Facing Redemption (32 page)

“Yes.”

“You said he worked magic.  So the reception hall canceled … so what?  He’ll make something happen and Chastity will have her magic day.  Princess fairy dancing and all that.”

Timothy laughed.  “You make her sound like such a girl.”
             
Scott and Guy laughed in unison.  Guy raised his eyebrows at Timothy.  “Well isn’t she?”
             
“Yes!  But she’s not a girlie girl…she doesn’t need to be a fairy princess.  She just wanted our first dance to be magical…and now it may not even happen.  I know everything will be okay…I just hope she will be if it’s not what she expects.”

Scott nodded.  “Women!”  He said exasperated. 

Timothy rolled his eyes at his friend.

The three heard a loud commotion outside their suite, and the door quickly opened.  Two police officers walked in with Timothy’s cousins in tow.

“Excuse me.  Which one of you is…”

Timothy stood up before the officer could finish.  He waved his hand in anticipation.  “That would be me.  What’s going on?”

“Well since they’re over 21 – they don’t need a guardian.  But as a courtesy, because they told me you were marrying Mr. Bank’s niece tomorrow … we came down to fill you in.”

“What did they do?”  Timothy’s voice dropped.  He looked to his cousins.  Landon’s face was twisted and bright red.  Timothy knew he was about to pop off.  Timothy shot him a warning glare.  Chase’s eyes were averted and stayed there.  It was if he was studying his big toe through his shoe.

“We don’t normally offer this as a courtesy, but we’ve brought them to you to let you know that we could charge them with a drunken & disorderly.  They were harassing some young ladies down the hall, in the restaurant.  They mouthed off to us when we approached and then told us who you were and where to find you.”  The officer paused to gauge Timothy’s reaction.

Timothy raised an eyebrow and shook his head.  He felt like throttling both of his cousins where they stood.  “Thank you officer.  What next?”

“Well, as a courtesy – we could release them to you since your big day is tomorrow and leave them with a strong warning … or …” The second officer let Timothy decide what was to come next.

“Guys?  I warned you.”  Timothy looked at Landon.

“I know.”  Chase mumbled.  Landon shoved Chase with his elbow.

“Don’t take that!  He’s not our dad!  We’re old enough to make our own choices!”  Landon snapped at Chase while staring daggers through Timothy.

Timothy sighed and looked to the officer.  “They’re all yours officers.” 

The first officer nodded silently, and pulled out the cuffs.  “Alright boys.”

“What?”  Landon sputtered.  “You can’t do this!”  He whined.  He looked to Timothy for help.

“Hey,” Timothy shrugged.  “You said it…right?  I’m not your dad.  I’m not responsible for you.”

Timothy’s friends watched in awe as their friend let his cousins get hauled off.  None of them could believe it.  The two boys didn’t put up much of a fight as the officers asked them to leave with them.  Timothy let out a long breath, and turned to face his friends. They were shocked as not only did Timothy let his cousins get hauled off, but when he turned to face them … he was smiling.

“Was that really necessary?”  Scott asked, shocked.  “That will go on their record!”

“Hey they’re being punks.  And maybe it’ll teach them a lesson.”  Timothy said calmly before sitting down.  “Now what did we miss?  How much time is left in the game?”

“Um, it ended three minutes ago bro.”  Guy said quietly.  “I mean, I know they weren’t in the right but …”

Timothy smiled at his friends.  They were such softies.  “Don’t worry about it.”  Timothy grabbed his cell phone from the table.  He lifted it up for Scott and Guy to see.  “That text?”

Guy squinted and read it aloud.  “We’ll take em down to shake em up a bit and then you can come pick them up.”

“What the?” Guy was shocked.  “You know him?”

Timothy chuckled.  “You can’t live here long without making a few friends on the force.  I figured those two my try to stir something up, so texted my buddy, Toby, who was working the game tonight.”

“Shut up man!  You did not!?”  Scott laughed so hard that his soda spewed out from his nose.

All three busted out laughing and started for the door.  

“Thanks for a good time tonight guys.”  Timothy grabbed the handle of the door and opened in for his friends.  “Now let’s go pick up some scared little boys from jail.”

Guy laughed.  “This is a night to remember.  Thank you man.”  He slapped his friend on the back, and followed him and Scott through the massive crowd to leave.

Chapter 45

For three mornings straight, Andie found him in the same spot.  John was perched, leaning against the counter staring at the refrigerator. He lifted his coffee cup to his lips without taking his eyes off the wedding announcement that was held to the freezer door.

She’d ignored him the first two mornings, but not today.  This morning she quietly took her place next to him.  Her eyes rested on Chastity’s beautiful smile.  Andie not only ached for her husband to reunite with his daughter, but she too longed to know her.  Chastity was part of John and because of that – part of her too.  She smiled sweetly at the newspaper picture, thinking about how happy and hopeful both kids seemed.

Andie turned to her husband. “Have you memorized it yet?”  She asked quietly.

“Hmm?”  He barely responded.  His eyes were still glued to the couples’ picture.

“Is anything misspelled?”  She said a little louder.

“What?”  John came out of his spell, confused.  He turned with a frown.

“I asked if you’d memorized it yet.”

