The Ghostly Hideaway (22 page)

Bill Blass called Ed the following day when the
story hit the news media. The pictures of the wreck were
horrendous, he told Ed.. Harry Denham, who was pronounced dead at
the scene of the accident, was believed to have been the
perpetrator of a murder earlier in the day. His truck had been seen
in the vicinity of the courthouse where accused rapist, Norman
Jones, had been killed with one shot to his head. Jones was shot
while exiting the police car on his way to a bail hearing. Harry
Denham was the father of the alleged rape victim.

Ed agreed with Bill that the whole set of
circumstances was a sad situation. It was also reported that the
alleged rape victim had given birth that same day to a child who
had been supposed to be the result of the rape.

At any rate, Ed’s thoughts of going back for the
trial were no longer valid. Since he would see many of the folks
they would want to visit with at Chrissy's wedding, going back just
for a visit didn't seem really worthwhile. He wasn’t sure if he
should go back for Norman’s funeral or not. He thought Norm’s
mother was still living but whether Ed’s being there would mean
anything to her or not, Ed had no idea. After talking it over with
Penny, they decided to cancel or, at least postpone, their
trip.

It was almost as difficult to accept that Norman was
dead as it was to understand all the bad things he had done. There
was one thing for sure; he had paid dearly for his wrongdoings. He
had paid with his life and that was the ultimate price.

The days were flying by or they were dragging slowly
depending on whom you asked. The days were very busy—everyone
agreed on that. It was February 7 and only a week until the
wedding. Penny’s family from North Carolina would be here tomorrow.
They would need to schedule trips to Owensboro to get Mattie and
Emily fitted for their bridesmaids’ dresses. Kathleen and Chrissy
had already had their first fittings as had Paula Weedman. The guys
had had all their fittings, too, and their tuxes were reserved
along with their shoes and accessories.

The rest of Johnny’s family would arrive in only two
days. Arrangements still had to be made for the rehearsal dinner
and decorating the church and the basement for the reception. Their
picture had been in the
Ohio County Times-News
announcing
the wedding and inviting local friends to the “celebration of
love." Chrissy sure did hope everything would go nicely and
according to plan.

“Honey, where do you think we should have the
rehearsal dinner?" If Chrissy sounded tired, it was because she
was. She was too excited to sleep well at night and her days were
extremely full.

“I’m thinking Red Lobster. They were very nice when
we were there New Years’ Eve. How many of us will there be?”

“Well, let’s see. I have four attendants and so do
you. That’s eight. The twins make ten. Our parents make fourteen.
You have three grandparents and I have three; that takes it up to
twenty. Oh, by the way, I talked to Mom and she and I agree that
Aunt Genny and Uncle Jack should be treated as grandparents since
they did raise Mom. Paula’s sister, Flora Mae, will be singing,
“Wind Beneath My Wings" and she and we would make twenty-three. Is
that it?”

“Aren’t we supposed to include the minister and
probably his wife? What about the pianist?”

“Sure. That takes it to twenty-six. I wonder if we
can get a group rate. That is quite a group. Why didn’t we elope?
All this is surely getting to me, Baby. I know. I know. Our folks
wanted this and we’ll be glad someday we have this to look back on.
But right now, I sure do wish our wedding was yesterday.”

“Oh, sure; and so do I.” His voice was full of Irish
brogue and sex.

“Oh, Johnny, I know where your mind is. But I agree.
It seems as though it’s been forever. Hold me and kiss me. I love
you." They were getting pretty heated up and then on the third
floor, where nobody was supposed to be, a door slammed.

“I guess the ghosts are reminding us that Dad is
just out in the shop and Mom and the twins will be back from the
grocery soon.”

“Of course, you never know what minute Sean or
Kathleen will walk in, either.”

“I still need you; so much.”

“Only one more week, Baby. Only one more week.”

