Leave a Trail (45 page)

“You are so beautiful,” Bree whispered. “The prettiest bride I ever saw. I’m gonna go find Ashlynne and my mom. Thanks again for this job.” With a little gesture that was practically a curtsy, Bree left.

Before the door had closed completely, it stopped, and there was a light knock on the other side.

Still smiling into the mirror, Shannon called out, “If you’re not Badge, come in.”

Darlene, Badger’s mother, opened the door and peeked in. “I don’t mean to interrupt.”

Adrienne turned and smiled at her mother-in-law-to-be. “Not at all. Come in!”

Darlene had chosen a matronly, but pretty, jacketed dress in deep rose chiffon. She looked exactly like the mother of a groom, a bit frumpy, especially standing next to the glorious Shannon, who was wearing a beautiful, shiny silk suit in sage green. So close to Christmas, and with the church already decorated for the holidays, Adrienne had gone with the flow and chosen shades of red and green for her colors.

Now Darlene looked into the mirror, beaming at Adrienne’s reflection. “Oh, honey. You look like an angel.” A hand fluttered near her throat. “Oh, my. I think I’m gonna cry.”

“Thanks, Darlene.” It still seemed odd to use her first name. “You look really pretty, too.”

“You’re such as sweetie. Thanks.” She lifted the skirt of her dress a little and swayed her hips. “I can’t think when I felt this fancy. Maybe not since my own weddin’.” She glanced at Shannon. “I…I wonder…could I have a minute with her? Just a minute, alone?”

Shannon met Adrienne’s eyes, and Adrienne nodded.

“Sure. I’ll just go make sure everything’s running smoothly.” Shannon stepped out, and Adrienne was alone with Darlene. For a few seconds, they were uncomfortably quiet. Darlene looked like she regretted asking for this audience. Adrienne watched her in the mirror as she fretted and fidgeted.

“Darlene? Are you okay?”

She tittered nervously. “Oh, yes. I wanted to talk to you about somethin’, but I’m not sure how to start.”

Now Adrienne felt a little worry. “Is there a problem?” She turned in her seat at the vanity and gestured toward a nearby armchair. Darlene sat.

“No. It’s just…okay.” She sighed. “I want to talk to you about who Justin is. What it means that he’s not really Justin anymore. He’s Badger. Horde.”

Now Adrienne felt more worry. Was this going to be some kind of ill-timed warning? “Darlene, you don’t have to—”

Darlene held up her hand, and Adrienne didn’t finish her sentence. “I know. I just want to say that maybe it seems strange that a mom would see her boy hurt like Jus—Badger’s been hurt and still be at peace with the life he chose. I know for a while some people in town didn’t understand it. I let him think that he’s keepin’ stuff from me, but he’s not. Hank, too. He knows. We talk about it. We worry. I just want to let you know that just because we don’t meddle in his choices, it don’t mean we don’t care.”

“I don’t think that. I’d never think that. Badger doesn’t think that. He loves you guys.”

She smiled and reached out to pat Adrienne’s hand. The pads of her fingers were rough and grooved with work. “You really are a sweet girl. The Horde does a lot of good. I know you know it, but I just want to say that we know it, too. Hank and me, we owe them a lot, more than we could ever repay. When Justin was hurt so bad, laid up in the clubhouse, and he didn’t want us around, that was hard. It’s hard to see your own child sufferin’ like he was—and not bein’ able to do anything was worse. But we knew he was in good hands. We trusted the club. We knew they’d take care. Maybe I had a different life in mind for my baby, but I know he’s in the life that’s right for him. I just…I just felt like I wanted you to know that.”

Darlene had let her hand lie on Adrienne’s through that whole speech. Now she seemed to realize it, and she twitched and began to pull away. Adrienne caught her and held that work-aged hand in both of hers. “I do know it. Badger is so lucky. You love him without judgment. You understand him. That makes you special to me.” She lifted Badger’s mom’s hand and kissed it.

“Oh, honey. You are a treasure.”

There was a quick knock at the door, and Shannon opened it and leaned in. “I’m sorry, but it’s getting to be about time, I think.”

With a quick squeeze of Adrienne’s hand, Darlene stood and smoothed out the skirt of her dress. “Okay. I’m gonna take Jason’s arm and have him walk me down the aisle. I’ll see you in a few minutes.” At the door, she turned back. “You are just beautiful, Adrienne. Inside and out. An angel sent from heaven just for us.” She blew a little kiss and left.

