Lean on Me
Copyright© 2025 by Danny January
Chapter 10
Romance Sex Story: Chapter 10 - The continuing chronicles of Jack Pierce. Autumn of 1982. The chronicles, in order are: 1. Feasting with a Silver Spoon 2. Summertime and the Livin' is Easy 3. Something Fishy Going On 4. Centerfield 5. Tourist Season 6. Lean on Me They are progressive and not meant to be stand-alone stories.
Caution: This Romance Sex Story contains strong sexual content, including mt/ft Consensual Heterosexual Fiction
Mom and Dane’s wedding present to them was a four-piece band for the wedding. I said I’d pay for the photographer before I found out how much a photographer costs. Holy cow. It was expensive, but I didn’t mind too much.
The canopies, potted plants, lights, decorations, tables, and band were all in place, and everything looked good. Almost everything looked good. A line of thunderstorms loomed on the southern horizon. We couldn’t see them from the backyard yet, but the view from the street was ominous.
Guests had been showing up since just after ten, but Birch surprised me when he arrived. He was the surprise guest. We talked for a few minutes before things got underway. He had flown back specifically to attend the wedding and would be leaving early the next morning.
The wedding began right at eleven. Everyone knew that the weather could interrupt the festivities, and we didn’t waste time. Vince and Mr. Delinger looked good. Mr. Delinger used an Irish walking stick called a shillelagh to help him keep his balance, and he did a great job of hiding both the stick and his unsteadiness.
Vince and Lani both said their vows from memory, and they were very different. Later, Vince told me they had written their own. I guess I knew what I’d be working on in my spare time. The pastor was about to pronounce them man and wife when we heard thunder. Everything stopped for a second, and Lani gave the sky an evil eye. The thunder stopped.
“You don’t want to be on the receiving end of that, Son,” Mr. Delinger said, and we all laughed. Lani wasn’t amused, but we didn’t hear thunder anymore. When the pastor gave Vince permission to kiss the bride, he dipped her, kissed her, and lifted her back up with Lani fanning herself.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I present Mr. and Mrs. Vince Delinger.” We applauded. I kissed Kim and she squeezed me. Vince announced that we would forgo the traditional walk down the aisle so they could take a few pictures, undoubtedly trying to keep things moving for the sake of his very happy father.
I hadn’t even noticed the photographer. That seemed like a good thing. She moved up front, moved people, posed people, and snapped picture after picture. When she changed film, she was lightning fast. Katie from Marion’s Bridal told me she was the best. She was definitely a professional.
Dane and I started moving chairs from the wedding canopy to the other canopy, around the tables. The wedding canopy would become the dancing canopy, I assumed. I watched the caterers bring food through the gate, quickly setting up for lunch. It was almost as if they had done this before. Mom directed them, and they set up and were ready to serve in no time.
We had our choice between prime rib or Lowcountry Boil. You couldn’t miss. “I don’t know how many weddings we’re going to see between now and when we get married,” I said.
“You’re watching all the background people work, aren’t you?”
“Efficient, fast, nondescript. Nothing they do gets in the way, and everything is focused on the bride. Do you see how the chief caterer, photographer, and Mom seem to take their cues from what Lani is doing?”
“No pressure, right?” Kim said, with a bit of sarcasm.
“With Katie’s help, I don’t think there will be much pressure. I’m going to book Lowndes Grove and put a deposit down.”
She took a deep breath. “Really going to happen, isn’t it?”
“I kind of thought twenty acres, and an LLC with our names on it sort of firmed that up,” I said.
“Yeah, but, well, booking the venue is different.”
“Do you want me to wait?” I asked, not sure what she was thinking, which was kind of rare.
“No. No. I love Lowndes Grove. It’s perfect. I guess it’s just, I don’t know. I guess we have to start locking things in, don’t we?”
“Mom and Dane planned theirs in less than a month.”
“I know, but I want it to be perfect. I want it to be like our marriage, you know?”