Penny and the twins got home a few minutes later and
Chrissy and Johnny helped unload the car and put all the stuff
away. Chrissy went up to the third floor to check on everything up
there. They had bought air mattresses and put them on the floor of
each of the two top bedrooms after they had cleaned the rooms
thoroughly. They had been spread with clean sheets, pillows, and
blankets. There were enough quilts and blankets to make some
pallets on the floor, too, for the children who were expected. The
third floor bathroom had been scrubbed and stocked with toilet
tissue and facial tissues, plenty of towels and washcloths, soap,
shampoo and all the amenities. Everything had been done that
Chrissy and her Mom could think of to make their expected guests
comfortable. Chrissy, Candy, and their cousin, Megan would occupy
one of the queen-size air mattresses on the third floor. Cousins,
Mattie and Emily, would occupy the other air mattress on the floor
of that room. Andy and his cousin, Butch would have the other third
floor bedroom.

The four bedrooms on the second floor all had clean
linens and blankets. They had boxed up all of Uncle Cliff and Aunt
Lorraine’s clothes and things from the drawers and closet and put
them in the storage area on the third floor. They had decided the
Coy bedroom would be a good place for Uncle Bob and Aunt Carla Wroe
from California to sleep. Uncle Jack and Aunt Genny would sleep in
Chrissy’s bedroom. Ed and Penny would keep their own room. Uncle
Webster and Aunt Faye would have the twin’s room and they would fix
a pallet for Jenny.

Grandpa Wroe had had knee surgery some time back and
stairs were somewhat difficult for him; therefore, they had turned
the sitting room on the first floor between the bathroom and the
library into a bedroom for him. That took care of all of Chrissy’s
family who were coming to the wedding.

There wouldn’t be room for all of Johnny’s family at
Lydia’s house if everyone came who said they planned to come.
Johnny and Chrissy were talking about finding a place for everyone
to sleep.

“Johnny, would it be terrible to let them stay in
our trailer? There are three bedrooms and the living room couch.
That would sleep seven. That might make it unnecessary for anybody
to have to stay in Owensboro. Do you think that would be
alright?”

“Sure, Baby, if you don’t mind that other people
will have stayed there before we do. I had sort of looked forward
to us being the first to live there, but I guess that would be
rather selfish.”

“They wouldn’t actually be living there. They’d just
sleep there and come up to the house for meals and everything. I
know what you’re saying. I’d have preferred it being ours alone but
this is special and they will be coming all the way from Ireland
for our wedding.”

“Let’s do it. I wish we could sneak over there and
make love just once, though, before anybody else stays there. Maybe
we can arrange that just for a couple of hours.”

“That would be wonderfully special. I just can’t
wait to be Mrs. Johnny O’Reilly.”

“We’d better change the subject again, Sweetie. I’d
hate for your folks to come in the house and find me in a cold
shower. That might be preferable, though, to finding us taking care
of the alternative." They both laughed and hugged and sighed in
resignation.

“Okay, let’s decide about your relatives and who
will sleep where. It will be a lot easier to get everyone settled
when they get here if we know where they’ll need to put their
luggage.”

“Sure. Okay, my parents will stay where they are. Of
course, Grandmother will keep her room. “Sean and I might as well
stay where we are and my cousin, Frank, can bunk with us. There’s
the one bedroom on the first floor and I think it will be easier
for Grandpa Pat and Grandma Keara to stay in that room rather than
going up the steps.”

“That sounds good. How many more couples are
coming?”

“Well there’re Uncle Jim and Aunt Callie; Uncle
Francis and Aunt Adriana; Uncle Chuck and Aunt Martina and all
their collective offspring. Uncle Jim and Aunt Callie could have
the room next to Grandmother’s and the younger kids could stay in
the room next to the stairs where their parents would be able to
watch after them. That would be Colleen, Nancy, and little Doreen
if she wants to or she could stay down in the trailer with Uncle
Chuck and Aunt Martina, whichever they prefer. I figured Aunt Doris
and Uncle Al and Baby Betty Ruth could be comfortable on one of the
air mattresses on the third floor next to Kathleen, Rose and
Charlene.”

