Chapter 35

Sunday, July 2, 2000

None of the four from Bradford had previously met John's sister, Cheryl, or her husband Chad. Well, although she had no clear memory of it, at the Woodstock prom years before Vicky had met Paul, who would eventually become Cheryl.

But they knew the story, now. There had been several things in the closet back at that prom. Eve, then still Denis on a part-time basis, had no idea Paul was a transsexual, too; for that matter, neither did John in those days. Though Paul had made his decision before Eve, it was much longer taking place. Only after Eve and Cheryl rediscovered each other in grad school did the truth come out, and had led, in time, to John and Eve rediscovering each other.

Even knowing the truth, much like Eve it was hard to look at the short, slender, mildly shaped brunette and think of her as the boy she had once been; all of the Bradfordites agreed they wouldn't have guessed had they not known. Cheryl was mild-mannered, polite, and perhaps a touch on the shy side -- but nothing like the severe introvert both John and Eve said his former brother had once been. Chad was tall and lean, with a pockmarked face that bore the ravages of a long battle with acne. Both were quite intelligent, bearing doctorates in mathematics as proof of it. They both worked at a place down in Maryland they refused to identify, doing things they refused to talk about. With a few other hints, that left Jason with the impression (perhaps derived from too much reading of Tom Clancy) that their jobs involved rape, pillage, and plunder of other country's codes and ciphers. The two of them were quite a close couple who obviously needed little talking to understand each other. The two had been introduced by John and Eve shortly after Cheryl's surgery, and both said it was the closest thing to love at first sight either of them had ever seen; they had just grown closer since.

But all four of them remembered Bill and Arlene Riley well. Bill had been the General Hardware Retailers plant manager for several years back in the eighties. As far as Jason was concerned Bill had been the best of a bunch of very good ones, although his memory carried with it the notation that Bill could be a real hardcase if he was crossed. Retired now from General, Bill was thickening up a little and getting gray, but, like his tall, solid, equally graying, tomboyish wife Arlene, was obviously a doting grandparent to Sergei and Milla. The kids spent a lot of time on their laps as the larger group gathered around the lawn chairs near the pool.

A little to Jason's surprise, Bill was only mildly interested in the gossip of what had happened around General in the years since he had been gone. Jason was able to bring him up to date on a few people, but for the most part General and Bradford were things he'd left behind him. The Rileys were enjoying a well-deserved retirement, splitting their time between a nice winter home in Florida and a summer home in Bucks County, within easy reach of the majority of their grandchildren -- and close enough to John and Eve that a lot of Sergei and Milla's babysitting fell happily on their shoulders.

Much of the discussion, not surprisingly, was about the decision Jason and Vicky had announced to the group the previous afternoon. "Doesn't surprise me," Emily had grinned at the announcement. "I've been expecting something like that for the last year or more."

"I think a lot of people have," Vicky shook her head, "But I think I can say Jason and I really weren't among them."

"I don't understand how you could think that," Emily smiled. "The two of you are about as close to a married couple without being married as anyone I've ever seen."

Since the McClellans only had a limited amount of space in the house, the four from Bradford had pitched their tents in the back yard -- with Emily and Kevin pitching theirs at a discreet distance away to allow Jason and Vicky a little well-used privacy. In addition to some attention to some private moments made even more intimate by the events of the afternoon, there had been some discussions taking place, and now, with the group present, some of the conclusions were announced.

"There's no telling when the wedding is going to be," Vicky told them. "Other than we want it to be fairly soon. Duane's schedule is probably going to drive that."

"I won't be able to talk to him till the middle of the month," Jason explained. "They don't have phones down on the river, so there's no way to contact him. All I'll be able to do is leave a message at their office to call home when he can. Then, I'm not sure if he'll be able to get home before his season is over with."

"So, is this going to be a real big, formal wedding?" Emily smirked.

"No, nothing big at all," Vicky said. "After all, we've both been married before. What we're thinking is that if we can get Duane home before the weather turns rotten, we may just do it in the back yard. If we have to wait until his season ends, then it might as well be in the living room. Just a handful of friends, although John, Eve, and Shae, if you could make it you'd be welcome."

"I can't say for sure, of course," Eve nodded. "A lot depends on my seminar and conference schedule. But if it works out that I'm free, I'd like to be there. So, delightfully informal, I take it?"

"Oh, yes," Vicky smiled. "We'll probably do a few things to make it extra special. Like I said, nothing formal. We probably wouldn't even bother with a matron of honor and best man except that I think Duane deserves to be part of the affair."

"So who do you want to be the matron of honor?" Emily grinned.

"This is just a touch on the awkward side," Vicky replied sheepishly. "Realistically, it comes down to you and Alissa, and while I don't get along with Alissa as well as I might, there's a family connection I can't overlook."

"Been there, done that," Eve nodded. "When John and I got married, I didn't want to offend either Shae or Cheryl, so I wound up asking my sister to do it. She'd been just a little distant, so it helped bring us back together a little."

"That's sort of my thinking," Vicky smiled. "I mean, Alissa is my sister, after all. Besides, Ems, there's something else I'd like to ask you to do."

"You're saying you don't want me as matron of honor?" she replied, a touch disappointed but curious about what Vicky was concealing behind her feline "I've got a secret" grin.

"No," Vicky said, her grin broadening. "Now what you have to understand is neither Jason nor I are church people, so wouldn't it be just a bit hypocritical to ask, oh, Reverend Swift to perform the service? Like I said, this is just going to be a quiet civil ceremony with a few friends, so we thought it appropriate if we were to ask the mayor to do the service."

"Oh, my God!!" Emily laughed. "I never thought that would happen."

"The mayor?" Bill smiled.

"You might not be aware of it," Jason laughed, "But this grizzled Harley-riding biker babe is now the mayor of Bradford."

"I guess things have changed since we were there," he laughed. "Emily, I hadn't heard that, but remembering what I do about you, I have to say that it doesn't surprise me very much."

"It's been years since a Bradford mayor has performed a wedding," Emily beamed. "Mike told me once he'd never had to do it in a dozen years as mayor. I'm not even sure what's involved. I'll have to go over the charter, maybe even have a talk with Marci."

"But you'll do it?" Vicky grinned.

"I wouldn't do it for just anyone," Emily laughed. "But you're my best friend, so of course I will. So, since this is supposed to be a biker wedding, does that mean that the bride, groom, and mayor are supposed to be in leathers?"

"You could if you want," Vicky grinned. "We haven't worked out the details yet, but I'll tell you this much -- no white gown for me. I'm hardly the virgin bride, after all, so as long as we're doing it we might as well be a little unusual and have some fun with it."

"Somehow I think I want to be there, no matter how the schedule works out," Eve laughed. "Something tells me that this is going to be one to remember."

{c}• • •

As Vicky had said, Duane's availability proved to be a controlling factor driving the date of the wedding, but there happened to be others. As it turned out, Dayna and Sandy weren't doing a renaissance faire on Labor Day weekend, but on Labor Day itself they had a gig as the main performers at a big holiday festival not far away, making them available on Saturday. When it proved that Labor Day weekend was also free for Eve, it turned into a done deal.

There were some hitches. It turned out that part of the reason that a Bradford mayor hadn't done a wedding for over a decade lay partly in the fact that in the dim, distant past the council had passed a resolution stating people in a civil service performed by the mayor had to have pre-nuptial counseling by a professional. Marci explained to Emily it had been a strong-arm job by a bunch of busybody churchmen who had suborned a district court judge into bullying the various local units of government into approving the resolution, ostensibly to try to cut down on divorces. But, she suspected it also had the practical effect of lining the clergymen's pockets.