Black Beans & Vice (34 page)

Scott walked over and, one at a time, the twins embraced their
boss. "Congrats, Professor. Now go get married." They smiled and
pushed him out the door.

When he got home he found Jane in the backyard, weaving
a daisy chain. She'd already made several for Eliot and wore one
around her head like a crown. When she saw James, she finished
the chain in her hands and placed it around his neck. He closed his
arms around her back and planted a soft kiss on her mouth. She
smelled like grass and sunshine. As he released her, Eliot bellowed
a pirate's "Arggh!" from his tree house and waved at James with a
plastic sword.

"You go in and change," James told Jane. "Or you could just
stay like this. I think you look like a queen in your tank top and
bare feet. And the crown of daisies is very bridal."

Jane laughed. "I'd keep it on, but then I'd look like an aging
hippie. Perhaps a single bloom tucked behind the ear is more fitting. See you at `the altar'.'

"I'll be there!" James waited for her to go inside before scooping Eliot up in his arms. "Now, you're mine! Consider yourself
pirate-napped!"

For the next thirty minutes, James and Eliot raced around the
yard, alternating between warring pirates and co-conspirators in
search of buried treasure.

"Arggh, I wish I could remember where we left our booty!"
James growled out of the side of his mouth while squinting one
eye shut.

Eliot poked at the base of the birdhouse pole with a sharp stick.
"It was those robbers! They stole our treasure!"

James stood as tall as he could and put his hands on his hips, surveying the yard with a fierce glower. "Let's make 'em walk the plank!"

Together, he and Eliot prodded a plastic Velociraptor and
a wind-up robot to the end of a narrow wood board jutting out
over the deck railing. On the ground below, they'd placed a rubber
crocodile and a pair of Halloween vampire teeth on a blue towel.

"You must pay for your treachery!" James snarled.

"Yeah!" Eliot echoed with glee.

Once the sea monster had devoured the toys, the Henry men
went inside and clinked glasses of ice water, signifying their victory
over the forces of evil. By the time James showered and changed
into fresh khakis and a light blue polo shirt, the wedding officiate
had arrived. James welcomed him inside and introduced him to
Eliot. Milla and Jackson weren't far behind and James was unsurprised to see Milla carrying a large cardboard box into the kitchen.

"I didn't think you'd have enough time to bake anything,"
James complained. "You were just supposed to show up and enjoy
yourselves. No gifts, no food, just a simple champagne toast."

"Fiddlesticks!" Milla exclaimed. "I was not going to let this occasion pass without contributing in some way. You were so wonderful to Jackson and me when we got married. How could I sit
around and twiddle my thumbs when I knew I had the chance to
whip up something for you and Jane. Believe me, with only two
hours I was forced to make a simple dessert."

Jackson snorted. "You should see what she's callin' `simple."

"Hold the box for me, dear." Milla smiled at her husband.

Placing his good arm around the base of the box, Jackson
looked on with pride as Milla lifted out a small tower of cupcakes.
The cupcakes were vanilla frosted and rimmed with white sugar
crystals. In the center of each cupcake, Milla had drawn a heart
using silver icing. The top cupcake featured the bride and groom's
initials, `J & `J in elegant silver script.

"How lovely!" Jane cried upon entering the kitchen. "Thank
you, Milla!"

Milla embraced her future daughter-in-law and elbowed Jackson in the ribs. "Go on, dear. Tell Jane what you wanted to say."

Jackson spoke slowly, making a powerful effort to form his
words clearly. "I'm right glad you and my son are puttin' your lives
together." He glanced at James and though his face appeared impassive, there was a twinkle in his eyes. "It's a real gift to this old
fool to have you all livin' close by. You three and Milla here give me
reason to get this bag of bones outta bed in the mornin"' He hesitated, gathering the needed strength to finish his speech. "Guess
what I'm tryin' to say is I'm right honored to be here today."