“That would leave the room across from them for
Jimmy, Buddy, and Joey. The only leftovers to go to the trailer
would be Uncle Francis and Aunt Addie at the far end; Uncle Chuck
and Aunt Martina and maybe Betty Ruth in the middle bedroom and
Uncle Morgan and Aunt Polly in the master bedroom at the other end.
Did I get all those names right? I’m trying hard to remember all
the names and who they go with. When they get here day after
tomorrow, all I’ll need to do is put the right faces with the right
names. There’re so
many
of them! And did we get a place for
everybody?”

“There is a bunch of them alright but I do believe
we got a place for every one of them. Oh, I’m so glad they could
all come. It’s going to be a real problem, though, keeping them all
fed.”

“Yes, I know and I’m going to need to stick around
the house here a good part of the time to help Mom with all the
cooking and cleaning she’ll be doing, too.”

“Well, Mom will help Grandmother, of course, but I
am worried it might all be too much for her. So far, though, she
seems to be enjoying it.”

“Will you be able to come down and meet all my
family when they get here? We’re expecting them right after
suppertime tomorrow evening.”

“I’m planning to be right here. I guess I’d better
go on home now, though. I have to show my dad about feeding the
livestock and milking the cows. Okay? I’ll see you tomorrow. I love
you, Baby.”

“I love you, too. Call me later, okay?”

“Sure and I will do that.”

One long, lingering kiss and he was on his way
home.

Chrissy’s alarm clock woke her early and she put
clean linens on her bed and straightened the room for company. She
took all her personal things to the third floor bedroom where she
would spend the few days until her wedding.
Her wedding day,
she was thinking.
In only six days, I’ll be a married woman.
I’ll be Mrs. Chrissy O’Reilly. Cheeze, I’m nervous. Am I truly
ready for this? I hope I’m not making a mistake. Can I really spend
the rest of my life belonging to one man and be happy? I’ve never
actually been anywhere or done anything with anybody else. How do I
know for sure if this is truly what I want? I know I’m happy when
I’m with Johnny; but what if we get tired of each other? I don’t
believe in divorce. Have we been close enough to know if this is
what’s right for both of us? What if he gets tired of me? What if,
eventually, we have different interests and want different things
in life? What about children? What if we can’t agree on how they
should be brought up or what values they should be taught? What
will we do in our spare time? Other than making love,
she
thought and blushed.

I do love him, though, and he makes me happy. I
know he respects me and wants me to have all the things I’ve always
dreamed of having. What in the world would I do with my life if I
didn’t marry Johnny? But that’s sure not a reason to marry someone.
I love him, I love him, I love him. I do want to marry him.
Everything will be fine. I just know it. This is definitely what I
want. There aren’t any real doubts. I’m just nervous, that’s all.
Oh, well, back to work. We’re going to Ireland.
What a
wonderful thing for her. She still couldn’t believe it!!!

Candy interrupted her thoughts. “You said I needed
to get my room ready for company, so I’m bringing my things up here
like you said. Which room did you say would be mine up here?”

“Right here with me and cousin Megan will be here
with us, too. Cousin Mattie and Cousin Emily will be sleeping over
there in that corner. You know, I’m glad we’re going to be a little
closer than usual for a few days before I leave. I’m going to miss
you kids very much, you know?”

She caught Candy to her and hugged her tight. Soon
they were both sniffling and Chrissy reached for her box of
tissues. “I think we should have bought an extra case of tissues.
At the rate we’re going we might need them."

“It won’t seem right without you here any more,
Chrissy. Can I come over and stay at the trailer with you when you
get back from your moon honey? ”She still hadn't mastered her use
of 'can' and 'may.'

“That’s ‘honeymoon,’ Sugar. And, yes, you may come
over to visit sometimes. And just think; you'll have my room here,
now, and you won’t have to share a room with Andy any more. That’ll
be good, won’t it?”

“Yeah, Mom says I’m getting ‘most too big for that
anyway; but I’ll still miss you.”

“I know, Baby, but I’ll still be around and I’ll
always love you and you’ll always be my favorite sister." More
tissue time. One thing they were definitely going to need was a
trash can.

Chrissy had almost the same conversation with Andy a
short time later. He didn’t want her to leave, either.

“Why couldn’t you just marry Johnny and still stay
here with us. Maybe he could move in here with us, too. That would
maybe be real neat.”