Yule Tidings (28 page)

             
Anne glanced at her daughters.  Rose was her maid of honor, while Kelly, Alex, and Trisha were her bridesmaids.  They all wore pastel replicas of Anne’s dress.  Rose wore sage, Kelly wore lavender, Alex was in pink, and Trisha was in blue.  They were lovely, wearing matching jewelry Anne had gotten them for Christmas.  Merle looked dashing in his black pinstripe suit with an ivory shirt and black with ivory swirled tie.  The gray of his hair shone in stark contrast to the darkness of his suit and his eyes were lit with joy.  His son, Adam, was his best man, while his son-in -law, William, Jim, and oddly, Jason, acted as his groomsmen, each wearing suits to match Merle’s with undershirts to match the bridesmaids. 

The ceremony was over quickly.  Neither Anne nor Merle wanted to sit through an entire mass, or kneel for an extended period of time. When the service was over the girls rushed to the reception hall to finish the last minute decorating while the men followed Merle and Anne through town honking their horns noisily to inform everyone in the area of the happy union before slowly dropping off to head to the reception hall before Anne and Merle arrived. 

The reception was charming.  Rather than catering, Anne asked everyone to bring some kind of snack tray to the reception.  The cake was a lovely four-tier masterpiece of roses in all the colors of the wedding decorating the tops of the layers.  Little cherub pedestals of clear plastic held up each layer and the bride and groom on top were crystal lovers dancing on ice.  A small fountain of spumante sat on one side of the cake, another of punch on the opposite side. 

Merle and Anne danced over and over, though Michael and Jason both cut in once.  When the guests finally started to leave, Anne was almost relieved.  She and Merle had a three-hour drive to their hotel.  A beautiful suite awaited them, and in the morning they would leave for Europe, the hotel located just a few miles from the airport.  Everything was packed in preparation for their departure, and Merle had loaded everything in the car this morning.  His children would be flying home from the local airport in a day or two, having only come for the wedding.  Anne’s children would spend one last night at the farm before driving back to their homes. 

When the last of the guests left, Merle, Jim and Jason loaded a truck with the wedding gifts to take to the house while the girls helped Anne change and pick up.  The bride and groom were ready to leave within an hour, and set off on their way in the early afternoon.  Merle held the car door for Anne, kissing her gently before closing the door and walking to his side of the car.  Today would be the first day of the rest of his life, and it was a wonderful day indeed.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Epilogue

             
Merle and Anne returned from three weeks in Europe happy, tanned, and healthy.  Anne lost more weight while in Europe; finally able to wear those size twelves she’d grown out of so long ago.  Merle came back with a piece of mind he’d doubted possible after the loss of his first wife.  It would be a wonderful spring for them. 

             
When Anne walked in the house she sighed.  Europe was wonderful, but it felt fantastic to be back home again.  She started to take her suitcase to the bedroom, and was surprised to find it empty of both hers and Merle’s things.  “Merle?” she called cautiously, afraid that perhaps he’d been robbed while they were away.  “Merle?  Everything is missing,” she said, making her way back to the kitchen when she heard him come in the door with another load from the car.

             
“No it isn’t, sweet.  I had the kids put everything upstairs in our bedroom.  I’d be a poor husband indeed if I didn’t allow my wife to sleep in the master bedroom of her own home.”  Merle had seen the look on Anne’s face when she’d walked into the upstairs bedroom; admiring how truly amazing and luxurious it was.  He knew she’d never ask him to let her sleep in the room, or even enter it, knowing he’d designed it for his first wife, but Merle had made peace with Martha’s death; it was time to open doors he’d closed.  If Anne could sleep with him in her old bedroom, he could share his new one with her. 

             
Anne looked ready to cry as she walked into the bedroom upstairs behind Merle.  Her clothes, shoes, everything had been moved upstairs with tender care.  She knew her daughters were responsible; everything was exactly where she would have wanted it.  Merle’s clothes too, were arranged in the second closet.  On the nightstand was a wedding photo of Anne and Merle holding hands, smiling at each other.  “Well Mrs. Johnson, welcome home.”

“If we listened to our intellect, we'd never have a love affair. We'd never have a friendship. We'd never go into business, because we'd be cynical. Well, that's nonsense. You've got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down.
”

~
Ray Bradbury