Chapter 26

Saturday, December 29, 2001

Trey didn't get along with his sister, Carolyn Trilby – not at all. He had never gotten along with her particularly well, but it had continually been getting worse since he left the Army and went to college. Her snide remarks, complaints and downright bitching at him had been so bad that he'd walked out of the family Christmas gathering the year before rather than have to put up with it any longer.

Since the wedding had been put together in a hurry, the process of sending out invitations had been personal and informal, but Trey had made a point of not sending his sister one. Even given the family connection, the blood was bad enough that Trey didn't want Carolyn showing up and screwing up the wedding with her mouthing off. Myleigh agreed wholeheartedly; after all, she hadn't invited her parents, who she hadn't seen for several years and didn't plan on renewing acquaintances with them at any time in the next century or so.

Somehow, Carolyn had failed to get the message that she wasn't welcome at the wedding, or if she had, she'd ignored it. In any case, when the subject came up, Carolyn more or less bullied her mother into letting her ride along. Complicating the situation was the difficulty for both Trey's father and mother to get off work on Friday, and it was a long haul from their central Indiana home to Spearfish Lake. The only real option was to drive all night Friday night, hoping they could take turns getting a little sleep along the way, attend the wedding, and get started back at least part way the same afternoon.

What this all added up to was the first hint Trey had of his sister coming to the wedding was when she walked in the door of Blake and Jennifer's house on Point Drive an hour or so before the ceremony was to start. His was totally predictable: "What in hell is she doing here!"

"Who?" Blake asked.

"My sister," Trey snorted.

"I thought you didn't invite her."

"I didn't," Trey answered. "She probably invited herself so she can criticize everything she can."

"Well, shit," Blake said. "We can't just throw her out or it would really make a scene."

"Yeah, no shit," Trey agreed. "The odds are she's here to make a pain in the ass of herself. Now what the hell am I going to do?"

Blake frowned for a moment, thinking hard. "I've got an idea. Look, go try to make nice to her. If it turns out she's willing to bury the hatchet for the wedding, we don't have to do anything. If she's here to be an asshole, then we'll have to deal with it. I'll go talk to a couple people."

There were not many people there, and this was a very informal wedding, so as people arrived, both Trey and Myleigh were circulating around, trying to talk to everyone at least a little. As Blake departed, Trey looked around and discovered he didn't really have an alternative. He walked over to the three and said genially, "Mom, Dad, good to see you here." Then after a brief pause nodded toward his sister and added curtly, "Carolyn."

"Good to see you, son," his father said. "How's Dr. Harris?" They'd met her briefly the previous fall, and had been very impressed with her.

"Just fine," Trey said. "She's around somewhere."

"This is a nice house," Carolyn said. "It isn't yours, is it?"

"No, it belongs to some friends," Trey said, trying to stay civil. "Our place is torn up right now. We won't be moving in till spring, so they offered to let us get married here."

"I don't see why you couldn't have had a church wedding," Carolyn sniped at him. "It would have been much more appropriate than getting married in some friend's parlor."

"We're not church people, and we're among friends here," Trey said, stiffening as he realized that nothing had changed with his sister: she planned on being her normal pain-in-the-ass self.

"It doesn't matter; you should be getting married in a church. And it could have been a little closer to home. That's an awful long drive to have us make."

"The alternative was to have it in Kansas City, and we have more friends here," Trey said defensively. "That's just about as long a drive."

"It's not out in the middle of nowhere," Carolyn sniffed. "At least it's a city, not some lost-in-the-woods place like this. I can't see why you can't be a little closer to home. It's like you're trying to avoid us."

Boy, you got that one right, Trey thought, although carefully didn't say. "We live here, have good jobs here. This is home for us, now."

"That's just the point," she said, her voice rising. "Your home isn't here, it's in Indiana, but you got it in your head that you had to go off to some hoity-toity college and marry some woman that's way out of your league. You think you're better than us, and this just goes to show it." Her voice rose even higher as she kept on, "If you had been willing to do the right thing you'd have stayed around home where we could be a family, but no, you left a good job to join the Army and then move a long ways away. You're just interested in what you can do for you. I don't know what it is with you that you have to think that you're all so high and mighty. If you'd stayed around home you could help take care of your family. My God, it's been hard. First you left, and then Aaron. I don't know how you think...

"Excuse me, Ma'am," Randy said from next to Trey, who hadn't seen him join them. "Are you feeling all right?"

"I feel fine," she ranted. "Except that I'm thoroughly disgusted with this..."

"You don't look fine," Randy said. "I'm an EMT, and you look like you're on the verge of a heart attack. Please, sit down. Let me get a closer look at you."

"Heart attack?" she protested loudly. "There's no way I could be having a heart attack."

"I didn't say you were having one, I said it looks like you were about to have one." Randy took her wrist to take her pulse. "Good grief," he said after a moment. "You've got all the classic symptoms. I can't tell what your blood pressure is without a cuff, but from all the signs I can see it seems very elevated. Please, sit down now, try to relax. I understand that you've been under a lot of stress, but this is life-threatening."

"Huh? Are you sure?"

"Sure enough that we need to find out more. Please, sit down. Trey, go find Dr. Metarie stat."

Trey almost didn't recognize Shovelhead, which is why it took a couple minutes to get him over to the scene. He was in a suit and tie and carrying a medical bag, not in the biker leathers he usually wore to rehearsals and recording sessions – in other words, he looked like the doctor he was, albeit one with a full red beard.

By now, Carolyn was visibly sweating and looking a little dazed. "Hi, I'm Doctor Metarie," he said to Carolyn. "Randy, what do we have?

