PRESENT TENSE
Chapter Fifty-Two

Saturday, October 4, 2003

Rose awoke early the morning of her wedding. Glancing at the clock, she saw that it was barely six AM—much earlier than she usually got up on Saturdays. Snuggling back beneath the covers, she tried to fall back asleep—to no avail. She was too nervous and excited to sleep, and, at last, she gave up the attempt and got up.

After quickly showering and dressing, Rose went out to the kitchen. Only Helga was up, sleepily making a pot of coffee.

“Good morning!” Rose told her cheerfully, opening the refrigerator and looking for something to eat.

“You’re sure up early.”

“It’s past 6:30.”

“On a Saturday. I hardly ever see you on a Saturday before 7:30.”

“I couldn’t sleep. Too many things to think about.”

“Excited about the wedding?”

“Yeah.” Rose pulled out the carton of eggs and walked over to the stove. “And a little nervous.”

“Nervous? Why?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never gotten married before. I mean, what if people can’t find the wedding site, or someone gets bitten by a rattlesnake, or I fall flat on my face while walking up the trail, or...”

“Or maybe nothing bad will happen, and you’ll have a beautiful wedding. The newspaper says it should be bright and sunny this afternoon, with temperatures in the low eighties. Perfect weather for an outdoor wedding.”

“The weather! I never even thought of that.” Rose grabbed the newspaper and turned to the weather page, looking to see if Helga was right. “What if the paper is wrong?”

“Rose, look outside.”

Rose peeked through the blinds and was greeted by the sunrise, with only a few scattered clouds. “Good. It is nice weather.”

“You’re not having second thoughts, are you?”

“Only about holding a big, elaborate ceremony and a reception. Jack and I should have eloped.”

“And then you’d have missed the chance to get married out in the open air, with your relatives and friends watching.”

“It’s the watching part that makes me nervous.”

“No one’s going to laugh at you. Remember how when I got married, the pianist didn’t start the music until I was halfway up the aisle? Everyone took it with good humor. And,” she added, “you don’t have to worry about anyone missing their cue. Your music is going to be on CD.”

“What if it doesn’t work? What if the CD player doesn’t play the music?”

“Then you’ll walk up without it.” Helga moved the coffee away as Rose tried to pour herself a cup. “You really need to relax.”

Rose scowled at her. “I’m fine.”

“If you say so. But I’ll bet that if you have any coffee, you’ll be bouncing off the walls.”

“That just reminded me of something.” Rose scraped the scrambled eggs out of the pan and dumped them onto a plate, then set the plate on the table and rushed out the back door.

She returned a few minutes later and dug into her breakfast. “Everything looks great out there. The tables are set up, the chairs are set up, there’s no trash in the yard, the flowers are blooming...the reception will be great.”

“I told you your grandparents got everything ready yesterday.”

“Yes, but I didn’t check to be sure. Maybe I should go check the hilltop that Jack and I chose.”

Helga grabbed Rose by the elbow and pulled her back to her chair. “Sit down and finish eating before you go running off. I swear, I’ve never seen you so nervous.”

“I’m not that nervous. I just want to make sure everything is perfect.”

“Well, make sure everything is perfect after you eat.”

“Okay, okay.” Rose quickly finished the scrambled eggs and grabbed an apple from the bowl on the table.

“I’ll see you later,” she told Helga, opening the front door and rushing out.

Helga waved, spinning her finger around her ear to indicate that she thought Rose was crazy.

*****

Rose returned by eight o’clock. Everyone else was up by then, so she sat down at the table beside Jack, talking a mile a minute about how wonderful everything looked. No one could get a word in edgewise until Jack took advantage of Rose’s open mouth and stuffed a slice of orange in it. She sputtered, wiping her mouth, and finally stopped talking.

“You know, you two aren’t supposed to see each other until the wedding,” Helga reminded them.

“We decided to go against tradition,” Jack explained. “It doesn’t make any sense, especially since we’re cohabiting.”

“You’re not cohabiting,” Tommy told them. “You’ve been renting separate rooms in the same house.”

“Close enough,” Rose retorted, taking another slice of orange from Jack’s plate and eating it. When he began to object, she grabbed another slice and popped it in his mouth. He grinned and kissed her. Helga rolled her eyes, while Tommy looked at them as though they’d lost their minds.

“Ahem,” Helga said after a moment.