“I do. I’ll book Lowndes Grove.”
“Yes. I like that. I like that you want to talk about everything. Sometimes, you just need to decide.”
“I can do that. Do you like this band?”
“Let me think about that.”
Once lunch was clearing, and Vince and Lani had danced a couple of songs, I watched Kim approach the singer and talk to him for a minute. Later, I noticed them play “Coat of Many Colors, If I Could Only Win Your Love, and Queen of the Silver Dollar. I guessed they had just gone up a few rungs on Kim’s list.
Vince and Lani had made the rounds, thanking everyone for coming. We’d been dancing for a half hour or more when the singer announced it was time for the dollar dance. I’d never heard of a dollar dance before. Lani had put on a little apron with big pockets. If you wanted to dance with Lani, you put money in her pocket. It was supposed to pay for their honeymoon. There was a line. Who wouldn’t want to dance with Lani? I don’t remember what the song was, but the band kept stretching it out, and people were getting in line a second time.
I paid and danced with Lani. Then I got a crazy idea. I pulled a twenty out of my wallet, stuffed it in Vince’s pocket, and we started dancing. I led. It was hilarious, and Vince hammed it up. A line of women formed to dance with Vince. His dad was laughing and having a great time. That was the bottom line, I thought. Everyone was having a great time.
As the party wound down, I told Kim, “Everyone is having a good time. I want everyone to have a good time at our wedding. I want us to have a good time. I want the caterers and photographers, and everyone involved, to remember what fun it was to be at our wedding. I want lifetime memories and an album to commemorate that.”
“That sounds like a pretty good goal.”
“Plus, I want Vince to pay twenty dollars to dance with me,” I added, and Kim laughed.
“You’re such a dufus. A bunch of people paid to dance with him. I did.”
“Of course you did, but you can dance with me for free.” I got a kiss for that, and we danced.
The storm completely missed us. We heard it once more, as it was moving to the north, but that was it. Lani’s evil eye was sufficient. Vince and Lani liked chocolate as much as I do, and the cake was Black Forest Cherry Cake. It was amazing. I noticed Mr. Delinger’s absence for about an hour, but he came back in time for them to leave.
The photographer had us line either side of the front steps, and we prepared to give them a traditional rice send-off. I hadn’t seen the car before. Lori and Peter were standing next to us. Lori said their parents got it for them as a wedding present. It was a new, tomato red, 1982 Volvo sedan that looked every bit as aerodynamic as his older green Volvo. Vince held the door for Lani, helped her get her wedding gown inside, then climbed in to drive away.
With a clattering of tin cans, trailing behind, they took off for parts unknown. Mom and Mrs. Delinger, and Mrs. Newsome hugged each other and took a collective sigh. Everyone congratulated them, and they all said they’d had plenty of help. I made my way to the back to see the band already packed up, the caterers leaving, and two guys from the rental place loading chairs onto a cart.
“These three canopies are yours, right?” one of them asked.
“These canopies, everything under or on them, and that table are all ours. The rest is yours.”
That’s all he needed to know. Vince and Lani were married and gone. The Newsomes had collected all the wedding presents that would fit in their car. Mom tried to give away some food. Kim snagged the cake ornament, the guest book, a dozen announcements, and a few other odds and ends she thought they might want as keepsakes.
Mom managed to give away a lot of food. I told her I’d be glad to store the cake in a safe place.
“I know all about that safe place, Buddy,” she said and thumped my stomach.
“No place safer than that. I know kung fu.”
“Yeah. You’d be kung fat if you ate all that.”
“I’m willing to risk it.”
“I’ll make sure a large slice stays here.”
We helped clean up a bit before Mom thanked Kim and me and kicked us out of the kitchen. We joined Lori and Peter on the back patio.
“Lessons learned?” Kim asked. I knew she directed that toward me, but Lori was interested. Peter was not, or at least he didn’t look like he was.
