Hey guys! It's me again! Now to the shoutouts!
MandieAllTheWay: NGL, I think you just asked what everyone else wanted to ask. LOL! Well, I warned y'all before, I'm not really the mushy type, but I try my best. I decided to save that for when they're married, cuz I just feel like the sudden change from awkward side-hugs to kissing is a bit big, so yeh. P.S, I like your name!
TheFarmGirl: Thank you!
Eleanor: IKR! Except it's true!
BellyTheFatCat: Thank you! Yes, I also like how Liza runs to the house! Lol!
Skatergirl19: Thank you!
Lucy Anna Grace: Thank you! I will keep writing!
Okay guys, so some of you I didn't shout out because then I'd reveal the answer…
I'll put my answer at the bottom, but you'll find it first in the chappie. So, make sure y'all read it and review! See ya at the bottom!
Chapter 13
Mandie and Joe walked along the porch together, talking.
"And you'll come back a day before the party?" Mandie asked.
"I will, and if possible, sooner. I don't think I could manage staying away so long." promised Joe, taking her hands.
"It seems like an awful long time," Mandie said sadly, gazing off into the distance.
"Only a few weeks, and besides, I'll probably drop in sometimes, to let you know how my house search is going, but it will be awhile," Joe said, also feeling sad.
"You'll write?" Mandie asked, her eyes returning to Joe.
"I will. You'll write to me?" Joe asked.
"Yeh, and I'll update you on how the wedding plans go," said Mandie.
"Well, it's time to go." Joe said, seeing his parents signal.
Joe and Mandie walked towards Colt. Joe would be riding Colt back home, following his parents.
Joe stood by Colt, and held the reins.
"Well, I'll see you soon," said Joe, embracing Mandie, and kissing her cheek.
"Yes. Goodbye," said Mandie, hugging Joe.
She timidly tiptoed, and kissed his cheek, and let go, letting Joe mount.
Joe was surprised, and blushed. Mandie had never, ever, given more than a hug, if not a tight embrace.
Mandie was blushing, but gazed steadily, her eyes sad.
Joe hated to see her sad.
"Goodbye, Mrs. Woodard-to-be!" shouted Joe, trotting off, knowing that she would probably laugh at this.
Mandie laughed, and waved as he rode away in the distance, behind his parents wagon. She turned to see her Uncle John, and her mother standing on the porch, smiling. Blushing, knowing they had seen the whole thing, she walked towards the house. Just as she was walking through the door, she heard her mother remark; 'It looks like the beginning of a beautiful marriage, don't you think so, John?'
Mandie blushed at this, and ran up to her room, and sat at her desk. She sat, and thought for a moment. She got out a paper and pencil, and began to write hastily.
Smiling, she wrote to Celia. The letter said:
'Dear Celia, I'm engaged! Joe proposed, and I said yes! Oh, Celia, I feel like the happiest woman in the world right now! Our wedding is going to be July 20th, and the invitations will be sent around late June. I'm asking you to be my bridesmaid! We are having an engagement party in three weeks, March 31st. You and Robert are invited! Celia, I cannot thank you enough for those rough words you gave me, the night I rejected Joe. They changed my life, and now I am where I am right now. What would I do without you? Celia, I miss you terribly, and you should really come down and visit. Until we meet again, I remain your loving friend,
Amanda Elizabeth Shaw.'
Mandie smiled, folded up the letter, put it in an envelope, and put it to one side. She began to write letters to all her immediate friends, including Johnathan and Janice, Dimar and Sallie, T'sani, and Tommy and Polly. The days passed until the ball, and Joe was unable to visit Mandie, since he was very busy, saying he had found a splendid house in Charley Gap, that needed paint, and a few updates. Mandie was thrilled, and begged to go see it, but Joe insisted that it would remain a surprise.
(~~5:00 PM, at the ball…~~)
Mandie and Joe walked together into the ballroom, arm in arm.
Jonathan was the first to spot them.
"Hey! It's the future Mrs. Woodard! And Mr. Woodard, already hopelessly enslaved!" Jonathan called, attracting the attention of the crowd. Everyone laughed at Johnathan's remark, and rushed to greet the couple.
Blushing to her ears, Mandie nervously shaked the hand of many strangers, and a few people she had once seen at the New Year's ball. She stiffened when it came to the lady, Mrs. Epshire, that had said she ought to make a 'good' match.
Mrs. Epshire, with her shrill voice, gave her congratulations, and hoped the best for them.
Joe slightly rubbed it in, by saying,
"Yes, even if I'm not all that popular or rich, we love each other just the same."
Mrs. Epshire rushed away with an uppity sniff.
Celia came to embrace Mandie once the crowd went away.
"Oh, Mandie! Now you understand how I felt! I feel so happy for you!" she babbled, embracing Mandie tightly.
Laughing, she hugged her back, and they went with her friends.
Joe, Jonathan, Tommy, and Robert were talking together.
"Well, Joe, I feel happy for you, being married is delightful, when you're married to the right person, and even more so when you become a father," Jonathan was saying, grinning from ear to ear.
Mandie caught this.
