Chapter 26

Andi and Lucy were sipping mimosa from champagne flutes while Sandy and Madeline were sipping Sunny D from Paw Patrol sippy cups at one of the nicest wedding shops in Orchard Park. “I don’t think she’s getting it,” said Andi, as she looked at herself in a series of mirrors. She was a vision of white lace and satin.

“Looks nice to me.” said Lucy, signaling for more finger sandwiches.

“What part of “I don’t want to wear white” do you think they’re missing?

“You can wear any color you want, and white is a combination of all colors. At least on the spectrum it is.”

“It is not, it’s a lack of colors, and I can’t wear white,” Andi pointed to Sandy and Madeline, who were making quick work of the finger sandwiches. “The secret’s out.”

“Oh stop, that’s an ancient trope and you look beautiful.”

“I look like a snowdrift. And besides, all of these dresses have to be made, altered, fitted, refitted, and re-altered. With a week and a half left I need to buy off the rack. But you did give me an idea,” she gestured for more finger sandwiches and mimosa. When more snacks arrived, Andi asked the salesgirl, “Do you have a white shawl?”

“Shawl?” the salesgirl was a bit confused until Andi explained what she was now planning. The salesgirl just grinned. “Hold on to your eyeballs, because we’re going to knock them out!” and in a matter of moments she wheeled a rack of shawls, capes, and cloaks for Andi to inspect.

After they finished the drinks and sandwiches, they strolled out to Lucy’s car with a box containing a white satin cape bespeckled with hundreds of rhinestones. Then they went to an upscale apparel store and found a dress that was exactly what Andi was looking to wear in her wedding, and two matching dresses for her tiny bridesmaids. Then they argued over what color of a dress Lucy should wear. Andi insisted on red or green to match the season and Lucy said that she refuses to wear a dress. Lucy has always been a ‘tomboy’ and her femininity has always been rough and ready, playing sports and preferring to beat the boys at their own games. She tried to get Andi more interested in women’s sports, but Andi decided she played all the softball she wanted in her youth. The only outdoor sport she still played was archery.

Andi loved her compound bow, and she’s quite good at shooting. She got addicted to archery when Lucy took her to an athletic meet, and archery was part of the games. Andi was immediately hooked and now that she has a place to shoot, her bow was back in her condo in Denver. Sometimes life just isn’t fair.

In the end, Andi and Lucy compromised. Lucy agreed to wear “sort of” a dress, and her idea gave Andi a plan for what she wanted Paul and his best man to wear. Lucy doesn’t mind wearing skirts. She finds them comfortable. But what Andi had selected for herself and Macy didn’t fit Lucy’s body image.

When they finally got home, they found another car in the driveway and they couldn’t get into the garage. Andi parked near the back door and they carried their bags, boxes, and treasures into “Madeline’s House” where they found Paul, John and Macy waiting in the kitchen. It was a scene of the holidays that Andi always wanted. Paul decorated the kitchen with holly garlands and candles in every window. The table in the breakfast nook had a Christmas tablecloth and a beautiful holiday centerpiece with evergreen boughs, ornaments, and candles. In the background, soft jazz Christmas music played. Paul, John and Macy were sipping egg nog and laughing over tales of Christmases long gone by.

After giving Andi a kiss and each giggling twin a hoist in the air and a kiss, Paul did the introductions. “Lucy, this is my brother John, pastor at the Springville Congregational Church, and this raving beauty sitting next to him is his professor, the Reverend Marie-Claude Solange Dagenais-Jarecki, did I get the faux Quebecois accent right this time Macy?”

“Spoken like a true east side Buffalo pollock,” she said with an amazing east side Buffalo accent as she rose and gave him a faux slap in the head. Relaxing to her normal, beautiful Quebecois accent, she introduced herself. “I am the former Reverend Marie-Claude Solange Dagenais, now I am just Macy Jarecki, sister-in-law to this galoot. Did I say that right dear husband?”

“It’s pronounced jamoke dear, as in Hi, eyeyam John, dis here jamoke’s kid brudder,” as he shook hands with Lucy.