Alone with Shannon, Adrienne looked up into the mirror to see her mother, this mother, smiling at her, almost glowing with love. Adrienne felt the warmth of it in her heart.

“You really do look perfect, Ade. Like something out of old Hollywood. You just need one more touch. Something borrowed.” She reached into her handbag and handed Adrienne a black velvet box.

“What’s this?”

Shannon made a diffident shrug. “Just something I bought in my old life, before Signal Bend.”

Adrienne opened the box and found a magnificent pair of art deco, diamond and pearl drop earrings set in platinum. “Oh. Oh, Shannon. Oh, my God. These are…oh, my God. Are you sure you trust me with these?”

“I trust you with anything, Ade.” She took the box back and lifted an earring out. “They’re antique, with a screw back. Not for pierced ears. Do you need help?”

“Please.” Adrienne tipped her head, presenting her ear to Shannon.

When she had her earrings, and her tiara, and her perfect hair, she stood, a white silk dressing gown loose over her ivory corset and gartered stockings—something that was aggressively not her style, but she didn’t wander around her life wearing a tiara and diamond earrings, either. She let the robe drop away, and Shannon helped her ease into her dress. Finally, she slipped into a pair of vivid blue
peau de soie
kitten heels—her ‘something blue’—and she was…ready? Yes, she was ready to get married.

As Shannon and she held hands and said nothing, there was a knock at the door. Shannon went to the door and peeked out, making sure it wasn’t Badger. “Hey, you.”

From the other side of the door, Adrienne heard Show’s voice. “Hey, hon. She ready? They’re good to go out here.”

Shannon turned back, her eyes wide and loving. “You ready?” At Adrienne’s nod, she lifted up her own small bouquet and handed Adrienne her larger. “Okay. I’ll meet you out front. I’ll check to make sure Lilli has Gia and Bo ready, but you know she does.”

Show came in as Shannon went out. He stopped near the door and stared. “Christ, little one. Look at you.”

She blushed and looked down at her dress. “It’s good?”

“It’s perfect. You’re perfect.”

She cast a surreptitious glance at the mirror. She did look pretty great. In the reflection, she saw Show come up to her and take her hand. “You know, if another man took my place when Rose or Iris or Millie get married, I don’t know how I’d deal with that.”

“Show, don’t.” Under no circumstances in the universe did Adrienne want to talk about her ex-father right now.

“It’s okay, little one. He made his choice. I stood there and watched him make that mistake. My girls were taken from me, and I had to fight to get Rose and Iris back. I can’t imagine turning away from them. And I just want to tell you that. I’ll never turn my back on you. You’re my girl now. If you ever want him in your life again, just tell me, and I’ll take a step to the side. But I will always be on your side. I love you.”

Taking deep, slow breaths and blowing them out so that she wouldn’t lose it and ruin Bree’s beautiful makeup, Adrienne took a few seconds before she could answer. When she could, she wrapped her arms around Show’s waist and hugged him hard. “I love you. You’re the only father I need.”

He held her, then stepped back. With a brush of his fingers across her brow, he murmured, “Don’t want to muss your pretty hair. You ready to get hitched?”

She nodded, and Show held out his arm, cocked at the elbow. She took it, and he led her out of the room and to the sanctuary.

Lilli was waiting with Gia and Bo. Gia was wearing a pretty and simple grey taffeta dress, with long sleeves and a full skirt, a crimson sash around her waist, tied in a bow at her back. Bo wore a black suit with a grey bow tie. Lilli handed Gia a red basket, filled with snowflakes made of glittered paper, and she helped them hold it between them, a little hand on each side.

“Fanciest wedding I’ve ever been to.”

Adrienne turned at Show’s comment, and he winked. “Prettiest, too.”

Gia and Bo went down the aisle to traditional organ music. It was lovely, but Adrienne still felt a pang. Then Shannon kissed her cheek and went down the aisle on her own—Mother of the Bride, Matron of Honor, and only bridesmaid.

The music stopped, and Show led her to the center of the doorway. The kids had tossed the contents of their basket as they’d walked, and the white sheeting down the aisle looked like glittering snow. They were marrying in the evening, after dark, and, but for a light over the altar, the church was illuminated only by candles. “Oh, it’s so beautiful. It’s perfect.”