"Father?! Jonathan Lindall Guyer the third, when will you ever stop keeping secrets!?" Mandie shrieked, rushing towards them.
Jonathan pretended to look afraid.
"Another thing, Joe, don't keep secrets from your wife, or else when she finds out she just may screech them out in front of the whole world!" Jonathan teased.
"Oh, you big tease! Is it true! You and Janice are parents?" Mandie insisted.
Janice, giggling, yet blushing with maternal pride, nodded.
Mandie let out a small shriek.
"Hush, Mandie, it's not good for little Johnathan junior," Jonathan pouted, putting an arm around Janice.
"It's a boy?" Celia asked.
Janice laughed.
"Nay, we won't know, until the baby is born. He's so set on having a boy, I think I may have a girl!" Janice said.
"I'm telling you Janice, I just have a strong hunch it's going to be a little Johnathan," Jonathan insisted.
"If the baby's a girl, what will you name the baby?" Polly inquired.
"Little Janice junior. But gee, I'm telling you, I have a strong hunch it's going to be a boy," Jonathan answered.
"You mean you want a boy, nobody knows what the baby will be, only the Good Lord knows," Janice corrected.
Jonathan sighed.
"Yes, Cherie," Jonathan said.
"Well, when are you two going to get married?" asked Tommy.
Mandie looked surprised.
"I sent y'all a letter, saying when," Mandie said.
"I couldn't hear when the date was, with Polly shrieking about 'dear Mandie' and 'good old Joe' being engaged," said Tommy.
Everyone laughed. It was something Polly would do.
"It's July 20th. Now Polly, don't shriek this time, Tom wants to be able to hear," Joe said, laughing.
Polly blushed.
"Why, I was just very excited, and Tom didn't ask," she said, looking down.
Tommy put an arm around Polly.
"I know, I didn't, which was my fault," he said apologetically.
Polly brightened and put an arm around Tommy.
"You see, Joe? You'll also find yourself apologizing, when it wasn't even your fault," Jonathan said.
Everyone laughed.
"Not really, whenever we fight, it's always my fault, Celia's just too sweet and timid to fight. I once made her mad enough, she actually talked in something higher than a whisper!" Robert said, with a small laugh.
Celia blushed.
"You big liar, I just raised my voice to call you to dinner! I didn't know you were right behind me!" Celia said meekly.
Robert put an arm around Celia.
"I know you didn't, dear, I was just joking," he assured.
They talked for a while, and then Mandie sneaked away to the corner, and sat. She looked amongst the crowd, and drank water. Then she saw a familiar man walking towards her. She gasped. It was Adrian. Who invited him?!
Adrian caught sight of her, and with his conceited smile, walked towards her.
"Amanda, I believe I am in the presence of an angel, and it's no wonder, with your breath-taking beauty," he said, reaching for her hand, intending to kiss it.
Mandie stood, and gave her hand, only to force it into a handshake. After that, she quickly put her hand behind her back, to avoid Adrian.
Adrian frowned, but recovered.
"I am desperately heart-broken, at your being engaged to someone else, but everything you do is right in my eyes, so therefore…" Adrian droned on, but Mandie desperately searched for Joe, and she saw him, frowning, walking quickly towards her.
Adrian stopped his lengthy seemingly rehearsed speech when Joe arrived, looking him up and down.
Joe quickly stuck out his hand, to shake Adrian's hand.
Adrian seemed to stare at it in disgust.
"You're supposed to shake it, not kiss it," Joe pointed out.
Mandie choked back a wild desire to laugh, and wondered how Joe kept his face so straight.
Adrian grunted, and shook Joe's hand reluctantly.
"Adrian, meet my fiance, Joe Woodard. Joe, this is Adrian," Mandie said, nervously watching Joe's face.
Adrian gave a shocked gasp.
"You mean to marry this-this-country waif!? He looks like he hasn't a cent to his name! I thought-was hoping-that he was your brother!-Cousin! Anything you'd like-besides fiancé!" Adrian said, the bad part of him truly showing.
The Woodards were certainly not poor, but nor were they rich.
Mandie now was angry, but Joe spoke first.
"Now listen, you city boy, wealth has nothing to do with true love, now if you thought that somehow Mandie would marry you because you were rich, you were dead wrong! Now if you try to go around kissing my future wife, or talking sweet to her, you'll get beaten within an inch of your life!" Joe raised his voice, enraged.
Adrian gave a final gasp, turned up his nose, and walked out. Joe strode quickly to the drinks area, fuming, with Mandie trying to keep up.
Joe quickly took a glass of water, and drained it, casting a hateful glance at the retreating Adrian.
Mandie tugged his sleeve, making him look at her.
"Joe, thank you, I really didn't know what I would do to make him stop, and-you worded it better than I could," she said, mirth in her eyes.
Joe smiled and put an arm around Mandie.
"It just goes to prove that I need to stick around and guard you," he said.
"Well, I didn't even invite him! I wonder who did?" Mandie said, frowning as she scanned the crowd.
"There. See those grownups he's talking to? They must be his parents, or some relative. Well, he's leaving now," said Joe, who was able to see more, since he was taller.
