Old dogs new truths, p.20
Old Dogs, New Truths,
p.20
Riley laughed, dismissing her sister’s concerns. “Anyone who doesn’t know that I have two sisters who are mirror images of me really doesn’t concern me because they’re relatively strangers,” she informed Roe. “Just as long as you and Raegan don’t get your roles confused, that’s all that counts,” Riley teased, then went on to clarify the roles. “You are the maid of honor and Raegan is the matron of honor—and Vikki is the flower girl. She is really excited about being part of this wedding. When Matt and I asked her to be flower girl, she told me she wasn’t able to take part in her mother’s first wedding and she is very happy to be able to be part of this one—which I think is adorable.”
“You didn’t tell her that there wasn’t a wedding, right?” Roe asked her sister. “She’s a little young to take all that in.”
“Vikki is a lot older than the date on her birth certificate claims,” Riley answered loftily. “But Matt and I thought we’d save that little tidbit of information for another time just in case after hearing that, Vikki comes up with questions that wind up stumping us.”
“Wise decision. What time do you want me at the church since I missed the original run-through?” Roe asked, referring to the original rehearsal.
“Father Lawrence gave me a list of possible times. Barring an emergency, how does three o’clock this afternoon sound to you?” Riley asked. “Whatever you pick, I’ll call the others and tell them. Nobody else has any conflicts. I already checked.”
“Three o’clock is doable—barring an emergency,” Roe echoed her sister’s words, although it would have to be a really big emergency to prevent her from getting there.
“Then I’ll see you at the church at three o’clock—barring an emergency,” both women said simultaneously, their voices blending. The conversation ended with a laugh. “Bye, Roe,” Riley said just before she hung up.
Roe hit the “red” button to end the call. She listened to make sure the call was over, then sighed as she roused herself.
She didn’t have time to stare off into oblivion. She had things to do. Not to mention a cattle herd to check out before she could show up at the local church for rehearsal.
There had been an anthrax scare far up north but with any luck, it was either a false alarm or a scare that wasn’t going to work its way down to the area surrounding Forever. She had no idea how the local ranchers would respond to that sort of threat if it actually did materialize.
She fervently hoped she would never have to find out. She was perfectly happy to go through life without ever finding out if she was up to that sort of a large-scale challenge. She thought she was, but she would rather not have her abilities tested. Roe honestly felt she was perfectly fine handling mundane things and remaining unchallenged for the entire course of her career.
Dressed in jeans and a work shirt, as well as a denim jacket, and almost ready to leave, Roe came out into the small living room where Kingston was entertaining himself by chasing Lucy around.
“Try not to destroy the house while I’m gone, guys,” she told her pets. “I’ll try to get home at a decent hour, but I can’t really promise anything. Barring any emergency and if the wedding rehearsal goes off on schedule, I’ll be able to feed you on time—but don’t hold me to that,” she said, addressing her words to the lively, fluffy white dog that was busy spinning around in a wide circle in front of her.
She knew it was Kingston’s way of trying to entertain her and getting her to stay.
Kingston made a noise, and it was almost as if he actually understood what she was saying to him.
Roe laughed as she petted one dog and then the other. “Glad we understand one another. I will see you two guys later—and remember, you’re supposed to guard the house,” she instructed.
Not that there was actually anything to guard against, she thought as she locked the door behind her. Forever, Texas, was part of a dying breed: a small, friendly town where everyone knew almost everyone else and looked out for one another to make sure that nothing happened. It was the very definition of the word “neighborly.”
There were some exceptions, of course. After all, this was reality and that meant there were people who preferred to keep to themselves and avoid any sort of unnecessary interaction with anyone. But by and large, those people were mercifully few and far between.
For the most part, everyone in the small town knew everyone else and had known them for a very long time. The ones who hadn’t been born in Forever had made a strong effort to become part of the town and blend in, often more than those who had been born here.
Roe checked her watch to see how much time she had before she needed to get to the church. Not showing up once was forgivable. Not showing up twice was another story entirely. And besides which, she did want to take part in this. After all, this was for Riley’s wedding and she knew how important this was to all parties concerned.
Pacing herself, she paid visits to several of the local ranches to check on how their cattle were doing. Other than a couple of instances—in one case a calf had gotten tangled up in a section of barbed wire and it took a great deal of careful maneuvering to get the animal’s horns uncoupled from the fencing—Roe’s visits to the ranches were rather uneventful.
She would have never actually admitted it to anyone except for possibly her grandfather, but it was the wedding rehearsal that had captured the major part of her attention.
Because the last ranch on her list was farther away than the other two, it took her a while to get there. Consequently, the trip back took even longer, despite the fact that she hurried and drove her truck faster than normal. It turned out that she was the last one to arrive at the church anyway.
