake.”

Maggie, Eva, Lisa and Wes sat around a table at Vive, the fancy chef-owned place on Commerce Street Wes and Alfred loved to go for dinner. Maggie thought it seemed like an appropriate setting for the small “shower.” Eva, Maggie and Lisa had brought gifts, and Wes was chattering on about the details of the wedding.

“I’m glad we did it sooner rather than later,” he said, “because I would have driven myself crazy with the hundreds of details you can put into a wedding. I just want to get married to Alfred. I don’t want to spend hours obsessing over flowers and photographers.”

He cleared his throat and then he turned serious.

“I would like to ask my sort of straight girl best friend something,” said Wes,. “Margaret Elizabeth, will you be my maid of honor?”

Maggie beamed.

“Of course I will, you big drama queen,” she responded. “But only if I get to wear the ugliest bridesmaid dress in my shop.”

“You know that’s a deal, hunty!” said Wes, grinning at her.

“It seems like everything is falling into place rather nicely,” said Eva,. “I can’t wait to see how beautiful the lodge looks at night on New Year’s Eve. What a fantastic night for a wedding.”

“Yes, it’s the best night of the year for fresh starts,” said Maggie.

“It’s so romantic,” said Lisa. “I just can’t wait.”

They ordered squash soups, goat cheese terrines, venison stew and other delightful items from the menu, sharing and trying everything like it was a big family meal.

“We had fun picking out a gift for you,” said Maggie, after they’d finished sampling homemade eggnog sorbet and peppermint mocha cheesecake. “Though it isn’t easy to shop for the men who already have everything.”

“We hope you like it,” said Lisa.

Eva reached down and handed Wes the box. Inside was a gift certificate for three-day stay at a gorgeous mountaintop lodge and spa not far from the wedding location.

“Oh my God,” said Wes. “This can be a mini honeymoon! We weren’t going to go away til spring to celebrate, but we can both take a few days off and hang out after the ceremony.”

He looked around the table.

“You girls know how to pick out the best gifts,” he said, “but seriously, I love you all. Thank you so much. Now who’s ready for a wedding?” The three women smiled, raising their glasses in unison. Despite their own challenges in their own marriages, he could see in their eyes that each of them still believed in love and couldn’t hae been happier for him.

On December 31, everything seemed to be lining up perfectly. Once the clock struck midnight, Wes and Alfred would be allowed to legally marry. The reverend had the paperwork with her from the court. Catoctin Cottage lodge was stunning, with hundreds of white candles in every shape and size forming a ring around the room. Striped monotone white and cream linens on the four round tables matched the creams and whites of the flowers in the crystal bowls of water beside the perfect mini-wedding cakes on each table. The centerpieces actually sparkled, clearly aided by crystals or some magical bling that had been added by the theatre designers.. White votive candles lined every windowsill, and even more candles stood on the tables.

The enormous stone mantel of the massive two-story stone fireplace was lined with white pillar candles of every height, and draped in the front with a floral swag of ivory roses, magnolia leaves and ivy. An enormous iron chandelier hung from the ceiling, lit by a dozen cream pillar candles. There was no electrical lighting in the room. There was no need. The glow was amazing and the photographer, a friend of Alfred’s, was ready to capture the beautiful glow.

Wes walked in and saw Alfred standing by the fireplace in his gorgeous vintage Armani black tux, tousled hair and open shirt. He looked every bit the part of the Hollywood hunk. Any doubt either might have had about the ceremony melted away like candle wax. Anyone in the room could see that the love in their eyes matched the love they felt in their hearts. Wes walked over and kissed his groom. The crowd roared, clinking glasses.

“Let’s do this,” Wes said.

Their theatre friends had agreed to provide simple acoustic music during the ceremony. They actually played the bridal march as the two men walked in together, and the room was filled with laughter at their dance moves, taking turns “twirling” each other across the room.

The small group of friends and family gathered around the fire. Large electric heaters had been added on the other side of the room. Though the lodge wasn’t heated, the warmth of the fire was perfect to keep everyone warm on the cold, dark winter night at the beautiful lodge on the mountain.

It took less than fifteen minutes for Wes and Alfred to exchange rings, pledge their love and make eternal vows. They’d written the touching words themselves, but had agreed to keep it brief: only three sentences apiece. (
“Like a Twitter wedding,”
Wes had joked).

“I promise to never let us run out of microwave popcorn when we watch scary movies,” said Wes. “I will never forget, no matter how many years go by, to tell you that you are amazing and gorgeous and how much I love you. And I vow to cherish you and hold you in my heart forever because you are my world.”

