Since what?
Well, since last year Mother thought she heard wedding bells. Turned out to be a funeral dirge.
The guy you were rebounding from?
She nodded. When we broke up, Mother was more disappointed than I was, I think.
And now she has something to pin her hopes on again.
Priscilla nodded, wincing. I hadnt realized it was going to get this complicated. I thought this plan would buy me some peace, at least for a few months. Maybe I should claim we broke up at the last minute.
Roark smiled. I wouldnt do that to your mother. But I do have one question for you.
Yes?
How is anyone going to believe Im your boyfriend when you look like a scared rabbit every time I get within two feet of you?
Ill do better, she promised hastily.
Maybe we should rehearse. You know, practice looking fondly at each other. Hold hands. With every suggestion, her eyes got a little wider.
Thats not necessary, she said. Well do fine. Then she did escape. But Roark wasnt too discouragedif anything, her skittishness raised the bar. Would he even want a woman if she was a pushover? He enjoyed the challenge.
ROARK HAD BEEN LOOKING forward to this day like a kid counting the days to Christmas. The wedding of two people hed never met. He could devote the whole evening to Priscilla. She would be his captive, stuck at the wedding and unable to flee. And he intended to see how far that could take him.
He pulled up to the curb in front of her two-story frame house in Oak Cliffs historic district and cut the engine. He was late by five minutes, which was probably good. He didnt want to appear too eager. He checked his hair in the mirror and then laughed at himself for being vain. His brothers and sisters had always teased him about that, about the fact that he liked to dress well and look his best even if he was just running to the grocery store for milk.
When he rang the bell, Tony Veracruz promptly opened the front door. He held a crying baby in one arm and a cat in the other and he was wearing a big smile.
Roark had been to this house before. Tony had invited him over a couple of times to play shuffleboard. He knew that Priscilla owned the house and lived in the upper apartment, renting the main floor to Tony. But hed never been up the stairs.
Priscilla will be down in a minute, Tony said.
They were standing in a small vestibule. A set of steps to the immediate left of the door led upstairs. Roark wanted to see what kind of apartment a woman like Priscilla called home. But she apparently didnt want him up there.
Come on in, Tony was saying. Sorry about the racket. Josephina is teething.
Last hed heard, Tony didnt have a baby. A nine-year-old daughter, yes. And there was Jasmine, perched on a chair in the living room, holding a baby bottle.
Jasmine and I are babysitting, Tony explained. The baby belongs to Julies chef. Her regular sitter is sick. Julie was Tonys wife and also the owner of Bradys Tavern and Tearoom, across the street from Fire Station 59.
Roark could see that Tony and his daughter had been exerting considerable effort to distract the baby from her teething pain. Toys of every description were spread out over the coffee table and a large area rug in the living room.
Jasmine, Tony said, run upstairs and tell Pris her boyfriend is here.
Startled, Jasmine stared at Roark. Priscilla has a boyfriend? She sounded almost scandalized.
Go, Tony said.
When shed gone, Roark asked, You arent giving Priscilla trouble over this fake boyfriend thing, are you?
Are you kidding? After all the grief she gave me when Julie and I got engaged, I couldnt let a golden opportunity like this pass by. He paused, put the cat down and shifted the baby to his other shoulder. I shouldnt do that, huh?
Its a bit of a sore spot with her, I think, Roark said carefully. Shed probably never admit that.
Yeah, heaven forbid she show any weakness. Tony jiggled the baby and offered her a teething ring, which she promptly rejected. Aw, come on, little one.
Here, let me try, Roark said.
You? You dont have kids, do you?
Just an endless stream of nieces and nephews. But I spend as much time with them as I can. Whenever I go home to visit, someone is always teething. He took the baby, who wore a ruffled pink dress and matching booties, and held her up, looking her in the face. Hi, Josephina. Can you look at me? And he proceeded to make faces at her while Tony tried not to laugh.
The baby was so startled by the faces that she did stop crying, at least for the moment. Roark gently swung her back and forth. She stared wide-eyed at him.
Howd you do that? Tony asked.
Its probably just the novelty of a new face, Roark admitted. She might start crying again any minute.
