| The Courtyard Chapter 11 |
| “Whoa!” Jodi said in astonishment as she looked at Hanna’s living room. Every conceivable spot was filled with flowers. One basket after another of white roses and exotic flowers of all descriptions were on the floor, on tables and even in chairs. “Lance made some florist extremely happy,” she commented as she gave her friend a glance. “This isn’t even all of it. I left three bouquets at work and I’ve got some back in my bedroom too,” Hanna returned. “I guess this means you’ve made up?” She couldn’t keep the wide grin from spreading across her face. “And then some,” she insinuated and received another look. “You slept with him?” she asked excitedly, then frowned when Hanna started to shake her head. “Believe it or not, we decided to wait,” she told her, torturing herself and Jodi by waiting for her to figure out what she was actually implying. “Wait?” Jodi repeated in confusion. “Why would you wait unless you’re going...” she began, but couldn’t finish, her mouth dropping open, surprised yet again. “To get married?” she queried herself, then nodded, unable to keep it bottled up inside any longer. “He asked me to marry him last night.” Jodi screamed at the top of her lungs and leapt into her friends arms. “This is so incredible! I am so happy for you! Come on in here and tell me everything,” she said, taking her hand to pull her into the living room. “Why don’t you come back here. I’m still packing,” Hanna suggested in return and started for her bedroom. “Packing?” Jodi hurriedly followed. “Where are you going?” “I decided to take Mom up on her offer to go to Mexico. Our flight leaves in a couple of hours.” “Now wait a minute,” she said as she paused in the doorway of her bedroom to watch her carefully fold a pair of slacks. “If you and Lance have made up, then why isn’t he taking you to Mexico?” “Can you really see Lance and me spending the night in the same place without sleeping with each other?” “Why not?” she returned. “You did at the villa.” “But that was different. We felt like there were thirty plus people outside the door listening in. There wasn’t any privacy. That wouldn’t be the case if we went to Mexico together.” “So have you made any plans for the wedding?” she asked eagerly, practically skipping over to her bed to sit down and help fold. “We talked about it a little bit,” Hanna said as she paused, a dreamy look settling over her face. “Neither one of us wants anything elaborate. We thought that we would have just us and the kids, but we haven’t talked with them about it yet. I told Lance that I didn’t want to tell them until I was certain that the door to my past was closed.” She tucked the shirt that she was holding into the suitcase, then took the one that Jodi handed to her. “That’s why I’m going to Mexico with Steve and Mom this weekend because I know that I won’t be able to keep my big mouth shut for very long.” “You know, I just realized that you’re calling Francine Mom,” she commented as she looked up at her friend. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you call her anything but Mother or maybe Frannie when you want to set her off.” Hanna paused again as she smiled at her friend. “That was the one good thing to come out of all this mess. Mom and I had some really good talks and we were able to clear a lot of the air between us. I was able to get to know Steve as well and he’s really great. For the first time, I actually feel like I have a family.” “Aw!” she cooed. “That’s so sweet! I think I’m going to cry.” Hanna laughed at her dramatics as she snatched a pair of shorts from her hands when Jodi pretended to use them to dry her tears. “I’ll tell you, Jodi,” she began, tossing her shorts in without a second thought. “Nothing has ever felt so right. I feel like everything is on track in my life. My family, my job, Lance. Everything is perfect.” “What about Lance’s kids?” she asked. “How do you think they are going to handle the news?” Hanna sighed as she snapped her suitcase shut. “I’ve been wondering about that myself. Carol isn’t really old enough to understand exactly what’s going on. She’ll just think that she has a playmate coming to live with her permanently,” she said with a warm smile for the little girl who she had grown to love. “Willie probably won’t say much either. He was pretty young when his mother died. But Sarah,” she said her name with trepidation. “She could be another story all together. I’ve been trying to work on a friendship with her, but sometimes I think she’s still a bit wary of me. She doesn’t quite know how to deal with me yet.” “Didn’t she ask you to help set up her bedroom when they moved into the villa?” Jodi asked when an old conversation with Hanna came to mind. “Yeah, but moving around a couple pieces of furniture isn’t going to make us best buddies. I think there’s a tiny little window of opportunity with Sarah and I can’t tell if I hit it or missed it.” “I’d take little steps where Sarah’s concerned,” Jodi urged. “Just remember what we were like as teenagers. Our hormones going completely out of control. Peer pressure. Boys.” She shook her head. “I don’t envy you when it comes to getting a ready made family. You know that Greg has a little girl and she was only seven when we got married. She threw a fit every time she saw me,” she confided. “I use to dread her visits.” “But you got past that, right? The two of you get along great now?” she asked, hoping for some reassurance. “It took about two years, but yeah. She finally figured out that I wasn’t the wicked witch of the west.” “You’re not inspiring confidence here,” Hanna remarked. Jodi smiled as she stood with Hanna to help carry her suitcases into the living room. “Like I said, I don’t envy you when it comes to getting a ready-made family. And you’re going to be a permanent fixture in their lives. We only had Greg’s daughter on weekends and a couple weeks in the summer.” “But won’t that help the transition a little more? Me actually living with the kids, I mean. Sarah as well as Carol and Willie will know that I’m not going anywhere.” “I’m not saying that it won’t help, but then you have to consider that you’re going to be raising these kids. That brings on a whole new list of dating, drugs, and who knows what else.” “I’m so glad you dropped by,” Hanna said sarcastically as she sat her suitcase by the front door. “I feel so much better now.” * * * Hanna concentrated on her breathing as she waited with Lance for his children to assemble in the sitting room next to the master bedroom. Gertie was off trying to find them in the huge house