Once Within A Lifetime (19 page)

Triessa
left to get her folder and returned very quickly. Meanwhile Esther was looking to see what special shade would go well with the flowers in the area they had considered as the place for them to stand. Soon Triessa returned with the folder and they looked through the pictures she had there.

“
These have been collected from some of the finest sources in magazines and photographs. It is truly an impressive collection.” They selected some which were especially lovely and decided to keep them separate for the shopping trip.

“
I will take them in my portfolio when we go,” said Triessa. “I am so eager to go and find one, then I can know what I’m going to wear and can match all the other accessories. We can also look for a special tuxedo for Todd to wear as well. We haven’t discussed what he wants to wear, whether the traditional or a color. I like him in a special shade of blue. It really does a lot for him. We will have to see what his thoughts are on the subject later. When these preliminary items, which are very important, are settled, then we can be free for the garden preparation.”

Todd
and his dad were discussing some of the logistics of the situation. Men’s minds run in this vein and they were thinking about where to set up tables, how many, and the like.

“
You know, Son, this is truly enjoyable talking to you about a wedding. I can see that you have found a really special girl. She’s truly lovely, sincere, and so intelligent; a true artist. She is a fashion designer, you say?”

“
Yes, we met at one of her fashion shows. Do you think Mother is all right about it? I hope she will like Triessa. She means so much to me and I do not want to upset mother. This is the most happy time of my life. I want her to be excited for me.”

“
Yes, dear, I think she will like her once she gets used to the idea. I think she really feels disappointed to not have been included in some of the original plans. It usually does not happen this way. You know your mother and she is really fine with people.”

“
Yes, I feel so badly to have done it this way, but truly did not think of this type of reaction. We were so happy and felt it would transfer to you both.

We
are so excited and I surely did not want to shock Mother.”

“
I understand, my Son, and am sure she will as soon as she calms down some more.”

“
So, let’s go back to the house and get her mind on other things for a while now,” suggested Todd.

“
Great idea,” replied his father.

“
Triessa wanted to do her own gown but it would be an ordeal at this point with all there is to do and we wouldn’t be able to spend any time together. I do not want her to get stressed out so it will not be a happy time. We do not want to wait that long. We were planning to go back with you two to look for a dress for her somewhere over there. Now I don’t know what to do. We feel she could do so much better and have a far wider selection there. She had some ideas in mind and I can see she has her folder to show Mother. We went over some of it this morning. I will be so glad when we can be wed. I love her so and want to spend the rest of my life with her and do all I can to make her happy and she feels the same about me. We want to marry real soon. When Mother said to her maybe she should wait until the end of the summer it really scared and discouraged her. She was stunned. We both were.”

Triessa
and Esther came over to where they were standing, and Triessa suggested they go to the house for lunch and get ready for her folks arrival. She was getting more concerned as time went on.

“
I have thought of waiting until another day but they were already on the way and I couldn’t have reached them,” explained Triessa. “I hope all will go well this afternoon.”

Todd
put his arm around her shoulders as they walked back up to the house and said, “I am sure it will. Cheer up, dear.”

They
felt it would be a good idea to eat out on the patio since it was such a lovely day. She informed Nancy of their plans and they went outside to wait for her family’s arrival. She soon came out with a lovely lunch, and they sat down to eat and talked about the trip back to Geneva. It would be tomorrow afternoon when they flew out, if they still planned to go, and they would arrive late. Spencer asked Todd if they would mind changing their plans and arriving a little later.

Todd
was disappointed but told him he guessed they could do that. They would talk about it.

“
I am sure your mother would like some more time to get settled down, let her mind get more used to the idea, and be more like her usual self. Things are planned so closely and it does not give her a lot of time to get adjusted. I am truly sorry, Son. I hope you can understand.”

“
Yes, we can, though we will be very disappointed. We wanted to do it with you two but do agree it would be best to wait now. We’ll talk more about this later after I have talked to Triessa, and get back to you.”

“
That will be fine, Son.”

He
took Triessa aside and told her what he and his dad had talked about. She was a little surprised but thought it best.

“
Of course, my darling. There is no hurry on deciding. I am just trying to make some plans ahead of time, but in such a case, it will have to wait a while. It is fine.”

They
were at the end of the meal and were sitting and waiting for dessert when her parents arrived. Triessa nervously stood up to greet them and then introduced them to Todd’s parents.

“
Mom, Dad, this is Esther, Todd’s mother and Spencer, his father. These are my parents, Sheila and Lincoln. It is so good to have you all together. What were the chances that the four of you would have ever met if not for our chance meeting? Or was it chance?”

They
all said hello to each other, shook hands and Todd went to get some chairs so they could sit with them and have dessert and coffee. They were just in time. Triessa went back to tell Nancy that her parents had arrived and would be having dessert with them. She knew that Nancy always made plenty and it would be no problem.

While
she was gone Esther turned to Sheila and said, “We are so happy to be here you have a wonderful daughter and now she will become like one of ours. What a marvelous place she has here.” Turning to Lincoln she said to him, “I understand you helped her a lot with this whole project. It is wonderful to work together on such wonderful projects.”