"Grandmother must have invited them! Great, now I'll have to deal with Adrian's letters, saying how much he was insulted and such," Mandie growled.
"Nonsense. If he sends you any letters, I would like to see them, and perhaps write back for you," Joe said slyly.
"Oh, Joe, I'm perfectly capable. Why, I'll just throw them away," Mandie said.
"Oh, no, I know my mother kept one letter of her beaus, and I will not have it. If you think you ought to keep it for a memoir that I would like both of us to forget about, I will personally write to him, saying I'll bring in the law if it goes on," Joe said.
Mandie laughed
"How can he be arrested for that?" she laughed.
"Stalking. We can say he was planning to murder me," he said cheerfully.
"Joe! That's just too far, you jealous streak. You know I can't stand him, with his conceited accent, he's simply unbearable! I'll burn the letters if he sends any more flattering mush!" She said, with an empathetic stamp of her foot.
Joe laughed.
"That's one thing I'm glad you're stomping your foot about," he laughed.
Mandie laughed.
"I'll just be glad when all this party business is over!" she said.
"And when we're married, men will think twice about chasing a married woman," Joe said soberly.
"The same goes for you, Joseph Woodard!" Mandie scolded him.
"As well as you, Mandie Shaw!" Joe laughed.
"Let's go tell our friends, then we'll laugh about the whole thing," Said Mandie, taking Joe's hand, and walking towards her friends.
"Hoho! So the carrot head ran away, you say? Like a dog with its tail between its legs, or a cat with its tail fluffed and hissing?" Jonathan asked, laughing, when Mandie and Joe finished telling their tale.
"Oh, he was hissing alright, except he didn't dare to say it outloud!" Joe laughed.
"Well, I'm just awful surprised Joe didn't start a fight right then and there," Robert said.
"Why should he? From what I've heard, he gave him quite the verbal beating," Celia laughed.
"Well, I just know Joe had a jealous streak a mile wide, he'd turn green with envy every time a boy used to dare to talk to Mandie!" Robert laughed.
"He sure did! I even remember a time he got jealous of me! Think of it, me!" Tommy said, in pure disbelief.
Joe was growing redder by the moment.
"Why, you're not the only one, I'm sure he hated all of us at one point!" Jonathan laughed.
"Well-I didn't know you were going to marry someone else! Besides, Mandie had a jealous streak too!" Joe defended himself.
Mandie blushed.
"Why, I don't remember," she said.
"You did too, you used to get so jealous of Polly, Mandie, be truthful," Celia scolded her.
Mandie blushed even more.
"It's true, Mandie told me, and we resolved. It was rather silly," Polly said.
"Well-I-just thought-" Mandie murmured, her cheeks crimson.
"It's alright Mandie, after all, I was jealous of you, wasn't I?" Said Joe brightly, putting an arm around Mandie.
Mandie blushed.
"I suppose." She said, smiling bashfully.
The party went by quickly, and when the final guest had left, Mandie sighed, and sank onto a settee.
"I am exhausted! All this just to tell everyone Joe and I are engaged? Couldn't we just have had it on the wedding day?" Mandie moaned, laying back and closing her eyes.
"It is exhausting, dear, but it's simply not done that way," Elizabeth sympathized.
Joe came, and sat next to Mandie.
"Well, it's over now," he sighed, looking into the fire.
"And in three months, the wedding," Mrs. Woodard sighed, looking contendly at the tired couple.
"I think instead of dozing off here, we ought to all go to bed. At least I am. Goodnight, everyone!" Dr. Woodard said, climbing the stairs to his room.
Everyone was in their rooms in five minutes, and asleep almost immediately.
(~~The Next Day…~~)
"Well, here we are again, we must part again, " Joe said sadly, trying to sound poetic.
He embraced Mandie, and pecked her cheek.
"Farewell," Mandie said, returning the embrace.
They stepped apart.
"Aren't you going to give me a kiss good-bye?" Joe grinned.
Mandie blushed, and pecked his cheek.
Joe, flushing with some strange pride, mounted Colt.
"Now I will fare very well!" He called, waving.
Laughing, Mandie waved back, and then went into the house.
Mandie found Elizabeth in the house, and she soon settled down with her and made more plans for the wedding.
When the day was over, Mandie went to her room.
"Oh, Snowball, do you think Joe will let you live with us? He knows how naughty you could be, so would he want you?" Mandie asked teasingly, picking up her beloved white cat.
Snowball meowed, and looked gravely into his mistress's eyes.
"Of course he will let you live with us. I couldn't agree more." Mandie said, setting Snowball down on the bed, and then got ready for bed.
Mandie laughed at herself. At least Snowball couldn't talk, and make her feel embarrassed to show her hopes for the future.
Well, IT WAS ADRIAN! Well, now you know! Shoutout to all of y'all that guessed Adrian! Also, to that person who suggested Tommy, he's married to Polly. Also also, I made this chappie kinda short, becuz next chap. is the wedding. :D
Anyway, byebye!
~EquestrianIntrovert.