The Chocolate Mouse Trap (27 page)

But my parents were still my parents, I realized, even if I got impatient with them. If one of them was sick, I’d be on the next plane to Texas. But what would we have to talk about after I got there? We’d grown so far apart....

Before Joe left that night, I took him in the kitchen for a private talk.

“You’re right,” I said. “We do need to have a real wedding.”

Joe looked amazed. Then he gave me a bear hug. And a big kiss. Then he spoke. “Wow! I’d given up on that. What brought about this change of heart?”

“Oh, I was thinking about how Mrs. Schrader regrets not making peace with Brad’s father. I don’t want to have that kind of regret when my parents are gone. Having them at the wedding won’t be easy! They may refuse to come. But at least I can invite both of them. And Annie. And Brenda. But I think we should hold the wedding up here. Not in Texas. I’ll gather my courage and do this, but I want them on my turf. Not me on theirs.”

I agreed to call my dad the next day and to talk to my mother as soon as she came back from her current trip. Then Joe and I made a date to talk about all the details the next evening.

Then he went home. His truck had been released by the police, so I walked him out to it. I even sat in it with him for a while.

All the best stories end with a clinch.

 

Also by JoAnna Carl