“
Yes, we really enjoyed working on it together. Sheila was also a big help with some of the flowers and decorating. It had truly been a delight for all of us and now it will be her wedding site. It is marvelous and something we could never have conceived of in our wildest imagination. We are so glad you are pleased with it.”

“
Did you know they were planning to marry here?” queried Esther.

“
Not until the other day when they called us over and showed us the garden and told us. We were very surprised but so pleased for them both.”

Triessa
returned and told them that Nancy would bring the dessert right out. She made the seating arrangements and they got settled. When the dessert arrived, they enjoyed it and all got better acquainted. After they finished, they thought about going to the garden again.

“
Why don’t we wait a while?” suggested Triessa. “We can do it later.”

Triessa
’s mother looked at her and felt tension in the air and wondered what had happened. The excitement of the situation had died down a lot so she asked to be excused and asked Triessa to come help her with her something in her clothing. Triessa followed her mother into the bathroom and before she could ask anything Triessa began to sob.

“
Oh, Mother, I am so afraid. Esther is upset about the way we told them and wants us to wait until the end of the summer. What is going to happen? I am afraid.”

“
I don’t know, dear. I guess some people just do not like to get news in such a quick fashion. All we do right now is go along with her and work it out somehow.”

“
She does not want us to go back with them when they leave tomorrow. Can you please call Reese and Deanna and ask them to not come right now? Do you think you can reach them before they leave? Things are a little confused right now.”

“
Surely, Dear, I will try. I will call them right now. Go back out so they won’t wonder where you are. I will be out in a minute.”

She
went back outside, joined them, and Todd put his arm around her and pulled her close to him. He knew she was upset and afraid and could not wait to talk with her mother about this. He was glad she could confide in her honestly.

His
mother had been concerned about Triessa and her mother going out together and asked, “Will you please excuse me? I want to lie down for a while. I am getting a slight headache.”

They
stood up as she left. She met Sheila as she got inside and told her she was going to rest a bit and was glad to have met her.

When
Sheila got out to the table, Triessa was crying and Todd was trying to comfort her. Spencer put his hand on Triessa’s and told her not to get upset, that Esther would come around and things would work out just fine.

“
Meanwhile,” he said, “Wait a while before discussing plans further. I will go see if Esther needs anything. Nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Noble. I am truly sorry about all this. You have a lovely daughter.”

Triessa
was still crying and they all tried to make her feel better.

“
I was so excited about making plans and now I do not even feel like talking about it at all. It is as if there were not going to be a wedding at all. How could this happen? Everything was so beautiful. Do we have to wait until the end of the summer to get married?” Looking at Todd, she asked, “Did you not have a clue this might happen?”

“
Not at all,” he replied. “I am as surprised and shocked as you are. Please, Honey, try not to worry about that right now. Things will change soon. I am sure Mother will soon get accustomed to the idea. She is not against it or you, just surprised. It’s been a shock to her. I guess we should have thought about it a little more before springing such a surprise on her. Every mother reacts differently to such things with their children. It did seem like such a nice idea. I am afraid in our excitement we went overboard.”

“
Yes, Dear. I understand, but I am very disappointed and afraid. What if she does not like me and does not want us to marry?”

“
I don’t really believe that will happen,” he told her. “I will marry you.”

“
I think she will be all right soon,” Sheila joined in. “She is very nice and it was a long flight for her. I am sure she was very tired and it hit her too hard. Give her some time to get used to it.”

“
I, too, feel it will be all right with just a little more time,” said Triessa’s dad. “I did not think of getting upset. I was so very happy for my little girl to have found a wonderful man to care for her. It is a dream for all dads, I believe. We were hoping it would happen soon.”

“
Let us walk out into the garden,” suggested Todd. “I think it will make us all feel better. I guess Dad is going to stay up with Mother in her room for a while. I will go tell him where we are so he will know if he comes down here. I will be right back.”

So
when Todd came down they all walked out to the garden to look around. Lincoln stood in the middle of the garden to see how much space there was and what would be needed in the center for everyone to walk around.

“
We need to know the size of our guest list before anything is going to make much sense. This may take a little while longer under the circumstances. Presently we can count up family members as a start.”

They
all tried to imagine how they wanted the tables to be arranged.

“
We can get some lovely table cloths to put on them. It will be good to see what I will get for a gown. I may possibly go with a color and we can coordinate it with that. We should have a punch bowl on two tables, one at either end of the space. Each table will need some floral arrangements. I think seven tables may be enough. Two on each of the two longer sides, one on each of the other two and one in the center. How does that sound to you, Mom?”

“
It may be enough. It will contain enough for quite a few guests. Of course, they will be passing by the tables and helping themselves; they will not need to be seated at them. We can find some ladies from the group to help with any serving or questions at the tables. I think it will be just perfect if we can get some kind of ice sculpture on the center table. Triessa can tell us what she’d like to have as soon as she thinks about it for a while.”

About
this time Spencer came out to join them.

“
I am sorry, but Esther really has a headache. She gets them easily. She begged to be excused and will try to meet us at dinner time.” He walked over to join them and smiled.