Lucy, for her part, was surprised that she was being accepted with such warmth. Didn’t they know she was here to protect Andi? And to do that, she would probably have to stop this wedding.

After introductions the adults retired to the formal dining room, while the twins retired to the breakfast nook with their Happy Meals, crayons, and their Barbie Wedding coloring books that Macy had discovered and believed would help the twins understand what was going on with their momma and poppa. The formal dining room was awash in holly garland, pine boughs, red ribbons, and candlelight. A fire burned in the dining room fireplace and a small nativity scene was centered on the mantel. The doorway to the parlor framed the beautiful blue spruce, which stood guard over the front window.

After a prayer of grace, the adults tucked into a treat that Andi had never heard of - stuffed pork chops. They were served with roast fingerling potatoes and white asparagus. By earlier agreement, John, Paul, and Macy (mostly Macy) kept the conversation light during dinner; they spoke of the weather, and the local characters that make Springville such an interesting town to live in, but also they spoke of the Buffalo Bills and their hopes for a Super Bowl season next year. This is a conversation that has been held around dinner tables in Western New York since 1969.

Finally, after dessert, when coffee was served, it came time to talk about the herd of blue elephants in the room: Melony and Frank. “Look, ask my counselor, Melony has been out of my life for over 10 years, I’m good now,” insisted Paul. “Her ghost isn’t going to screw up this relationship.”

“What about Jacquette?” asked Paul’s counselor, Macy.

Paul bristled when Macy brought up her name. “Jacqui and I are friends, that’s all it ever was. We were drinking buddies who played a lot of racquet ball together. I was lonely and tried to fill my life with someone I could talk to.” When Andi shot him a questioning look, he blurted out, “I mentioned her to you, I’m going to North Dakota to see her take command of the missile wing. Besides, if it weren’t for her there would be no Wonka. I got him just because he understood me better than she could.”

“Macy’s just hacking on you Paul,” said John as he patted Lucy on the shoulder. “Jacqui is a good friend and helped him through some tough times, and she taught Paul some really awesome Mexican dishes.”

Paul turned to Andi. “It wasn’t a sexual relationship either.”

At first Andi was relieved to hear that, but then the thought of a woman turning down Paul’s advances ... there had to be something wrong with a woman that didn’t what to have sex with someone as wonderful as her fiancé. “Why not?” she asked.

“We were both recovering from heartbreak,” Paul said with a shrug. “Her husband left her the minute he saw what North Dakota was like and I was still torn up over Melony’s death. We could never figure it out.”

Andi gave him a withering look, then raised her left hand, made a loose fist, then with her right hand extended her index finger and shoved it into the fist of her left hand. “Oh sure, NOW someone tells me,” groaned Paul, to the laughter around the table. He continued, “I’ve been completely relationship free for over five years now, I should have all the toxins out of my system.”

“And what about you?” John asked Andi. They really hadn’t started pre-marriage counseling sessions yet, so he was interested in how she felt about her ex.

“I’ve been over Frank since the day after we got married,” she groaned. “I feel like I was railroaded into marrying this guy by my mother, and he turned out to be a real zero. It’s a pleasant night and I don’t want to ruin it by talking about him, sorry, but that’s how it is.”

While Paul whispered in Andi’s ear words of encouragement, Lucy said to John and Macy, “Look, she started counseling with a shrink at Colorado University Hospital within a week of him leaving her, he was a real piece of garbage.”

“Any problem with us having access to your records from CUH?” Macy asked Andi. “That way, during counseling, we won’t have to drag out painful memories.”

“No,” said Andi, “not you.” She looked at Macy with a sorrowful look. “You’re already in Paul’s head and have been for a decade. I think adding my foibles and problems is a bit much.” She turned and pointed at John. “You can have access to my records, and you may confer with Paul’s counselor and discuss findings, but you can have exclusive and sole access to my records.”

John took a small, well-worn, spiral-bound notebook out of his pocket, found a blank page, and started making notes. “So it is written, so it shall be done.”

