Page 17 of The Wedding Gift
Just as Will’s sister and Darla’s two sisters were putting away the last of the pots and pans, Will came into the kitchen and said, “I’m sorry, darlin’, but I’ve got to go help Dad. He’s got a spare but no jack, and he’s had a flat out north of Milburn.”
“No worries,” Darla said. “I’ll see you tomorrow in church, and we’re having dinner at Granny’s place, then working on thank-you cards all afternoon.”
“We should have eloped,” Will groaned.
“You are probably right, but then we wouldn’t have fishing tackle or a television.” Darla walked him to the door, and when he was gone, she slipped into the master bedroom. She loved the huge walk-in closet and had just sat down on the floor in the corner of it for a moment of peace when her future mother-in-law and sister-in-law, Vicky and Susanna, came into the bedroom. She started to call out and ask if they wanted to share some floor space with her before they all left.
“Are you sure he’s okay?” Susanna asked in a low voice.
Darla leaned forward as far as she could so she could hear her better.
“I think so, but it’s been touch and go for the past coupleof days. He loved her so much, and she broke his heart when she”—Vicky sighed—“broke up with him.”
“She’s got a lot of nerve showing up after three years,” Susanna said. “Right now, when he’s got the perfect woman for him in his life and just days before their wedding. She better stay out of my sight. I didn’t like her even back then.”
“Of course you didn’t.” Vicky sighed again. “You are his big sister, and you could see right through her narcissistic ways. Your father and I did our best to be nice, but it wasn’t easy. Believe me, it took every bit of my willpower not to kick her off our porch when she showed up at the door.”
“If Will hadn’t been there, you could have said he was living in Alaska,” Susanna said. “Today he seems genuinely happy, though, so maybe all our worry has been for nothing. Please tell me she’s gone back to Dallas.”
“She told Will she was leaving this morning. She had a room out at the motel west of town and said she would give him until today to make up his mind about calling off the wedding and moving out of this hick town,” Vicky said.
Darla’s heart pounded so hard that she just knew the two women would hear it through the wall. Since, evidently, guys had to go through the same thing, the test shouldn’t be referred to as the bridal test, but as the wedding test or maybe even the marriage test.
“I’m glad she’s gone,” Susanna said, “and that Will could see that Darla is a much better choice than that self-centered hussy.”
“Enough about that. Let’s go make sure the back door is locked and then go on home. I don’t remember anyone leaving that way, but we’ll check to be sure,” Vicky said.
Darla gave them a few minutes, and then she rushed out the front door and sat down on the swing at the end of the porch. Her heart was still pounding, and her hands trembled. In what seemed like seconds, Vicky and Susanna came out of the house, and both of them looked surprised to see her.
“Hey, I thought you left with your sisters,” Susanna said.
“This has been such a big day that I just wanted a minute or two to collect my thoughts,” Darla said. “Have I told y’all that this is my dream home? If I have my way, Will and I will still be living right here when we’ve been married fifty years. I’ve always wanted a white house with a big porch and a swing. I can see Will and me spending lots of hours out here.”
Susanna shot Vicky a knowing look that Darla interpreted to mean she was glad her brother was marrying her instead of some woman who had tried to sweet-talk him into leaving town.
“That’s so sweet,” Vicky said. “Well, we’ve had a big daytoo. We’ll see you in church tomorrow morning, and we’d like to invite you and Will to supper at our house. I know you have Sunday dinner with your grandparents, but we’d like to start a tradition of our own for Sunday supper.”
“That would be great,” Darla agreed.
She watched them drive away and then got into her own car and was about to back up when Will pulled in right behind her. She put her car in Park and got out before he could open the door for her.
“I was halfway there when Dad called and said that an old farmer came by and helped him change the tire. Can we talk?” he asked.
“About what?” She had a sudden fear that he was going to say he had cold feet and wanted to call everything off.
“Come sit on the porch swing with me.” He took her hand in his. “I need to tell you something because I don’t want us to ever have secrets from each other.”
“Al-l-l-l…right,” she stammered.
“I was in love back in college with a girl named Teresa. She came to Tishomingo two days ago and said that she’d never gotten over me and wanted us to get back together. She had heard that I was getting married, and she said she wanted to—”
Darla put her forefinger over his lips. “I don’t need toknow the details. I love you, Will Jackson. And just so you know”—she realized she was about to break the bridal test rules, but this was Will, and she was going to spend the rest of her life with him—“Mindy wasn’t the only one that Andy Miller was trying to cajole into going to California with him. Somehow he got ahold of my cell phone number, and he sent texts and called and even sent flowers, which I threw in the trash.” She removed her finger and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek.
“Did you consider it?” he asked. “He does live in an exciting world, and I’m just plain old Will who helps his folks run a real estate business.”
“Did you think about going with Teresa? After all, I’m just a kindergarten teacher in Tishomingo, Oklahoma. I’m not all that fancy either,” she said.
“For about a split second, I thought about the big city life,” he admitted.