Jane threw her arms around Jackson and kissed him heartily
on the cheek. As she led him into the living room James turned to
Milla and whispered, "He's walking much better this week."

Milla nodded. "Your daddy's been working real hard in therapy. He wants nothing more than to get on his hands and knees
and play with his grandson. The nurses say they've never seen
someone Jackson's age make such speedy progress."

Indeed, Jackson barely limped as he walked into the living
room to shake hands with Mr. Love. Snickers had made himself
at home on Eliot's lap while Miss Pickles perched like a gargoyle
behind his shoulder on the sofa back. James had to laugh when he
noticed that the animal's collars had been replaced by daisy chains.

"All set?" asked Mr. Love.

James and Jane smiled at one another.

"We've never been more ready," James answered and took hold
of his bride's hand.

Sitting in the auditorium of Blue Ridge High School, James kept
touching the gold band encircling his left ring finger. Even though
it had been years since James last wore a wedding ring, he was surprised at how wonderful it was to feel the warm metal against his
skin and to be able to display his status as a married man to the
entire world.

Next to him, Jane glowed. James had never seen her looking
more beautiful and he couldn't stop repeatedly leaning over and
whispering in her ear or kissing her on the cheek.

"Ease up on the PDA, kids!" Lucy teased as she took the reserved chair next to James.

With flushed cheeks, James craned his neck toward the back of
the room. Nearly every available seat had been taken and the noise
level was rising exponentially. "Is Sullie here?"

"He wants to hang out in the parking lot for a bit," Lucy answered cryptically. "Where's Eliot?"

"With his grandparents," James said. "We're having a date
night."

Bennett and Gillian walked briskly down the carpeted aisle and
settled in the two seats next to Jane. The two women immediately
fell into conversation about what they planned to purchase at the
farmer's market the next morning while Bennett frowned over
the paper program in his hands. "I could be watchin' baseball!" he
moaned and James chuckled.

"Luis promised us a night we'll never forget," James reminded
his friend.

"He did?" Lindy asked as she took the last open seat in the row.
She reached across Lucy to poke James in the leg. "When did you
run into him and what exactly did he mean by that?" Her eyes
darted around the room as she waited for his answer. "Where is his
mama? She could be up to no good."
"

I saw her sitting right in the middle." Lucy pointed at the opposite side of the room. "With Luigi and his brood." She shook her
head. "Call me crazy, but she seemed to be thoroughly enjoying
herself with his kids."

Lindy brightened. "Those darlings might just save me! If Alma
gets wrapped up in their lives, she won't have enough spare time to
meddle in mine!"

Suddenly, the lights blinked and the clamor from the audience
died down. A teacher walked up to the piano positioned offstage
and began to hammer out a lively melody. The heavy red curtain
parted and a pretty young girl dressed in contemporary clothes
began to sing. Soon, the crowd was completely absorbed in the blossoming romance between Claudio and Hero and the antics
of Beatrice and Benedick. Just when things seemed to be going
smoothly for both couples, the treacherous Don John appeared at
the back of the auditorium, singing in a bold, bass voice about his
plans to ruin Claudio and Hero's wedding. As the spotlight followed the teenage thespian down the aisle, Jane suddenly gasped
and jabbed her fingertips into the flesh of James' arm.

"It's Kenneth!" she hissed fearfully. "I saw him when the light
shone on the section near the fire door!"

James desperately tried to distinguish the shadowy faces in
the far back rows, which had been pitched into darkness once the
spotlight had passed. He leaned over to Lucy. "Jane says she saw
Kenneth! Sitting near the fire door. What should we do?"

Lucy's shoulders stiffened. "Sullie was right. He had a hunch
Kenneth might come around tonight-said he was about due for
another appearance. You stay here. I'll handle this jerk."

