Indelible Love - Emily's Story (46 page)

They immediately stopped laughing once
they saw that I found no humor in his comment.

“Lighten up, Emily,” Charlie quipped.
“You broke the guy’s heart. Let him mend it with someone else. Who
better than your future sister-in-law? Maybe you two will finally
end up as family, though I’m sure this is not the way you or Max
envisioned it to be.”

Jake only exacerbated the situation by
adding, “Emi, will you be upset if you see Max and Jane coming down
to breakfast together once she moves back home?”

“Ugh!” I stared at Jake dumbfounded.
“Are you kidding me?” was all I could ask as they broke into a
guffaw at my expense again. Annoyed, I walked out of the room to
grab some drinks. When I got back, Charlie and Jake were having
another disturbing conversation.

“So, Jake, have you and Emily started
living together?”

“Seriously? Have Sarah and Max never
told you about my fiancée?”

“I know the deal, but I thought maybe
since you’re almost married, and since she’s living in your house,
she might…”

“Charlie. Let’s not go there,” I
warned.

Jake complained to both my friends. “I
sleep in Nick’s room while she stays here. I’m counting down the
days till I don’t get kicked out of my own bed.”

This conversation made me
uncomfortable so I looked over to Sarah for a little help. She
jumped in and asked if we wanted to join them for a movie and
dinner.

I answered, “We would love to,” and
kicked them out of the house.

After they left, I turned to Jake and
said, “I can’t believe you and Charlie today.”

“He asked,” Jake said defensively.
“Are you mad? I didn’t tell him about last night.” His face was too
smug. I had created a monster.

“Well since Nick is back at his
apartment, you can go back to his room till we get
married.”

“Aw come on, Emily. Last night was
fantastic, wasn’t it? Didn’t I behave?” Jake’s face was pleading
for another hall pass for tonight.

“Don’t think I didn’t notice your
hands and lips all over me in the middle of the night.”

Jake shot back at me. “And
don’t think I didn’t notice you
enjoying
my hands and lips all over
you in the middle of the night.”

I ran up the stairs trying to hold my
lips together from breaking into a smile.

Chapter 21 The Rehearsal

The next week and a half were a blur,
as so many people came in and out of the house. Gram finally
arrived from London and stayed in the guest suite up on the third
floor. I thought she might have a difficult time getting up there,
but soon found that the house was equipped with an elevator for
her. My job was to keep Gram entertained while Sandy and Barbara
finished up all the details of the wedding.

Jane came home on Friday and all the
out-of-town guests started arriving as well. Jake and I had our
final fittings and thanks to Aunt Barbara, Jake started his
vacation as of Friday. We decided to have our dress rehearsal on
Friday instead of Saturday, just in case there were any last-minute
changes. We rehearsed at the house and then went to the chief’s
house for dinner.

Aunt Barbara set up her backyard to
look like a Moroccan Riad, or garden. She replicated a riad by
placing a fountain as the focal point in the middle of the tent.
Hovering over the fountain stood a large open tent with rich fabric
graciously draping over each pole. Lemon and lime trees stood near
these drapes, while rugs simulating zellige tiles covered the
entire grassy area. We sat on pillows on the ground and dined on
couscous with vegetables, pastille—a squab meat pie, lamb tajine—a
stew, and Zaalouk salad with eggplant and tomatoes.

During the meal, musicians playing the
lute, drums, tambourine, and fiddle circled the tent, and we all
clapped in awe when the belly dancers strutted among the guests.
They tried to get me and Jake up to belly dance with them, but
neither one of us was keen on making a fool of ourselves at our own
rehearsal dinner. Charlie, Uncle Henry, and Doug got up to dance
with all the ladies. Aunt Barbara was a good sport and she tried
her best to keep up with the hip-swinging ladies.

With dinner and entertainment
finished, Uncle Henry stood in the middle of the tent and thanked
everyone for joining us. To my surprise, he called up Jake to
continue a family tradition.

Looking at a crowd of thirty or so
cousins, aunts, and uncles, Jake addressed our loved ones. “Most of
us in this tent know that we Reids have a tradition at our dress
rehearsal dinner. This tradition is started by the first child of
his generation to get married and all the other children in that
generation must follow the same tradition he chooses. Since I am
the first among the cousins to get married, you all must follow my
lead when you get married.”

Many whispered, “I hope he chooses
something cheap.” I wasn’t quite sure what they meant by this
statement.

“The chief says that I need to pick
from one of the wedding traditions of something old, something new,
something borrowed, or something blue. Gramps apparently chose
something old and gave Gram a pearl necklace that his mother wore
on her wedding day. Gram?” We saw him circling around the tent
looking for his grandmother. “Will you be giving this pearl
necklace to my Emily as well?”

This question brought on a holler of
boos from all the cousins. Again, I wasn’t sure what they were
unhappy about as opposition mounted.

First one to oppose was Doug, the
chief’s oldest son. “Gram, I demand a recount. Who voted to give
Jake the six-carat diamond ring?” A round of “yeah’s!” came from
the other cousins. Most of the aunts and uncles found this
dissention hilarious, and some of the aunts joined in with the
protestors.

Oh, so that’s what everyone was booing
about. I, too, found the family ribbing comical.

“Doug, sit down!” Jake ordered. “I
have the mic. Anyhow, before I was so rudely interrupted,” my
fiancé continued, “the chief continued the tradition by picking
something blue, and he gave his bride a measly blue garter. All of
his brothers had to do the same for their brides as a wedding gift.
Now I must say, that’s a crappy wedding gift.”

All four aunts and Mom stood and gave
Jake a standing ovation. We were rolling in laughter.

“Now it’s my turn, and I pick
something old and something new.”

“Show off!” Cousin Glen
yelled.