"Incipient heart attack I think," Randy said professionally and reeled off a list of symptoms.

"Could be," Shovelhead replied. He pulled out a blood pressure cuff, then went through the mechanics to take her blood pressure, shielding the meter from her view. "Hmmm," he said, "I don't like the looks of that. Sweating, heart rate, blood pressure, you could be right. Ma'am, do you have any pain in the chest?" He pointed at the suspect area.

"Maybe a little," she replied.

"Dizzy? Lightheaded? Headache?"

"Yeah, a little of each," she said, getting more concerned.

"Well, you're probably all right for now," he told her. "I don't think it's on the verge of happening, but it could. Let's see if we can get you calmed down a little." He dug around in his bag, and said, "Randy, could you find her some water? I've got something here that will help her relax."

"On the way," Randy said, heading for the kitchen. He was back in seconds, carrying a glass of water.

"All right," Shovelhead said. "I'm going to give you this. It'll help you calm down and relax. I'll check you in a little while and see if it's taking hold. I'm glad we caught this in time. Now, Jennifer and Blake have a nice warm porch that's away from the crowd and confusion here. I think we'd better get you out there so you can lie down comfortably. Try to stay calm, take long slow breaths, and try to clear your mind. I think we caught this in time, but you're going to have to try and take it easy for a while. Let's get you out there. Randy, could you help me get her up?"

The two of them got Carolyn to her feet, and carefully supporting her, hauled her out to Jennifer and Blake's heated front porch. They put her in a chaise lounge, laid it back and put a blanket over her to help her stay warm. "Doctor?" she said plaintively. "Am I going to be all right?"

"Nothing's sure in these things," he repeated. "But we may have caught it in time. We'll know in a little while. You just concentrate on relaxing and clearing your mind. We'll leave you alone so there are no distractions. I'll check on you again in a little while, and we'll know more then."

"OK, thank you, doctor," she said softly.

Randy led the two out, then shut the door behind Shovelhead. Trey and his parents were waiting right there. "Is she going to be all right?" Trey's mother asked.

"She should be fine after that takes hold," Shovelhead told them. "Now you guys relax and enjoy the wedding and the reception."

Trey's mother turned to him. "Trey, I'm sorry," she said. "She said she wanted to be here for the wedding, and she said she'd try to be nice. I guess she didn't try too hard. She's been under a lot of stress lately, and I can't say as I blame her."

"What happened?" Trey said out of polite curiosity.

"The big thing is that Aaron left her," his mother replied. "It's had her very upset."

"Aaron left her?" Trey's eyes widened. "I never thought I'd see the day that happened."

"Me, either," his father said. "He said that he had all of her mouth that he could take, and I for one don't blame him. I about had my fill of it on the way up here. Right before she came in, she promised she'd stay quiet and not ruin your wedding, but you see how long that lasted."

"Yeah," Trey said. "That's about what her word is worth, I guess. I'm sorry if this has caused you problems."

"No more than we've been having," his father said. "I hope this doesn't ruin your wedding."

"It shouldn't," Shovelhead said. "That was a pretty strong sedative I gave her. She should be out like a light in minutes, and she should be out for hours. By the way, don't worry about her having heart problems. There's nothing that will make you think you're having a heart attack like hearing a physician say he thinks you could be having one."

"You mean she isn't?" Trey's father glanced at Shovelhead, a twinkle in his eye.

"Oh, she has some symptoms that might be indicative of it," Shovelhead smiled. "Some of which she thought herself into. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to have her visit a doctor when you get home, though. That blood pressure of hers is borderline hypertension, high enough to be of concern."

Trey's dad let out a chuckle. "Are you really a doctor?" he grinned.

"Yes, I am," Shovelhead smiled. "But I'm also Trey's friend, and I didn't want to see his wedding screwed up any more than he did."

The people watching were mostly friends from Spearfish Lake, from Flagstaff, and a couple from Marienthal. The only real family members of either Trey or Myleigh were Trey's father and mother; Carolyn was sound asleep on the porch, and when Shovelhead checked on her, he reported that she was snoring rather loudly. The closed door shut that out, distracting no one.

The wedding was rather informal, although Trey did wear a suit and tie, and most people there were similarly nicely dressed. Myleigh didn't do anything special for a wedding dress; one of the white evening gowns she used in her shows sufficed for the festivities. Trey stood in front of the Italianate marble fireplace, in which a cheery fire was crackling, and watched her come into the room. She walked up beside him, standing in front of Lex, who would perform the ceremony. Not far away, Blue Beauty stood on a stand, firelight glistening off of the high polish.

Trey thought that Myleigh had never looked prettier. He looked at her, seeing her warm, gentle smile. Across the room, Jennifer and Blake picked up their guitars and began to sing, He is now to be among you, at the calling of your hearts... Trey heard them play, but most of his attention was on the woman who in a few minutes would become his wife. She still awed him; she always would. She was talented, intense, quirky ... and wonderful. A year ago, he'd wondered if any man could be man enough for her. There was still some question in his mind if he was up to it, but she thought he was and had told him so. That was all he needed.

She walked up and stood beside him, their backs to the fireplace as Lex stood in front of them, her back to the crowd. "In a sense," she began solemnly, "We are gathered together here today, not for a simple wedding or handfasting, but for something more than that. No ceremony that we could offer today could add to the strength of the bond between these two people. All we can do is recognize that it exists. Rather, our being here today is a celebration, of the existence of that bond, and a celebration of a determination of these two people to cast off the past and change the direction of their lives. It is a celebration of the decision to cease walking through life merely side by side, and to walk through it together, as one. By this celebration, they signify that they do not take the decision to become as one lightly, but in honor, and in a deep and enduring love."