Deadly Deception. Brenda Gunn
years old. These were my first,” she said, pointing to a pair of pink pumpkin-shaped porcelain ones with hand-painted roses on the sides.
They continued on the tour and the last place she took him was her bedroom.
The walls were papered in a tan palmetto pattern. To give the feel of the tropics, gauzy curtains covered the windows and filtered the sunlight. Centered on one wall sat a wrought iron bed, encased by a sheer canopy.
Glen looked away. She offered an embarrassed smile and quickly changed the subject. “Do you like our bedroom?”
He shrugged. “Kind of frilly, isn’t it?” Glen fingered the sheer netting draped over the bed.
Brenda glanced at the alarm clock that sat on her nightstand. “The Justice of the Peace will be arriving any minute. You can change in here and then I’ll show you the backyard.”
“The backyard?”
“Remember we’re going to make our vows out there as the sun goes down. If that’s still okay with you.”
“Sure,” he said.
She left him alone to change into his tuxedo and went into the bathroom to touch up her lipstick. Somehow, his disclosure about his bad credit nagged at her. After all, if it didn’t matter, why hadn’t he told her from the start? Still, she truly loved him. She told herself the credit thing didn’t really matter. Their love was the most important thing in the world. They would make their marriage work.
When she turned around, he was standing in the doorway staring at her.
“I can’t believe, you wonderful woman, that you are going to be my wife,” Glen said, a bashful smile playing about his lips.
“Wow! You look great in that tuxedo!” she said, and ran her hand through his silky brown hair to smooth out a wayward strand. “Perfect.” Glen was lean, athletic. His expensive watch and clothes made him look like a model. Only, he didn’t have the conceit of such an attractive man. He was caring and a little shy. That’s what she liked about him.
He took her hand in his and rubbed it. “God, your skin is soft.”
Smiling, she led him through the house and out the back door to the patio.
“Surprise!” her father and mother, who were ensconced in two beribboned seats set near the flowered canopy, and a host of people shouted. Manny was among them, smiling.
Glen’s shocked face had a dazed look. Brenda reassuringly wrapped her arm around his slim waist.
“I wanted to have my family and some friends come to our wedding.”
Glen paled and broke away, bolting back inside the house.
The wedding guests stopped talking and gawked at each other in an uncomfortable silence.
“Go ahead and please help yourself to the hors d’oeuvres. I’ll be right back,” Brenda told her guests and followed Glen inside.
She found him pacing in the kitchen like a caged leopard. She tried to wrap her arms around him to reassure him, but he shrugged her off. She felt helpless.
“Glen, what’s wrong?”
“You should have told me all those people were out there!” he said.
The music of Billy Joel’s, “Just the Way You Are,” filtered in from the backyard. Brenda peeked out the window, relieved that her guests were mingling and seemed to be having a good time. She turned her attention back to Glen.
“Why did you invite all these people?” he asked, continuing to pace. He kept rubbing his hands on his pants in an attempt to find the pockets, but there were no pockets on the formal pants.
“It’s a wedding party. It wouldn’t be much of a party if I didn’t invite people, now would it? I’ve never seen you like this. What’s wrong?”
He stopped pacing and faced her. “I haven’t been around strangers very much. I don’t know how to act.”
“You don’t have to act any way. Just be yourself and have a good time,” she said, caressing the side of his face. “These people will be your friends, Glen. You just haven’t met them yet.”
“Brenda, I’m agoraphobic. Crowds petrify me. I’m not used to having a lot of people around,” he told her desperately.
She gently turned him to face her and looked him in the eyes. “Glen, remember family and friends who care are good for and to each other.”
He hugged her. She held him tightly.
“Nobody’s ever been as good to me as you are,” he said. They held each other a long time. All the while, Brenda stroked his back as a mother would to calm a frightened little boy.
Finally, he pulled back to look at her. “Sorry I ran out on you, Brenda. I’ll never do that again.”
“I love you,” she responded gently.
Glen nodded and smiled.
Brenda tapped on the window to give her sisters, Suzy and Emily, the cue and the wedding march began to play. Brenda looped her arm through Glen’s. Her dad and mother had not been well and she had decided she and Glen would walk down the aisle together, setting up their own new custom.
“Wait,” she whispered to him, “Sniffer goes first.”
Glen shook his head and frowned. “Honestly, Brenda, I know you love animals, but that bundle of bones and fur looks more like a rat. Are you sure you want your dog in our wedding?”
“Please, Glen,” Brenda said.
He managed a forced smile. “Oh, if it pleases you, I guess I can live with it.”
Outside, Suzy deposited the Yorkshire puppy on the ground. He wore a collar of carnations and apricot-colored tulle and a puffy bow on his wagging tail. In his mouth he carried a basket of rose petals. As he pranced down the peach satin draped aisle, the rose petals spilled over to form a trail for the wedding couple. Sniffer marched up to the Justice of the Peace and stopped, just like he knew what he was doing. The guests ooh-ed and aah-ed.
Next, Brenda and Glen came out the door and followed Sniffer down the aisle. The guests’ murmurs turned to silence as Brenda and Glen stopped in front of the Justice of the Peace. It was a lovely November day. The weather was perfect and exceptionally mild for that time of year. The skies were blue and clear, but for a few wispy clouds above them that were shading to pink as the sun set. The gentle rustle of deep red leaves on the maple trees was the only sound.
Glen took Brenda’s hands in his and looked lovingly into her eyes. His voice had a nervous edge to it as he recited the poem he had written.
“When I lay down to sleep at night,
I want you by my side.
Through good and bad and thick and thin,
I want you as my bride.”
Brenda gave his hand a reassuring squeeze and he squeezed hers back as he continued,
“I promise to love and cherish you,
And harm will come to you never.
For richer or poorer, in sickness and health,
I promise to love you forever.”
Glen smiled lovingly at Brenda. She gazed