“The only way to outdo
a
six-carat
Asscher cut diamond ring
,” he
emphasized and enunciated each of those words while a hiss rang
through the tent, “is to shower my bride with more
diamonds.”

At this point, every cousin paraded
his and her strong opinion. The girls hailed Jake as a hero. They
jumped up and down with animated faces, knowing that their future
fiancés would be subject to the same tradition. They danced around
like they’d just found a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, and
made the aunts’ standing ovation look tame. The men, on the other
hand, jumped up to the imaginary podium where Jake stood and put
him in a head lock, pretending to assault him. The rest of us broke
into every kind of laughter in the dictionary—a chortle, a cackle,
a guffaw. My belly never hurt so badly from laughing as it did
tonight.

When everyone settled down, Jake came
over to me and walked me up to his stage. His eyes only on me, he
uttered, “Emily, I don’t think I ever told you this, but when I
first saw you at the supermarket, I followed you around the store
like a lost puppy.”

“Stalker!” I heard one of the cousins
yell out. The audience, myself included, found the comment
hilarious.

“I was more than happy to help you
after you fell. I told all the doctors and staff in ER to slow down
your treatment so I could spend more time with you.”

“Malpractice!” was the next shout we
got from a different cousin. While we all laughed, Jake sent out a
lighthearted threat to the hecklers.

“Just remember that you all are
getting married after me. That means that you will all be up here
at some point, and I don’t forgive or forget easily.” Jake
attempted an evil eye. Nobody was scared.

Some yelled back,” Oooh!” The others
sarcastically called out, “Scary!”

Jake continued with his
story.

“After our first date, I knew that you
would be the girl I would marry. What I didn’t know was how deeply
I would fall in love with you, and still I grow to love you more
each day. I cherish your warmth, your honesty, and the way you
trust me to take care of you. In turn, I strive to be your shield
and protector and make you the happiest woman in the world. In
short, my life is only complete because you are here with me. I
love you.”

There was not a dry eye in the tent.
All the women cried. I too became overwhelmed with emotion and
cried in Jake’s arms. For a change, they were tears of joy. While I
pulled myself back together, Jake excused himself and went over to
his mother and embraced her. Though I couldn’t hear their exchange,
I was sure he was thanking his mother—his first true
love.

Jake came back to me and held out a
small jewelry box—yes, like the kind a girl received when a man got
down on one knee about to propose to the woman he loves. Since that
was already done, twice, I wondered what this could be. I thought
I’d add some humor to this situation and put up both my
ring-bearing hands and told Jake, “I don’t have any fingers left to
wear another diamond ring.”

Jake found this statement funny as he
opened up the box. I found a big diamond stud earring. I looked at
the stud, looked at his face and looked back at the stud. Everyone
in the room, including me, wondered why there was only one
stud.

“Jake, this is gorgeous, but how does
it become something old and something new and why is there only
one?”

“Well, for those of you who don’t know
the story, I first proposed to Emily back in December, and she
turned me down.”

Everyone in the tent booed, even Gram.
I hung my head low to the ground till Jake brought my chin up with
a tender kiss.

“So this diamond,” he continued the
story, “is the first diamond I bought for her seven months ago,
that I decided to turn into an earring since I got a new diamond
from my favorite grandma.” He waved my ring finger to the crowd for
one more razzing.

“The other diamond,” Jake pulled out
another jewelry box, “is a new one that I picked up at Boucheron in
Paris. So here you go my love, something old and something new.” He
handed me both boxes, and I thought it only appropriate to put them
both on immediately. This time, I wrapped my arms around my love
and embraced him passionately. It was only when Gram started
clearing her throat we released one another.

“Thank you, Sweetheart. They’re
beautiful,” I crooned.

Jake and I thanked Uncle Henry and
Aunt Barbara for our special evening.

“Aunt Barbara, you throw the most
exciting theme party I’ve ever attended. I can’t wait to see what
Thanksgiving looks like at your house. Thank you from the bottom of
my heart.” I gushed, giving both my aunt and uncle a
hug.

“Now Jake, don’t forget we have one
more rule that starts tonight,” warned Aunt Barbara.

I looked to Jake for an explanation
and he hesitated.

“Aw, Aunt Babs, can’t we forgo that
tradition?”

“Nope.”

“How about starting tomorrow night
like customary?”

“See you at the wedding, Nephew.” She
walked away and I turned for an explanation.

“Well, you see…there’s another
tradition where they keep the bride and groom away from each other
after the rehearsal dinner. Since we had our dinner a day early,
you and I will be separated from tonight till Sunday evening. The
guys usually spend the night together at one of the homes, which I
think it’s the chief’s this time, and the ladies will all be at our
house. I think Aunt Babs is enforcing this policy even more harshly
to get back at me for taking the diamond.” Jake found this thought
comical.

I found nothing comical about being
separated for two days. My lips must have formed into a
pout.

“Love, it’s only two more days,” he
consoled me. “After that, I won’t let anything or anybody separate
us again, OK?” He lifted up my sullen face. “I’ll see you at the
altar.” Jake leaned in and placed his lips on my
forehead.

This was the last time I saw Jake till
I walked down the aisle.

Saturday morning we all slept in. We
consisted of Mom, me, four aunts, eleven female cousins, Gram and
her staff. Even with our huge house, everyone jostled for space. No
one wanted to spend the night in our room, as all the ladies
thought it would be weird to spend the night in what they termed,
“the honeymoon suite.” As much as I liked company, I was happy to
be by myself while everyone crowded in the extra bedrooms. I heard
a light knock on the door and I knew alone time was
over.

Laney, the chief’s daughter, walked
in. “Can I use your shower? It’s crazy how all ten showers can be
taken at the same time. Do you need to use it?”