Laura Ray (Ray Series) (22 page)

Art and Laura looked at each other feeling speechless.

“Take into consideration that I just had the call to put this on the market today. I thought of you and wondered if you might be interested. I know that you
have been searching for a house for a while. I would like to put you in this house.” Mr. Williams said, “I need to get some documents from my car if you would like to talk about this while I’m gone, feel free to make a decision.”

Laura watched him close the living room door then said in a loud whisper, “Art, I don’t think we can afford this.”

“Maybe,” he replied, “I love this house. What do you think?”

“I think it’s perfect, if we could afford it.”

Art nodded as he heard Mr. Williams return at the front door.

“Have you made a decision?” Mr. Williams asked looking from one of them to the other.

“I was thinking that you must have thought that we could afford this house or you wouldn’t have shown it to us. I know that the value of this house is more than we first discussed,” Art stated. Raising his eyebrows, he asked, “Is that right?”

“Sometimes, in
the case of a couple getting a divorce, money isn’t their main objective. They just need to move the property so that they can get on with their lives.” Mr. Williams informed them.

“We do want to make an offer.” Art filled out the paperwork placing the same figure on this house as he had originally told Mr. Williams that he could afford.

Mr. Williams nodded as he saw what Art wrote, and then he pointed at a contingency item listed at the bottom of the contract. “All the furnishings inside and outside of the house are included in the sale.”

They all stood and shook hands.

Mr. Williams said, “As soon as I present your offer to the seller and get his feedback, I will contact you.”

As soon as they walked into Laura’s house, Art grabbed both of Laura’s hands and said, “I feel really good about this, Laura. I think we’ve got us a house.”

Mr. Williams returned to his office and called his seller, “I have already sold your house if you accept his offer. I got you a really good deal, considering we need to move it so fast.”

Laura was on pins and needles all the next day at work
hoping that Art had made a sufficient offer for the house. Apparently her nerves affected the woman beside her because she caught her finger in the machine penetrating her fingernail. Laura took her to the office holding extra material to her bleeding finger. She barely got her there when she realized her face looked starkly white. Laura pushed her head between her legs, not a minute too soon or she would have fainted.

By the time she finished helping the woman who went home early; Laura knew she had lost her quota count for the day. She consoled herself with the thought that if they bought that house, she would turn in her resignation anyway. The sooner the better, she had enough of Cherokee Togs. She held up her hand looking at her engagement ring so she could see it sparkle in the light. Life held so much promise, she could hardly wait.

When she drove into her driveway, Art sat on the porch swing waiting. When she stepped on the porch Art wrapped her in his arms and said, “We got the house.”

“You’re kidding!” Laura exclaimed. “Just like that? We got the house?”

Art nodded as he opened the door for her. “Mr. Williams said that the seller was anxious to sell the house because of the divorce and was willing to take our offer without even a counter offer. We can have the furniture and everything.”

“When do we get possession of the house?”

“He said since I’m paying cash, all we have to wait for is the title opinion. Actually since the house is paid for, we can have possession almost immediately but he recommends that we not move in until we know that the title is clear. We can move in probably within two weeks,” Art said rubbing his hands together.

Laura grabbed his hands excitedly, “Art, that means we can get married in two weeks
!”

Now all the possibilities began running through her mind. She started pacing the living room with her hands on her cheeks. “The yard is ready for the wedding except that Samantha will want to doll it up a little more, if I know her. By adding a couple of more tables to the one on the deck, it would be ready for the catered buffet. Since you still have your apartment, Becky’s family could stay there during their visit. Nora and Jeremy could stay at Samantha’s house. That leaves my house for other family that might want to come.”

She walked over to Art and pulled his face down to her level and gave him a long satisfying kiss. “Wow! This is exciting.”

Art had stood with a grin on his face for the duration of her thought process. “As much as I enjoyed that kiss, I still need to get back to work. It looks like you already have things in control. I couldn’t wait to tell you about it.”

“Thanks, Art. I’m glad you did.”

He started to open the door to leave when she said seriously, “Art, I am not going back to Cherokee Togs. I am not even giving them a notice. I’m done.”

“Good. You don’t have to go back.”

She nodded, “Thanks.”

Laura spent the rest of her time on the phone until Danny came in from football practice.

“Danny, we got the house!” Laura told him excitedly.

“We did?” He threw his arms in the air. “Yeah!”

After he finished his little dance, he said, “Wait ‘til I tell Aaron.” He ran out the door. Aaron only lived about a block away.

Laura shook her head smiling, “She had always heard about girls and their friends, but Danny had a friend
with whom he shared everything.

Art came over later than usual. He and Brian had to pull a transmission from a car which was extremely heavy and dirty work. Tomorrow they had a new one to install so that would be another hard day. He looked tired so she set some food in front of him and started rubbing his shoulders and arms. Soon he relaxed and brought her around to sit in his lap. “Have I told you today that I love you?”

She frowned and twisted her head to the side. “I don’t remember hearing that today. I think you need to tell me about that.”

“Laura Ray almost Bailey,” he smiled, “How much do I love thee? Let me count the ways.”

Laura smiled and kissed him warmly, “You don’t have that much time.”

She stood up and said, “Now, be a big boy and eat your supper. I don’t want it to go to waste.”

He faked a pout and started eating.

Laura sat down opposite him and said, “I talked to Becky after you left today, and they can come during the school break in two weeks.”

“That’s perfect.”

