Chapter 10

It was a first for Mark to be flying in a helicopter to visit Paige’s parents at their cottage. He would later say that he enjoyed doing it since it was very exciting to have an above view of the area rather than one that was at ground level.

In approaching a good-size lake, Paige said that is where her parents had their cottage and asked the pilot to do a slow circle around the lake before landing. Doing this circling she pointed out some of the homes that were there along with the good size church youth camp at the northern end of the lake.

The helicopter landed on the lawn in front of the Turner’s cottage. Looking at this cottage Mark thought there was a difference in what he thought a cottage was and what the Turners thought a cottage was. Their so-called cottage was a two-story and probably a five thousand square foot home. The home was designed with many windows which provided a scenic view of the lake and the surrounding picturesque area from inside this cottage.

The Turners came immediately out and cordially greeted them. Ron thanked Mark for coming. Charlene in noticing the ring on Paige’s finger shrieked and hugged her. It took Ron a minute or so to realize what was going on before he did his hugging and shaking of hands.

They sat on the patio having some drinks and eating a variety of appetizers that were placed on the table there. Ron talked about buying this property which was originally a fishing resort. He told how the main lodge was leveled and this cottage was built. The five fishing cabins there he had them all refurbished along with constructing a tennis court. Ron said he purchased two homes by the lake that were listed for sale and they along with the cabins are used to reward employees of the corporation who in some way have distinguished themselves either at work or with their involvement in the community.

Ron and Charlene both said they had read Mark’s first novel which they liked. They were halfway through reading his second novel. They were interested in how Mark became an author. He told them how he started but he intentionally failed to mention that his initial stories were highly erotic.

It turned out to be a nice weekend for Mark in meeting the Turners and announcing the engagement. He wasn’t overly enthused initially to make this visit with Paige but now he was glad that he had done this.

The following weekend visit with Mark’s parents went pretty much also the same lines with Paige now doing the meeting of his parents. Flying down in the Gulfstream jet and landing at the airport that was near Del Mar was another first for Mark.

Mark’s parents’ lovingly greeted Paige and welcomed her to the family. When they found out what she did, they couldn’t get over her being the CEO of that sandwich chain with its many locations. They told her they frequently go there and love the sandwiches. They said their favorite sandwich now is the fried fish sandwich with their signature BBQ sauce. Paige told them how that sandwich came about.

The two days they spent with Mark’s parents were a combination of them driving around the area to see the sites that were there, relating stories about Mark growing up, and asking Paige about her life.

Flying back at the end of the weekend, Paige said she enjoyed meeting his parents and that she saw a lot of them in Mark. She also said she was caught a little off guard by their remark about them enjoying the fish sandwich. She said she now needed to turn her attention to planning the wedding.

As it turned out Paige was a good wedding planner. The wedding occurred two months later and was held at her parent’s so-called cottage. It was a small wedding limited to parents, relatives, and a few close friends. The marriage ceremony was conducted in the chapel at the church youth camp. The corporate jet picked up Mark’s sister and her family in Houston and made a stop to pick up Mark’s parents before flying to the airport nearest the cottage. There were sufficient accommodations for all the guests to stay overnight.

Marty was the best man and Laurie Sinclair, a school friend of Paige was the maid of honor.

An evening wedding reception was a catered affair and held at the lighted tennis court which had tables with white table cloths and chairs placed there. Candelabras were placed on the tables along with a centerpiece of flowers. A four-piece band provided the music. Paige and Mark did the traditional first dance. When the band played some fast tempo songs which they did frequently, Marty was up and dancing. Not only was it Paige, Laurie, and Mark’s sister who wanted to dance with Marty but so did Charlene and she was a pretty good dancer.

Where to go on a honeymoon was a subject of discussion. There were several places or options discussed as ocean cruises, river cruises along with cities and countries they could visit. They couldn’t decide on where to go so they put all of these ideas which totaled twenty-eight into a jar and picked one out. They said they would pick one a year for vacation until they were all picked. The first one that they picked out was the same fourteen-day cruise to Hawaii and back that Emily had done.