Page 143 of Head Room

Impulsively, I hugged Dad, drawing Tamantha, then Mom in, too.They all cooperated.

****

The rest ofthe day wasn’t quite a group hug, as I followed Mom and Tamantha’s spreadsheet with a final try-on of the dress.

It fit, thank heavens.

The Mikado silk flowed.The long sleeves hugged my arms, seeming to subtly call attention to my figure.

It was elegant, yet easy.And fun to twirl in.Just a little.

We went over the schedule for Friday and Saturday.

Mom and I split phone calls for final checks with venues and more providers than I could have imagined.Okay, Mom did most of the talking, either because she knew the details better or, in the instance of the cake-baker, it seemed wiser.

Mom and Tamantha organized another spreadsheet for thank you notes to-be.Tom and I had requested no gifts, with a suggestion that guests donate to a favorite charity if they chose.

Not everyone listened.

The ones who didn’t, focused on sentimental, including a book of family recipes from my sisters-in-law, an oversized afghan to accommodate Tom, Tamantha, and me cuddled up together from Tom’s sister, and a pledge from a friend of Tom’s to have his stallion stand to stud with Tom’s favorite mare — this is Wyoming, after all.

They even helped me start on the thank yous and draft the rest.Tom didn’t know it yet, but he had several designated for him to do.Including the stud service one.

Mike called mid-afternoon.

I sat on the stairs, a quiet spot for a little business as a break from wedding duties.I also had two cookies from my Double Chocolate Milano home stash.

“He took the job,” he said to myhello.“Can you believe it?Orson Jardineis going to be news director of KWMT-TV.”

I heard the disbelief and pride in his voice.

Orson wouldn’t start right away.

His cross-country road trip’s destination was the Oregon coast, where one of his kids lived.

After that visit, he’d drive back here.

The timing worked well.I’d be back from the mini-honeymoon Tom and I were taking.And Mike would have ended his stint of subbing for the regular sports anchor in Chicago.

We could all focus on making the most of Orson’s skills for this weird experiment of ours.

Of course, first there was a multi-ceremony wedding to celebrate.

And it sure would be nice to have answers that would satisfy Colonel Crawford before then.

Tom arrived and we had a relaxed, laughter-filled dinner.A family dinner.

My parents were yawning when they left for the B&B.Tamantha stayed again, with Shadow at her bedside.Tom left with lingering kisses at the door.

Only when I was in bed did my thoughts return to Nance’s death.

Connie’s voice came to me.

She could see through a person all the way to their backbone.And unless you knew to look for it and looked hard, you’d never know that’s what she was doing.You’d never know she had somebody dead to rights.They sure wouldn’t know.

Was that why I was reading this manuscript?Hoping to find an insight by Irene Jardos that would reveal all to me?

Fat lot of good it had done me so far.