Once Within A Lifetime (16 page)

She walked over and stood by the side of her sweetheart, held his hand and looked at her parents exclaiming in a happy voice, “Don’t you think this will be a glorious place for a wedding? This is where we have decided we want to marry, which is why we had you come over today to share this wonderful news with you and ask you to help us in our plans with ideas and thoughts. What do you say?”

They
both rushed over and hugged them. “How simply marvelous,” they declared together. “What wonderful news. When will it be? What have you planned already? What can we do? When can we start?”

“
Just a minute, slow down, one question at a time, please,” exclaimed Triessa. “We knew you would be happy for us and want you as involved as you want to be. We can talk about it. Take some time, not too much, and think about it and let us know what you would like to do.” They hugged each other again and tried to relate how very impressed they were with the way they chose to deliver the news.

“
I just thought,” said Triessa, “This is the best year I have had in my garden for a long time and it is the year we plan to marry in it. I had not connected it before, but do you think there is a “special” connection? Some divine help, maybe? He knew before we did.”

Her
mother smiled and said, “I would not be a bit surprised.”

Just
as they were hugging, Reese and Deanna appeared. They had been told that everyone was in the garden so they came out and followed the voices.

“
Hey, something is going on here,” remarked her brother. “You are celebrating something. Let us in on it.”

Triessa
turned to her mother and nodded, “He always suspects something; it is hard to keep anything from him. Go ahead, Mother.”

She
looked at Reese and Deanna and stated, “Reese, Deanna, this is Todd Noble. These two are planning to soon wed in this very Rose Garden. What do you think of that? That’s why they have called us here today so they could tell us.”

“
Wow,” cried her brother, “Talk about surprises. We had no idea you had a beau, let alone a serious one. How tremendous.” He shook hands with Todd and welcomed him to the family. “When will it be? Where can we fit in? The rest of us are pros, you know, you two are amateurs.” He looked at his wife, smiled and held her hand, “We can tell them what to do, right?” She nodded her head and smiled. There was another round of hugs and they tried to imagine the area set up in wedding splendor.

“
We have not yet set a date,” replied Triessa, “Though we are considering July twenty-first. It will be a Saturday. There is one frustrating thing that is holding us up. We need to find out when everyone can get together. We felt it would not be such a problem with all of you because of the close proximity but are waiting for his parents to come and discuss with them what they can do. They have to come from a distance away. They live in Geneva and we need to consider their schedule. I do not think it is going to be a problem at all. They will be here tomorrow in the early afternoon and we plan to have dinner together and tell them. On the following day we’d like it if you all could come over and meet them, and we can see if we can arrive at some time for the wedding. Of course, we are anxious to make it as soon as possible. We are so in love and want to be together always, beginning as soon as possible.”

Her
parents, Reese and Deanna agreed that they could all be here to meet his folks and were really looking forward to it.

“
We will get some ideas together and present them to you when we come on that day. How does that sound, dear?”

“
That will work out fine,” said Triessa. “And please come up with a list of any special guests you may wish to include. We cannot have a terribly large wedding but reasonably so. We will have to get the children involved as well.

Matt
has some in his family as well as ours here. Let’s all go back to the house for dessert and coffee and continue talking about it.”

As
they began to walk back to the house Reese came up and walked beside Triessa putting his arm around her as they walked.

“
Oh, Sis, I am so happy for you both. We had no idea; you certainly have kept this a secret.”

“
We did not plan it to be so. We have just been trying to get to know one another and spending as much time together as we could. I am sure you remember how that is. We cannot bear to be apart. Now we want it to be so that we do not have to anymore.”

They
got back to the patio, and after a few minutes, Nancy brought the dessert. It was a Strawberry and Cream Gateau, a French Stacked Cake, along with some coffee out to the patio table. It was quite small but they all squeezed in around it to eat. They sat around and talked longer watching as dusk began and the lights came on over the table. A bright moon was hanging in the sky just above waiting for full darkness so it could become a brilliant orb shining down on this happy group, passing on a warm “hello” to the excited family members. They were all very much in love and got the full effects of a bright, full moon.

Triessa
asked if they could like to spend the night.

Reese
and Deanna spoke, “We really must get back home and get some things done before the big day of coming over here to meet Todd’s parents. And the children are with friends. We need to pick them up.”

Her
parents responded, “We really should get back home also to get a few things taken care of that we’d already started, but dropped to come here today. But we will surely be back the day after tomorrow.”

“
You two can spend the time profitably together, I am sure,” teased her father.

They
got up, hugged each other goodbye, and got ready to leave. It was nine-thirty and by the time they got home it would certainly be time for bed. After they left, Triessa and Todd sat a while longer on the patio and he told her what a wonderful time he’d had and how he liked her parents so very much.

“
And I can tell they were favorably impressed with you. But, then, how could they feel otherwise? I am so anxious for your folks to arrive tomorrow so we can tell them. It will still be light for a while after we eat so we can show them the garden and tell them of our plans out there. Do you think it will work out that way? Do you think they will be pleased?”