“You’d think so.”  He said softly.  “You know when Jesse sent this to me I had a million questions for him.”

“Mmmm hmmm.  Like any good dad would.”

John shook his head.  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, but I did ask him if Timothy was good enough for her.  I don’t get to approve of his boy.  I didn’t get asked for her hand.  I’m not involved, and I understand that.  I’m not complaining, but I still want what’s best for her.”

“I’m sure he’s a fine young man.  He looks like one.”
             
John turned to her with sad eyes.  “That doesn’t mean anything.  I looked like one too.  He could be a sheep in wolves clothing.”

“True, but Jesse assured me that he was a genuinely nice guy.  Jesse says he comes from a good family too.  So considering our source, I’d say you have nothing to worry about.”

John shrugged.  “We also talked wedding budget, and he agreed to let me pay for most of it.”

Andie quickly turned to face him.  “What? You didn’t tell me that.”

“It’s still okay, isn’t it?”

Andie nodded.  “Of course!  I just thought you’d tell me.”

“I planned on it the other day, but I’ve been thinking.  What if I want to do more?”  He lifted his eyebrow before finishing. “Jesse told me what resort they’re staying at for the honeymoon.”

“How’d you get that info from him?  That’s pretty private information don’t you think?”

“I don’t think he meant to blurt it out or anything.  I didn’t ask.  It just kind of came up.  Jesse was getting caught up in some of the details of the budget so we could settle how much to send him.  Then he mentioned how it was a good thing the bride’s family wasn’t expected to pay for the honeymoon.  He talked about what an investment Timothy was making in planning for Chastity’s and his honeymoon.  He’s taking her to Oahu, where they’ll stay at the Rainbow Towers at the Hilton – and he wants to surprise her with the nicest suite they have.”

Andie took John’s coffee mug and took a small sip before handing it back.  “So what does the Hilton have to do with you wanting to do more?  Unless you’re planning to?  John?  Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” 

John looked sheepishly in return.  “Do you think it’s a bad idea?  I could just take care of the final bill.”

“I think it’s a gamble,” Andie said, raising an eyebrow.  “But one worth taking.  The only problem is that she may feel pressure … like she owes you something.  You need to be prepared for that.”  Andie shrugged her shoulders.  “Or it could go the other way.  She may feel appreciative?”

“In my gut, it feels it’s what I need to do.  Maybe I’m being selfish.”

“Pray about it sweetie.”  Andie laid a gentle hand on his arm.  “If you still feel led to do it, then go for it.  You’re doing it out of love.  There can’t be anything wrong with that.”

“Well my motives may be pure – but it still could be received horribly.”

“Pray about it.” Andie took one more sip from his cup, and leaned up to kiss him on the cheek.  Then she quickly shoved him away from the counter.  “Now go or we’re going to be late.”

John turned with questioning eyes. 

“You forgot?  It’s our appointment for the next ultrasound!  Go! Go!” Andie laughed and shoved him. 

John flashed a smile and hurried from the kitchen.  She heard him take the stairs two at a time and laughed.  “We’ve got a few minutes.  Don’t break your neck!”  She yelled up the stairs.  Andie heard his laughter in reply, and it warmed her heart.  How nice it was to hear him laugh.  She’d been hearing more of that in recent days, and she hoped to hear even more of it. 

Lord, please bless Chastity’s heart.  Soften it if it’s your will.  Because if you don’t, I have a feeling there will be a part of John that will never heal. 
Andie left it where it should be, in God’s hands and continued to gather her things to leave.  By the time she’d grabbed her purse; her loving husband was again by her side with a smile in his eyes.

“You ready?”  John softly asked.

“Yup.”  Andie put her arms in his and started out the door.  “Oh!  Except I have to pee!”  She turned as fast as her belly would let her and started back down the hall.  She heard John’s laughter at her retreat, and didn’t want it to ever end.

Chapter 46

Thunder rumbled through the roof of Chastity’s home. A light rain pelted above her sending down the last remnants of the storm.  Between the lighting crackling through the sky and the winds raging around her windows, she didn’t get much sleep.  But to be honest she couldn’t blame it on the storms.  She wouldn’t have slept even if it were calm outside.

Chastity’s brain was on overdrive since the second she and Anne got home from the bachelorette party.  After a night of dancing and crazy antics on behalf of her friend, who kept trying to get people to buy Chastity shots, she was amazed at how wearing a silly veil would make you the life of the party.  It was as if the veil gave you a free magical pass for the night. 

Chastity laughed at how many people tried to talk her out of marriage.  It was funny and sad at the same time. 
So many broken marriages left hardened hearts strung through that place last night,
Chastity thought. More than one woman begged her ‘not to do it’ and more than a few guys offered to show her what fun her last night of single-dom could be.  All of this came from wearing a stupid veil in a bar. 

Although it was fun to cut loose with a few of her friends, it was an eye opener to what her life could be like as single girl and how different it would be after today.  How many times had she ever garnered that sort of attention as a single girl?  Now as an almost married girl, it was almost overwhelming… and not in a good way.  She had no doubts about her life with Timothy and if anything, last night cemented that.  She saw just how many lonely people there were in the world, and it made her want to marry Timothy even more.  He was her forever, and the more protests she received from random strangers, the more she knew it was the right for her.