Let me try it, Tony said, holding out his hands. Before he could take the baby, though, Jasmine came running down the steps.
Dad, wait till you see this. You wont believe it!
Moments later, a cloud of florid pink chiffon barely contained in a clear plastic bag descended the stairs, and somewhere behind it was Priscillain curlers.
The men froze, and even Josephina, whod been cooing softly, went silent. She seemed to be staring at the spectacle, too.
I dont want to hear anything about cotton candy or Glinda the Good Witch oror Martians, Priscilla said as she descended. Carefullyprobably because she couldnt see her feet. Not one word.
Tony whistled. Do you have to get permission from Pepto-Bismol to wear that color?
Roark bit his lip. He had to admit, the bridesmaids gown was a ghastly hue.
He hadnt expected Priscilla to show up for their firstand possibly onlydate in curlers, either. Pink plastic rollers like his mother used to wear. He didnt see why she had to resort to such extreme measures. Her natural hair, straight and thick and the most gorgeous dark honey color, didnt need any improvement.
Priscilla finally looked at Roark, and what she saw almost made her miss a step. Roark, holding a baby as if it were the most natural thing in the world. She felt an unexpected contraction in the vicinity of her womb. And the way Roark was looking at her, as if she were a mountain of strawberry ice cream and he was hot fudge, didnt help matters. She had thought the curlers would put him off.
She pulled herself together. Hi, Roark. Theres still time to change your mind.
Roark shook his head. Not a chance. I want to see you actually wearing that dress. Its bigger than you.
And it weighs more than my turnout gear.
I think it makes you look like Cinderella, said Jasmine, who loved all things pink and girlie. She had begged Priscilla to model the dress when shed brought it home a few days earlier.
Priscilla spared a smile for the girl. Thank you, Jasmine. But, remember, its not the dress that makes the princess.
I know, its the inner princess, Samantha said with a giggle.
Priscilla ruffled the girls dark mop of hair, then grabbed a couple of bulging shopping bags sitting near the bottom of the stairs. She looked at Roark. Are we taking Josephina with us?
Oh, um, no. He handed the baby to Tony, then focused his attention back on Priscilla. You ready? He had to raise his voice to be heard over Josephinas renewed screams.
I know I dont look ready. But Marisa has a legion of makeup artists and hair torturers waiting for me at the church.
Priscilla was momentarily taken aback once again when she saw Roarks cara red Porsche. Quite a step up from the black Suburban.
Thats my work car. This is my play car.
Pretty nice toy, Priscilla thought as she stuffed her shopping bags, containing shoes and other accessories, in the tiny trunk. Where was she going to put the dress? The car didnt have a backseat to speak of. We need a sidecar for the dress.
I think all three of us will fit. He gallantly opened the passenger door, then held the dress while Priscilla got herself situated. He gently draped the dress over her, though he had to try three times before he was able to stuff the mountain of pink chiffon inside.
And then they were off, Roark deftly maneuvering his macho machine through the twilight of an early fall evening. The weather was magnificent, with just a touch of chill in the air. Priscilla wished she could enjoy it. But she was too tense. The next few hours were going to be tedious. Marisa and her mother would be walking, talking high-anxiety machines while eight bridesmaidseight!tried to do makeup and hair and change their clothes in that tiny brides room.
Priscilla didnt like pandemonium, especially when she had no chance of controlling or organizing things. She would be at the mercy of her family. And Roark would get to see it all.
He would probably run for the hills.
Okay, she said when the silence had stretched too long. Ive been thinking about this, and heres the story. In case someone asks how we met, how long weve been dating, that sort of thing.
Okay.
Lets keep it simple. We met a couple weeks ago, when you were called to a fire that I worked. You asked me some questions about the fire, then you asked me out to dinner the next night and weve been seeing each other ever since.
Where did we go on our first date? he asked. Everyone always asks that.
UmWe went out for pizza.
I could do better than that. How about we went to Newports? Newports was one of Dallass best seafood restaurants.
Too dressy for a first date. How about Havana Nights? Havana Nights was a hot new Cuban restaurant in Bishop Arts.
Done. Are we serious?