“I was thinking that it may bring us closer as sisters...” Macy started, but she was interrupted.

“Wait a minute!” said Lucy, a bit more forcefully than she had expected. “Andi babe think this through. Do you want your psychology notes handed over to a ... a...”?

“A country bumpkin circuit preacher?” John asked. “A concerned busybody?”

“I ... er ... what?” Lucy didn’t know why, but she suddenly realized that her anger was making her irrational. She took a deep breath and blurted out, “No, but they’re not going to turn over her records to just anyone.”

Rather than argue that point, John took a different tack. “Look, Lucy, we completely understand that you are trying to protect Andi, but so are we. We want to help, and we are going to need your help to do it.”

John and Macy tried to convince Lucy not to worry about her longtime friend. “But can you protect her against that scum Frank Rosetti?” demanded Lucy angrily.

“I can,” said Paul confidently, “and I will.”

“And how is that?”

“Andi ruled out using a rifle, it’s a shame, because I’m a really good shot...”

“He really is,” added Macy.

“ ... so I’m changing tactics. I’ve been looking into this guy’s goings on, digging up some pretty damning dirt on this scumbag, I’ve been digging since Andi slipped and mentioned his last name and I’ve got more than enough to work with. But give me a couple more days to investigate this guy further so I can build a better mousetrap. I’ll let you know my plan by Thursday.” Andi gave Paul a sideways look. She clearly did not want Paul getting involved with Frank at all. Lucy was clearly not happy with Paul at all, but Paul said, “Wait until Thursday when I tell you.”

“Ok, enough of this, let’s take a break and talk about everyone’s favorite topic,” said John.

Macy nudged John and pointed to the twins, who had quietly joined them and were lying next to Wonka in front of the fire, coloring their Barbie Dream Weddings. For some reason, both of them were coloring Barbie’s dress red. “We should talk about Christmas instead,” she said.

Chuckling, John got the conversation back on track by skillfully maneuvering talk back to Christmas past. “Paul, you start.”

Paul looked at his brother incredulously. “What? Christmas in Buffalo or Christmas in our house?”

“Why not both?” said Macy with a grin that showed she enjoyed stirring up trouble.

“Ok, Christmas in Buffalo; open presents as you open beers, shovel the driveway, drink some more, nod out in front of the TV. Did I about cover it?”

“Yeah, that about covers the highlights, don’t forget about the bitching and whining that all the bars are closed,” said John, trying not to laugh.

“Yeah, I forgot that part. I think that’s the Buffalo version of caroling. Ok, for those of you that don’t know, Christmas in a Polish home is heavily influenced by the Greek Orthodox church. If you look in my mom’s living room there is what appears to be a Russian cathedral, it’s actually a szopka, a nativity scene. Poles all over Western New York make, sell, purchase, and display the szopkas, as many as possible. For us it’s what we love, so it’s what we do.

“Boże nar or formally Boże Narodzenie is the Polish word for Christmas, it translates to Birth of God. Lots of people have an advent calendar, the American version starts on Black Friday, the more popular one starts on December first. The Polish advent calendar actually starts on December sixth, the Feast of St. Nicholas, and for us Poles, that’s when the Christmas season starts. Children get a present from St. Nicholas on that day, but he doesn’t actually play a major part on Christmas day. A major part of the Polish tradition is gingerbread, not the rock-hard stuff you make cookies and houses out of either. That coffee cake you’re eating is piernik, the traditional Polish gingerbread.”

He took a breath and continued. “Polish Christmas trees are very similar to American Christmas trees, in fact glass ornaments are actually a Polish tradition. The difference is that in Polish families, the lights on the Christmas Tree are not turned on until Christmas Eve evening, just before Wigilia, the traditional Christmas Eve meal. It’s a meatless meal but there is a lot of fish in the meal. After dinner the gifts are handed out, and then there is Pasterka the “shepherds’ mass” at midnight.”

“What do you do on Christmas Day?” asked Lucy.