“Yes,” Laura enthused. “We could have our wedding on Saturday night. She thought that Ward would have no trouble getting off to come. I told them that we had rooms for them to stay in so they are coming on Wednesday night and staying until Sunday. What do you think of that?”

“I think it’s wonderful. Finally all our plans are coming together,” Art said warmly.

“I spoke with Samantha today. On Saturday I’m taking her to our new house so she can get an idea on what she wants to use to complete the flower decorations,” Laura informed him. Samantha has owned her own flower shop for years. Most of everybody in town used her flowers for their landscaping needs.

“Good,” Art nodded approvingly.

“I also called Gina’s catering shop here in town, and they will be available to cater for us. All we need to do is let her know what we have in mind.
”

“Sounds like you are getting things well underway,” he said putting the last bite in his mouth.

“I am trying to think of everything. About all we have left to do is move in. She laughed, “Oh, yes and get married.”

“One thing I’m a little rusty about,” he puzzled. “What did you have in mind for us to wear? I haven’t really heard you mention that.”

“Hmm, Samantha, Mary, and I will have to go shopping.” Laura furrowed her brow, “I’ll let you know when I do.”

Art shook his head and smiled at her. Most women would have made that their first priority, but not his Laura. She was special, all on her own.

Art and Laura watched the forecast closely during the week of their wedding. The weather man predicted unseasonably warm sunny days with no rain. However, they reasoned with each other that this is Oklahoma. The weather can turn on you in a snap and change to cold, windy, and rainy.

Chapter Twenty Three

Ward, Becky, and their five children who still lived at home arrived in their station wagon on Wednesday evening. Laura had moved most of hers and Danny’s things into the new house so she took them there. She had made an extra bed up in the art studio so they could have three bedrooms. Eli and Little Ed would stay in Art’s apartment.

Much to Laura’s dismay, none of the others were able to attend the wedding. She happily introduced Becky’s family to Art.  Laura was thrilled to see each one of them. Young Laura and Laura clung to each other’s hand during the introductions.

Eli seemed to have grown taller since the early summer when Laura and Danny visited after the funeral. He and Art soon became involved in a discussion about college classes and selecting college majors.

Little Ed wanted to check out the backyard, while Becky and the girls wanted a tour of Laura’s new house. There were many ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ especially over the master bathroom. Becky loved the kitchen and dining room the best.

When Becky asked Laura what was her favorite part of the house. She just stepped back and shook her head and said, “I love all of it.”

The next time she saw Art, he and Ward had sat back in the lounge recliners and Art was telling him
how he had come across this great deal on the house. Laura had prepared a gallon of iced tea and a gallon of lemonade in preparation of their arrival. She had learned from Becky that for her family you prepared everything mega sized. She and Becky served everyone a drink. Laura had bought several pizzas so she heated up the oven and slid a couple of them in to warm up.

Soon Danny came wheeling in on his bicycle. Little Ed let out a whoop as soon as he saw him. Danny lifted him up above his head while Little Ed laughed and squealed. He sat him down and stuck out his hand, “Give me five.” Little Ed slapped his hand in fun.

Danny looked around for Brenda who stood coyly leaning up against the house. She smiled and came over to him. Danny said warily, “I’m going to give you a hug but you better not pinch me.”

Brenda quickly feigned
innocence by pressing her hand against her chest, “Me?”

Next he greeted the rest of the family warmly. “I had a great time at your house. I hope you enjoy visiting with us as much.”

He glanced over at Brenda who smiled back
. She is being entirely too nice
he thought.
She has something up her sleeve
. He didn’t remember which one of them owed the other but he could be sure, she was up to something.

Thursday
was spent showing Becky’s family the sights. Art and took them to Chouteau to see the Amish community with the horses and buggies. Next they headed to Tulsa and toured the zoo. By the evening everyone claimed to be really hungry so they went to Casa Bonita, a cave like restaurant which served Mexican food with Mexican men who serenade the guests. The girls were sufficiently entranced. Little Ed exclaimed every time he came upon another stuffed animal perched upon a ledge watching him.

They planned on spend Friday at Laura’s old house while the last preparations were completed at their new house. Danny had fun showing his tree house that Jeremy had made for him to Little Ed who insisted to his dad that he wanted one at his house. Danny would have taken it down and given it to him if he could have gotten it down without ruining it.

Brenda asked, “Danny, is there was a good place to play volleyball anywhere?”

“Yes, we have a nice park with a volleyball court.”

“Would you like to get up a game? Do you have a volley ball?” Brenda inquired.

“Okay, I’ll just ride over to Western Auto and get one,” Danny offered.

Danny knew Brenda was up to something. She wouldn’t just offer to play volleyball unless she felt sure of a win. He needed reinforcement and he knew he needed Aaron. He had told Aaron all about the tricks that Brenda played on him in Missouri. He wanted to even up the score or at least keep up.

When Danny arrived back with the volleyball, Aaron came with him. Brenda on the other hand had used this time to make some cupcakes for them to eat when they returned to the house. She spread frosting on all the cupcakes but one. She saved the last bit of frosting for the last cupcake which she sprinkled extra salt in the frosting. She placed the treated cupcake separate up in the cabinet.

Danny introduced Aaron to all his cousins, and then they were off to the park. Little Ed thought he wanted to play volleyball with the rest of them until he saw all of the playground equipment. He decided he had other things he wanted to play.

Brenda called, “Girls against the boys. Danny glanced at Eli, who said, “It’s your call.”