When Lucy left, Lindy slid into her vacant chair. "What is going
on?" she asked James and was angrily shushed by the older woman
seated behind her. Onstage, the girl playing Hero sang a duet with
the boy cast as her father, Leonato. As their voices intertwined,
the pair walked with extreme slowness down a red velvet aisle, the
train of Hero's wedding gown being carried by her maid, Margaret. Suddenly, it became painfully apparent from his balled fists
and hostile glare that the groom was waiting in a state of extreme
anger and the joyful melody abruptly morphed into a song filled
with discord and strife.

The disharmony of the music spurred James into action. "Come
on!" he whispered urgently to Jane. "What if Kenneth goes to the
house ...?"

"Eliot!" Jane's eyes flashed with fear. Ignoring the rumblings of
the woman behind them, James told Gillian and Bennett what was
happening and then jogged up the aisle.

"His chair is empty now," Jane said as soon as all five of them
were gathered in the school hall.

Lindy's face was stormy. "This creep is going down! No one
runs around my school bullying people without getting in trouble.
Kenneth Cooper is about to serve the longest detention of his life!"

Minutes later, armed with aluminum baseball bats taken from
the school's P.E. supply closet, they moved down the empty halls,
rattling each and every classroom door, but all were locked.

Outside, the night sky blazed with brilliant stars and a luminescent half moon. The parking lot, which formed an L-shape
around the building, was eerily quiet. James looked around, trying
to discern the shape of a man's body in the darkness surrounding
the parked vehicles. The glow from the parking lot lights added to
the confusion, refracting off hundreds of windshields like mirror
images of the stars above. More than once, James was certain he'd
seen movement in the periphery of his vision, but it turned out to
be merely a wink of light bouncing off a car window.

Deciding that subtlety was not necessary, James shouted,
"LUCY! WHERE ARE YOU?"

"AT YOUR TRUCK!" Lucy's voice rang out through the parking lot.

James broke into a run, Jane and the rest of the supper club
members close on his heels. He'd parked near the football field and
as he approached the Bronco, he could see the beam of a flashlight
playing over his truck. Sullie was barking terse orders into his cell
phone while Lucy examined the Bronco's hood.

"What the-!" Bennett began and then stopped.

Kenneth had formed a heart made of black feathers on the
hood of James' Bronco. But what made the women gasp in horror
and rendered James and Bennett speechless was the blood splattered over the feathers and in wild zigzags across the windshield.

"There's more." Lucy gestured at the back of the truck. There,
tethered to the bumper, were three dead birds. Ropes were tied
around the crow's necks and they dangled midair, heads lolling
and dark eyes set in fixed stares.

James put a protective arm around his wife.

"It's like a twisted version of the tin cans people put on a newlywed's car," Lindy murmured in repulsion.

James and Jane exchanged fearful looks. "Do you think he
knows?" Jane gulped. "Could he have been there?"

Lucy was observing Jane closely. "Been where?" she demanded.

"This isn't how I wanted to tell you." James held out his arms
to indicate that he was addressing everyone. "Jane and I were married by the justice of the Peace earlier this evening." Taking Jane's
hand in his, he showed his friends their rings. "We didn't want it to
be a big deal. We just wanted to quietly make things official."

"Second time's the charm," Jane added with a nervous smile.

For a moment, his announcement hung in the air, but as the
supper club members wrapped their minds around the news, their
grim and anxious expressions were transformed into smiles.

"Mazel tov!" Gillian shouted and embraced the couple.

Lindy was next to congratulate them. "You really are meant to
spend your lives together!"

"Way to go, man." Bennett clapped James on the shoulder and
then kissed Jane on the cheek.

Lucy touched each one of them on the arm and said, "I'm
happy for you both," while Sullie beamed at them briefly before turning businesslike again. "Okay, so this event must have
prompted Kenneth into action. And he hasn't gone anywhere. He's
hiding." He crossed his arms, making his biceps appear even bigger than before. "No vehicles have entered or exited this lot since
the play started. Our guy went in with the rest of the crowd and
since I didn't see him come out, I bet he plans to wait and leave
when everyone else does."