Our relationship, you mean? It has potential to be serious, she said carefully.
Do we hear wedding bells?
Priscillas heart skipped a beat. You dont have to take it that far. Do you know where youre going, by the way?
To that humongous church in Highland Park? The one that looks like a medieval cathedral, complete with gargoyles?
Thats the one. Youve been there?
Actually, I got married there.
Youve been married? she blurted out. She wasnt sure why that surprised her. A man as good-looking as he was seldom reached his midthirties without at least one trip to the altar.
Only for a couple of years, when I was younger.
Were there children? The image of Roark holding Josephina flashed through her mind.
No.
She gathered by his clipped answer that she might have touched on a sensitive issue.
Libby and I wanted different things. We married pretty young and we had some idealistic notions about what marriage would be all about. But we were still growing and changing and figuring out who we were. And in the endour goals in life were polar opposites. Maybe if wed gotten counseling or something He shrugged. But we were just dumb kids.
Its still sad. She processed this new information about Roark, trying to fit it to the man as she knew him. You dont seem jaded, like a lot of divorced people are.
Cautious would be more accurate. But not without hope. He smiled enigmatically at her. Instantly her chest tightened in a not-unpleasant way.
I hope this wont bring back sad memories for you, she said.
He shrugged. I got over all that a long time ago.
She wondered. Did anybody truly get completely over a divorce? She and Cory hadnt even gotten to the wedding-plan stage before their relationship had ended, but she wasnt sure she would ever be able to talk about it as casually as Roark talked about his previous marriage.
She shivered.
You cold? Roark asked.
Maybe a little.
He inched the thermostat up a bit.
They took advantage of the valet parking that had been arrangedPriscilla didnt want to drag the dress any farther than she had to. Roark courteously carried the rest of her things, so she could hold the dress well off the ground.
The church did look like a medieval cathedral. Since shed been attending services here her whole life, shed never thought about it much. But it was grand to the point of ostentation. Everything was white and gray marble, punctuated by intricate stained glass and pseudoancient tapestries.
The wedding consultant, whose name was Elisha, greeted Priscilla like a long-lost best friend. The others are all here. Hurry, now, hurry! Then she gave Roark a quick once-over, gasped daintily and directed them toward the dressing room.
You want me to go to the dressing room with you? Roark asked, looking doubtful. I can just go sit in the church.
Oh, no, Priscilla said, you have to come with me. My mother is already half-inclined to believe I made you up. She grabbed his hand and dragged him with her. A few seconds later she realized she had voluntarily touched him. As soon as he appeared to be following willingly, she dropped his hand like a hot coal.
She knocked on the dressing room door, which opened instantly. Her mother stood blocking the entry and looking worried. Priscilla. Where have you been? I was starting to get concerned.
Priscilla checked her watch. She was only five minutes late. Sorry, traffic was bad. Which was true. Traffic in Dallas was always bad.
Hang your dress up over there, but dont get it mixed up with the others. Christina will do your makeup as soon as she gets done with Judiths. And then Rebecca will do your Her tirade halted abruptly when she saw Roark. Oh. Im sorry, I didnt realize you werent alone. This must be your young man.
Gawd, where did her mother come up with these archaic expressions? Shed grown up in the sixties. Surely she hadnt referred to her boyfriends as young men.
Mother, this is Roark Epperson, Priscilla said dutifully. Roark, my mother, Lorraine Garner.
Roark took her mothers hand and squeezed it. Nice to meet you, Mrs. Garner.
Lorraines attention was so fixed on Roark she forgot she was in the middle of giving Priscilla her instructions. Priscilla couldnt help but smile. Roark had that effect on women, no matter what their age.
She was sure Roark could hold his own, so she skulked past her mother and into the room where she could properly greet the bride with a dainty hug.
You look beautiful, Marisa, Priscilla said, meaning it. Although her cousin was still in a dressing gown, her lush, curly black hair had been piled on top of her head in a style worthy of a Greek goddess. Youre justradiant.
Thank you, Marisa said regally. Then she whispered, The guy is gorgeous. And you let him see you in curlers!
Couldnt be avoided. You know my hair doesnt hold a curl for more than five minutes.