“We need a music list,” I said, thinking things through. “Music list, guest list, and menu are the big things that come to mind.”
“The music list will be easy,” she said.
“Not everyone loves Emmylou the way you do. Eclectic sounds good. We should have everything from Emmylou to The Rolling Stones to Glen Miller.” Lori’s eyes got wide.
“Who’s going to play all of that?”
“This band played some Emmylou and a little swing. We could have some canned, you know, to let the band take a break.”
Peter was uncomfortable, but Lori was taking it all in. Peter and Lori had just started dating, so it wasn’t really fair, but he’d have to be involved in all this one day, whether it was with Lori or someone else.
“You already have your venue picked out?” Lori asked.
“Lowndes Grove,” Kim said, sort of rolling it around in her mouth. The way she said it gave me confidence to put a down payment on our date.
“I don’t know where that is.”
“It’s sort of behind the McAlister Field House. You know where Hampton Park is, right? It’s on the water,” I said.
“It’s perfect,” Kim said. “It’s a beautifully restored estate, right on the Ashley. There are wonderful live oaks, a huge area for dancing, and the photo opportunities are amazing. We went to a couple of other places, but Lowndes Grove is just special.”
“Expensive?”
“I was thinking I might buy it,” I said, laughing. “Honestly, I don’t even know.” I knew I was going to get a bunch of money on my eighteenth birthday, but I’d probably have to pay for a bunch of stuff in advance. This sounded like a conversation I needed to have with Mom. I didn’t think she’d worry about it.
“You know, the cost of the wedding is usually paid for by the bride’s family,” Kim said.
“I didn’t know that. Does it matter?” I asked.
“Not to me. It might matter to Mom and Dad,” Kim said, then laughed. “Too bad. Lowndes Grove it is. Ha-ha.”
I motioned to Kim, then grabbed Peter, asking him to help me move one of the tables. The table didn’t need to be moved.
“Relax, Peter. You two just started dating. Weddings are a big deal, even to little girls.”
“Lori’s sister just got married. You and Kim are going to get married. It just seems like, I don’t know.”
“Right. I get it. My mom just got married. She divorced my father because he was an asshole. Her second husband worked himself to death. She just married Dane. He’s like forty or something, and this is his first. It’s not like there’s a formula or something.”
“Thanks. I’m seventeen. I’m not ready to get married.”
“I think that’s normal.”
“But you’re ready. You’re not normal.”
“Thank you,” I said, and he laughed. Good.
We rejoined the girls, who were busy talking and laughing. Lori finished a story, then Kim looked at me and asked if I had plans for Sunday. Nope.
“Let’s trailer the horses up to Beidler National Forest and go for a long ride.”
“That actually sounds really good,” I said.
“You like your endurance saddle okay? Just because it came with the horse doesn’t mean you’re stuck with it.”
“I like it. It’s comfortable. I like it better than the western saddle or trail saddle I used with Ghost or Scout. I’m trying to think if I’ve used it for a really long ride, but I don’t think so.”
“I don’t want to go horseback riding tomorrow. Do you?” Lori asked Peter.
“I don’t even know how.”
“Probably good that we’re not going riding, then,” she said, keeping a very straight face.
It wasn’t that late, but everyone was tired. I took Kim home, but we took the long way. The very long way. We went to the marina, then walked out to her parents’ boat, Inherit the Wind. We hadn’t been on it in a while. We lay together in the cabin, just holding each other for quite a while before things escalated. The fresh air, gentle rocking, and quiet sounds of the harbor somehow made making love even better. I felt like we really appreciated each other and what we had together. Sex is good. Making love is even better, and that’s what we did.
We started early the next morning. Diva and Maveric had shared this trailer before, and they seemed comfortable and at ease in it. We elected to go to Francis Marion National Forest instead of Beidler National Forest. It was a little farther away, but Kim said the trails were better and it would probably stay cooler a little longer since it was closer to the coast.
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