Riley was looking out the church window and was the first to see her coming.
When the front door opened, she greeted Roe, her brown-haired, brown-eyed mirror image with, “Ah, you’re finally here. I was just about to send out the search party to look for you.”
“Now you won’t have to ’cause she’s here,” Vikki declared happily, a grin encompassing the red-haired little girl’s small, beaming face.
“Yes, I am.” Roe made her way over to Vikki. “Hi, Angel. How are you doing?” she asked the little girl who was about to officially become part of their family once Riley married Vikki’s father, Matt.
“I’m doing fine,” the almost five-year-old answered solemnly, as if the question that had been put to her required deep thought. “How are you doing?” Vikki asked, turning the question back on Roe and looking very proud of herself for the accomplishment.
Roe struggled to keep from laughing out loud, knowing it would probably hurt Vikki’s feelings. Her exchanges with the little girl always tickled her. She was rather amazed at how well Vikki had learned to cope with her mother’s passing.
“I’m doing just fine, now that I see you here,” Roe answered.
Her small, smooth brow furrowed as she tried to understand what Roe was saying to her. “You didn’t think I would be here?” Vikki asked.
“Oh, but I did. After all, you’re the flower girl. I just meant that I was really very happy to see you,” Roe explained.
“Oh.” Vikki’s freshly arranged red hair bobbed up and down as she nodded. “Well I’m happy to see you, too,” she told Roe. “How’s Kingston? You didn’t bring him with you, did you?”
As she asked, the little girl quickly looked around the church in all the places that the dog would choose to hide.
“No, not this time, honey. He’s home keeping Lucy company,” Roe told Vikki, thinking that was the most understandable explanation she could tell her. “Lucy gets lonely whenever I leave the house.”
Vikki thought that over for a minute. “Maybe I could go over to your house and keep her company.”
“That’s a lovely idea,” Roe agreed, but then quickly added, “We’ll see. Right now, they need you here for the ceremony.”
“Oh, yeah,” Vikki agreed, her expression looking almost solemn.
Father Lawrence chose that moment to walk out from his office and into the church proper. He clapped his hands together as he scanned the small gathering before him. It was composed of just the wedding party, not any of the guests.
“Well, it looks like everyone who is supposed to be here is here now,” the tall, fair-haired, blue-eyed priest noted. “Shall we get started? Spoiler alert,” he said, as if it was meant to be a side comment. “There are no surprises. This is going to be just like the last ceremony I officiated for you, except that it was for Raegan and Alan,” he said with a wink. “This time it’ll be for Riley and Matthew.”
“And me!” Vikki piped up, excited.
Matt laughed and looked in wonder at the daughter he hadn’t even known existed such a short while ago. Now her existence filled his heart in ways he couldn’t have even begun to imagine. It wasn’t until Riley, Breena’s best friend, had written a letter telling him about Vikki. He had come to Forever not really knowing what to expect. He certainly hadn’t expected to fall in love twice over.
But he had.
“Most definitely you, buttercup,” Matt teased, giving the little girl an affectionate hug.
“I’m not a buttercup,” Vikki said, pretending to protest. “I’m a girl.”
“Yes, you most definitely are that,” Matt agreed. Then he flushed and looked toward the priest, thinking the man was waiting to get started and he was interrupting. “Sorry, Father.”
“No need to apologize.” Father Lawrence nodded toward the little girl. “I find this sort of display very heartening. But, in deference to those here who are on a tighter schedule and would like to get things moving along, I do suggest we get started.” Father Lawrence looked around the immediate area. “Any objections?”
Mike Robertson laughed and shook his head. “Not from this crowd, Father,” he told the priest.
“All right, then let’s begin—I promise this will be fast and painless, especially since we’ve already gone through it once before,” the priest said as he smiled at the people standing around hm.
Vikki frowned as she tried to follow what the priest had just said. “No, we didn’t,” she protested.
“Father Lawrence is talking about when he married your aunt Raegan and your uncle Alan,” Roe told Vikki, whispering into the little girl’s ear.
Vikki’s face lit up as comprehension suddenly filled her. “Oh, now I understand,” she said. “Sorry, Father Lawrence.”
Vikki didn’t understand why everyone in the church was suddenly laughing at what she had just said, but she politely refrained from asking because Father Lawrence seemed to want to move things along.
Copyright © 2023 by Marie Rydzynski-Ferrarella
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ISBN-13: 9780369745620
Old Dogs, New Truths
Copyright © 2023 by TTQ Books LLC
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Tara Taylor Quinn, Old Dogs, New Truths