and Hanna was growing more anxious by the minute. “It’s going to be okay,” Lance assured her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “The kids love you.” She wasn’t given a chance to respond when all three kids came into the room together and Gertie gave them an encouraging smile as she closed the door behind them. Carol made a beeline for her father’s side and Willie tossed himself into one of the chairs. Sarah followed at a more leisurely pace and dropped down in a chair next to her brother. “So what’s going on?” Sarah asked, giving her father and Hanna a curious look. “We’ve got some good news for you,” Lance began, giving all three of his children a glance. “Hanna and I have been talking and we’ve decided that we’re going to get married.” Absolute silence. Hanna and Lance exchanged a look when they saw Sarah and Willie do the same, then Carol finally spoke. “What does that mean?” “It means that Dad finally found a replacement for Mom,” Sarah said sarcastically, then stood from her chair and started back out of the room. “Sarah!” Lance called to his daughter in a stern tone and she stopped in her tracks. “Will you sit down please?” he ordered rather than asked. Their eyes locked in silent combat while she hesitated, then she slowly started back to her seat. When he was sure that Sarah wasn’t going to bolt, he looked back down at Carol. “When Hanna and I get married, it means that she will be living here.” “All the time?” Carol asked, casting an uncertain glance at her sister, then her father. She couldn’t understand why that would make Sarah angry. “Yes Princess. All the time.” Carol gave him a smile, then lost it just as quickly when her eyes darted over at her sister. She was glad that Hanna would be living with them, but she was afraid that Sarah would yell at her again if she said so. “I’m not trying to replace your mother, Sarah,” Hanna said in sympathy. “In fact, I’ve asked your father to make sure that each one of you have a picture of your mom in your room.” “You did?” Willie asked, a bit confused. Lance gave his son a smile. “Just because I’m marrying Hanna doesn’t mean that I didn’t love your mom,” he said, hoping that he was relieving the hidden fears that he had been anticipating. “I don’t want to forget her either.” “Your dad has a scrapbook with your mom that I’d like to go through some time,” Hanna added. “Maybe we can look at it together and you can tell me about her.” Willie gave a shrug. “I don’t remember much,” he admitted. “Then I’ll remind you,” Lance assured him. “I’m not calling you Mom,” Sarah interrupted venomously. Hanna stiffened slightly, but she fixed a calm look on her face. “That’s okay,” she said softly. “I don’t expect you to. I don’t want to take anything away from your mother. From what your dad tells me, she was a wonderful person and I’m not about to try to compete with that.” “So I guess it doesn’t matter what I say. You’re going to get married anyway so why are we even here?” Sarah asked her father. “Because we’re a family and we always talk about things that’s going to affect all of us,” Lance returned. “Yes, the decision too marry was strictly between Hanna and myself, but it still affects the family. We’re going to be living together and I’d rather have conversations than arguments.” “We really want you to be okay with this,” Hanna said. “We want all of you to be in the wedding, but we won’t force you if you’re uncomfortable with it.” Sarah shifted in her seat slightly. She liked Hanna, but she felt like she was being disloyal to her mom. “Do I have to wear one of those stupid dresses?” she asked with distaste. “We’ll go shopping and you can pick out one that you like,” Hanna assured her. “As long as it doesn’t have spikes or cones,” Lance stipulated as he pointed a finger at his daughter. Sarah couldn’t stop the smile from inching up on her face. She knew that her dad was only teasing her, but the thought had crossed her mind. “We’ll have to find something fit for a princess for this one,” he said as he gave his youngest daughter a hug. “Can I get a crown and everything?” Carol asked excitedly. “I don’t see why not,” he returned. “If you’re going to be a princess, you might as well look like one.” * * * Two weeks later, Hanna and Lance were standing in front of a minister exchanging their vows. The only other people present were the children and a photographer. Sarah stood in as the maid-of-honor, Willie was the best man and Carol carried the rings. The ceremony itself was brief, but then they spent a considerable amount of time having family pictures made. Willie was dapper in his western-cut tuxedo complete with cowboy boots and Carol was ideal little princess in layers of lace and satin with a tiara crowning her head. Sarah had chosen a sleek, strapless dress in form-fitting blue, much to her father’s chagrin, which she intended on wearing to a party later that month. And the bride and groom were donned completely in white, Hanna in a seed-pearl studded cocktail dress and Lance in a Spanish style tuxedo. Once they were finished having pictures taken, everyone left the tiny church in a limousine that Lance had rented to go back to the villa. Lance and Hanna had decided to spend their wedding night at the villa, then they were going off for their honeymoon to Jamaica. That was how they had planned their wedding day. Just the family. But they soon discovered that it wasn’t going to be the quiet little affair that they had thought when they pulled up outside their home to see dozens of cars parked next to the house. “What’s going on?” Hanna asked, then cast a glance over at her new husband. “I have no idea,” Lance returned, stepping out of the limousine and taking her hand to help her out. The children leapt out on the other side, Willie and Carol running into the villa ahead of them. Lance and Hanna hesitated a moment when no one met them in the foyer, then Willie opened the doors to the courtyard and they saw their friends and family standing just inside. As the newlyweds approached, applause began to ripple through the crowd with people standing from the dozens of tables to welcome them. Once they stepped inside, Hanna and Lance turned their gaze up to the many balconies surrounding the courtyard to see even more friends reaching out to shake the bougainvillea so that they were showered in pedals. Hanna dipped her head quickly when tears sprang to her eyes, but then Lance cupped her cheek, brushing away her tears with his thumb as he stared down at her. “Welcome home,” he said softly, then gave her a long, loving kiss. The End |