And Alfred told Wes, “I promise to make you coffee every morning, even though I still can’t believe you use all that icky cream and sugar. I will love you the very best way I possibly can until the very last day I have. And I will never stop appreciating how at peace I am when I am in your arms.”

Their embrace went on for a few more moments, and amongst cheers of “Kiss the Groom,” they kissed.

The reverend’s words were also touching:

“
May your hearts be as one. Blessings abound when you cherish unconditional love. When troubles come, God’s power will be your strength and courage. Know the joy of each other’s love. May your hearts be as one: Divine
.”

These were words they would always remember on a night they could never forget.

And when the ceremony was over, the two men snuck away from the small group for a private moment outside on the large stone deck overlooking the lights of the city below from the mountain where they were perched on this New Year’s Eve.

“I love you,” said Wes. “And now it’s official and legal and the other 41 states can go straight to hell.”

“They sure can,” Alfred said, smiling. “And I know for sure that I love you right back.”

And as they embraced, kissing as husband and husband, they looked out over the dark forest and saw that it had begun to snow.

January 2013

“I have a face I cannot show

I make the rules up as I go

Just try and love me if you can.

Are you strong enough to be my man?”

-
Strong Enough
, Sheryl Crow

Monthly meeting of the Scarlet Letter Society.

*Blackbirds Pie shop

Friday, January 4, 2013

5:30 a.m.

*Since Zarina and Stanley have disappeared for a sudden vacation week together, apparently inspired by the divine wedding of Wes and Alfred, we will meet at Lisa’s shop. Fuck all the slut-shaming guilt and death in the books we’ve been reading. No book this month; it’s on hiatus until we find something more upbeat to read. Happy New Year, all!

“The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread.”

-
The Scarlet Letter
, Nathaniel Hawthorne

Eva saw the email from Maggie and smiled despite her somber locale. She sat in the chair opposite Joe as they waited to sign their divorce paperwork. She had been not unpleasantly surprised at the speed with which the paperwork had been drawn up. Joe had admitted adultery so that they could obtain an instant divorce. She thought that was ironic considering the degree to with she’d been unfaithful as well.

“Are you smiling because our marriage is over?” Joe asked, not in an unkind way.

“No, Joe,” Eva responded. “I was smiling at an email from Maggie. I am absolutely not happy our marriage is over. 15 years is a long time to be with someone and have it come to an end. I think it’s sad.”

“I am not sure where exactly we went wrong,” said Joe. “But I want you to know that I wish I could have been a better husband, and I hope this all goes peacefully and we can remain friends.”

“Thanks, Joe,” said Eva. “I haven’t by any stretch been the best wife, either. We’re always going to be the parents of our boys, and that will never change, so I think it would be a lot easier and certainly a lot nicer if we remained friends. I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t.”

“Me either,” said Joe.

They’d already discussed the arrangement with the house and boys. They would share custody. Joe would stay at an apartment in Baltimore near the hospital, and Eva was moving to the cottage, where the boys would visit her most weekends. She planned to fix up the guest house for them. Joe and Eva would each have a bedroom at the house in Keytown, and they’d alternate caretaking of the boys from there for the next few years until they were off to college. This way the boys didn’t have to move from their home during high school.

The boys had taken it well, surprising both Joe and Eva with their maturity. Calvin had said the most important thing was that they were each happy, which had brought tears to Eva’s eyes, and Graham had nodded his head in agreement. There was no doubt it was a sad ending, but the four of them agreed that they’d always be family, and that this was what was important. Despite their efforts to put a big-boy face on it, Eva could see the hurt and anger the boys felt. She worried about how it would affect them, whether they would act out.

And so, in less than 30 minutes in a well-appointed but chilly law office and the signing of a twelve-page document in triplicate, a marriage was over.

Maggie and Ted took their coffees from the barista and found a table in “The Other Coffee Shop”, which is what she called the Starbucks downtown. She rarely set foot in the place, obviously preferring Z’s. For many years, the debate about whether the big chain should even be allowed to open their rubber-stamp coffee shop in the historic town raged. Some people thought it would destroy the small-town charm, others thought it was a sign the state’s second biggest city had arrived and besides, Starbucks was renovating a gorgeous old place, not tearing something down to build something new. Ultimately, the chain won. It had clearly permeated the nation’s coffee psyche, and not enough people were that passionately against the idea. Besides, Z’s business never suffered. A town couldn’t have too may coffee shops and her shop’s funky vibe was preferred by most locals to the mermaid with the wavy hair.