Authors: Maddie Cochere
We could hear an ambulance coming in the distance. Detective Bentley walked over to us
and said,
“You two. You’re going back to town by way of the ambulance. We need to get you both checked out.”
“I’m fine,” Mick and I both said at the same time.
“You’re not fine
,
”
he said.
He pointed to Mick and said, “Your head’s bloody.” He pointed to me and said, “Your wrists and your feet look like hamburger. You’re both taking a ride in the ambulance.” It was obvious there was no arguing about it.
“Darby,” I
said
with concern. “Where’s Nate? And where
are my parents?” I was
suddenly
sick to my stomach thinking about Mom and Dad.
“They’ve been at the police station
,” he said
.
“
On the way down here, I sent Nate a text and told him to tell Dad where the car was so they could pick it up. I left the keys at the motel office. I couldn’t tell him anything else rig
ht then, but I heard later
all three of them were at the police station waiting for information. If they’re taking you to a hospital, they’ll probably be told where to go to meet you.” He stood up, patted me on the shoulder, and said, “I’ll see both of you there, too.
Someone
was weeping behind me. It was soft at first, but then it became
l
ouder. I smiled. It had to be Mom
. I turned to look and saw
it was Nate and Darby making the noise. Both of them were sniffling with handkerchiefs held to their eyes. I turned back
to Mick and giggled
.
The pastor continued, “Susan, do you take this man as your lawful wedded partner, to live together in the estate of matrimony? Will you love him, honor him, comfort him, and keep him in sickness and in health; forsaking all others, being true to him as long as you both shall live?”
“I do,” I practically squealed it came out so joyously.
“Mick, do you take this woman as your lawful wedded partner, to live together in the estate of matrimony? Will you love her, honor her, comfort her, and keep her in sickness and in health; forsaking all others, being true to her as long as you both shall live?”
“I do,” said Mick as he
gazed
adoringly into my eyes.
He
placed
the simple white gold wedding band onto my finger, and I slipped my eng
agement ring from my right hand,
where I had placed it
earlier
, to my left hand
,
nestling the two rings together.
Mick’s simple band was similar to mine, and I
slid
it onto his finger
. I was giddy with happiness.
The pastor continued, “By the authority vested in me by the great state of Nevada, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
Mick pulled me into his arms and kissed me passionately. My knees went weak in a good way, and as
always
, I wanted to stay in his strong arms forever. I
heard my dad clear his throat.
I
glanced
over at him and felt a blush creeping into my face, but his crow’s feet were prominent, and he was grinning from ear to ear.
I looked around the room and couldn’t believe what Mom and two gay men had accomplished in just one day. We weren’t in a chapel on the strip; we were in a lovely non-denominational church in one of the suburbs. It had been quickly decorated with pink bows and beautiful flowers. Aunt Charlotte and her new boyfriend from Christmas, the one who was 23 years her junior, had flown in last night from who knows where to be here this morning. Detective Bentley and Dudley were seated a couple of rows behind Mom and Dad. Anna Torres was sitting beside Dudley. Betsy Ann and Gregory were behind Darby and Nate. One of the best surprises of the day was to see Dell Grady and his girlfriend, Lisa, walk into the church. He had arranged for her to fly in early this morning to make our 10:30 ceremony.
There was a flurry of well-wishes with lots of hugs and kisses in the church. We would all be headed back to the hotel soon where we would be having a luncheon in the private dining room at Wolfgang Puck. Mom and Darby had put the menu together
, but alerted the chef that
most of the guests would probably want Reuben sandwiches.
We walked out of the church and into a gorgeous day of bright sunshine. There wasn’t any rush, and we all stood around to chat.
Dell and Lisa were standing beside me. She was a lovely girl, and had been sweet and kind to me when we had a few minutes to talk about the entire fiasco with Dell. I could see how much she cared for him, and his love for her was obvious as well. Lisa asked me, “Where did you find such a
pretty
dress on such short notice? It’s absolutely perfect on you.”
I laughed and said, “In my closet. I bought it at the Paris Hotel intending to wear it tonight, but it
quickly became
my wedding dress.”
The look in Mick’s eyes when he saw me in
the dress
let me know it was the perfect dress
. Heck, the look in Darby and Nate’s eyes let me know it was the perfect dress. I giggled again thinking about it.
Mom had been so helpful. She bought a lovely pair of antique white, fingerless gloves for me to wear to hide the rope burns on my wrists. A pair of pantyhose in a light suntan color helped to hide the scraped flesh on the tops of my feet, and some makeup on the horrible racquetball bruise on my back kept the top part of the purple blotch from showing through the sheer organza of my dress.
Mick
was
incredibly handsome in a new black wool suit with a gray shirt and tie. He had surprisingly not needed any stitches. The first glancing blow to his
head had caused a small cut which
had simply bled a lot. The second blow to his head had been while he was moving and not as serious as it first seemed. It had only produced a temporary lump and a mild concussion which kept him in bed most of the day yesterday.