Jack and Rose looked up. “What?”

“You have an audience,” Tommy pointed out, still eyeing them as though they were crazy.

“Oh...right.” Jack returned to his breakfast while Rose got up and looked in the refrigerator again.

“Is the food for the reception prepared yet?” she asked, peering inside.

“Most of it is being made by Eddie Aguilar across the street. I’m baking your wedding cake, and making a vegetable tray and a couple of salads. You don’t need to worry about it,” Helga told her.

“I want to help,” Rose replied. “Maybe I could help with the cake.”

“No!” all three of the others told her.

“I don’t want to eat broiled cake,” Tommy added.

Rose looked at him balefully. “I’m not going to broil it. I learned why you don’t do that with baked goods.”

“The bride isn’t supposed to make her own cake,” Helga interjected. “If you want to help, you can go down to the supermarket and get some more fruit, lettuce, and vegetables. Get some more eggs, milk, and flour, too. And then, if you still want to help, you can make the fruit salad.”

*****

Everything was ready by early afternoon. Jack, Tommy, and David had carried the things needed for the wedding up to the hilltop, with Tommy remaining behind to make sure no one walked off with anything. The wedding was scheduled for three o’clock.

Rose had wound up helping make the salads and had called her relatives from San Francisco to be sure they would be at the wedding. They had flown down the day before. Rose had told them, as best she could, just where the wedding would be, then told them to follow the footprints and the groups of people if they couldn’t find it.

At 1:30, Sophie arrived with her bridesmaid gown, and Kathleen arrived a few minutes after that. David had walked up to the wedding site so that Tommy could come home and change into his tuxedo before being best man in the wedding.

At 1:45, much to Rose’s surprise, her former roommates showed up. They had both been invited to the wedding, but she hadn’t expected them to come so early.

“I know we’re early,” Michelle told her, “but we’re going to help you get ready.”

“And make sure your groom doesn’t try to run off,” Mari added, looking around for Jack.

“He’s not going to run off,” Rose told her. “He’s getting ready right now.”

“You need to get ready, too,” Kathleen advised her, pushing her in the direction of her bedroom. Smiling suddenly, Rose rushed down the hall, eager to get dressed and get to her wedding.

Mari admired Sophie’s blue bridesmaid gown, the same one she had worn for Helga’s wedding. The dress was almost off the shoulder, with blue beading sewn in an intricate pattern over it. Helga had found the fabric pre-beaded, eliminating the need for careful hand beading. The dress had originally had a train, but Sophie had pinned the train up so that it wouldn’t drag in the dirt.

Rose beamed in delight as she went to the closet and removed the wedding gown she had made. The deep blue satin and white chiffon moved gracefully as she put it on and zipped it up. It had taken her forever to figure out how to sew in the zipper so that it wouldn’t catch on the delicate chiffon, but she had finally succeeded. The dress was beautiful.

“Oh, that looks nice,” Michelle told her, watching as Rose carefully tied the blue satin sash in the back. The neckline of the dress was edged with pearls and lace, and the carefully designed hair ornament that Rose pulled from a drawer a moment later matched perfectly.

“Let me help with your hair,” Michelle said, taking the hair ornament and looking at it critically. “How do you want your hair done?”

“Part of it braided, with this twined through it, and the rest left hanging down my back. I was going to do it myself.”

“Let her help,” Mari told Rose. “She helped in her mom’s salon all summer.”

“Well...all right.”

Rose stood in front of the mirror as Michelle brushed out her hair and divided off the sections to be braided. She pointed out how she wanted the center flowers atop her head, with the pearls and remaining flowers braided into her hair. She sat patiently while Michelle braided her hair and tied the ends of the two braids together with a blue rubber band covered by the ends of the pearl string.

Kathleen nodded approvingly as Rose turned to look at the rest of them, the blue roses atop her head standing out against her red hair. Mari looked her over critically as she began her makeup, her gown covered by an old apron to keep the makeup from spilling on it.

“Something’s missing,” she told Rose.

“What?” Rose looked at herself, unable to see any problem.

“You need something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue.”

“I have those things,” Rose pointed out, taking off her apron. “Well, at least I have something new and blue.” She gestured to her gown.

“But you need something old and something borrowed.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.” Mari shrugged. “For good luck, I guess.” She paused. “Where’s your jewelry box?”

