Page 16 of The Wedding Gift
“If we get married twice, do we get two showers?” Will opened the card on the top of his gift before he tore the paper away. “Look, darlin’, Gramps has given us a tackle box.” He opened it and pointed to all the lures and equipment. “And it’s full of good stuff.”
“That’s not for Darla,” Roxie said from the front row of chairs that had been set up for the guests. “That’s for you. Claud thinks that might save your marriage.”
“I’ll be sure to thank him.” Will chuckled.
“This next gift is from me to Darla. I don’t think, I know from experience, that it will save your marriage.” Roxie grinned.
Two hostesses slid a huge gift over to Darla. She tore the pretty paper away from the front and giggled when she saw the picture on the box. “Granny! I can’t believe you did this but thank you.”
“A big-screen television!” Will gasped. “This really is better than Christmas.”
“Just doin’ my part to help you kids out.” Roxie grinned.
“Well, thank you so much.” Will shared a look with Darla and gave her a mischievous grin. “Whatever it takes, I hope we make it to our sixtieth anniversary.”
“Hope so,” Roxie said.
After the shower, the wedding gifts were loaded into Sarah and Marilyn’s vehicles, the back of Will’s pickup truck, and the trunk of Darla’s car. Will’s mother, Vicky, and his sister, Susanna, along with Roxie, Sarah and Marilyn, and Darla and Will, all caravanned north of town to the house Will had recently purchased.
Darla still couldn’t believe that she and Will were starting out in their own home. Even if the bank owned eighty percentof the little three-bedroom white house with a porch that wrapped around three sides, they would be paying on something that would be theirs someday. Will backed his truck at the end of the row of all the other vehicles, got out, and then jogged over to Darla’s car and opened the door for her.
“It will take hours to get all this put away.” He grinned.
“Yep.” She nodded. “With what we’ve both accumulated in our apartments and all this, we won’t have to buy anything.”
“What did your granny mean about the fishing stuff and the television saving our marriage?” he asked.
“Long story that I’ll tell you later,” Darla answered.
“Maybe on our honeymoon?” He wiggled his eyebrows.
“Oh, honey, I’ve got far better things planned for the honeymoon,” she teased. “And it doesn’t have anything to do with a television or a tackle box, although I appreciate both of those things.”
“This is going to be a long week,” he groaned.
“Yep, it is.” Darla looped her arm in his. “But after this week, it’s a little cabin in Colorado, and maybe even some skiing if I decide to put on clothes.”
“You are killin’ me.” He scooped her up in his arms and carried her across the yard and onto the porch. “I’m not taking you over the threshold until after we’re married.”
“Good idea.” She wiggled free of his arms. “I’d have to ask Granny, but it could be bad luck, and, honey, we don’t need any of that.”
“Amen!” He opened the door and stood to the side. “Let’s go put those gifts away. When are you planning to pack up your apartment?”
“Rent is paid until the first of next month, so I thought maybe we could take care of that after the honeymoon,” she answered.
“Have I told you today how much I love you and how beautiful you are in that dress?” Will whispered seductively in her ear.
“Only about four times, but a dozen wouldn’t be too many,” Darla answered.
“Then, darlin’, I love you with my whole heart, and you are absolutely gorgeous,” Will said.
“Much more of that, and I’m going to forget about unpacking presents and drag you off to my apartment to my bedroom,” she told him.
Sarah appeared in the small foyer and motioned for them to come into the living room. “There’s no furniture in here, so we need some direction as to where to put the television. Marilyn is ready to hang it on the wall and get it all hooked up, but she needs to know where.”
“Later?” Will muttered.
“We missed our chance.” Darla took him by the hand and pulled him into the living room.