Chapter 35
Thursday, August 27, 1987
"And that's the last one," the attorney who was handling the Stetson and Weller-West closings said. "Congratulations to all of you; I hope you'll be very happy in your new homes."
A few minutes later she shook hands all around and showed them out of her office. Lee guided Amanda out of the office building with the familiar arm at her waist; in honor of the occasion she was wearing a new summer suit in blush pink linen, and he wore her favorite charcoal gray suit. Behind them, Dotty West and Curt Weller were similarly dressed, and each man carried the large packet of papers that were legal proof that they now owned their respective homes. They walked the short distance to the parking garage where Lee had left the Suburban and got in for the ride home.
When he pulled into the very familiar driveway on Maplewood Drive, Dotty said, " Would you two come in for something cold to drink? Curt and I want to ask you something."
Lee and Amanda exchanged glances, but quickly agreed; a few minutes later they were seated around the table Amanda had left in the house because she didn't need it in the new place with cold glasses of a good imported beer for Lee and Curt and soft drinks for Dotty and Amanda.
"What is it, Mother?" Amanda asked.
"We wanted to ask you if you'd agree to participate in the wedding," Dotty said.
"I thought we already agreed to that, Mother. Since we're having the wedding in our new backyard and it's just going to be a few rows of folding chairs with an aisle down the middle, Lee's going to walk you down the aisle and then come and sit with me for the ceremony. Leeanne is going to be your honor attendant, Curt's son Tom will stand up with him, and our boys will seat guests and direct traffic."
"Yes, all that is true, but we have one more request. Curt?"
"What Dot is trying to say, Lee and Amanda, is that since my old friend Chaplain Ev Cope will be coming up from Norfolk to officiate at our wedding, we'd like to ask if you and Lee would agree to renew your vows at the same time."
"I didn't get to be at your wedding, Amanda, and I know you and Lee had good reason for that at the time, but it would make me so happy if I could be there to witness your vows. Would you do it?"
"Of course we will, Mother," Amanda said. "We talked about a simple backyard ceremony last fall, not long after we were engaged, but something came up that made us decide to keep the marriage a mystery. We'll do it. I know that Leeanne, for one, will be absolutely thrilled that she's able to witness our wedding ceremony."
"The boys will act all cool, like it doesn't matter, but they'll like it too," Lee said. "Jim will go crazy with that camera of his. He is so thrilled that you chose him as the official wedding photographer, and when he finds out that we bought him a new camera to replace that old one I gave him, well….."
"We have to tell them, of course; we can't spring it on them the day of the wedding," Amanda said. "Why don't you come over to our house for supper? I'll make a big pot of spaghetti and toss a salad and we'll have a family conference."
The children reacted much as Lee and Amanda had predicted. Leeanne, who had learned cake decorating from Barb Van Slaars in the weeks that she was in her casts that summer, had offered to make Curt's groom's cake, complete with a tiny small airplane, representing the one that had brought him and Dotty together; now, she offered to make a cake for Lee as well.
"What do you want on it, Daddy?"
"See if you can guess."
Suggestions came thick and fast. " Your Corvette?" Phillip guessed.
"Guess again."
"A train, because you met Mom at a train station? " Jim asked.
"Nope."
"A small box wrapped in brown paper?" That was Dotty's suggestion.
"Nope."
"One of those funny red hats like Shriners wear?" Leeanne guessed.
"Nope. "
"The recipe card for Pilgrims' Peach Puff?" Amanda suggested.
"No, nor a helicopter, a scarecrow, or a trench coat, either." Lee said. "Give up?"
"We give up."
"I want my family on my cake. You know how they put a little plastic bride and groom on wedding cakes? Well, I want my whole family on my cake, not just the bride and groom. I want our two boys, and our Leelee, and if we can find it, a tiny little baby carriage to represent the newest Stetson. Can we do that, Leeanne?"
"You bet we can, Daddy. We'll start looking for all those little figures at toy stores and hobby shops tomorrow, won't we, Mom?"
"I know just the place," Amanda said.