“
I think so, and we can make it all work out if we plan it that way. Then we should be able to get to a date. That is what I am waiting for. Once we get that done we can work all the other things in. It may be fast work but we can do it with everyone helping.”

“
So, goodnight, my Princess,” Todd kissed her goodnight and went on to the cottage to get ready for bed. She went inside, slowly ascended to her room, and got ready for some sleep. The excitement had made her quite tired.

She
wanted to look her best tomorrow when his parents arrived. She must impress them the best way possible.

She
fell asleep and slept well, awoke quite early, and decided to get up and get ready. She must go down to the patio to see if it was good weather to eat outside. When she got there she decided it would be grand out there, then went in to the kitchen to get some of the coffee Nancy made so marvelously well. It was made by a French method and was a true delight. It took her back to her visits at Monaco. She returned to the patio with the pot and some cups to await Todd so they could have coffee together as breakfast was being put together. She did not have to wait for long. When she got there he was already sitting there waiting for her. He smiled, got up, and took the pot from her hands and set it on the table.

“
Another beautiful day. I am so glad my parents can see it to its best advantage. It will be a while before they get here. Is there anything you would like to do, my love?”

“
Nothing special. We can sit and think about a good date and see if your parents can come and then check with mine tomorrow. What do you say if we plan on three weeks from now? We may have to rush on things, but if everyone brings a list tomorrow, then we can see how long it will take to get things together. I really believe we can do it, don’t you?”

“
Yes, I think so, too. We would be willing to work hard for such a special occasion. We would need to see if anything needs to be ordered so it will get here on time. Do you think in light of all that is going on you will have time or should take the time to do your own dress? If you do, we may have to move the date back and we would not be able to spend much time together. Do you want to do that? It seems like a lot of work and it will take you away from the planning and carrying out stages. But, most of all, away from me,” he sighed. Maybe we should just think of some special place you would like to go? What do you have around here or is there some place special you would like to go? I, no doubt, will have to return home at some point to pick up some things. Maybe we could plan on doing something then. I can have my sister, Dirje, look up some places in the area where it would be good to shop. What do you say?”

“
Well, I don’t know. I have been giving it some thought and realize that, as you say, with a short time, it would be very difficult. I really hadn’t previously given it much thought. I certainly do not want to push the wedding day back any. I have not selected a style yet and wonder if I should choose a color rather than the traditional white to make it my special time. There is a store in a town near here where I could look at some and get ideas. We would have time to go and look at some now if you would like. Then we can decide once and for all about making or buying. It’s been a dream of mine to do it and I could have done so but I have had other things on my mind. Maybe we can call Dirje and ask her for some ideas there.”

“
Fine, let’s get ready and leave now. Are you all ready to go or do you need to get something from inside? I’m ready and can wait for you if you do.”

“
Yes, I do need to go in for some things. I have some ideas in a file that I have been saving. I think I will take a quick look at some of them. It will not take long,” she said. She ran inside, got the file and brought it back out. She had some marked that she had been considering for some time, just in case. They looked at them together. She brought out at least three that were very nice.

I
wonder if I should have a street length gown since it will be in the garden, instead of having a large, full one down on the ground with a long train.”

“
That sounds very sensible,” he remarked. “Let’s take these pictures along and have a look around. We can go back if we don’t have enough time today. After all, this is a very special part of the whole thing, isn’t it?”

“
Oh, yes, it is, and I do so want to have just the right thing so I can look as pretty for you as I possibly can. It is every girl’s dream to have a gorgeous gown for her wedding. I am ready let’s go.”

They
walked out to the car, he got in to drive, and off they went to do some looking.

“
It would be unusual to find just what I am looking for the first time. But it could happen,”
she thought nervously.

The
more sure you were in your own mind, the easier it was to know when you had found something. It took about a half hour to get to the store and they went inside to look around. One in the middle of the arrangement caught her eye and she went over to look at it.

“
This is very nice,” she told him, holding the skirt out to one side to see how far it reached. “It is a good length and a pretty color, not white.” She continued to look around to see if there were some others. One more looked pretty good, not as good as the first, but nice. She talked to the sales clerk regarding the one she saw first and liked.

“
Is there any danger of it being gone if I look around some more?”

“
No, we have plenty in stock,” she told her. “Would you like me to hold one back for you? It won’t be a problem, really. We know that you want your wedding to be very special and we are here to help you in every way we can.”

“
Maybe for a while,” Triessa said, “I do not want to hold up any sales for you. I will let you know soon how things are going. We must leave for lunch now. May I have one of your cards so that I will know who to ask for?”

She
reached for it as the clerk passed one to her.

They
left and went down the street a few blocks, took a turn to the right, and went for a ways until they came upon a small country-style restaurant set back in the field. It had a large array of wild flowers around it and looked like a country cottage. They drove down the lane toward it, pulled up in front, and the valet took the car to the parking lot. They went inside and a waiter took them to a small table near the window looking out on a beautiful garden and small pool set up with a little fountain in it. The place was still quite empty so there were lots of available places open and they were led to the better seats since they were available. They were seated; the waitress brought a menu and asked if they’d like something while they were waiting. They ordered a glass of Chardonnay and she left to bring it back to them while they were looking over the menu.