Leave a Trail (Signal Bend #7)(113)
“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.