“Of course it is, little one. Nothing else for you.” Show squeezed her hand where it lay on his arm, and he led her into the sanctuary, where Badger stood at the end of the aisle, Len at his side, waiting for her.

As the guests filling the pews turned to see her, Adrienne heard the first plucked notes of the song she’d wanted played. With a gasp, she turned toward the source of the sound and saw Cory standing at a microphone near the organ, her pretty red guitar slung over her shoulders. Zeke stood next to her, and after a few bars, he put a harmonica to his mouth and accompanied her.

“That’s her wedding gift to you.” Show’s voice was low and sweet.

It was perfect. Adrienne could hear the emotion, bittersweet in Cory’s beautiful alto. Knowing the price of this gift made it all the more precious.

“C’mon, sweetheart. We’re keepin’ your fella waiting.”

They went down the aisle together, and the look on Badger’s face as she came closer was something she would never forget no matter how long a life she had. His love for her shone from every pore.

~oOo~

The reception at Tuck’s was a predictably raucous affair. The first hour or so, with the dinner and the cake—a giant sheet cake accompanied by three cupcake trees, all made by Marie—went comparatively quietly, for this group. The toasts were bawdy and the laughter loud, and they rang their glasses over and over and over again for the couple to kiss—and no mere pecks were tolerated. They’d spent half the meal sucking face.

Adrienne liked it that way. And Badger simply could not keep his hands off her, anyway. Especially her ring. He picked her hand up again and again, turning it to make the diamonds sparkle in the light. A slender, white-gold band, filigreed and scalloped, set all around with pavé diamonds, it had been his grandmother’s, and it fit perfectly. Darlene had given it to Badger to give to her. She was so surrounded by family and tradition, and by love and acceptance, that she no longer felt angry at the man who’d raised her. She simply felt finished with him. He had moved her out, and she had moved on.

They had a band, a local country band called Billy and the Kids. Badger had told her he’d once been friends with them, but not so much anymore. Still, they took the gig, and Adrienne was expecting them to begin playing soon, so they could do the first dance and then people could really party.

But Cory and Zeke took the stage. Badger had his face against her neck, nuzzling his beard against her throat, and she’d had her eyes closed, thinking that maybe it would be better if they left the partying to everybody else and just went home so she could show him her fancy underwear, when she heard Cory clear her throat at the mic, and she pushed him back a little and focused on the stage. At the church after the service, where Cory had also played an instrumental recessional, Adrienne had hugged her fiercely, tearfully. And Cory had thanked her, telling her that playing again had brought a little more of herself back.

Maybe that was the vague sense Adrienne had had about why having Cory play at their wedding was important.

But this was another unexpected treat. Cory spoke into the mic. “I know you picked a song for your first dance. I hope it’s okay that I play something else first. It’s a song that feels like it fits you both so well. In a way, I think it fits our whole family.” She looked across the room at Adrienne. “That okay?”

Crying, and making every attempt not to make an ugly face while she did so, Adrienne nodded. Badger squeezed her hand and stood, leading her to the dance floor.

“Good. I hope you like it. It’s called ‘Home,’ and wait till you hear Zeke.”

She adjusted the mic, and Zeke stepped up. He started to whistle a few notes before Cory started to play, and then she sang—and then Zeke sang, a deep, gorgeous bass. Adrienne knew the song. It was a bright, happy duet about finding home in the place where you’re loved.

Adrienne hadn’t been a good dancer before her legs were hurt. She was a worse dancer now. She and Badger had never danced together. It didn’t matter. He pulled her close, she rested her cheek on his strong chest, and they swayed to music of the love their family bore them.

~oOo~

They left about an hour of that first dance, after the band had started and she’d danced a father-daughter dance with Show, and then a dance with Hank, and then taken a turn with each member of the Horde. Show and Shannon assured them that they’d take care of the gifts, and they left their guests to get as rowdy as they wanted.

Hector was staying with Penny at Len and Tasha’s tonight. Adrienne thought it was sweet the way the littermates were still staying together in a way, and having sleepovers and play dates with each other.

Badger had been quiet most of the evening—not in a way that made her worried or uncomfortable, but as if he were too overwhelmed for speech. She found comfort in the way he’d watched her and touched her all night. There was love in his silence.