Part 13
As Sarah cleaned away the breakfast dishes, Howie sat on the counter beside her watching her. "Angel, you never talk about your first wedding. Why is that?"
"Nothing to talk about," said Sarah without looking at Howie and shrugging her shoulders.
"Wasn’t it everything you wanted?"
"You mean was it every little girl’s fantasy come true? No, it was very much like my whole relationship with him…a nightmare. We went to a JP across the line in Georgia without telling anyone."
"Did you at least wear a dress especially for it?"
Sarah put the dishes in the drying rack, dried her hands on the dishtowel, and looked up at Howie. "No, I wore a pair of cut-off shorts, one of his Journey T-shirts, and my hair was in a ponytail. When we got back, Mama cried because she’d always imagined I’d wear her dress and Daddy wouldn’t speak to me for several days."
"Because he hadn’t been able to walk you down the aisle?"
"Yeah," answered Sarah. Moving to stand between his legs, Sarah put her hands on his sides and asked, "Why the sudden interest in my first marriage?"
"Well, we’ll get married…eventually, and I don’t want to repeat anything."
"’D’, there’s NO way you could possibly repeat that nightmare, even if you tried."
"How did he propose?"
"He didn’t. He TOLD me we were getting married, that his child would not be a bastard. He was the bastard."
"Did he ever give you a diamond?"
"Nope!"
"Whoa! So what you’re telling me is…."
"He was a jerk and what I have with you is the real thing. Those eight years of my life are over and as far as the church is concerned, never happened. My marriage was annulled and when we get married, it will be the FIRST and ONLY marriage."
"Tell me your dream of a perfect wedding."
"One with you."
Howie kissed her. "That will happen. C’mon, tell me what you always dreamed of. I want to know.""
Sarah backed away pulling him with her. "Let’s go out on the deck and I’ll tell you."
Howie and Sarah went out back and sat together in the swing, Sarah laying on Howie with her head on his chest. She made little circles on his chest with her finger as she said, "I always figured it would be a typical Catholic wedding with some extras added to the mix. I’d always wanted to pick out the ‘perfect’ song to sing to my groom and write my own vows."
"Did you ever actually write them?"
"Sorta. I wrote a couple poems that I always figured I’d use."
"What about your dress?"
"My mother’s. My grandmother made it and it’s simple but elegant."
Howie smiled and kissed her on the forehead. "What about the church? How did you want it decorated?"
"Simple. Roses and candle light."
Howie considered it and then said, "Sounds romantic."
"Howie, as long as it’s with you, I don’t care where it is, what I wear, or what is in the ceremony. The fact that I love you is all that matters and we’re joined as husband and wife in the eyes of the church."
Howie hugged her tight. "We will be, Angel, and it will be everything you want it to be!"
Sarah looked out at the boats passing by and asked, "When are we suppose to meet Nick and Becca?"
Howie looked at his watch. "Half an hour ago. He said he’d call with his cell phone when he got near the docks."
Sarah laughed, "I expect he got tied up with being with Becca for the first time in five months. I know what we were like after we got back together."
Howie and Sarah heard Ali in the living room and Howie called out, "Hey….Alison, would you bring me the phone please?"
Alison appeared in the doorway looking extremely disgruntled about being up at what she considered an unreasonable hour. Sarah laughed knowing Alison was NOT a morning person.
"What are you doing up?" asked Sarah as Ali handed Howie the phone and AJ’s two dogs, Vegas and JD scurried by.
"The ‘babies’ needed to go out and ‘DADDY’ wouldn’t get his lazy ass out of bed."
The two women talked while the dogs did their business and Howie talked to Nick. They joined in teasing when Howie said something about ‘getting some’ and got a good laugh out of it all.
After hanging up, Howie, Sarah, and Ali heard the rest of the gang making their way downstairs grumbling about their hangovers or being out of bed so early. They heard AJ swear as he stepped in a ‘puddle’ left by one of the dogs and Kevin laughing.
"Guess I’d better go in with him and clean up the mess," grumbled Ali.
"Damn Howie….why the hell…."AJ stopped short as Howie came into the living room followed by Sarah with Ali in front of him.
"What are you so mad at Howie for?" asked Sarah. "You’re the one who didn’t get up to take JD and Vegas outside."
Sarah had missed the angry look Howie shot AJ. He recovered by saying, "I was just going to say why the hell didn’t he get me up earlier."
Kevin asked, "What are you two still doing here? I thought you were going out with Nick on the boat."
"Nick got distracted this morning," grumbled Howie.
Brian laughed, "Sounds like Kid Kaos! Hey, Sarah, since you’re still here, would you consider making us breakfast?"
"Sure, Bri! But you guys have to clean up."
"Not a problem," said Vanessa as she, Ali, and Sonja went into the
kitchen with Sarah.
When the girls were gone, Howie glared at AJ, "You almost blew it!"
"I didn’t know you were still here!"
"Fine! Look, I need white roses and candles everywhere. That’s all she wants," said Howie. "And Kevin, one of you needs to find Carson and tell him that I can’t be there at ten."
"For what?"
"I was going to give him an exclusive on the wedding but we’ll be in Marathon for the reception."
"Why don’t you invite him and let him tape it for you?" suggested AJ.
"Oh, yeah! I’m sure Sarah wants TV cameras at our wedding," said Howie. "No, it’s going to be tough enough with the press. We don’t need to invite them to the wedding!"
Kevin shook his head, "You know, AJ has a good idea. You don’t have anyone to photograph it, do you?"
"Just Anore."
"Let Carson bring ONE camera, a small one, to tape it for you. And right after it, give him the interview."
Howie considered it and Brian added, "Sarah won’t mind one camera recording and agree to let Carson show a little bit of it."
"Okay….but what about the new song? I thought we were going to keep that quiet until the fall."
Kevin said, "We’ll talk to him about it."
With that taken care of, the guys went up to get ready for the day and Howie went to give Sarah a hand so that the girls could get ready too. Everyone was pitching in to help Howie with the wedding. They were all excited for them and it had been difficult to keep it from her. They couldn’t count the times Sarah had almost caught them planning it.