Chapter 16: Church Bells

You've probably heard the phrase about weddings going off without a hitch? Well, not ours. Let me see if I can catalogue all the hitches.

First, the flight from Oakland to Seattle was delayed when our plane had a mechanical problem, causing us to miss our connection. As a consequence, we didn't arrive in Vancouver until late Wednesday evening, exhausted from sitting around and worrying about when we would actually get there. Thank goodness for cell phones. We were able to warn the reception party and prevent them from hours of hanging around the Vancouver airport waiting for us to arrive.

Second, one piece of luggage was missing when we finally did get to Vancouver. Naturally, it was the one with my tuxedo, not to mention my toiletries and other apparel. The luggage was found in the unclaimed area in SeaTac airport and we finally got it delivered late the following afternoon.

Third, on the day of the wedding, the limousine that was to bring Fiona, her mother and my parents got lost and was a half-hour late picking them up. Phil, Tina, Dad, Angus, Neal and I stood around tapping our toes waiting for the big moment. I could see Reverend Ames looking at his watch, wondering if he was going to have to delay the next wedding, scheduled not long after ours. At least cell phone communications let us know of the problem and we didn't worry unnecessarily that Fiona had suffered a change of heart.

Fourth, some one had left the outer doors open to the vestry and as the service neared its end, we began to have people peering into the church, wondering what was going on. Naturally, the giant wooden doors creaked noisily whenever they were opened, disturbing the ceremony. It would have been funny if everyone wasn't so uptight with all the delay.

As a final finishing touch to this comedy of errors, the limousine driver wasn't able to park near the church because the party for next wedding had taken up all the temporary spots. The entire wedding party had to walk almost a block to get to our transportation.

I should have been upset, I suppose, but it was such a bizarre set of circumstances that it was hard to be angry. I stopped halfway to the limousine and turned to Fiona.

"Do you believe this? Can you imagine anything like this happening?"

I could see the smile on Fiona's face and within seconds we were laughing. I pulled her into me and kissed her right in the middle of her outburst. It was a deep, passionate kiss and far more sensual than the light peck we shared at the altar. We were man and wife and that was all that mattered.

Our laughter seemed to be contagious as my father, Fiona's mother and father, Bernice and several of the guests were now laughing at the entire debacle. We ultimately made it to the Cornell home and the party began. I think the main topic of conversation was the whole crazy afternoon. The phrase "without a hitch" became the trigger to elicit more laughter and stories about wedding party bungles. It seemed after listening to a few, weddings without a hitch were much less frequent than we were led to believe.

Our honeymoon was celebrated at a lovely riverside lodge just east of Mission on the north side of the Fraser River. It was warm and generally sunny, happily not raining as that would have put the frosting on the cake as far as the day went. But Fiona and I were fine. We were where we wanted to be, in each other's arms.

I can't say I felt any different married than single, except it was that secure sensation that comes with knowing the anticipation had ended and we were together for the rest of our lives. I never had a doubt in my mind that I had found the woman I wanted to fill that role. That she was a valuable asset in our business was just a bonus.

We flew back to Oakland and this time all the luggage arrived on schedule. I drove Fiona's parents home before we headed to ours. I thought that Tina had been unusually quiet since the wedding. I wondered what, if anything, might be bothering her. I chose not to raise the issue, hoping she would return to her usual bubbling self in a day or so. That turned out to be the case.

Tina had now confirmed that I was "Dad" and that was how she chose to address me. I recounted the conversation I had with her after my engagement to Fiona. I was happy that she didn't have any objection to her daughter's choice of titles. Besides, I was proud to call Tina my daughter. She was a lively, bright, beautiful young woman and made her parents and grandmother proud of her.

Tina had her own laptop and I discovered she had Skype loaded on it and was using that and Facebook to communicate with her friends. It was a hell of a lot cheaper than the current cell phone rates. It was a couple of weeks after we had returned from Canada that I went up to see her about how she was enjoying her job as an intern at our office. Her door was partly open and I knocked lightly before entering.

She was on Skype at the time and was talking to ... Phil. That caught me by surprise.

"Hi, Phil," I called. I assumed he could see me.

"Hi, Dad," he answered immediately, looking a bit uncomfortable.

"How are you?"

"Fine. I'm good. Just talking to Tina and catching up on the news."

"Good. Anything happening in your world?" I asked.

"Nothing special. I'm still working at Williams Auto Supply. I'll be registering at Douglas College in a couple of weeks."

"Good for you. Glad to hear it. Do you need anything from me?"

"Nope, I'm good, Dad. Mom's good too. Everything's fine here."

I knew it was a signal he wanted me to leave, so I said goodbye and went back downstairs. It was good to see the two of them talking. Tina would probably check in with me later.

"What's happening?" Fiona asked absently, curled up on the sofa and watching TV.

"I went up to ask Tina about her job, but she was on Skype with Phil."

"Oh."

"You don't sound surprised."

"No ... they get along quite well and have become friends. They are almost the same age, so it's no surprise," Fiona said as she continued to watch TV.

That was the end of our in-depth conversation, but it was good that our son and daughter had seemingly become good friends and were talking to each other. I took it as a positive sign. Both of them were outgoing personalities, so it wasn't surprising that they might have a lot in common. I wish Phil's brother was a little more sociable. We seldom heard from him.

It got pretty darn warm in our part of Alameda County in the summer. A lot warmer than I was used to in Canada. The average temperature in July and August was 90+, while September was very little cooler. The locals were accustomed to it and seldom commented on it. Bobby Lee and his family thought it was far nicer than the same temperature in Louisiana, thanks to the much lower humidity. They can say what they like, it was hot. Thank goodness for air conditioning.

We continued to play the Las Positas course, choosing to play nine holes early in the morning to avoid the heat. If we teed off by six-thirty, we would be done and home before nine and in the office before ten. We played every second week so as not to cut into the business day too greatly.

We discovered that a loosely organized "businessman's club" was playing on Thursday morning and they had no problem with a woman being included. We got to meet a number of people we would otherwise never have met and made some new friends while we enjoyed an early round of golf. I was beginning my search for new friends outside our business associates.

We settled into domestic life quite nicely. I was still very much occupied with making sure we had the plant running well and producing good product on time. Fiona was totally focused on sales and the results demonstrated her skills. By the end of August, we were solidly ahead of plan and I could see our planning session for the following year would be dedicated to what further equipment we needed and when we would need it. All the indications said we were going to be the success we had envisioned.

I had to visit Langley for some financial review meetings the week before Labour Day. The meetings were a precursor to our developing the business plan for the following year. Fiona would stay behind since I would only be gone three days. It would give me the opportunity to visit my parents and see Phil and Neal as well.

I was surprised when I walked out of the customs area in Vancouver to find both Phil and Neal waiting for me. I don't know how they found out I was coming on this flight, but they did.

"Hi guys, how are you?" I smiled before noticing the grim look on both their faces.

"Hi, Dad," Neal said, hugging me. That was unusual. He was more of a handshake guy. I got a hug from Phil too, and realized that this wasn't a happy meeting.

"What up?" I asked, looking at both of them.

"It's Mom," Neal said solemnly. "She's sick. She has cancer."