Darby and Nate had placed a pink rosebud in Mick’s lapel, and had arranged for a small bouquet of white and pink roses for me. Nestled in the center, almost hidden from view was one bla
ck-eyed susan, my
favorite flo
wer, and I knew
Mick had asked them to
put
it there
for me
.
I turned
, tried
to face everyone at once
, and announced
, “Ok, whoever isn’t married
,
be ye man or woman, gather over here and try to catch my bouquet.” I pointed to another section of the walk outside the church. As almost everyone attending was gathering in a group, I slipped the black-eyed susan out of the bouquet and tucked it into my glove. I winked at Darby
,
turned around
, and tried
to concentrate on where I should pitch the flowers.
I sent the bouquet flying, and I
quickly
turned
to see who would catch it. Darby and Nate had both
jumped for it
at the same time, and twice it seemed to bounce up and off of their fingertips. Aunt Charlotte simply reached over and
plucked
it
out
of the air
on the third bounce. It was wonderfully funny timing on her part, and everyone laughed.
I saw where
Dudley had joined the singles crowd, and I said to him teasingly, “Dudley, I thought you had a wife.”
He laughed and said, “You really put me on the spot that day at the dam. And I had to pay
a woman to accompany me to the
magic show, and then buy her dinner
,
all so you would think I had a wife.”
I looked at him with a grateful look and said, “Thank you for not giving up. It must have been hard to follow us around like that.”
“You have no idea,” he said with a laugh. “But it all worked out for the best, and maybe even in more ways than one.” He smiled at Anna.
Anna looked lovely today, and she was beaming as sh
e said, “Darryl helped me get an
interview at the Bellagio
on
Monday. I’m taking my cookies for them to sample, and I might get a job baking.”
“I’m so happy for you, Anna,” I told her. “I guess Dudley really is a good guy after all.” I
gave him an affectionate smile.
Detective Bentley
screwed up his face
and asked, “Why do you keep calling him Dudley?”
I heard Darby snort.
“Because he has the
deep cleft in his chin
,
and
his coloring and hair are light,” I said. “
When I first saw him, he reminded me of Dudley Do-Right.”
“Oh, criminy! Of all the ridiculous things I’ve ever heard,” Detective Bentley said shaking his head and walking away.
The deeper humor of the situation seemed to be lost on everyone but my dad. His eyes were twinkling, and he was trying to hold back laughter. He whispered something to my mother, and she burst out laughing saying “
Dudley Do-Right
.”
Mick turned to everyone and said, “How about if we head on over to the hotel? We can all visit some more over lunch.”
Everyone agreed and
started moving
to their cars. Darby and Nate had arranged a limousine for
Mick and me
, but Mom and Dad stopped us before we could get into the vehicle.
Dad’s eyes were shining. “Susan. Mick,” he said. “Your mom and I have something for you. We’d like to give it to you now.” Dad handed an envelope to me.
Mick
stood
beside me with his arm around my waist
,
and
looked
over my shoulder
as I opened the envelope
.
Inside
was a piece of paper. It was a wire transfer of $150,000 into my bank account back home in Ohio.
My eyes widened. “What is this?
” I asked. “
Where did you ever get this much money?”
Mick seemed a little uncomfort
able. It was, after all, a
large gift from people he had just met.
Mom chimed in, “He sold that stupid, beat up, old comic book at the pawn shop.” Dad started laughing.
My mouth fell open. “What?! You’re kidding! You got this much money for it?”
“Not quite, but I did get $80,000,” Dad said. “They called in an expert who told them it was worth $110,000. We came to a meeting of the minds at $80,000. The rest of the money is from poker.”
My mouth fell open again. “You won $70,000 playing poker?”
“More than that, Susan,” he said with a big smile. “Your mother and I are taking a nice chunk home, too. While you were working and, unbeknownst to us, trying to get yourself killed, I was playing in poker tournaments.”
I couldn’t believe it. Y
esterday, I had wired home a little over $21,000 of my own
winnings
. This was unbelievable. Mick and I were going to be able to look for a house together as soon as we got back home.
After giving Mom and Dad huge hugs and kisses, Mick and I
happily settled
into the limousine. The ride to the hotel would take a few minutes
,
and we fully intended to enjoy one another on the way.
Management at Slimmers had been so grateful for the revelation of Carlton Waltham’s embezzling, and they felt so terrible about what h
e had done to me and Mick,
they were giving me an extra week of vacation and paying for our honeymoon. After lunch, we would be catching a flight out of McCarran Airport for Paris, France. I couldn’t think of any place I’d rather be for a honeymoon with Mick than in the city for lovers. Mich
ael Buble would be
there
on tour
, and Darby and Nate were working on getting tickets for us.
In the limousine, Mick pulled me to him and kissed me long and hard. He took my breath away and sent tingles
and warmth throughout my
body. He looked at me with th
e
wonderfully amused look
I loved so much
,
and
he
said softly, “Mrs. Mick Raines. Susan Raines. It’s the prettiest
name in the world.”
It was. And I couldn’t wait until
tonight when we would be in Paris
, where w
e would try yet again to p
ut out this fire between us which
simply would not be quenched.
###