“You can’t steal from her,” Michelle told Mari jokingly.

Mari tossed her head. “I don’t intend to. Let me see...” She spied Rose’s jewelry box sitting on a shelf in the closet. Taking it out, she opened it.

“Here,” she said, drawing out a pair of dangling pearl and gold earrings that she had seen Rose wear when they were roommates. “These are old.”

“Not that old. Mom gave them to me for high school graduation,” Rose told her, but Mari was adamant.

“They match. Wear them.”

Laughing, Rose gave in. After fastening on the earrings, she was surprised when her grandmother slipped a delicate gold bracelet from her wrist and handed it to her.

“Something borrowed,” Kathleen told her. “And I want it back, so don’t lose it.”

“Thank you, Nana.” Rose slipped on the bracelet, looking at herself in the mirror.

Everything had come together. Her wedding gown floated around her when she moved, the delicate chiffon lying in layers over the blue satin underskirt. The short train had been lined with tulle and lace to keep the chiffon from being damaged on the trail. The neckline was low, but not too low, and the blue sash on the empire waist brought out the color of her eyes. Her cheeks were pink with excitement, her eyes sparkling. She looked very different from the unhappy young woman who had gazed at her reflection in the mirror in the formal wear shop just five months earlier. Then, she had been miserable, dreading the day when she would walk up the aisle and marry the man who had abused her, who she knew would hurt her again. Now, she was smiling, happy, ready to marry the man she loved and trusted.

Impulsively, she whirled around, watching the layers of chiffon billow around her. Sophie laughed, then stopped as a knock sounded on the door.

“Rose?” Jack’s voice came from outside the door.

Rose rushed to open the door, ignoring everyone’s protests. “Jack!”

Jack was standing outside the door, resplendent in his black tuxedo. His hair had been combed back neatly, instead of hanging his face as it often did. Rose stepped out, straightening his bow tie for him.

“You look nice,” he told her, looking at her gown and hair.

“Thanks. So do you.” She brushed a stray lock of hair from his eyes. No amount of combing could make it stay in place.

“You ready?”

Rose looked at him. “No,” she confessed. “No, I’m not ready. I just know I’m going to do something stupid—fall flat on my face, or drop my bouquet in the dust, or faint, or—”

“You’ll be fine,” he assured her. “You’ve been up that trail a hundred times. You won’t fall on your face or drop your bouquet, and you’re not a fainter.”

“I don’t know...” Rose trailed off. “Are you sure we should go through the wedding? Las Vegas is only about eight hours away. We could elope...”

“Oh, no, you don’t.” Michelle grabbed Rose’s hand and tugged her back toward her room. “She’ll see you at the...uh...whatever you’re using for an altar.”

“The hilltop,” Jack told her. He turned to Rose. “You’ll be fine. Your grandmother will escort you up the trail, and we’ll make our vows...and everything will be just fine.”

Rose relaxed a bit. Jack usually had that effect on her. “You’re right. Things will be fine. You’d better get up there...or I’ll beat you to the hilltop.” She grinned as Michelle looked at her in mock annoyance and pulled her back into her room, closing the door.

“You’re not supposed to see the groom before the wedding,” she scolded Rose.

“Do you know where that custom comes from?” Mari asked, flopping down on the bed.

“No. Where?” Michelle wanted to know.

“It comes from the days of arranged marriages, when the bride and groom weren’t allowed to see each other for fear they’d run away.”

“And now,” Helga told them, opening the door and walking in, “the custom works to keep the bride and groom from running away...to Las Vegas.” She looked at Rose. “I heard you out there, trying to escape. We’ve put too much work into this wedding for you to elope. You’ll go up that trail if we have to carry you.”

Rose laughed at the image of her friends and grandmother hoisting her into the air and carrying her up the hill. “All right. I’m going. Where’s my bouquet?”

“It’s in the kitchen,” Helga told her, “along with mine and Sophie’s. Tommy has the rings, and he and Jack are on their way up the hill. We’ll give them a few minutes, and then go over ourselves. Everything’s ready.”

A few minutes later, the group of women made their way up the street toward the hills. Sophie carried all three of the bouquets as they walked around the block, several neighbors coming out to watch the procession. Rose smiled, her heart pounding with nervous excitement. Just a little while longer, and she would be married.

Chapter Fifty-Three
Stories